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Economist Mark Thornton of the Mises Institute returns to the show for a quick look at the state of the economy. He and Scott zoom out and try to determine where in the cycle between artificial booms and recessions we find ourselves. 

Discussed on the show:

• Anatomy of the Crash
• Extractive Psychology – Minor Issues Podcast with Mark Thornton

Mark Thornton is a senior fellow at the Mises Institute. His most recent book is The Skyscraper Curse: And How Austrian Economists Predicted Every Major Economic Crisis of the Last Century. Follow him on Twitter @DrMarkThornton 

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: Roberts and Robers Brokerage Incorporated; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; Libertas Bella; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott.

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Joseph Solis-Mullen discusses the claim that America must now turn its attention toward China as the new threat of global hegemony. War hawks will cite China’s growing economic supremacy, many alleged human rights abuses and supposed imperialistic designs on its neighbors. To some extent, this characterization is true: Solis-Mullen grants that China’s government can be extraordinarily abusive to its people, and says that he wouldn’t be surprised if it tried to take over Taiwan. But in general, there are simply way too many problems with the narrative that China is an imperialistic threat to the West. Most importantly, he explains, China’s economy is teetering on a knife’s edge—years of bad debt, bad monetary policy and misallocation of centrally-planned resources, combined with a catastrophically unbalanced population pyramid, make China’s future as an economic superpower anything but certain. Most of this fear mongering, Solis-Mullen concludes, is simply propaganda designed to give the American people another bogeyman to fear, and to help line the pockets of the arms manufacturers.

Discussed on the show:

• “China Won’t Be Taking Over the World” (Mises Institute)

Joseph Solis-Mullen is a political scientist and author. Follow all his work at his website.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State and Why The Vietnam War?, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; EasyShip; Thc Hemp Spot; Green Mill Supercritical; Bug-A-Salt; Lorenzotti Coffee and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

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Scott talks to Ken Bensinger of Buzzfeed News about the role of FBI informants in the plot to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Bensinger explains that informants played a heavy role in the militia group involved and helped motivate members to take violent action. Although none of the fifteen arrested was assisting the government, informants helped provide the group with training, were present for surveillance of Whitmer’s property and were present during the storming of the Michigan Capitol on April 30th. Overall, Bensinger has trouble seeing how these events would have happened without the presence of government informants. 

Discussed on the show:

• “Watching The Watchmen” (Buzzfeed News)
• “The Day Shall Come” (IMDb)

Ken Bensinger is an investigative reporter for BuzzFeed News and the author of Red Card: How the U.S. Blew the Whistle on the World’s Biggest Sports Scandal. Follow him on Twitter @kenbensinger.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State and Why The Vietnam War?, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; EasyShip; Thc Hemp Spot; Green Mill Supercritical; Bug-A-Salt; Lorenzotti Coffee and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

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Scott is joined by Adam Kokesh, who gives his perspective on how much blame cops and soldiers bear for the immorality of their actions. Scott describes the way we seem to cut soldiers some slack, largely because they tend to be younger when they join up, the propaganda is so much fiercer and it can be difficult to quit the military. But Kokesh, a combat veteran himself, is adamant that people can absolutely leave the military once they realize they no longer believe in what’s being done. He describes this process and provides resources that can help soldiers start to do the right thing.

Discussed on the show:

• Adam vs. The Man
• GI Rights Hotline
• Homefront Battle Buddies

Adam Kokesh is a libertarian political activist, radio host, and author. Follow him on Twitter @adamkokesh.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State and Why The Vietnam War?, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; EasyShip; Thc Hemp Spot; Green Mill Supercritical; Bug-A-Salt; Lorenzotti Coffee and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

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Scott talks to Daniel Davis about his recent Fox News article praising President Biden for standing firm (so far) in his intent to end the war in Afghanistan. Davis explains that although the Taliban takeover and the increase in violence in the wake of the American military’s withdrawal is regrettable, it was also predictable. And no matter whether we left ten years ago or if we were to leave in another 20 years, a stable peace in Afghanistan is simply not going to be achieved in the foreseeable future. It’s better to leave as soon as possible, cut our losses and stop inflicting harm on the Afghan people who don’t want America in their country in the first place.

Discussed on the show:

• “20 years is enough, Biden right to plan firm end to war” (Fox News)
• “In Afghan War, Officer Becomes a Whistle-Blower” (The New York Times)
• “Rambo III (1988)” (IMDb)

Daniel Davis did multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan during his time in the army. He writes a weekly column for National Interest and is the author of the reports “Dereliction of Duty II: Senior Military Leaders’ Loss of Integrity Wounds Afghan War Effort” and “Go Big or Go Deep: An Analysis of Strategy Options on Afghanistan.” Find him on Twitter @DanielLDavis1.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State and Why The Vietnam War?, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; EasyShip; Thc Hemp Spot; Green Mill Supercritical; Bug-A-Salt; Lorenzotti Coffee and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

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Scott interviews Ray McGovern about his decades as a CIA analyst, with a particular focus on U.S.–Russia policy from Kennedy to George H. W. Bush. They also discuss America’s growing antagonism toward Russia and China in recent years, and the attempt to expand NATO eastward. McGovern describes not only the many follies of incompetent and hubristic government officials, but also the ways that special interests—like those of the military-industrial complex—are often deliberately advanced at the expense of the well-being of American citizens.

