The Sanctity of the Individual and Threats to Food Security

On February 15, 2023, Kim Monson examines the philosophical foundations of individual liberty with economist Jay Davidson, who argues that the sanctity of the individual should be the guiding principle for all public policy. In the second hour, agricultural advocate Trent Loos reports on emerging threats to food security, including the East Palestine, Ohio train derailment and rising egg prices driven by government policy.

Austrian Economics and the Sanctity of the Individual

Start listening at 32:21 – Hour 1

In this segment, Jay Davidson, CEO and founder of First American State Bank, joins Kim to discuss the enduring relevance of Austrian economist Friedrich Hayek’s warnings about government overreach. Davidson traces the intellectual lineage from Ludwig von Mises to Hayek to Milton Friedman, explaining how their defense of free markets and individual liberty remains essential to understanding today’s policy debates.

Davidson challenges the contemporary push for “equity” through programs like diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives, arguing that such efforts fundamentally contradict constitutional principles. He explains that true equality means treating everyone the same under the law, not treating people unequally to achieve equal outcomes. Davidson recounts a recent confrontation with a DEI advocate, noting that attempts to engineer equal outcomes inevitably require taking rights, property, or opportunity from some to give to others.

The banker articulates his core political philosophy: the sanctity of the individual should guide all policy decisions. He argues that any law, tax, fee, or government action that infringes on individual liberty and the right to make personal choices should be opposed. Davidson connects this principle to contemporary issues including the $100,000 per person spent annually on Denver’s homeless population, progressive taxation that sees the top 1% paying 40% of all taxes, and the Biden administration’s proposed taxes on stock buybacks.

“To me, the principle by which we should govern and be governed and vote for and donate to politicians should be the sanctity of the individual. And by that I mean, does the law, the fee, the tax, the act, anything, infringe on your individual liberty and your right to make a choice? And if it does, do not support it.”

Jay Davidson, CEO, First American State Bank

Food Security Under Assault

Start listening at 70:00 – Hour 2

Trent Loos, a sixth-generation farmer and rancher who has spent 22 years advocating for rural America, joins Kim to discuss emerging threats to the nation’s food security. Loos opens with a discussion of the nutritional importance of eggs, citing research from the University of North Carolina showing that pregnant women who regularly consumed eggs had smarter children due to choline content. He questions whether the current egg shortage, driven partly by Colorado’s cage-free chicken law, might serve calculated purposes.

The agricultural advocate turns to the East Palestine, Ohio train derailment that occurred on February 3, noting the mainstream media’s delayed and limited coverage of the vinyl chloride spill. Loos reports being in contact with a family operating a 1,000-head dairy farm within five miles of the incident, describing the chaos as federal officials ordered relocation of the herd with no practical means to accomplish it. He raises questions about the coincidence between the real-world disaster and a 2022 Hollywood film called “White Noise” that depicted a nearly identical scenario in the same Ohio town.

Loos connects these events to a broader pattern of disruptions to food production, including abnormal train derailment rates affecting coal transport and previous fires at food processing facilities. He urges listeners to remain intellectually curious and resist accepting information at face value, whether from government officials, media, or even his own reporting.

“Don’t accept anything. Anything I say, don’t accept it at face value. Go research and make sure the information that I’m sharing, that Kim’s sharing, is factual. We’ve just become too accepting of everything at face value. Ask the question why.”

Trent Loos, Agricultural Advocate