In this episode, we discuss the fallout from the government shutdown and how delays in federal economic data, including the Consumer Price Index and jobs reports, leave policymakers and the public effectively “driving without headlights.” We examine the broader risks of making monetary decisions without timely information and the political incentives surrounding data transparency. We turn to new reporting on Border Patrol surveillance, exploring constitutional concerns raised by nationwide license-plate monitoring, predictive algorithms, and civil asset forfeiture. We highlight the “foolishness of the week,” a Thanksgiving trend piece on secretly stoned dinner guests, before shifting to a Thanksgiving tradition of our own as we reflect on what we’re thankful not to have, from VAT taxes and debtors’ prisons to hostile borders, historic diseases, and restrictions on homeschooling and peaceful protest.
00:00 Introduction and Overview
00:33 The Government Shutdown’s Aftermath
04:55 Border Patrol’s Expanding 100-Mile Authority
07:13 Predictive Policing, License Plate Tracking, and Searches
11:24 Civil Asset Forfeiture and Presumed Guilt
13:41 Foolishness of the Week: The “Stoned Thanksgiving Guests” Trend
15:57 What We’re Thankful to Not Have
16:35 Value Added Tax
18:28 Vaccines and the Elimination of Deadly Diseases
20:50 Free Speech and Peaceful Protest
22:08 Women’s Rights
23:53 Guns as the Great Equalizer
28:08 Homeschooling Freedoms and Education Restrictions of the Past
32:40 Criminalization of Debt and Bankruptcy Laws
34:05 Why Jailing People for Using Drugs is a Stupid Idea
36:08 Friendly International Neighbors
37:11 Declining Poverty
38:46 Closing Thoughts on Gratitude and a Better World
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