Such an incredible interview by my friend @buckrebel w/ the always-intriguing and introspective Thomas Fleming! https://t.co/5I6PPDsLVB
— Dissident Mama (@Dissident_Mama) May 8, 2021
My ep w/Dr Thomas Fleming.He tells the story of the paleo-libertarian alliance,his days w Rothbard,his critiques of libertarianism, the need for something more than the NAP, League of the South,his stories of hanging with Lou Reed and the VU & more. https://t.co/auLcjUwOMO
— Buck (@buckrebel) May 4, 2021
Bradley J. Birzer, TAC fellow-at-large: Our fundamental right to associate with whom we please—in our families, in our churches, in our schools, in our businesses, and in our fraternal orders—is under assault. That’s the argument made by Luke C. Sheahan in his excellent new book, Why Associations Matter: The Case for First Amendment Pluralism (University Press of Kansas, 2020).
The courts have progressively diminished just the idea of associating, even though they once espoused the “right to petition” and the “right to assemble” in the First Amendment as essential to a proper understanding of the Constitution. Sadly, recent court decisions have looked at the right to assemble merely as connected to free speech, thus only allowing association when the goal is to express some idea. Drawing on, fascinatingly, 19th-century political thought, as well as the work of Robert Nisbet, Sheahan properly re-orients the discussion in the present day, asking all the right questions and finding rather brilliant solutions. Why Associations Matter is a must-read and a must-own. If we lose the right to associate—beyond just expression—we lose our profound American identity.
