The Rational Nationalist

A lot of problems in this country could be fixed if a bunch of forty-somethings and older could figure out how to act like adults. Humility and emotional self-discipline are life skills this country desperately needs among its population.

It's not just TDS tearing this country apart - both the left and the right are so threatened by the tyrannical tendencies of their political opponents that they blind themselves to the threats coming from their own side of the aisle. On this episode, instead of pointing fingers, we'll examine the tactics used by totalitarian and authoritarian movements more generally.

Why do nations struggle to strategically pursue their long-term interests, even when they're clear and obvious? It's because the nation is an abstract concept incapable of conscious decision-making; instead, the decision is made by a number of individual human beings, most of whom will inevitably be selfish assholes.
We'll examine how individual incentives undermine group interests in this episode.

We'll take a look at how a petty, partisan pissing match between Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell took the once respected, impartial judiciary and turned it into a carbon copy of their own institution - a partisan joke that's devolved from a deliberative decision-making body to a literal streetfight. 

A democracy is only as strong as its people, and the American people kind of suck right now. At least we aren't Europeans, I guess. In this episode, we'll look at how the moral fabric of the people, i.e., their willingness to put aside individual interests to work for the common good, is an underrated and often overlooked part of what makes nations great.

Why do smart people so often act stupidly? As is often the case, we’ve known the answer since the time of the Greeks – it’s hubris, dummy. We’ll talk about how smart people are often so in love with their own intellectual superiority that it nullifies whatever epistemic edge they may have (I just learned the word ‘epistemic’ and, thus, am using/misusing it all over the place).

Power is what it's all about - all of politics is nothing more than the pursuit of power. On this episode, we'll look at why power is so alluring and get a little bit more judgmental than usual, looking at why people SHOULD pursue power. 
 
Then, because what people SHOULD do doesn't matter, we'll look at what they actually do.

The Iranian people are at it again, rising up against the ayatollahs. How far will they take it this time, and what can/should we do to help? Also, how much should the US care about democracy and democratic principles in our foreign policy approach?
 
Note: There is a quip about Davos that was accurate as of the time of the recording; however, they have since expelled the Iranian minister.

We take a look at Trump's foreign policy and what we can extrapolate from the Maduro raid, Iran strikes, and the National Security Strategy. Basically, Trump loves a good bargain, likes to stay flexible, and isn't a fan of either Europeans or Congress.

A lot of people are saying that Maduro's kidnapping/capture/extradition/etc. violates international law; others say that international law is a joke and it's naive to care. On this episode, we'll look at this argument, where international law comes from, and how it coincides with basic social norms such as not farting in an elevator.