What’s Libertarian’s Problem with Social Security, Medicare and Hanging Up on People?

Professor Thomas DiLorenxo, acting as the Hand of the invisible Hand of the free Market, 'Drops the Call' on Medicare Public Schools and a debate with Thom Hartmann.

Was this libertarian special snowflake triggered when he was challenged on the merits of advocating for a free market solutions that would weaken the very institutions of democracy?

SUPPORT THE PROGRAM
► Join us on Patreon: where you can also watch a re-run of the three hour program at any time

AUDIO PODCASTS
► Subscribe today:

FOLLOW THOM
► AMAZON :
► BLOG :
► FACEBOOK :
► INSTAGRAM :
► PATREON :
► TWITTER :
► WEBSITE :
► YOUTUBE :

ABOUT THE PROGRAM
The Thom Hartmann Program is the leading progressive political talk radio show for political news and comment about Government politics, be it Liberal or Conservative, plus special guests and callers

✔ Amazon links are affiliate links

What's Libertarian's Problem with Social Security, Medicare and Hanging Up on People?

35 thoughts on “What’s Libertarian’s Problem with Social Security, Medicare and Hanging Up on People?

  1. I’m starting to think that the easiest job on the planet is “Libertarian economist” all you have to do is argue for tax cuts and privatization and when someone disagrees with you, you just hang up on them.

  2. DiLorenxo is obviously an extreme Neoliberal in letters 12 feet high. Hayek, Mises, and Friedman would all be proud of him….. He permeates inequality….and lousy at debate.

    • I was thinking the same thing. Certainly wouldn’t want to take a class with him as I would always be in his face with facts, no doubt I would fail the course.

    • I don’t know if he’s a part of it but these days the Koch Bros. have a lot of influence at many colleges to prop up professors like that dude or promote libertarian economic programs.

    • TokenBlackman7 He must be a professor for the National Enquirier or an adjunct at Trump University. No need to know anything there. In those places all you do is spew your comments out and turn your back or hang up on people who disagree with you and walk away.

  3. And there are so many people who think like this jackel. Thom that was great. These people have no real rebuttal or argument. They want just be honest and come out and say it bcuz they know it will reveal who they really are.

  4. Knowing what happened in 1929 and in 2008, who in their right mind would trust their future to a manipulated stock market.

    • After what stockbrokers and bankers did to us millennials, they’re gonna have to forgive us if we don’t trust the “all holy” market.

  5. Oh, it’s this guy. I’ve seen him talk. He’s your typical free market capitalist shill. Pointless even debating this guy.

  6. It’s a certainty that this guy is a complete idiot, and yet he’s a rich enough to wear suits and probably drive a fancy car. But he is still an idiot

  7. Read DiLorenzo’s Wikipedia article, not only is he an idiotic libertarian he’s also a racist POS. Seems the two go together.

  8. Funding for schools PER CAPITA has a direct impact on educational outcomes. Total federal education spending does not, because that doesn’t account for increases in population. This guy is an idiot.

  9. Here in New Zealand we have gone through Libertarians running and ruining this country. Private companies are NOT better at running things. Private companies, including Australian and American based companies ran New Zealand Railways in to the ground, destroying it. The government had to buy it back again and spend millions of dollars repairing the infrastructure. Private schools are being substantially subsidised by the state. Air New Zealand had to be bailed out by the government, in which it now holds a 51% shareholding. Electricity distribution was sold off and power bills shot up. Local body buses were sold off to private companies who now receive large subsidies, again a real muck up. The Post Office Savings bank was sold off to a private Australian bank, exorbitant bank charges were introduced, services were reduced and because there was no true competition all the other banks in the country had a race to increase fees on account holders. The 1999 Labour government started a new bank, Kiwibank, and all of a sudden all the private banks pulled back on the exorbitant bank fees, while still making billions of dollars profit which went back to their overseas owners. A government run company is there to serve the people not to make a profit for shareholders. Any profits go back to the government department or corporation for upkeep of infrastructure and better wages and conditions for staff. Private companies force down wages and working conditions for employees in order to save money for their shareholders. Libertarian and right wing policies destroy countries they do not grow them.

    • And this story is repeated worldwide, but few people or governments learn from their mistakes. The old rule applies. Before you make big changes to introduce new policies, read some history or perhaps ask your grandfather first.

    • Yep, so true. The Labour Government that came in in the mid 80’s turned out to have several Libertarians hiding their midst. Roger Douglas, the then new Finance Minister was the one who started doing all the damage, well him and his followers. So a supposedly left leaning government went further right than even Regan and Thatcher.