Discussed on the show:

• Mary’s Mosaic: The CIA Conspiracy to Murder John F. Kennedy, Mary Pinchot Meyer, and Their Vision for World Peace: Third Edition
  
• The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner
  
• JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters
  
• JFK: The Smoking Gun
• “JFK (1991)” (IMDb)
• The Yankee and Cowboy War
  
• “Opinion | Chicken Kiev, the Sequel” (The New York Times)
• “The Putin Interviews” (SHOWTIME)
• “The Rape of Russia, Testimony of Anne Williamson Before the House Banking Committee” (Softpanorama)
• “TIME Magazine Cover: Boris Yeltsin – July 15, 1996 – Boris Yeltsin” (TIME)
• “Ideologies behind the Soviet Power” (Foreign Affairs)
• “Opinion | Foreign Affairs; Now a Word From X” (The New York Times)
• Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War
  
• “The Real Reason to Intervene in Syria” (Foreign Policy)
• “NYET means NYET” (WikiLeaks)
• “Opinion | What Putin Has to Say to Americans About Syria” (The New York Times)
• “Ukraine crisis: Transcript of leaked Nuland-Pyatt call” (BBC News)
• “The Afghanistan Papers” (Washington Post)

Ray McGovern is the co-creator of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity and the former chief of the CIA’s Soviet analysts division. Read all of his work at his website: raymcgovern.com.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State and Why The Vietnam War?, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; EasyShip; Thc Hemp Spot; Green Mill Supercritical; Bug-A-Salt; Lorenzotti Coffee and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

https://youtu.be/tzNN37qmozA

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Scott talks to Muntadhar al-Zaidi, the Iraqi man who famously threw his shoes at George W. Bush in 2008. At the time, Al-Zaidi hoped to bring awareness to the suffering inflicted on the Iraqi people by Bush’s war. He has continued his activism in the years since, especially his efforts to help the roughly five million orphans of America’s Iraq War.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State and Why The Vietnam War?, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; EasyShip; Thc Hemp Spot; Green Mill Supercritical; Bug-A-Salt; Lorenzotti Coffee and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

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Independent journalist Ford Fischer tells the story of Johnny Hurley, a Colorado man who was killed by police after he stopped a mass shooting. Hurley came out of a store after seeing the shooter kill a police officer with a shotgun and then go back to his car to retrieve an AR-15. Hurley killed the shooter, preventing any further deaths, but was then shot by police officers, who claimed he had picked up the original shooter’s rifle. Fischer has made a short documentary about these events, and about Hurley’s life and voluntarist activism, hoping that it will raise awareness of what the Arvada Police Department has done, and prompt them to be more transparent about happened. Because the police have refused to release crucial security camera footage, the details of the day’s events remain murky.

Discussed on the show:

• “Johnny Hurley: the anarchist concealed carrier who stopped a mass shooting – Documentary” (YouTube)
• We Are Change Colorado on Twitter

Ford Fischer is co-founder and Editor in Chief of News2Share, an independent media outlet based in Washington, D.C. Follow his work on Twitter @FordFischer and @N2Sreports.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State and Why The Vietnam War?, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; EasyShip; Thc Hemp Spot; Green Mill Supercritical; Bug-A-Salt; Lorenzotti Coffee and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

https://youtu.be/ujFNycHoD7I

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Scott and Daniel Larison discuss the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and what it means for America’s stance toward Eastern Europe. The main issue with the German pipeline, Larison explains, is that it will allow Western Europe to buy Russian natural gas without having to deal with Ukrainian transit fees. Ukraine has portrayed the pipeline—and the fact that the U.S. is allowing it to happen—as a betrayal by the West, and has lobbied for sanctions on Germany. Larison is relieved that the U.S. government is backing down from its opposition to the pipeline, because he sees it as a sign that it won’t risk jeopardizing its relationships with countries like Germany and France in the future for the sake of the much more significant issue of Ukraine’s NATO membership, which Germany and France oppose.

Discussed on the show:

• “What Nord Stream 2 Means for NATO Expansion” (Antiwar.com)
• “Ukraine Is Part of the West” (Foreign Affairs)
• “Ukraine crisis: Transcript of leaked Nuland-Pyatt call” (BBC News)

Daniel Larison is a contributing editor at Antiwar.com, contributor at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft and former senior editor at The American Conservative magazine. Follow him on Twitter @DanielLarison or on his blog, Eunomia.

This episode of the Scott Horton Show is sponsored by: The War State and Why The Vietnam War?, by Mike Swanson; Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom; ExpandDesigns.com/Scott; EasyShip; Thc Hemp Spot; Green Mill Supercritical; Bug-A-Salt; Lorenzotti Coffee and Listen and Think Audio.

Shop Libertarian Institute merch or donate to the show through Patreon, PayPal or Bitcoin: 1DZBZNJrxUhQhEzgDh7k8JXHXRjYu5tZiG.

https://youtu.be/59Bwq8rRdqg

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