Dilemma Podcast

In this video, anti-war libertarian Scott Horton joins me for a wide-ranging conversation on the true mechanics of American empire. We talk about the strange new alliances forming as both left and right confront the costs of endless war, the covert operations that fueled U.S. intervention in the Middle East, and how Israel fits into the broader imperial strategy. We also dive into the terror wars, the intelligence games behind Epstein, and why this moment might mark the beginning of a major political realignment.00:00:00 Coming up…00:00:54 Intro00:01:44 Scott’s Background00:03:56 The Moment Made by the Israel First/America First Clash00:10:12 “Why Do They Hate Us?” and Does Israel Fight “Our” wars?00:16:15 Left is not Liberal and Who Drives the Empire00:24:13 The Chip on Scott’s Shoulder00:25:19 How Is A Liberated Middle East “a danger”00:35:58 The American Mythology of Promoting Democracy00:42:45 The Moral Disgust of Gaza, Christians, and Exiting the Myths00:56:14 Cognitive Dissonance and Sadaam’s “connection” to 9/1101:12:59 State Worship, Liberals, and Israel as an “asset of economic Empire”?01:20:40 Occupy and MAGA, when Disillusionment meets in the streets01:27:17 Iran and Ghana and the Islam Variable01:31:37 Why They Hate Us… They told us!01:36:44 Practice Imagining Your Mom, Brother, Wife, Child… Dead01:42:20 “They Sound just like Texans”01:44:03 Onramps to a Better Conversation01:49:41 “Israel Does The Dirty Work”01:56:05 What’s Next?02:07:19 Outro Four Loose Ends

In this video, I explore the growing clash between “America First” and “Israel First”—a fracture exposing deeper contradictions in U.S. politics and global power. As figures like Tucker Carlson, Dave Smith, Candace Owens start asking tough questions, many find themselves at the edge of a worldview built on a myth of liberal ideals of a professed intention of moral clarity. But that worldview—detached from history, blind to empire, and allergic to material analysis—can’t explain what’s happening and is perpetually open to exploitation.00:00:00 Intro00:01:01 The Israel First Clash and Sensing An Opening00:04:07 The Mechanisms of Empire and Conspiracy00:07:04 Three Paths After The First Step00:11:21 My Next Five Guests and My Focus00:14:32 The Entry Point of Moral Horror00:16:41 The Fear of Ambiguity00:20:02 The Threat of a Liberated Middle East00:22:51 “Liberal” vs “Left”00:26:58 The “Rational Compassion” of The War of Ideas00:28:42 The Secular Liberal Lens on the World00:30:25 Problem 1: The Downplaying of History00:34:51 Problem 2: Power Imbalances00:39:33 Problem 3: Overreliance on Stated Intentions00:44:46 A Feminist Revolution in Oman00:49:03 Wanting Something Under Someone Else’s House00:53:06 Self Defense as a Moral Shield00:56:12 Honorable Intentions?01:00:01 The Empire Lens of Analysis01:06:37 A Coup in Iran and Revealed Intentions of the West01:14:05 The Islam Variable: Ghana vs Iran01:19:57 Is This Liberation?01:23:50 Solving the “Collateral Damage” Problem with Surgical Surveillance01:29:40 Outro

I'm still waiting for a debate partner—so I've decided to start without one. In this video, I deliver my opening statement.Plus, I'm announcing a short break to focus on finishing my upcoming book about moral progress and technology.My essay "Be Careful In The Dark" is available here https://whatjaythinks.com/essays/2021... 00:00 Intro - My History with the IDW06:37 Intro - Then October 7th Happened10:56 ANNOUNCING A SHORT BREAK14:08 The Statement - "Sometimes War Is Necessary" and "Derangement"25:14 The Statement - When to "Resist" Arrest29:18 The Statement - Analogizing to the Palestinian Cause35:04 The Statement - Conditions to Resist41:03 The Statement - Sanitizing Colonialization and "Barbarism"45:40 The Statement - Worlds Ought We Not Resist?49:08 Outro - I Await the Response

Capitalist Libertarianism sells itself as the champion of freedom and personal choice—but what happens when the very systems we’ve unleashed are shaping our desires, not responding to them? In this video, I dig into the fundamental blind spots that libertarians (especially the free-market capitalist kind) tend to ignore. From psychological manipulation in advertising to global coordination breakdowns like the tragedy of the commons and the free-rider problem, I argue that the neat equations of “freedom = good outcomes” just don’t hold up. Especially not in a world where your attention, your data, and your impulses are being auctioned off in real time.To ground it all, we finish with a short watch-along of Milton Friedman’s 1980 documentary Free to Choose—a kind of holy text for the neoliberal era. I’m not here to dunk for the sake of dunking. I’m here to challenge some assumptions, explore alternatives, and ask whether "just letting the market decide" is really the kind of future we want—or just the one we can’t escape. Let’s watch together and think out loud.For the full Dilemma Archive including the mentioned Episode "Do I Smell Donuts?" whatjaythinks.com00:00 Intro: What I mean by Libertarian01:47 The Worlds We Want and the Worlds We Can't Resist04:43 Can Advertising Ever be Too Effective?11:22 The Base Capitalist Libertarian Assumption12:54 Mass Coordination Problems14:04 MCP One / The Stag Hunt15:39 MCP Two / First Mover Problems18:19 MCP Three / Free Rider Problem19:13 MCP Four / Tragedy Of The Commons22:13 Darwinian Evolution Misconception and the Range of Survival29:58 Watch Along Intro to Milton Friedman32:50 Free To Chose 10 Minute Watch-Along51:39 The Totalitarian Big Market Liberal and the Deluded Free Market Capitalists

