Even though working at a small university like mine means I spend most of my time handling my course load, every now and then I get to Think Big Thoughts and discuss them with colleagues.
One such occasion was on May 12, when Adam MacLeod, one of our law professors, invited several of us to listen to and give feedback on a working paper he was preparing for an upcoming conference at Princeton. The paper dealt with the state’s gradual supplanting of private law with public law as part of the implementation of a totalitarian agenda. About eight or ten of us kicked ideas around for an hour or so after listening to the talk, and I went away feeling enormously stimulated intellectually.
Adam revised his paper based on our feedback and presented it a week later as part of a conference on totalitarianism hosted by the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton. Streaming video of the conference presentations has now been posted on the program’s website.
Adam’s paper is in the the first video under the “Totalitarianism and the Rule of Law” heading. He starts talking around the 30-minute mark. If you’re interested in the topic, I encourage you to take a look.
The Western Tradition 