Jack Brustkern

Feb 2

Let's talk Adam Smith

This past fall, I sat in on a wonderful course taught by the respected Professor Henry Clark discussing Adam Smith and his ideas. In order to learn the material well I made the goal of giving a lecture (to a singular patient and generous family member) which I recorded, for on the one hand to motivate myself to be thorough and disciplined in my study of Smith, and also to have something to look back on and share with others if they ever happy to have a hankering for some Smith.

Jack Brustkern

Aug 14

Alan Kahan on Liberalism as "freedom from fear"

I recently saw Alan Kahan give a talk on his recent book, arguing that liberalism has taken form over the ages based on responses to various fears. This is his case:Four major liberalismsProto-liberalism: from religious persecution like that of Cromwell’s persecution of Catholics. Protoliberalism was led by Smith and Montesquieu. Note: besides justification of revolution, Locke was not used too much in the broader US founding documents, nor was he taught much at the time besides as an odd fig...

Jack Brustkern

Feb 2

Personal reflections and learnings about our neighbors on the street

This past fall, I began working full time in researching questions surrounding homelessness to inform state homelessness policy. A few ideas in particular have sprung up such that I’ve been writing and reflecting on them actively myself, and I thought I’d publish a piece with a few of these learnings and musings together. These learnings have come from a whole lot of time spent reading medical reviews, listening to those who have worked with the homeless for a long time, and listening to the ...