In a recent speech about the issue of gun ownership in America, Donald Trump said about Hillary Clinton: "I think that her bodyguards should drop all weapons . . . I think they should disarm. Immediately . . . . Let's see what happens to her. Take their guns away . . . . It'll be very dangerous." Trumps comments set off a firestorm of criticism. In our most recent episode, "Donald Trump, Guns, and the On-Going Crisis of Political Legitimacy," we situate and analyze Trump's comments in the deeper, and more ominous context of the on-going erosion of the delicate line between a pre-political, unstable, and often violent existential condition, and the establishment of legitimate legal and political institutions designed specifically reduce violence and establish order through the authorization of legitimate uses of force.

Two weeks ago, Colin Kaepernick decided to "sit-out" the National Anthem. He did so to call attention to, and protest, what he believes to be systemic and institutional racism in American culture and law enforcement. His simple, passive, and non-violent protest ignited a firestorm of controversy and set into motion a national debate over the questions of patriotism and respect for the the American Flag. In our most recent episode, "Colin Kaepernick, Martin Luther King, and the Philosophy of Protest and Civil Disobedience," we attempt to situate Kaepernick's political activity in a deeper historical and philosophical context. Enjoy.

In a recent editorial in the "Financial Times," the eminent British economics writer, Martin Wolf, warned that Liberal Democracy and Capitalism are heading for a cataclysmic rupture! In this episode, "Requiem for Liberal-Democratic Capitalism," we agree with Wolf's assessment, but argue that Mr. Wolf's analysis is at least two years late to the party. There can be no immanent rupture between Liberal-Democracy and Capitalism because these ideas no longer exist in the way that most people think they do. More interesting in Wolf's essay are his predictions for what is coming. Sorry again, Mr. Wolf, we are already there.

In our fourth and final installment of our series on the transition from Liberal Democracy to Authoritarian Democracy, "Locke, the US Constitution and the New Machiavellian Prince." we examine the theoretical and political justifications for the emergence of a completely legitimate, Authoritarian Executive. In this episode we examine Locke's notion of Prerogative Power, the way this extraordinary idea/power is written into the US Constitution, and how this lays the foundation for the creation of an New, more Vigorous version of Machiavelli's Prince. Enjoy.