Wel-Fare, Always Low Wages

welfareAh, the holiday shopping season is upon us and with it comes renewed outcries against Black Friday shopping and one of the statists favorite whipping boys: Wal-Mart. Mixed in with the calls to boycott Wal-Mart, obstruct entrances with protests, or vandalize their stores by replacing signage are the usual complaints about the “low wages” offered by such big retailers, citing that significant (supposedly) numbers of employees have to rely on welfare to make ends meet. Usually such read more

Podcast Roundup – November 26

Here are this week’s episodes from the Objectivism related podcasts I try to listen to.  They are all great sources of information and insight on applying objectivist principles to everyday life.

Philosophy in Action with Dr. Diana Hsieh

  • Positive
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Podcast Roundup – November 19

Here are this week’s episodes from the Objectivism related podcasts I try to listen to.  They are all great sources of information and insight on applying objectivist principles to everyday life.

Philosophy in Action with Dr. Diana Hsieh

  • Free will and moral responsibility
  • Values destroyed by statism
  • Leaving an inmate boyfriend
  • Privacy in marriage
  • Rapid fire questions

Yaron Brook on Leonard Peikoff’s Podcast – Episode 296

  • Do you think that freedom of speech already has been lost such that revolution is necessary?
  • What should the government’s role be regarding pollution?
  • Should one accept unearned guilt?
  • Are naked credit default swaps ethical?
  • Is it immoral to work for organizations that advocate for statist ideas?

There are tons of great lectures and presentations available from the Ayn Rand estore.  This week I have been listening to:

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Sorry Chris, I’d Rather Have a Speed Boat

Junk car and speed boat with bikini babe.

I’ll take the speed boat Chris.

Last night I happened to catch a very small bit of Chris Matthews on the David Letterman show. In the segment I heard, Chris Matthews made a statement that was something along the lines of, “I’ve always thought of politics as like buying a car. You go in and argue over the price until you come to an agreement and buy the car. The problem in Washington is that they won’t even sit down to ‘argue the price’.”

Sadly he has apparently forgotten, or chooses to ignore, read more

The Rich Were Not Always Seen as Evil – Quotation of the Day

While listening to a lecture by Eric Daniels, The History of America – Part 4: The Industrial Republic, 1877-1920, I was intrigued by a topic he mentioned so I looked up the speech he was referring to.

The speech Acres of Diamonds by Christian minister Russell H. Conwell is concerned with, essentially, encouraging people to become successful by their own efforts, wherever they happen to be.  While I don’t agree with all that is in the speech, the view of wealth and the wealthy it expresses read more

Remember When Foreign Policy Was Principled? – Quotation of the Day

I have been listening to a great series of courses on American History by Eric Daniels. Currently I am in the 4th of the series, The History of America – Part 4: The Industrial Republic, 1877-1920, which is discussing a pivotal period in history when we really started to move towards becoming a mixed economy, welfare state.

During one of the lectures in this course he quotes Daniel Webster, who served two times as Secretary of State and twice declined the offer to be Vice President saying, read more

Podcast Roundup – November 4

Here are this week’s episodes from the Objectivism related podcasts I try to listen to.  They are all great sources of information and insight on applying objectivist principles to everyday life.

Philosophy in Action with Dr. Diana Hsieh

  • The speed of free market reforms
  • The role of empathy in morality
  • Rapid fire questions

Yaron Brook on Dr. Leonard Peikoff’s Podcast – Episode 294

  • Should we all be entrepreneurs?
  • Is there any real hope that America will embark on a better path after Obama?
  • Isn’t it the case that people hate Wal-Mart because it engages in cronyism?
  • Sex-offenders
  • Should we encourage encryption technologies to resist government intrusion?
  • Are metropolitan bankruptcies a manifestation of Atlas Shurgged?

I have also been listening to recorded lectures available from the Ayn Rand estore.  This week I have been listening to:

I can’t recommend Eric Daniels lecture series enough.  They read more