Truce - History of the Christian Church

• Republicans and Evangelicals I Milton Friedman and School Choice (part 2 of 2)

  Give to help Chris continue to make Truce Milton Friedman is one of the most important economists of the last hundred years. His ideas were quoted by many evangelical writers in the 1970s and 80s, despite his not being a Christian and few of his ideas being in the Bible. Figures like Jerry Falwell loved the guy. Ronald Reagan adopted many of his ideas, though they disagreed on things like the increasing national debt. Friedman played a major role in the popularization of the school voucher concept. Essentially, some people want to allow parents to have a say in which school their children attend. If they want to take the children to a private school, they believe that the government should give them a certain amount of money that would have gone to the public school and give it to the private one. Those who disagree say that this would defund already underfunded schools. Friedman also believed that teachers should not necessarily be certified and that the free market would weed out the bad ones. Stanford professor Jennifer Burns (author of Milton Friedman: The Last Conservative) returns to help Chris explore this complicated subject. Sources: Milton Friedman: The Last Conservative by Jennifer Burns Reaganland by Rick Perlstein Free to Choose A helpful Britannica article on Friedman Listen, America! by Jerry Falwell. Paperback, August 1980 reprint version Bantam edition Divided We Stand by Marjorie Spruill Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman Discussion Questions: Had you heard of Friedman before this episode? What are school vouchers? How could school vouchers be seen by some as a tool of segregation? What would it mean if parents had to keep track of every teacher their children learned under? How are schools currently funded in the US? Why does that matter? How are some schools wealthy while others are poor? What should be the role of wealthy people when it comes to education? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• Republicans and Evangelicals I Milton Friedman vs. John Maynard Keynes (1 of 2)

  Give to help Chris make Truce Milton Friedman may be the most famous American economist. His research and theories have profoundly shaped the modern American economy. But few of us can clearly articulate what he taught and what it means for our times. Friedman's career was defined by the aftermath of the Great Depression. He worked in the government administering the New Deal, but never really agreed with it. He joined the faculty at the University of Chicago and built a department around him that taught a version of free-market economics known as monetarism. Essentially, monetarism is the idea that inflation is a product of how much money is in circulation. Friedman did not like the Federal Reserve or the gold standard, instead, advocating for a standard 4% increase in the money supply every year that would not be shifted. By setting a rule, he hoped to do away with an entire governmental department. Friedman and his co-authors ventured into areas that other economists thought, perhaps, unwise. They used economics to explain things like marriage and school choice. He was also a proponent of school vouchers. Stanford professor Jennifer Burns joins Chris today to explore the many facets of Milton Friedman. This is the first of two parts. Sources: Milton Friedman: The Last Conservative by Jennifer Burns The Years of Lyndon Johnson: The Part to Power by Robert Caro https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/laissez-faire “Keynesian Economics Theory: Definition and How It's Used” Investopedia article https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2014/article/one-hundred-years-of-price-change-the-consumer-price-index-and-the-american-inflation-experience.htm Reaganland by Rick Perlstein Capitalism and Freedom by Milton Friedman Milton Friedman: A Concise Guide to the Ideas and Influence of the Free-Market Economist by Eamonn Butler Friedman on the Donahue show in 1979 Discussion Questions: Had you heard of Friedman before this episode? If so, what did you know about him? What does "laissez-faire" mean in economic terms? Does it line up with the Bible in any direct way? Why do you think so many conservative Christians lean toward laissez-faire? How bad was the Great Depression? If you had worked for the government during the Depression, what would you have advocated? Why are some people against the New Deal? What did the New Deal mean to starving people during the Depression? How does a fear of communism play into anti-New Deal sentiment? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• Republicans and Evangelicals I William F. Buckley v. Ayn Rand and the John Birch Society

  Give to help Chris make Truce William F. Buckley Jr. helped change the face of conservatism in the US because he gave it intellectual backing. But that doesn't mean that his ideas were accepted completely. He had several nemesis within his own movement that tried to derail him. One opponent was the John Birch Society. Buckley's whole modus operandi was to make conservatism respectable. But Robert Welch and other members of the JBS were using their movement to spread bogus conspiracy theories. They were actively discrediting the movement that Buckley tried to build. So Buckley, National Review, and Barry Goldwater tried to bring it down. Another enemy was Ayn Rand. Buckley and Rand were libertarians, but they disagreed on something important: religion. Rand was an ardent atheist, while Buckley believed Christianity and conservatism were inseparable. When Buckley started Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) he discovered that his young followers were incorporating many other ideas into their ideology. Rand's writings were impacting the students. So Buckley had to work to expel those ideas from YAF. Libertarian economist Murray Rothbard was another enemy. Rothbard actively encouraged his followers to split YAF and leave the organization. Extremism leads to extremism. Extremism lends itself to ideological purity, which means that groups like YAF were destined to split and split and split again. Buckley has his work cut out for him. Sources Buckley: William F Buckley Jr. and the Rise of American Conservatism by Carl T. Bogus. The Rise and Fall of Modern American Conservatism by David Farber Burning Down the House by Andrew Koppelman Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus by Rick Perlstein God and Man at Yale by William F. Buckley Jr Heather Cox Richardson's YouTube series on the history of the GOP Hoover Institution article on the impact of Buckley and Firing Line Reaganland by Rick Perlstein The Incomparable Mr. Buckley documentary The Sharon Statement Discussion Questions: Extremism leads to extremism. Do you agree? The desire to keep a movement ideologically pure is not unique to Buckley. Discuss that desire. When is it important and when does it lead to issues? Rand and Buckley disagreed on the role of religion. Why did that put them at odds? Why would Murray Rothbard want to split YAF? Why are youth movements so important to politics? To religion? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• Republicans and Evangelicals I William F. Buckley Jr. and National Review

