Saving American Liberty, Session 3
What are “Left” and “Right,” politically? Where does political extremism come from, on both sides? These are crucially important questions in our present era of extreme polarization that only seems to be increasing past any sense of a possible limit. To address these questions in a deep and fresh way, from August 22-23, 2025, in Dallas, Texas, New Discourses was proud to host a learning seminar event called Saving American Liberty, featuring talks from New Discourses founder James Lindsay and the founder of Sovereign Nations and New Discourses partner, Michael O’Fallon.
In this third talk of the seminar, Lindsay puts some foundation under the confusing terms “Left” and “Right,” which have strayed quite a bit from their origins in the French Revolution. He then explains a second dimension of political orientation as being located in metaphysical realism versus idealism. Using the metaphor of a pair of scales, or a balance, he makes a case for a healthy politics, Left and Right, as compared to pathological, extremist politics, Left and Right, that seek to destroy everything from their idealist mania. Join him to gain depth and clarity on this important subject.
The other lectures in this series can be found here:
Session 1: Stakeholderism and the Post-America Movement | James Lindsay
Session 2: The Big Picture | Michael O’Fallon
Session 4: Twentieth Century Woke—Left and Right | James Lindsay
Session 5: Sustainability and the One Belt One Road Initiative | Michael O’Fallon
The audio version of this presentation is available on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Pandora, or by RSS.
2 comments
This right left problem is each side wanting to have the monopoly position. This is an anti civilized position. If both sides take up again this civilized position each will give up there side rights to the other. This will make a condition of all to not have to be ready for battle in any meeting.
This old tried and true “being civilized “ has to be re established first before taking on any battle worth taking on.
So we all now go from battle to battle with no way to “tap out “ which is a civilized concept.
Ludwig von Mises questioned the usefulness of the political terms “left” and “right,” calling the usual political terminology “stupid” and arguing that such labels lack clear meaning.
He pointed out the inconsistency in categorizing Hitler as “right” while Stalin, despite their temporary alliance, was considered “left”.
Mises believed that policies should not be judged based on whether they are new or fashionable, nor should “orthodoxy” be condemned if the underlying doctrine is sound.
He emphasized that reaction against unwise policies is not inherently bad, and progress toward chaos is not commendable.
For Mises, the focus should be on the substance and consequences of ideas rather than their placement on a political spectrum.