Machiavelli and the DNA of Authoritarian Democracy
Release Date: 08/24/2016
My Freedom, My Rights, and the End of the Social Contract
Deeper Dive - DSU's podcast
In the last two years we have seen an explosion in assertion of “absolute freedom” and “absolute rights” in the social and political crisis surrounding vaccines and the government’s authority to mandate vaccines. Throughout the country, people have asserted an irreducible freedom and an unconditional right to “decide” whether to accept the vaccination. This is understanding and assertion of freedom and rights are yet another example of an extraordinary confusion about the core philosophical and political ideas that animate the American Political experiment. In this episode we...
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Texas and the Theologico-Political Crisis
Deeper Dive - DSU's podcast
"I have longer to please the dead than please the living here." (Sophocles, Antigone). With these chilling words, Antigone sets in motion a Theologico-Political Crisis that will devour the Royal Family of Thebes and shatter the city. The Theologico-Political crisis that constitutes the drama of Sophocles' famous tragedy is a defining condition of Western Civilization, the emergence of Platonic and Metaphysical political philosophy, and the driving force behind the emergence of Modern political philosophy and Liberal Political Philosophy. Indeed, the Theologico-Political crisis is driving...
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We Are Back
Deeper Dive - DSU's podcast
After an extended break, Walker and Professor Dungey return! In this, "we are back," episode we examine where we are, and identify three main ideas to contextualize what is happening and where we are going. First, we must always remember that democracies are inherently fragile, and sometimes dangerous. Second, we discuss the idea that the legal and political institutions and processes of American Democracy are human inventions that are hard to build and hold, but easy to lose. Third, we discuss the crisis of legitimacy that threatens to dissolve the American political...
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Becoming Mortal Gods and the End of Liberal Democracy
Deeper Dive - DSU's podcast
A critical theme running throughout Modern, and Modern Liberal Political Theory is the recognition of, and consequences that result from, the Death or Displacement of God. Ever since Machiavelli Displaced God from the Cosmos and the Human Mind, it has now become necessary for Human Beings to Create the Moral, Economic, and Political Institutions that bring Order, Security, and Peace to Human Life. Humans must now do the Work that God used to do. However, within this extraordinary observation is a fascinating, empowering, and terrifying ambiguity. In our most recent podcast, "Becoming Mortal...
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The Age of Acquisition and the Perfection of Inequality
Deeper Dive - DSU's podcast
The Washington Post proclaims: "The GOP Tax Reform is a Scam." As Millions of working and middle class people are discovering that their tax returns are either significantly lower, or, that they actually owe substantial amount of money, they feel conned. And yet, while the recent GOP tax reform does represent one of the largest transfers of wealth in the History of American Politics, and while that transfer of wealth overwhelmingly benefitted the super-rich, nothing has gone wrong. No one has been Conned. In this episode, "The Age of Acquisition and the Perfection of Inequality," we argue...
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Government Shutdown, Executive Power, and the Coming Authoritarianism
Deeper Dive - DSU's podcast
As the Institutions and Processes of Government continue to falter and breakdown, another Government Shutdowns looms, and the ominous threat of a Declaration of National Emergency darkens the American sky, we investigate what all three of the phenomena have in common, and how they will contribute to the emergence of an Authoritarian Regime. In our latest episode, "Government Shutdown, Executive Power, and the Coming Authoritarianism," Walker and Professor Dungey not only investigate what each of these dynamics mean, but also situate each dynamic in the deeper philosophical context of...
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DSU LIVE FB event - Winning the Culture Wars and the End of Liberal Democracy
Deeper Dive - DSU's podcast
In our Fourth, Special DSU Event, we share with you the audio from a DSU Live Event, recorded on October 21, 2017. In this episode, we examine the renewed attempt by powerful groups within American Society and Democracy to ACQUIRE AND EXERCISE POLITICAL POWER FOR THE PURPOSE OF ASSERTING A SPECIFIC CLAIM TO THE MEANING AND PURPOSE OF LIFE. This is extraordinarily dangerous. If a particular group ever "WINS" the Culture Wars, if means the END of Liberal Democracy as we know it. No one "WINS" a Culture War.
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The State of Nature, Social Contract, and Guns
Deeper Dive - DSU's podcast
In the wake of yet another mass shooting that left 17 young people dead at a high school in Parkland, Florida, the nation is once again torn apart by suffering and vicious ideological debate about gun ownership in America. In this episode, "The State of Nature, Social Contract, and Guns," Professor Dungey and Walker approach the issue of guns from the deeper historical and philosophical ideas that animate early Modern political theory, and especially the emergence of Liberal Political Philosophy. We approach the issue of guns from the perspective of Hobbes's State of Nature, his notion of...
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FB1_Chaos as a Political Strategy
Deeper Dive - DSU's podcast
Recently, Donald Trump said he "likes governing by chaos." And, there are many who would say that his administration is chaotic. In this episode, Professor Dungey investigates the philosophical origins and meanings of the idea of Chaos as it emerges in Early Modern Political Theory. What role did the idea of "chaos" play in the early development of Modern Political Philosophy? And, what does it mean to govern "chaotically." Much of Modern Political Philosophy is specifically designed to contain and escape chaos. Can Liberal, Democratic Institutions and Processes survive Chaos? Enjoy
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Welcome to the Post-Truth Presidency
Deeper Dive - DSU's podcast
For two years we have been told that the informational, social, and political crisis now unfolding has been set in motion by the emergence of the Post-Truth Language and Thoughts of Trump. Indeed, last year, Chuck Todd declared, "Welcome to the Post-Truth Presidency." In this counter-intuitive episode, Walker and Professor Dungey discuss how this Narrative is actually wrong, and more importantly, Dangerous. Enjoy.
info_outlineIn Part 2 of our ongoing series that examines the philosophical origins of, and the reasons for, a possible transition from Liberal Democracy to Authoritarian Democracy, we return to very beginning of Modern and Proto-Liberal political philosophy, Machiavelli and the Great Prince. In this episode, "Machiavelli and the DNA of Authoritarian Democracy," we investigate Machiavelli's radical rejection of Classical Political Philosophy, what this means, and how his "political solution," the Great Prince, lays the foundation for the eventual transition to Authoritarian Democracy. enjoy.