Rousseau spends three chapters talking about the people, and it’s full of weird assertions and odd points that call into question the value of Rousseau’s book as a work of political philosophy.
Full show notes here.
This week we’re covering Book 2, Chapter 6: Law, and Chapter 7: The Legislator. Rousseau’s peculiar definition of Law comes more into play, and the dangerous ideas he has about what makes “perfect” legislation raises its ugly and tyrannical head.
Full show notes here.
In Book 2, Chapters 4 and 5, we’re covering “The Limits of the Sovereign Power” and “The Right of Life and Death.” Rousseau has finally seemed to realize that the framework he is building is incredibly totalitarian, and has started to backpedal FURIOUSLY.
Full show notes here.
We are starting out with the first three chapters in Book 2 of Rousseau’s Social Contract this time.
Full show notes here.
This week, we are finishing up Book 1 of Rousseau’s Social Contract. Three more chapters, and unfortunately Rousseau repeats and confirms the unlimited power of the State in his framework.
Full show notes here.
In chapters 5 and 6 of Book 1, Rousseau gives us his definition of the Social Contract.
It is a definition so fraught with self-contradictions and deliberately fuzzy thinking that it is frankly insane.
Show notes here.
Here’s the first part of this next book I decided to go through: Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s famous (or infamous, if you’re like me) Social Contract.
Show notes here.
The end of the book came almost as a surprise. Chapter 16 is very short and is mostly focused on a gross misunderstanding of the meaning of “specialization.”
Full show notes here.
Right now, populist conservatives are enjoying a well-earned resurgence. The massive state overreach by totalitarian leftists has given them an opportunity to make some changes.
Full show notes here.
These two chapters are both very short. First, Kropotkin argues that economic calculation or understanding should start with what people need, and then move on to production. Oddly enough, he has a bit of a point here, but unfortunately, he carries it off into one of his bizarre and flatly wrong tangents again.
He ends up arguing that the division of labor is destructive to prosperity. He wanders off in a couple of weird directions that are clearly counter to reality, but that fact doesn’t stop him.
Full notes here.
This video is available on Odysee, YouTube, and BitChute.
This episode’s intro quote is from a talk by Shawn Ritenour:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bP4Mw3uk1A
Intro music by MFCC, courtesy Pixabay:
https://pixabay.com/users/mfcc-28627740/
References:
Mises, Human Action:
https://mises.org/library/book/human-action
Rothbard, Man, Economy, and State:
https://mises.org/library/book/man-economy-and-state-power-and-market
My article containing intros to Mises’s Calculation Problem, Hayek’s Knowledge Problem, and the concept of Pareto-Superiorty:
https://mises.org/mises-wire/mmt-feeding-economically-inferior-machine
Mises, Money, Method, and the Market Process:
https://mises.org/online-book/money-method-and-market-process/trade/10-autarky-and-its-consequences
Hoppe, Marxist and Austrian Class Analysis:
https://mises.org/mises-wire/marxist-and-austrian-class-analysis