Appearing on the John Curley Show, Ryan McMaken examines how policy—not culture-war slogans—undermines the American family. He points to marriage penalties in the tax and welfare code, inflation that erodes real wages, zoning and permitting that price families out of housing, and schooling/childcare mandates that shift authority from parents to bureaucracies. Rather than more top-down “family policy,” Ryan argues for decentralization: end the marriage penalties, curb monetary inflation, remove barriers to homebuilding and home-based work, and return decisions over education and child-rearing to parents and local communities. The result is a practical case for strengthening families by shrinking Leviathan’s reach. The original interview is available on YouTube .
