Today, popular commentator Jonah Goldberg joins the GoodFellows to break down the midterms and likely priorities for the next Congress; Philip Zelikow reflects on the diplomacy required to achieve German unification; and, in a letter from the imagined perspective of Adam Smith, Ross Levine examines what the friendship between Smith and his philosophical peer David Hume can teach us about the value of relationships spanning disagreements of opinion.
US Politics & Policy
Jonah Goldberg, editor in chief of The Dispatch and a veteran observer of American politics, joins GoodFellows hosts Niall Ferguson and John H. Cochrane, both senior fellows, and moderator Bill Whalen, a distinguished policy fellow, to parse the implications of the anti-Trump referendum represented by last week’s midterm elections. The group considers how affordability, corruption, and US-Israel relations amid the simmering Iran war help explain the election results. Goldberg and the GoodFellows also discuss likely paths ahead in Washington in terms of economic and ethics policy as well as oversight or payback in the form of investigations and impeachments. Later, in the Lightning Round, the fellows weigh in on election intrigue in Israel and Brazil, the emergence of data centers as NIMBY villains à la nuclear power a generation ago, whether canines should be bred for combat, and Elon Musk’s SpaceX stock-sharing plans. Finally, Sir Niall explains why he sports a red poppy every November and the significance of the UK’s Remembrance Day. Watch or listen here.
History
In this short video from the Reflections series, Senior Fellow Philip Zelikow discusses the unification of East and West Germany that took place in 1990. As Zelikow explains, this historic achievement took a great deal of diplomatic maneuvering on the part of the United States and European nations, not all of which favored unification (Great Britain opposed it, for instance). But unification nevertheless came to pass, and today it’s mostly taken for granted that Germany consists of a single state. This video draws on the Philip Zelikow – Condoleezza Rice papers at the Hoover Institution Library & Archives, as well as a 1995 book by Zelikow and Rice, Germany Unified and Europe Transformed: A Study in Statecraft. Watch here.
Freedom Frequency
In this installment of From the Hand of Adam Smith, the eminent Scottish moral philosopher (channeled by Senior Fellow Ross Levine) remembers his intellectual sparring partner and greatest friend, David Hume. The remarkable Smith–Hume relationship was not based on easy agreement—far from it, Levine shows. But even as the two great minds prodded each other over issues of government, morality, and economics, they held each other in deep esteem to the end of Hume’s life, Levine writes. Smith’s epitaph for Hume, written exactly 250 years ago, comes as a reminder to those of us with difficult or strained relationships that esteem can transcend disagreement, and that a good friend with the wrong opinions is still a friend and worth listening to. Read more here.
Higher Education and Political Philosophy
In his latest column for RealClearPolitics, Senior Fellow Peter Berkowitz discusses The Final Solution to the Jewish Question: A Love Story for the Living, a new book by Dara Horn, founding president of the Tell Institute. The work proposes “to counter antisemitism by incorporating the Jewish tradition and the principles of American pluralism into the nation’s curricula,” writes Berkowitz. He agrees that the project of pushing back against antisemitism necessitates attention to education reforms. “Countering antisemitism in America is inseparable from reclaiming liberal education in America,” writes the distinguished scholar. Berkowitz argues that a revitalization of the liberal arts would leave students better prepared to engage with ideas and arguments that conflict with their own, and with a broader appreciation for the historical achievements of their own country—not just the sense that America is “little more than the sum of its iniquities.” As he concludes, renewing liberal education nationwide “would provide a remedy to all forms of hatred, including Western civilization’s oldest.” Read more here.
Economics and AI
Amid discussions of the potentially significant risks and opportunities presented by artificial intelligence, popular biographer and professor Walter Isaacson speaks with Visiting Fellow Russ Roberts on EconTalk about why AI innovators keep building this technology. Isaacson explains how leaders of AI firms feel trapped in a race none of them can pause, as well as why so many see humility and empathy as handicaps rather than virtues. Isaacson shares his worry that the AI industry is pouring talent into autonomous systems that threaten to leave humans out of the loop. Host and guest also trace foundational AI debates back to rival visions from computing pioneers Alan Turing and Ada Lovelace. Drawing on his experience writing biographies of both Elon Musk and Benjamin Franklin, Isaacson offers insights into how each prominent innovator understood empathy and humility. Watch or listen here.
Related Commentary