Podcasts and More for February 9

Weekly podcastsHere is the latest roundup of the podcasts I try to listen to each week. I am pretty excited this week as one of the shows, Philosophy in Action, answered a question I submitted.

Last Week’s Podcasts and Shows:

Philosophy in Action – Each week Dr. Diana Hsieh and Greg Perkins apply rational principles to questions submitted by their listeners. Most weeks the answers are quite lengthy and in-depth. This weeks questions included:

  • Are egoism and altruism mutually exclusive? This was a very interesting question that went into the difference between what the terms egoism and altruism actually mean, they define who is the proper beneficiary of your actions, and the muddled way in which most people understand them, e.g. that egoism involves predation.
  • Is it immoral or unwise to accept a better job soon after starting a different one? I thought this one was a good application of the virtue of honesty which in brief says you should not seek to gain a value by faking reality. In this case, it is not moral to obtain a job by saying you will stay for 3 years when you have no intention of doing so.
  • Is it moral to advocate for the boycott of businesses?  This is a question I submitted to the queue. They broke it down into three parts: 1) rights and morality, 2) does a boycott violate the rights of a business, and 3) is calling for a boycott immoral. Having it broken down step by step in this way helped clarify my own thinking, which was the point of my asking the question. I liked Paul Hsieh’s comment in the chat during the show about film reviewers.

Don’t Let it Go…Unheard read more

Role of Government is to Protect Rights, Not Manage Behavior

role of governmentThe usual suspects, Vermont statists, are at it again. They are seeking to manage the behavior of citizens in a direction that they deem to be “better” and to penalize those who do not fall in line.

This latest assault is the renewal of a proposal to impose a 2 cent per ounce tax on beverages that contain added sugar such as soda and sports drinks. Based on prices at a local minimart, this would result in about a 27% increase in the cost of a bottle of soda. Supporters of the law read more

Solar Power, Not Ready for Prime Time

Solar Panel HumbugBack in December I wrote about an article that appeared in the local paper touting how small power generation facilities, primarily solar, had increased 58% in the last year or so.  Today’s Caledonian Record contains an article that further concretizes some of the issues I raised in that initial post.

The trustees of the Lyndonville Electric Department (LED) were recently briefed by the Manager, Ken Mason, on the prospect of several large, 500kW, solar farms being built in the area read more

Podcasts and More for February 3

Weekly podcastsA day late on getting this posted due to, well, illness, work and snow. Its funny how getting sick when there is a ton of snow can really mess with your schedule.

Last Week’s Podcasts and Shows:

Philosophy in Action – Usually Dr. Diana Hsieh and Greg Perkins give really in-depth answers to questions but from time to time they do a “Rapid Fire Extravaganza” which is what they did this week. Rather than just answering read more

[Watch] Free Speech and the Battle for Western Culture

Excellent talk given by Yaron Brook on free speech,”an issue that goes to the core of what Western Civilization is about.” During this talk Dr. Brook discusses why free speech is fundamental to what separates Western culture, meaning that culture which originated in, but is not limited to, Western Europe during the Enlightenment, from what existed previously and still exists in some parts of the world. As he puts it in the talk, “The protection of speech is the protection of read more

Podcasts and More for January 26

Weekly podcastsThree weeks in a row being able to find time to listen to these podcasts. I find them very helpful in thinking about how the principles of Objectivism can be applied to everyday situations ranging, as seen this week, between sex and office parties.

Peikoff.com Episode 357 – This week Dr. Peikoff posted a 30 minute segment from a talk he gave about 30 years ago in which he answered questions dealing with sex and relationships. In this segment he answers questions about:

  • the difference between “faking it” and fantasy
  • friendship vs. love
  • being in love with multiple people
  • and more

You can get the read more

[Video] Leslie T. Chang: The Voices of China’s Workers

(h/t Yaron Brook for sharing this video via Twitter)

In the fascinating video, journalist Leslie T. Chang talks about some of what she learned spending two years in one of China’s booming mega-cities. In this brief, less than 15 minutes, video she disposes of the idea that we in the West are somehow “exploiting” these workers and explains that they take what we would consider low paying jobs because they are better than their alternatives and give them a chance at a better life. read more

Income Inequality as Such is not the Problem

income inequalityJim Pagels over at Reason.com has a good article on why Oxfam’s claim that the wealthiest 1% may soon be worth more than all the rest of us is not something to worry about. He correctly points out a number of reasons why this study is extremely flawed. For example, with the methodology the study uses a person I know, a truck driver who has gone through bankruptcy, is wealthier than read more

Liberal Logic – Vermont Carbon Tax Edition

Liberal logicI happened to notice a tweet passing through my feed referencing an article in the Burlington Free Press about gasoline prices remaining high in the Burlington area. Apparently gasoline in Vermont averages about $2.41 per gallon, higher in the Burlington area, while the national average is $2.05.