John joins Professor Paul Rahe for a conversation about the current state of the West and our fragmented world order, centred on the importance of understanding history. The western democratic tradition is a sophisticated mechanism to balance the distribution of power. In a world where cynical nihilism is on the rise, sound debates and discussions are being replaced with rhetorically driven polarisation. In today's US political scene, hatred has been weaponised by politicians calling for radical change without sound alternatives. Professor Rahe encourages us to re-embrace serious historical education to remain sober-minded in a confused era. Paul Rahe is currently Professor of History at Hillsdale College, and previously taught at Yale, Cornell and numerous other universities. In 2009, he wrote the widely debated Soft despotism, democracy's drift, which argues that society may drift away from self-government due to a spirit of uneasiness and discontent. He has also authored numerous critically acclaimed history books, many centred on the Spartans. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Conversations feature John Anderson, former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, interviewing the world's foremost thought leaders about today's pressing social, cultural and political issues. John believes proper, robust dialogue is necessary if we are to maintain our social strength and cohesion. As he puts it; "You cannot get good public policy out of a bad public debate." If you value this discussion and want to see more like it, make sure you subscribe to the channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtnYSEGViOnb7k8ezUaWUww?sub_confirmation=1 And stay right up to date with all the conversations by subscribing to the newsletter here: https://johnanderson.net.au/contact/ Follow John on Twitter: https://twitter.com/JohnAndersonAC Follow John on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/johnandersonac Follow John on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnandersonac/ Support the channel: https://johnanderson.net.au/support/ Website: https://johnanderson.net.au/ Podcast: https://johnanderson.net.au/podcasts/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- http://www.paularahe.com/