Mark Mitchell on Plutocratic Socialism

Mark Mitchell, author of Plutocratic Socialism:  The Future of Private Property and the Fate of the Middle Class and President of Front Porch Republic, joins the podcast.  Mitchell and Murdock discuss the origins of FPR and the importance of widely-held productive private property in an era when the super rich and socialists have formed an odd partnership.        Host:  John Murdock  Guest: Mark Mitchell  Highlights  1:30 Mark Mitchell, happy at home chopping wood  5:00 FPR, the early days  9:00 How not to change the world   12:00 The messy remainder of reality  13:00 From Richard Weaver to “You’ll Own Nothing and You’ll be Happy”  19:30 Gnostic temptations v. the Incarnation   23:00 The odd couple:  plutocracy and socialism  31:30 The not so odd couple:  productive property and democratic citizenship  36:00 The myth of maximal emancipation  39:00 Tocqueville’s aristocratic fears  45:00 Prospects for property in a time of chronic crisis  52:45 Friendly pushback on COVID and climate (with a cameo by Roger Scruton)  60:00 If they are for it, we’re against it  64:00 Loving our neighbor to counter a nationalized focus    Resources  Buy the book  Mitchell’s bio at FPR  An excerpt from Plutocratic Socialism  Wendell Kimbrough helps us find our way home