Episode 27 - What's so Positive about Negative Rights?
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
Release Date: 03/19/2019
Roundtable - Election 2024 - Home Stretch
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
The most [assuredly not] important election of our lifetime is a little more than two weeks away. The candidates are in the home stretch as each of them make their final pitch to the dwindling undecided voter. Join another venerable group of panelists as we share our thoughts on the state of the race and our hopes and fears with a coming Harris or another Trump administration. Panelists include: Brooke Medina, Eric Kohn, Mike Taylor, and Nate Honorè
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164 – What is a Woman with Kimberly Ross
Saving Elephants | Millennials defending & expressing conservative values
Saving Elephants meticulously avoids many cringeworthy tropes in today’s “conservative” media and opts instead for deeper conversations on the conservative worldview and what it can offer Millennials. As such, there is much low-hanging-fruit among the fruitier parts of the Left that isn’t as vigorously explored as it is in the aforementioned “conservative” media. But that doesn’t mean these topics are off limits—just that they’re to be approached with conviction and clarity. Josh Lewis welcomes Kimberly Ross back to the podcast for a wide-ranging discussion...
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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?
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
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
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
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
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
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
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...
info_outlineIs healthcare a right or a privilege? As the Democratic party swings Left, more and more Americans—Millennials in particular—are growing comfortable with the idea that we have a right to healthcare. Not to mention free education, food, shelter, and a host of other things.
But before we can even hope to have a productive conversation about these things, we must first address some fundamentals: What is a right? How do rights differ from privileges? Where do rights come from? What is the basis of a right?
Traditional conservatism has long distinguished between what we might call negative rights and positive rights. In its most basic form, a negative right is the right to enjoy things that are yours by virtue of you being born or earning property. They are called “negative”, not because they are somehow pessimistic, but because no one has to do anything for you to enjoy these rights. Your right to exist and do what you will with the things you’ve earned and possess requires no government bureau. Nothing is required of anyone save that we leave each other well enough alone.
A positive right, on the other hand, is a claim to something such as access to healthcare, food, or shelter. A positive right requires that someone give you something. Your “right” to healthcare means someone else must pay for your healthcare and provide you whatever services your “right” entitles you to.
But what is the basis for our rights? Do negative and positive rights share the same basis and are they equally valid? Are they simply favors doled out by a benevolent government that wishes its citizens to enjoy good things? What happens if negative and positive rights conflict? Who should win out? And who gets to decide? Joining Josh once more is frequent Saving Elephants guest Bob Burch to discuss these very important issues.