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Episode 21 - Can We Be Perfect?

Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values

Release Date: 12/18/2018

Roundtable - Vice Vice Baby show art Roundtable - Vice Vice Baby

Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Ohio Senator JD Vance square off for the first—and likely only—vice presidential debate that’s sure to leave pundits chattering, social media accounts fighting, and late economists spinning in their graves. The debate begins at 9PM ET. Join us immediately following the debate for another livestream roundtable to restore some inkling of sanity back to this election. Panelists include Scott Howard, Jeffery Tyler Syck, and John Giokaris.

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163 – Where Does the Conservative Go from Here? show art 163 – Where Does the Conservative Go from Here?

Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values

In a world where both political parties are moving away from free market oriented policy solutions, a robust defense of our international allies, and traditional social norms, where does the conservative go from here? Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis is joined by special returning guests Cal Davenport, Erik Kohn, and Justin Stapley for a roundtable discussion on what the future holds for the conservative movement. This episode first dropped as a livestream on the new Saving Elephants YouTube channel., featuring full-length episodes, exclusive shorts, and even live events! Check it out here:

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Roundtable - Towards a Sensible Foreign Policy show art Roundtable - Towards a Sensible Foreign Policy

Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values

From Eastern Europe to the Middle East to Southeast Asia to so many other places, the world's on fire. Yet neither presidential candidate is offering us a compelling vision to navigate this brave new world. Join another august assembly of panelists as we discuss what a sensible foreign policy might look like.   You can also watch this episode on YouTube:  

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162 – Harmonizing Sentiments with Hans Eicholz show art 162 – Harmonizing Sentiments with Hans Eicholz

Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values

The Declaration of Independence audaciously declares certain “truths” to be “self-evident”.  And, in so doing, offered a justification for not only a break with Great Britain and Revolutionary War, but the foundation upon which a new nation could be built.  But how uniformly were these “truths” held and understood by the Founding Fathers?  Were they disparate views that were ultimately incoherent or inconsistent?  Did the divergent cultures of the American North and South have fundamentally different ideas of what they conceived of America to be?  Were the...

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Roundtable - That 1st Trump vs Harris Debate show art Roundtable - That 1st Trump vs Harris Debate

Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values

The stakes were high in the first debate between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. Did anyone, other than the American people, emerge the loser? Were any pets harmed during the debate? Did some semblance of substance somehow slip through? Saving Elephants presents another livestream cross-partisan panel to debate the debate, featuring: Elizabeth Doll Mike Taylor Cal Davenport John Giokaris

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161 – American Covenant with Yuval Levin show art 161 – American Covenant with Yuval Levin

Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values

In this era of polarization and partisan bickering, Americans of all political persuasions are calling for the nation to come together.  National unity is certainly in high demand and highly praised.  But what is unity?  As Yuval Levin argues in his latest book, , “unity doesn’t mean agreement…disagreement does not foreclose the possibility of unity.  A more unified society would not always disagree less, but it would disagree better—that is, more constructively and with an eye to how different priorities and goals can be accommodated.  That we have lost some...

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Roundtable - Kamala's DNC Speech show art Roundtable - Kamala's DNC Speech

Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values

It's the last night of the Democratic National Convention and who better to offer commentary on Kamala Harris' speech than a cross-partisan panel? Join us for a livestream discussion scheduled to take place shortly after Kamala's speech.

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160 – FreeCons with Avik Roy show art 160 – FreeCons with Avik Roy

Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values

The great fusionist project of ordered liberty advocated by Frank Meyer, William F. Buckley, and M. Stanton Evans is defended and affirmed today by a group calling themselves Freedom Conservatives, or FreeCons.  And as most groups of conservatives are wont to do, they have drafted a outlining what they hope to affirm.  Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis is a proud signatory on this statement and welcomes in this episode one of the two originators of the Statement, Avik Roy, for a wide-ranging discussion on fusionism, how FreeCons may compare and contrast with NatCons, the need for...

