Ep 259: Rediscovering Republicanism with John Nantz

As John points out, the founding fathers knew a republican system required three main things: For citizens to enjoy individual rights, while maintaining their individuality outside of politics; secondly, political power should never fall entirely to the federal government; and lastly, a robust civil society that incentivized private or volunteer services.

John also explained two very intriguing terms mentioned in his book: 1.) “Government Surcharge,” and 2.) “Windfall Politics.” He defined government surcharge as the costly and inefficient price you pay as a tax-paying citizen when depending upon the state for your goods and services; while windfall politics refers to the inability of the political class to properly manage social benefits – using the slow decline of social security since the 1930s as an example.

• We encourage you to read Rediscovering Republicanism.
• Check out the video version of this week’s podcast!