In this conversation, Sophie Scott-Brown, historian and political philosopher, joins me to explore how anarchism isn’t just a theory, but a way of seeing, organizing, and acting in the world. We unpack the illusion of democracy, the dangers of temporary power, and what freedom actually means through an anarchist lens. When disaster strikes or institutions crumble, does anarchy step in as chaos—or as a natural form of human cooperation?More than just rebellion, anarchism is about rethinking power, human connection, and the structures we assume are necessary. We dig into direct action, mutual aid, the role of creativity, and even cryptocurrency—examining whether anarchism is best understood as a philosophy, an adjective, or a verb. If today’s systems are failing, what comes next? And could the answer have been here all along?00:00:00 Intro00:02:02 The Modern Collapse of Order and the Anarchist Lens00:05:45 Do We Have Democracy? Have We Ever?00:12:11 The Danger of Temporary Power00:24:23 The Structure And the Solutions00:32:19 Anarchy in a Disaster00:34:31 The Existential Purpose of Civilizations00:46:18 What Is Freedom To an Anarchist00:50:25 Anarchy And Human Connection00:58:59 Anarchy as Chaos and Anarchy as Possibility01:03:53 Nihilism Versus Anarchism01:10:24 The Radical Fifties and The First Cold War01:14:23 Cryptocurrency and Anarchy at Scale01:22:02 Is Anarchy a Philosophy or Adjective or Verb?01:24:03 Protest Versus Direct Action and When We Join The Conversation01:30:44 When Nihilism Burns Itself Out and The Necessary Anarchist Creativity

In Part 2, Ruth Kinna and I trace anarchism’s turbulent path through the 20th century—from early revolutionary violence to its erasure under Lenin, the Spanish Civil War, and the Red Scare in America. As anarchism was eclipsed by state communism and crushed by authoritarian forces, its ideas never disappeared. Instead, they resurfaced in free love movements, civil rights struggles, punk culture, and a quiet rekindling in academic and activist circles.But anarchism has always been more than just resistance—it’s a way of imagining and building beyond what exists. We explore how anarchist thought adapted in response to fascism, war, neoliberalism, and Cold War propaganda, and why its core principles—mutual aid, autonomy, and anti-authoritarianism—continue to re-emerge in times of crisis.whatjaythinks.com00:00:00 Intro00:00:27 Turn of the Century Anarchist Violence00:05:45 Artistry and Dreams of Anarchy and William Morris’s News From Nowhere00:12:30 The WWI Disaster for Anarchists00:15:13 The Anti-Colonial Anarchists and The Rise of Lenin00:19:54 Lenin Rebrands “Communism” and Eclipses Anarchism00:21:00 The Ideas Don’t Go Away, The Red Scare and Anarchy Is Outlawed in America00:23:09 Spain’s Temporary Anarchy Breakthrough00:31:33 WWII’s Destructive Demonstration and Anarchy’s Response through Alex Comfort00:37:42 The Leviathan, Moral Atrophy, and the Death Drive00:41:57 The Free Love and Civil Rights Anarchists Rediscover the Classics00:46:48 The Cold War Slander of Ideas00:51:16 Neoliberalism, Reagan, Thatcher, and Punk Anarchy00:57:20 The Anarchy Tradition and Identity01:01:04 Rallying Points, Headline Events, and a Rekindling of Anarchism01:06:55 The Journal of Anarchist Studies

In this conversation, I sit down with Ruth Kinna, historian of anarchism and professor of political theory, to explore the roots of anarchist thought—from Proudhon’s challenge to property to Bakunin’s clash with Marx to Kropotkin’s vision of anarchist communism. But first, we confront the towering figure of Thomas Hobbes, whose vision of human nature still shapes how we justify power today.What if anarchism isn’t chaos but a creative, practical response to domination? We track how anarchists challenged the state, capitalism, and even socialism itself, revealing a tradition that’s far more nuanced—and necessary—than its reputation suggests. This is Part 1, setting the stage for a deeper dive into how anarchism lives and breathes in today’s world.whatjaythinks.com00:00:00 Intro: A Renewed Interest in Anarchy and Libertarianism00:04:22 Intro: The Dark Shadow of Thomas Hobbes00:07:30 “Greed Is Good” and Human Nature00:15:18 Where Proudhon Begins and What Anarchy Isn’t00:20:00 Hobbes Builds the Sovereign Beast00:25:23 Proudhon Tries To Intellectually Slay the Dragon00:29:44 “Property Is Theft”00:33:17 The Enclosure Movements and The End of Free Shared Open Land00:38:14 Leo Tolstoy, “War and Peace”, and International Workers00:40:22 The Socialism Split, Marx vs. Bakunin00:46:04 The Paris Commune, Demise and Legacy00:50:25 How Should We Think About Marx00:55:56 Kropotkin Pushes “Anarchist Communism”01:01:45 What Is “Mine” Without Private Property?01:05:55 The American Interest in Anarchy01:10:55 Anti-Slavery Anarchy, Lucy Parsons and Emma Goldman

