Episode

3/19 Mike Konczal: The Voluntarism Fantasy

March 19, 2014

Roosevelt Institute fellow Mike Konczal, explains the conservative myth of pre New Deal and Great Society America, the delusion that civil society took care of poverty, why the state had always played a role in addressing poverty, why before New Deal government policy was demeaning to the poor and favorable to the corporate sector, how social insurance supports risk, why Churches were forced by the State to provide services to the poor, the role of “automatic stabilizers” in saving the economy from going into full depression, why charitable giving falls during economic downturns, why the right pushes the volunteerism myth, how Harry Truman defined charity and why the left needs to be more bold.

On The Fun Half: more reactions to Ken Langone’s insane Nazi and inequality comments, declining religion leads to more libertarians? Republicans target young voters with hilarious and awful new ads, the Sam Seder Libertarian Learning Annex returns and your calls and IMs.

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