The Doom Spiral of Progressive Policies and Lessons from Israel

On March 29, 2024, Rick Turnquist, Joshua Sharf, and Jim May joined the show. Analyzed how Democrat policies on property rights, crime, drugs, climate, and economics consistently fail when confronted with reality, introducing the concept of cascading ‘doom spirals’ in Democrat-run cities Described his two-week volunteer trip to Israel performing agricultural work at kibbutzim, viewing IDF documentation of the October 7th attack, and visiting. The Doom Spiral of Progressive Policies Start listening at 2:49 – Hour 1 Rick Turnquist examines his “exactly wrong” series, arguing that Democrat policies consistently collide with reality. He opens with property rights under siege, citing a New York case where a property owner was handcuffed after confronting squatters in her own home. The discussion pivots to Colorado’s proposed assault weapons ban, with Turnquist speculating whether Governor Jared Polis might veto the bill to preserve his libertarian image for a potential presidential run. Turnquist reserves his sharpest critique for the climate change “cult,” referencing Alex Epstein’s book Fossil Future to argue that fossil fuels remain indispensable to modern life. He challenges the notion that renewable energy can replace petroleum products, noting that even wind turbine manufacturing produces more carbon emissions than the turbines will ever prevent. On economics, Turnquist explains how minimum wage hikes function as a hidden favor to union contracts while pricing young and minority workers out of entry-level jobs. He coins the term “doom spiral” to describe how Democrat policies compound: crime drives away foot traffic, businesses close, tax revenues drop, services decline, and homelessness increases, each failure feeding the next. “Denver and Colorado are in a doom spiral due to Democrat governance, and many other Democrat-run cities and states are in similar straits. Our nation hangs in the balance.” Rick Turnquist, Author at To Advance Freedom Volunteering in Israel After October 7th Start listening at 60:20 – Hour 2 Joshua Sharf, senior fellow in fiscal policy at the Independence Institute, recounts his recent volunteer trip to Israel. He describes viewing an IDF-curated video of the October 7th Hamas attack, documenting atrocities that he says must not fade from memory. The barbarism included attacks on civilians at the Nova Music Festival, where paragliding terrorists initially confused concertgoers who thought the arrivals were part of the entertainment. Sharf spent two weeks performing agricultural work at kibbutzim near Gaza, filling labor gaps left by Filipino workers who fled and Palestinian workers no longer permitted entry. At Kibbutz Mufalseim, just a mile from the Gaza fence, he picked oranges while receiving security briefings about rocket protocols. The kibbutz successfully defended itself for six hours on October 7th without losing a single resident, a testament to its organized armed response. Visits to rehabilitation centers revealed soldiers recovering from devastating wounds, including a man who lost his arm when his armored personnel carrier took a rocket hit. Sharf also describes touring an ancient church in Jerusalem’s Old City, dated to 373 AD, that claims to be the site of the Last Supper, a fitting discovery for Good Friday. “This is a war to exterminate Hamas. And that’s the war that Israel is engaged in now.” Joshua Sharf, Senior Fellow, Independence Institute Cowboy Poetry for Good Friday