  Give to help Chris continue the Truce Podcast. Senator Robert Taft couldn't get the nomination. He tried to be the GOP's nominee for president three different times but could not get elected. Conservative Republicans' failure to get nominated by their own party was a source of much frustration. What could they do? Concerns of conspiracy spread through people like Phyllis Schlafly whose book A Choice Not an Echo claimed that "elites" were steering the party. It was into this world that a bright young man with an untraceable accent found his appeal. William F. Buckley Jr. was born into a wealthy family that was deeply Catholic and driven by concern over the New Deal. They were libertarians and wanted a small government. Buckley lived a childhood of privilege, riding horses, playing piano, and mostly private education. His first book, God and Man at Yale, was a sharp critique of his alma mater, stating that they should have done a better job promoting laissez-faire economics and religion. The book was a smash hit, in part, because Yale fought its charges in the press. Buckley followed it with a rousing defense of Senator Joseph McCarthy's tactics in the early 1950s, but the book was published just as the senator was revealed to be the demagogue he was. So Buckley decided to shift his effort to creating a journal of opinion that would appeal to conservatives. National Review became the "it" publication for conservatism in the US, and the most successful journal of opinion in the country. Its greatest impact was giving conservatism an intellectual voice in an era when the "liberal consensus" dominated. Buckley then went on to start in the PBS television show Firing Line, a funny thing for a libertarian because the show was sponsored, in part, through government funding. Buckley succeeded in giving conservatism an intellectual voice. In the process, he won his greatest victory: convincing Ronald Reagan to become a conservative. Sources Buckley: William F Buckley Jr. and the Rise of American Conservatism by Cart T. Bogus. The Rise and Fall of Modern American Conservatism by David Farber Burning Down the House by Andrew Koppelman https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYgv7ur8ipg&t=3018s Firing Line Episode 113, September 3 1968 Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus by Rick Perlstein God and Man at Yale by William F. Buckley Jr Heather Cox Richardson's YouTube series on the history of the GOP National Review. 1st edition, November 19, 1955. Page 6 (gives a helpful breakdown of what the magazine stands for) Hoover Institution article on the impact of Buckley and Firing Line Reaganland by Rick Perlstein The Incomparable Mr. Buckley documentary Discussion Questions Do you have any personal connection with Buckley? Did you see his shows or read his writings? Why did conservatism need an intellectual voice? How did conservatism change between Bob Taft and Buckley? Buckley believed in a limited government, one that incorporated Christianity. Would you like his version of the American government? Buckley claimed that he wasn't racist, but believed that black people were incapable of governing themselves. That they should earn the right to vote in the South. Is this racism? National Review welcomed segregationists to write in the journal. Would you read a publication like this? Buckley advocated for a smaller government but also stared in a TV show on public television. Does this strike you as hypocrisy? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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• Republicans and Evangelicals I Barry Goldwater – How Republicans Welcomed Extremism - Part Two

  Give a little to help Chris a lot In the first part of our series, Chris explored the beginning of Barry Goldwater's career, from his early days as a young man to his rise to the Senate. In the second episode, Goldwater still hasn't agreed to be the nominee, even though groups are raising money in his name. One of his most valuable supporters was a woman named Phyllis Schlafly. In 1964 she published a small book, A Choice Not an Echo. It claimed that GOP nominations had been rigged going back many years. She felt burned that Robert Taft (a true conservative) had been avoided over Dwight Eisenhower. Her book earned Goldwater the eventual nomination by his party. At the 1964 GOP convention, Goldwater announced that extremism was a thing he was okay with. While this excited his base, it scared a good many others who were already afraid that he'd use his power to launch nuclear weapons. Lyndon Johnson won that year in the greatest landslide in US presidential history. CORRECTION: The original version of this episode said that LBJ's win in 1964 was bolstered by the Civil Rights Act. Historian Rick Perlstein wrote in to say that he won despite the Civil Rights Act. Sources Before the Storm by Rick Perlstein. The Heritage Foundation's claims about Black Lives Matter JFK's address about the Cuban missile crisis The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert Caro LBJ ice cream ad Rockefeller's speech at the 1964 RNC via C-SPAN Birchers by Matthew Dallek Goldwater's speech at the 1964 RNC via C-SPAN 1964 RNC party platform These Truths by Jill LePore Goldwater's comments on the Religious Right Discussion Questions How did the 1964 Republican platform show a slide to extremism? Is the argument for "states' rights" inherently racist? How has it been used to back racism? Why did Goldwater's talk about nuclear weapons make people uneasy? How did Goldwater's address to the 1964 RNC act as a call to extremists? Why did Lyndon Johnson win by the largest victory in US presidential history? Even though he lost dramatically, Goldwater had a big impact. What was it? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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