Russ Roberts: evaluation

Transcript context

…Will the Israeli military, plus conscription, still over time produce that sense of social solidarity if the military personnel themselves are not in the long run responsible for national security? Won’t it become a Straussian façade and at some point fade away or be viewed cynically or not serve its original socially unifying function? I think there’s a lot of cohesion here that we’re not seeing — it’s a very fractious political environment here, as you know — a lot of political parties, parliamentary system, no constitution, a lot of yelling in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament. But despite all that, because of, I think, the external threat, there’s a lot of cohesion here, whether there’s an army or not. The other part of the army that I think is fascinating is the age of the people in leadership positions. Very early in their career, there are people in their mid-20s, early 20s who have the lives of 100 or more people in their hands, in their units. And it creates a different mentality here. I can’t say I’ve sensed it personally, but that’s my impression. I don’t know what will happen. It’s a fascinating question, what will happen to Israeli social life if the army becomes less central, but right now that’s not the case. It’s very central. As you know better than I do, the Israeli media landscape is very different from the American media landscape, though they overlap. How has that changed your mind about podcasting? How do you view podcasting differently from Israel?…

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