Episode

5/1 The Bastards of The Neoliberals and Crackup Capitalism w/ Quinn Slobodian

May 1, 2023

Happy Monday! Sam and Emma host Quinn Slobodian, professor of the History of Ideas at Wellesley College, to discuss his recent book Crack-Up Capitalism: Market Radicals and the Dream of a World Without Democracy. Sam and Emma start off by checking in on the numerous improprieties of the conservative Supreme Court justices Gorsuch, Thomas, and Roberts, as well as their decision to take a case that looks to dismantle the regulatory state. Then, they’re joined by Quinn, whose 2018 book Globalists Sam was a big fan of; Quinn says that Crack-Up Capitalism is a sequel of sorts, attempting to answer the question that, after globalization lost its luster, where did market radicalists and their ideology want to go next? Sam asks whether the process surrounding the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) was a prime example of the changing headwinds amongst this group surrounding the idea of “free trade”, and how that term continued to warp as we kept getting farther and farther from 2016. They then get into the meat of the book, discussing the newest ideas amongst this group of market radicalists (read: libertarians): creating secessionist communities, drawing from ideas stemming from gated communities and homeowner’s associations, that proliferated heavily in the 1990’s to create a different political and societal system: that of an entirely private government, that does not adhere to the general whims of American democracy (election cycles every 2 or 4 years). Quinn also touches on the “frontier” mentality that embodies this type of mentality, one that dates all the way back to the “manifest destiny” idea in the 19th century. They end the conversation by discussing whether this idea of an a-democratic society is the underpinning of an actual ideological movement, or if it is backfilling a pretty general conservative ideal: creation of prosperity for the few and the wealthy at the great expense of the working poor.

In the Fun Half, Sam, Emma, and the MR Crew discuss Kyle Rittenhouse’s recent appearance on Ted Nugent’s program, where Nugent taught Rittenhouse about the “Mike Obama” conspiracy theory, Steven Crowder’s response to the leaked footage of him being verbally abusive to his pregnant wife (hint: he’s not remorseful), Elon Musk and Bill Maher breaking down what the apocalyptic “woke mind virus” really is, and how that virus is playing out a Texas school (they don’t want their kids watching “James and the Giant Peach”). Sam touches on the Fed’s war on labor, and how the New York Times is helping it discipline workers, plus your calls and IM’s!

Check out Quinn’s book here: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250753892/crackupcapitalism

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