  10. Libertarians are for privatizing everything for everyone else except themselves. Ayn Rand was on Social Security and Medicare, but advocated taking it away from everyone else. This is how they operate. I can’t believe DiLorenxo is actually paid to deliver that nonsense to students who probably have had to go into debt to take his courses.

  11. Thomas Hartmann, I assume by the introduction you planned this interview with Thomas DiLorenzo so maybe a little more research before you started may have helped. Yes, DiLorenzo is a Senior Fellow at the Koch Mises Institute and a professor of economics at the Koch Loyola University Maryland (Koch: $42,000 annually for “General Support”). He also taught at the Koch George Mason University (Koch: $35 million to the George Mason University Foundation) and was part of the strategy to oppose cigarette advertising bans and not to increase excise tax. When it comes down to it, someone like DiLorenzo is just an oligarch sycophant who ensures people aren’t educated and taught to think; and then exploits the ignorant.

    Arguing with a Mises shill like Thomas DiLorenzo is usually a waste of time. The Mises Institute is dedicated to advantaging the oligarchs and increasing wealth and income inequality by playing on the ignorance of the majority. In fact, if you ever read Hayek’s “Road to Serfdom”, you will laugh at the irony. The Mises institute is dedicated to creating spin to support the Koch-Libertarian oligarch narrative to deregulate, remove social services, eliminate taxes, privatize, and oppress the voice of the people and their voice in the workplace. A Mises Institute employee’s entire job is to create spin to advantage the oligarchs by manipulating the ignorant and playing on their apathy.

    But Thomas, you appear to make a sport of arguing with sleaze and exposing the same corrupt intent time and time again. Sure, it fills up time with the obvious intent of the oligarchs, but it doesn’t really expose any new light on the problem of Neoliberalism/Austrian Economics. I have an idea how you can educate your audience. Thomas DiLorenzo recently wrote a piece in the Mises Institute criticizing the book, “Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America” by Nancy MacLean. Thomas, I’m sure you are well aware of Professor MacLean’s book so may I suggest a book review of “Democracy in Chains” as a place to start.

    Reviewing “Democracy in Chains” will demolish the entire Koch-Mises-Libertarian farce. It goes into the people, strategy, institutions & think tanks, and the oligarchs’ expected outcome of this generational strategy. Pay special attention to the Kochs strategy to use Article V to call for a Constitutional Convention to rewrite the Constitution in the oligarchs’ favor. You may remember the Libertarian fascists rewrote the Chilean Constitution to advantage their oligarchs under Pinochet. After an interview with Professor MacLean, your previous efforts to expose the Austrian/Libertarian scam will look pale by comparison. It may even help you improve your game.

  12. That guy is a complete idiot. He wants “competition”- therefor he wants to privatize everything – which means he drank the Koch Kool Aid. This is why these fools are such know nothing. We need more more money for public schools. Period!

    • He wants competition to serve as a magic key to solve all problems. But he ignores that the natural evolution of capitalism is toward monopoly as firms grow larger, and fewer firms operate in any given industry. He ignores that monopolistic and monopsonistic elements can arise in the market as the number of firms gets smaller, and do so long between pure monopoly or monopsony in resource markets occurs.

      As for a public enterprise, the democratic decision process can remove most monopolistic and monopsonistic elements from the public enterprises economic conduct. The result not be perfect, but it is a significant improvement, in vital areas where monopolistic and monopsonistic elements would predominate in a private market.

      Libertarism is simply too simplistic in its worldview, and fails to consider relevant nuances. Whenever, libertarian philosophy has been applied in social practice, the social world deteriorates for everyone but the rich and powerful.

  13. Libertarians have not properly analyzed freedom and then in defining it. To them freedom means that the government does not restrict, limit, or direct their conduct; but permits them to act in manner that privately restricts, limits, or directs the conduct of others. This in turn means that when they harm the well being of others, its too bad, the government should not step in and make rules to protect those others and their freedom from his personal private tyranny. In practice, such a freedom means the rich and powerful are free to run roughshod over the common everyday people, and then deny the common everyday people a means to defend themselves and their real concrete freedom is undermined.

  14. What is wrong with our public education system? Everybody focuses in on Money & the Teachers. They almost always leave out the Students. As a flight instructor, I was required to take a mini course in education. One of the first points that comes up is that you cannot pour knowledge into a student. … Law of Readiness: If a student is not ready to learn they won’t. Just because a student puts in a full school day that doesn’t mean they learned a damn thing. If a student is hungry, distracted by his/her home situation, feels hopeless about the future, etc., well they aren’t ready to learn and they won’t learn.

    One of the better charter schools in NYC (..in the news many times) demonstrates this. The students are hopeful about their future and that leads them to be motivated.

    Thom hit on this point.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *