Today I’m putting together some thoughts about the failure of limited government, specifically what happens when an ostensibly Lockean, limited government is converted into an unlimited, Rousseauian framework. It can be hard to see exactly when this happens, but I argue that one of the most obvious signs is when various government officials begin to fight over ultimate authority, which in the Rousseauian framework is a fight over being the mouthpiece of the General Will, something that doesn’t exist in a Lockean framework.
Full show notes here.
One of Jackson’s recent dissents laments the focus of judicial functions on the written forms of the law, arguing by inference for some kind of “follow your heart” judiciary which is extremely dangerous because it removes any limits on judicial power and destroys any sense of regularity which the law might provide.
Of course, the best solution would be to discard the fiction we call the social contract entirely, aiming instead for voluntary covenants and contracts. However, as long as coercive states continue to exist, we will need to distinguish between those which are simply failed agents and those which are totalitarian nightmares waiting to hatch.
This video is available on Odysee, YouTube, and BitChute.
References:
The Brion McClanahan Show, “Is Justice Jackson the Future of SCOTUS?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jguo9USI3nA
Jonathan Turley, “The Chilling Jurisprudence of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson”
https://jonathanturley.org/2025/06/28/the-chilling-jurisprudence-of-justice-ketanji-brown-jackson/
Intro quote by Rothbard, from “Economic Controversies”
https://mises.org/library/book/economic-controversies
Intro music by Zakhar Valaha, courtesy Pixabay
https://pixabay.com/users/good_b_music-22836301/