Episode 94 – What's the Matter with Socialism?
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
Release Date: 11/02/2021
191 – Canceling Caylan with Caylan Ford
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
In 2019 Caylan Ford resigned her political candidacy in Canada after controversy over allegations of her echoing white nationalist rhetoric. In spite of her resignation—and continual insistence she held no such views—the mobs of cancel culture demanded “justice”. She was blacklisted from employers, unable to continue work with organizations that seek to liberate people living under the yoke of totalitarianism, ostracized by friends and colleagues, attacked and trolled online, and shunned by her community. Caylan joins Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis to share her...
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Roundtable - Buckley Turns 100
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
William F Buckley was one of the most important figures in the conservative movement over the past century. His posthumous 100th birthday is Monday, November 24. Come celebrate the life and legacy of Buckley as our Saving Elephant panelists pay tribute to a conservative life well lived. Panelists include: - CEO of Michael Lucchese - Founder and CEO of - Podcaster, professor, ect.
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Roundtable - Taking Federalism Seriously
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
Returning to the Founders' blueprint for dividing power across federal, state, and local governments may be the greatest weapon we have to reverse the appalling state of our politic divisiveness. What is federalism? And what would a recommitment to federalism look like? Saving Elephants welcomes panelists from the State Policy Network and the Acton Institute to discuss what it means to take federalism seriously again. The panelists include: Brooke Medina - VP of Comms with the State Policy Network Jenn Butler - Sr Policy Advisor with the State Policy Network Dan Hugger - Librarian and...
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190 – Biographizing Buckley with Sam Tanenhaus
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
There are four faces on the Saving Elephants’ Mount Rushmore of great conservatives: Edmund Burke, Russell Kirk, Thomas Sowell, and William F. Buckley. While the first three have each had fully episodes dedicated to their life and works, William F. Buckley has yet to be explored at length. And with Buckley’s posthumous 100th birthday happening later this month, now is the perfect time to reflect on his long and remarkable life. Sam Tanehaus’ decades-in-the-making biography of Buckley was published earlier this year and he joins Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis to cover...
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189 – Rescuing the American Project with Nathan Brown and Robert Haglund
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
Those who identify as pro-immigration and pro-nationalist are often at odds with one another. But what if a healthy dose of nationalism is the very thing that could bolster our immigration? Nathan Brown and Robert Haglund argue in their new book that “much of the dysfunction in contemporary American politics is a consequence of the failure by our elites to understand the crucial relationship between immigration and nationalism.” Nathan and Robert join Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis to explore the history and controversy of immigration in America, what the Left and the...
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Roundtable - The Kids are all Alt-Right
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
Does the Right have a radical problem, particularly among young men? Saving Elephants assembles another insightful panel to offer their...insights. The panelists include: - President of America's Future - Proffessor at the University of Pikeville - VP of NoCapFund Lura Forcum - President of the
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188 – The UnLeft with J.J. McCullough
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
Disillusioned with the rigidity of political tribalism, J.J. McCullough left his role as conservative journalist and commentator and became a content creator. His YouTube channel, offers his one million subscribers weekly deep dives about countries, cultures, and Canada. But while politics is not the focus of his channel, some of his content is still tinged with the overtures of his past life. J.J. joins Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis to discuss how his political philosophy can inform his work without his work being subsumed to a set of ideological commitments, how this...
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Bonus Episode - My Conversation / Intervention with Justin Stapley
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
Justin Stapley and I have been on similar journeys these past many years seeking to better understand our worldviews and the ever-changing political moment and how best to restore sanity and integrity to our politics. But while I've been diligently producing podcast episodes for these past seven years, Justin has launched a dizzying array of projects. In his own words: There's an ongoing joke between myself and that every time I'm on his podcast, I've rebranded. And he's not necessarily wrong, lol. Here's the various blogs and efforts I've done since 2016... Never Tyranny was my...
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187 – Audaciously Aspirational with John Wilsey
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
One cannot BE a conservative. One can only aspire to conservatism. So says John Wilsey in his new book . Perhaps Roger Scruton’s was a worthy endeavor but too audacious of a title. John Wilsey joins Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis to flesh out the aspirational nature of conservatism and how it grounds the individual. They explore the religious roots of American conservatism and the challenges of bringing up a new generation of conservatives without the giants of the past conservatives had to look to for inspiration and encouragement. About John Wilsey...
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Roundtable - Combating Political Violence
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
In the wake of Charlie Kirk's shocking assassination, Americans are bracing for further political attacks. But is further violence inevitable? And what can be done to prevent things from escalating? Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis assembles a roundtable to discuss these sobering and important issues. The panelists include: - Host of - Host of - Host of - Host of - Host of
info_outlineSaving Elephants host Josh Lewis offers a conservative critique of socialism.
It’s hardly news that socialism is gaining in popularity among younger Americans. Yet it’s more difficult to ascertain what Millennials have in mind when they express support for socialism or socialist candidates. Do they mean Marxism or the numerous varieties of Communist authoritarian regimes tried over the past century, European-style “socialism”, democratic socialism, having the state seize the means of production and abolish private property, bolstering labor unions, or some complex web of worker-ownership cooperatives? Or do they simply mean “whatever we have now, I don’t like that” with some vague idea that “the rich are not paying their fair share” thrown in for good measure?
Millennial support of socialism likely has less to do with an embrace of socialist arguments than with a frustrated search for answers. Socialism is winning by default, not persuasion, in much the same manner some candidates win elections not because they are liked, but because they are less hated than their opponent.
Just as it’s hardly news that younger Americans are becoming increasingly supportive of “socialism”—however defined—it also goes without saying that American conservatives have—generally speaking—opposed socialism and supported capitalism (or, more accurately, the free market). And while most conservatives will tell you this is for the sufficient reason capitalism “works” and socialism doesn’t, if pressed further they are likely to give additional moral reasons the former is superior to the latter. And that moral reason would be that capitalism allows for a flourishing of liberties that socialism impairs or, in some cases, obliterates.
But before we can untangle the merits of capitalism and how it is superior to socialism, both economically and ethically, we have to first come closer to understanding what we mean by the terms “capitalism” and “socialism”.