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159 – The Prudential Lincoln with Allen Guelzo show art 159 – The Prudential Lincoln with Allen Guelzo

Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values

Was Abraham Lincoln a racist?  Were his efforts at emancipation the mere cold calculations of a politician whose sole aim was to win the Civil War, or do they point to some deeper ideals of America’s first principles?  Joining Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis is Lincoln historian Dr. Allen C. Guelzo for a wide-ranging conversation on how Lincoln’s efforts at ending slavery and saving the union may provide the clearest example of prudent American statesmanship in practice.   About Dr. Allen C. Guelzo Excerpts from the   Dr. Allen C. Guelzo is a New York...

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158 – Fashionable Fusionists with Samuel Goldman show art 158 – Fashionable Fusionists with Samuel Goldman

Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values

In an age of rampant informalities, shoddy attire, and the kind of milieu that makes a possibility, conservatives stand athwart history yelling STOP!  Joining Saving Elephants host Josh Lewis is the impeccably dressed Samuel Goldman to explore how conservatism informs the world of fashion, why legendary figures on the Right from Russell Kirk to Albert J Nock to Willmoore Kendall wore such questionably lavish accessories, the connective tissues between intellectual conservatism and 90s era punk rock, and much more.   About Samuel Goldman Samuel Goldman is an associate professor of...

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More Episodes
Among the ideas that have made Western civilization unique from other civilizations is the notion that humans are limited.  From the ancient Greek and Roman philosophies to the Christian and Judaic teachings, Western civilization was the first to draw a stark contrast between what it meant for humans to strive for nobility over fanciful deity.  Bob Burch joins Josh once again to discuss this seemingly obvious, but surprisingly nuanced and highly beneficial belief that has been passed down through the centuries.
 
There’s something hardwired in us to need a vision.  Without it runners don’t finish their marathon and managers may fail to develop strategic objectives in accordance with the original mission of their company.  We don’t do well as a species left in a bleak reality of mindlessly performing the work assigned to us with no concept of how our work or efforts are somehow contributing to some larger purpose.  And what’s true for the vision of an individual or a company is even truer for a political vision on a grander scale.
 
“We know of no human community whose members do not have a vision of perfection—a vision in which the frustrations inherent in our human condition are annulled and transcended,” wrote journalist Irving Kristol, “The existence of such dreaming visions is not, in itself, a problem.  They are, on the contrary, a testament to the creativity of man which flows from the fact that he is a creature uniquely endowed with imaginative powers as an essential aspect of his self-consciousness.”  This imaginative envisioning of perfection is part of what makes us human.  We don’t merely exist in this reality, we are self-aware of our existence and self-aware of there being something very imperfect with this reality.
 
There’s hardly any disagreement that there is something fundamentally wrong with things as they stand now.  For some that may mean it’s a pity how far of a drive it is to the cleaners while for others it may be a desperate struggle for survival against disease or famine or genocide.  Regardless, we all have some sense of the injustice or inconvenience or imperfection or—dare I say—evil present in our reality.  And we all have the capacity—even the yearning—to envision a reality made right.  A place, or a future, where all things are made new in perfection. 
 
But what’s true of the visualization of individuals or companies is still true of our vision of a perfect reality: this vision must play by the rules.  This vision of perfect reality must be anchored in actual reality or it will likely cause us more harm than good.
 
“Man is not perfectible, but he may achieve a tolerable degree of order, justice, and freedom,” wrote Russell Kirk in his masterpiece The Conservative Mind.  “Both the ‘human sciences’ and the humane studies are means for ascertaining the norms of the civil social order, and for informing the statesman and the reflecting public of the possibilities and the limits of social measures.”  By working within the reality of our human frailty—as James Madison aimed to do in advocating a limited government—we truly can improve our condition.  But it’s when we try to work outside of our limitations that we not only fail to achieve terrestrial heaven, we often end up with terrestrial hell.