In this video, I talk with Peter Beinart about Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza and the cracks forming in Zionism. But first, I share a personal reflection: What if Judaism’s survival isn’t about being the Chosen People, but about Chosen Families? Could the very thing seen as a threat be what actually saves it? We dive into power, myth, and the future of Jewish identity in a post-Zionist world.00:00:00 Intro: The Unbroken Chain00:16:21 Inviting me back to Shabbat00:18:28 Dropping The Curtain Too Early on Jewish Stories of Victimhood00:21:31 When Did Peter See The Cracks in Zionism?00:24:45 The Painfully Broken Relationships00:26:56 Zionism As Colonialism and the American Parallel00:30:43 Uprooted People versus Unrooted People00:34:04 Our Failure To Speak Up And How Fix It00:37:11 Loving Israel to Death00:42:05 The Big Bad “G” Word for Jews00:45:38 The Book of Joshua and The Zionist00:49:11 The Jewish God and Zionism in a “Post Post Colonial World”00:55:14 The Problem of Blaming Jewish Brutalism on the Brutalism of the World01:00:22 How Did it Get This Bad and Will It Get Worse?01:02:42 What Do You Do At the Synagogue during the Prayer For Israel?01:06:19 The Criticism of Focusing on Jews while Palestinians Are Targeted?01:09:18 Outro and A Potential Future Guest

Donald Trump is often mocked for his bluntness, but what if his “no more bullshit” approach is actually revealing something deeper—something that both leftists and Trumpers can recognize about the world order? In this video, I break down what Trump’s honesty really exposes, from his bizarre Greenland purchase idea to his “Gaza Riviera” plan, and how it all connects to the long-standing contradictions of empire, neoliberalism, and self-determination. This isn’t a defense of Trump—far from it—but an attempt to speak across the political divide, to find where we actually agree on the failures of the system and where we fundamentally differ on what should come next.00:00 Intro The Honesty of Donald Trump00:58 The Weird Thing About Greenland0:4:28 A Giant Game of Risk06:40 Neoliberalism's Transactional Definition of Freedom10:59 Worlds We Want? Or Worlds We Can't Resist?13:08 A Century of Self Intertest vs Self Determination20:58 The Shared Skepticism of Global Power23:39 We Scared Ourselves25:58 When We Were Together AtOccupy Wall Street30:12 What's Wrong With Trump's Gaza Plan?37:03 Leftist Theory of Man at odds with Neoliberalism40:17 The Morality of "He Who Dies With the Most Toys Wins"

In this video, I sit down with journalist and whistleblower Jack Poulson to uncover the hidden world of surveillance, data brokers, and the quiet war on dissent. We explore how pro-Palestine protesters are being tracked, the real-time auctions selling your personal data, and the murky alliances between Big Tech, intelligence agencies, and the military. Jack breaks down the mechanics of AI-powered repression, from facial recognition threats to the Pentagon’s hands-off approach to ethical oversight. Alongside this, I examine the philosophy of data capture—how the “front door” of willing consent and the “back door” of clandestine access have converged into a powerful system of control... with some important vulnerabilities and weaknesses.Jack Poulson's Site : https://techinquiry.org/Terms and Conditions May Apply (2013) : https://youtu.be/hRJEYmodC08?si=2vBOdOGIfa7C2yHSWrath of Zion Investigation on Dropsite : https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/israel-palestine-dox-new-york-facial-recognition-ai00:00:00 Intro: Jack Poulson the Google “Whistleblower”00:03:27 Intro: The Trackpad Dilemma and Ethical Surveillance00:08:30 Intro: The Open Front and Locked Back Door of Data Access00:27:30 Jack Poulson’s style of Journalism and the “Whistleblower Trap”00:33:30 How Surveillance Programs are Marketed00:37:47 The Wrath of Zion Investigation and Intimidation of Pro Palestine Protests00:47:35 Facial Recognition and What Can Be Done With Data00:52:26 Two Paths to the Data01:04:54 Apps and Terms and Conditions May Apply vs Direct Wiretaps01:13:25 Children’s Data and Zuckerberg’s Emojis01:16:42 Security and Privacy “Tradeoffs” and Advocacy to Journalism01:27:37 What Are They Trying to Build and Will Incompetence Save Us?01:39:07 U.S Tech Companies are Effectively Peers of the U.S. Government01:50:58 The Digital Dock Worker Who Refuses to Pass Along 1’s and 0’s01:57:42 Where Are the Vulnerabilities In This Digital Web02:04:47 What Constitutes a Contribution to a Bomb Being Dropped On Children?02:11:41 Keep Up With Jack