VIDEOS
Below, a selection of my video content:
Imagining a Civil Order Without a Sovereign State: Welcome to The Polycentric Republic
22nd February 2025
My new book, The Polycentric Republic: A Theory of Civil Order for Free and Diverse Societies, has just come out with Routledge. If you think the modern State is no longer fit for purpose, and are looking for an alternative approach, you might find this an interesting read…
What Does the Digital Services Act Mean for Free Speech? In 6 Minutes
7th June 2023
Europe's Digital Services Act permits the European Commission to spread its tentacles inside the social media companies, and fine them heftily if they don't do its bidding. Watch this video to find out more.
A Populist-Libertarian Manifesto: A Way Forward
17th December 2023
I propose a collection of principles that might be good candidates for the platform of a pro-freedom, pro-limited government party.
The Official Story about Misinformation is Delusional
6th October 2024
The U.N. & many Western politicians suggest that if we can isolate the bad actors that are perpetrating harmful untruths & shut them down, public debate will better track truth. This story, however appealing, is simply false. In this video, I explain why.
Ireland's New Hate Offences Bill Undercuts Rule of Law
25th October 2024
The Irish Parliament has just passed the Hate Offences Bill. The good news: this bill does not criminalise hate speech. The bad news: the bill undermines the clarity of law by introducing undefined concepts like "gender" & hate crimes. And it won't make our streets any safer.
It is Time to Decentralise our Political Institutions
21st November 2023
The centralised State is structuraly incapable of catering to the complex needs of a diverse society. Decentralisation is urgently needed, now more than ever.
Debunking the False Narrative of the Sovereign People
13th August 2023
The narrative of the "sovereign people" - the idea that "the people" somehow confer their collective power and authority on a central government to rule on their behalf - is a harmful ideological construct that serves to legitimate fundamentally oligarchic structures of power and to disempower communities, whose governmental authority is subordinated to the prerogatives of a national government. I gave this talk on 13th August 2023 at Campout 2023, a grassroots freedom event held in Brazer Park, Oxfordshire.
The Idolisation of Law is the Death of Civilisation
9th April 2023
One of the signs that we are drifting toward legal and political authoritarianism is that citizens are beginning to idolise the law or treat it as an end in itself, to be uncritically and slavishly obeyed, rather than as an expression of a higher law. In this video, I underscore some recent expressions of the idolisation of law, and argue they are worrying symptoms of legal and political degradation.
The Rise of Soft Despotism in the West
30th November 2023
Clip from my interview with Jan American Thought Leaders. "Alexis de Tocqueville…was very prescient. He predicted that modern governments, in promising people security and comfort, could become effectively what he called "soft despots," meaning that instead of relying on the police coming to your home and knocking your door and rounding you up, they would just get compliance by regulating the hell out of people's lives.