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The Ricochet Podcast

Heightened Risibility

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We're erring on the side of positive expectations again. This time with Bjørn Lomborg. His new book is Best Things First. There he sets his sights on cost effective, acheivable goals that will lift the world's poorest out of miserable conditions and inch us along in the direction towards those sustainable goals we hear about so much. We ask the minuscule billions of dollars question: Are the world's most prosperous ready for such tangible win-win?

James, Rob and Steve aren't quite done with Barbenheimer; they discuss Ohio's pro-life prospects; and muse on words that make them feel sophisticated.

(And to whoever kidnapped our co-host, could you please return him?)

Song of the week:

  • Soundbites from opening clip: Truman and Oppenheimer

Hosted by James Lileks, Rob Long, and Steve Hayward, with guest Bjørn Lomborg

Discussion (47)

  • DonG (CAGW is a Scam)@DonG

    Good podcast. The Hollywood strikes are an interesting topic. The battle involves the ideas of A.I. writing screenplays, people selling their likenesses and voices, and the entire business model of streaming. The industry is on the precipice of the biggest change since the end of the studio model era.

  • Henry Castaigne@HenryCastaigne

    I wrote an essay that explains Malthusianism and hard leftism.

    If the left was motivated by a compassion that based itself on reality, they would support some version of capitalism in order to enrich the poor and support the nuclear family because it is essential to all human flourishing. I assume that most of the Ricochetti are well-researched enough to know the overwhelming evidence in support of both some version of free markets and a strong family. Logically, people who are devoted to the poor and the downtrodden would want to focus on what has been proven to help the poor and the downtrodden.

    In the last few generations, many Asian countries have gone from African levels of poverty to near universal literacy and enough rice and vegetables to feed even beggars. Africa itself is becoming wealthier as the Asian countries have done. Literally, billions of human beings have left absolute poverty and it has almost everything to do with free markets.

    The left doesn’t care because capitalism is an icky word. Their compassion doesn’t relate to poor people in reality.

    Conclusion

    I could go on but I think I’ve made my point. Among the hard leftists is a hatred of what is good and beautiful is more of a motivation than compassion. We aren’t confronting nice but misguided people who just need to listen to some Thomas Sowell lectures. In our age, we are more comfortable with data points and meta-analysis and graphs. Those are all great if we are having a reasonable argument. But this isn’t about a disagreement of policy. We are confronting a spiritual nihilism and it’s time we act like it.

    The left hates capitalism and cheap energy precisely because it leads to human flourishing. Not because they are mistaken about exonomics.

  • kedavis@kedavis

    Hang on. Lomborg's first point is how to keep perhaps millions of children from dying each year.

    But the Left doesn't want there to be MORE PEOPLE.

    The point about education doesn't fit either, since the Left doesn't want children or adults to be educated to understand what their government is doing. They only want children to know that Heather Has Two Mommies.

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