The Full English

Woke shibboleths.

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Sleep-deprived and disoriented in his shrinking ghetto of the egghead-osphere, Jonah’s in desperate need of a euphonious English accent to help him collect his thoughts. Fortunately, prolific author Daniel Hannan is on hand to provide exactly that, and to offer some erudite insights into a wide range of political and philosophical topics. How should we define republican virtue, and what does that have to do with fighting wokeism? Is Britain’s conservative movement a stable force or a hot mess? Has Russia always been awful? And do Europeans think America has gone insane? 

Show Notes:

– Daniel’s webpage

– Inventing Freedom, Daniel’s oft-plugged book

– Kevin Carroll: “An Unthinkable Choice”

– Orlando Figes’ The Story of Russia

– Joseph Henrich’s The WEIRDest People in the World

– George Orwell: “Second Thoughts on James Burnham”

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Comments (22)
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  1. Avatar photo
    Mkapnick

    I sent this email to Jonah with no response. I hold no grudge. If I was Jonah, I would probably find the email vexing and I know he is busy. But in any event, I throw it out to the group to see if anyone has any thoughts.

    Jonah,

    With respect to your conversation with Daniel Hannan, it was interesting to hear his confusion about what the hell is going on here. It was also quite sad to hear him say that what America is exporting may no longer be beneficial to the free world. Not surprising but still sad to hear.

    I also heard you again explain your objection to popular front politics as you perceive it is currently being practiced by former conservatives. This I must ask you about.

    I think you know this about me but just in case, let me stipulate that living in Portland Oregon, I understand fully the policy failures of the progressive Left. I sell commercial real estate for a living and for the majority of career, I have sold urban-infill assets (mainly office, street front retail and industrial buildings). The poor policy choice of the progressive Left has hurt me and my family financially. We have seen our schools get worse and worse. My income has declined. We have been burglarized and had our cars broken into and personal effects stolen. So, I get opposition to Dems especially the far Left.

    Moreover, more broadly, I find myself in violent agreement with you the vast majority of the time. I too fantasize about President Mitch Daniels 😊 (I mean what Dispatcher doesn’t??)

    And while I understand your opposition to popular front politics as it has historically been understood, I sort of don’t get some of what I hear you object to now. With respect to our current dilemma, I don’t hear anti-Trump conservatives who are either actively supporting Dems or are just simply opposed to Repubs saying the issues they have long advocated for (abortion) no longer matter. I hear them still holding those views but stating but the importance of any one issue (say abortion) is subservient to an immediate and possibly existential threat to our democratic norms and our constitutional order. I don’t hear them saying Jonah (or others) should lie and say things they don’t believe or that anyone should “carry water” for the Dems in a way they find morally objectionable.

    What I do hear them saying is that while the Dems offer sub-optimal policies, if the Repubs are giving us a choice of bad policies and torching the constitution, then bad policies seems like an easy choice. I hear the folks over at The Bulwark articulate all kinds of criticisms of the progressive Left, the Biden Admin and Dems in general. They will contextualize that criticism reminding folks that the alternative to the Dems is a Trumpified Repub Party which is bat guano crazy and illiberal and a danger to our constitutional order (which I think is fair and accurate).

    Every construct has a limiting principle. What in your view is the limiting principle to your opposition to “popular front politics” as it is being practiced today? It seems to me that if you believe there is an immediate and credible threat from a Trumpy GOP, then temporarily advocating that said GOP be denied power seems sensible to me. That said, maybe I am missing something? I also want to state that I agree that if the Dems were smart, they would broaden their appeal by encompassing into their police agenda, some proposals that would appeal to folks like us. Their economic agenda is focused almost entirely on the demand side of the economic equation and mostly ignores the supply side. Just ask Scott Lincicum. They could stop doing stupid things that only appeal to Progressive twitter. That they don’t do that is a failure on their part. Again, they are a very imperfect tool to fight the dangers from the Right.

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  2. Avatar photo
    Matt Stokes

    This was good - very good, even - but the discussions on lockdowns and anti-Trump voices was still off a bit. You can't talk about lockdowns - as varied as they were around the country - without talking about the pandemic. And the more aggressive anti-Trump voices that Jonah is attempting to describe have made their case over and over again - the description doesn't seem to fit exactly.

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  3. Bobby D

    This was a great discussion. Great job!

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  4. Becpt78

    I've always been a huge fan of Daniel Hannan. I don't know how many times I said "amen!" or "preach" at the points you guys were making.

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  5. Avatar photo
    Ben Connelly

    This was really good. The summation of republican virtue about ~5 minutes in was especially good. Manliness, self-reliance, skepticism of power, etc.

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    Whit Waldo

    Another excellent episode - I could have easily listened to another hour as this entire conversation was just fascinating throughout.

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    Mjturosz

    I enjoy these free flowing conversations the most.👍

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  8. Payette

    Excellent discussion!

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  9. Avatar photo
    Abacaxi

    Absolutely loved it. The Rishi Sunak vs. Liz Truss point says so much about where politics is now (I didn't know that he had voted leave and she had voted remain).

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    1. Avatar photo
      Shannonrobertson903

      I don't think I knew that either, but it makes sense: Sunak is a London guy. I think all of London wanted to remain.

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  10. Hartzlk

    <3 <3 <3

    Loved this!

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