Here are this past week’s episodes of the podcasts I try to listen to in order further my understanding of the principles of Objectivism and how to apply them to everyday life.
Philosophy in Action with Dr. Diana Hsieh
Yaron Brook on Leonard Peikoff’s Podcast – Episode 288
I am getting more into “How Capitalism Saved America.” The topic in chapter 3 is the experience of the early settlers in what was to become the United States. In both Jamestown and Plymouth a collectivist approach was initially used, where all the people in the colony worked “to support the colony and to generate profits” for the underwriters of the colony.
I’m currently reading “How Capitalism Saved America.” I am still in the first chapter or so, and I came across an interesting quote about the effect of government spending on the economy.
Except for spending to protect property rights, enforce the law, and protect citizens from for an aggressor, all government spending crowds out private spending and weakens the vitality of capitalism.
Given this, it is easy to imagine what damage the government is actually doing to the economy,
Here are links to this week’s podcasts that I find to be interesting and informative.
Philosophy in Action with Dr. Diana Hsieh
Now that I have finished reading “Locavore’s Dilemma: In Praise of the 10,000 Mile Diet” I am back to “Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal” and quickly came across this quote. The essay was written nearly 50 years ago, but it is still valid today.
The next time you hear a discussion of Medicare, give some thought to the future-particularly to the future of your children, who will live at a time when the best brains available will no longer choose to go into medicine.
I have
After a few days of actually not reading much of anything, except a bit of the news, I am back to reading “How Capitalism Saved America: The Untold History of Our Country, From the Pilgrims to the Present” by Thomas DiLorenzo.
This quote is from the first chapter and I have heard similar quotes in talks by Yaron Brook. It is definitely something to keep in mind whenever you hear government officials say they will make things better by increasing taxes and regulations.
Any discussion
I am currently listening to a great course by historian Eric Daniels titled “Property Rights in American History.” I am just finishing the first part, out of three, and he mentions a short essay by James Madison on Property. The essay covers what property is and the government’s role in protecting it. It is interesting to note how broadly property was defined by the founders. Sadly the essay illustrates just
I am reading, among other things, “The Myth of the Robber Barons,” which is a fascinating book about 19th and early 20th century big business. This particular quote deals with the government’s decision to build its own munitions factories so they would no longer “be at the mercy of identical bids from the “greedy and hoggish” steel companies.”
The identical bids were the result of the government’s policy of, after seeking bids from the three companies
Yesterday I shared on Facebook the link to a blog post by Rituparna Basu of the Ayn Rand Center, on Rand Paul’s argument for a doctor’s political freedom. I received the following comment:
Comments completely miss the mark. Doctors are slaves to the same system patients are slaves to. They are not making the money in our broken health care system. Capitalism ate democracy a long time ago. We need to stop blaming the surfs for all our problems.
My response:
You say capitalism, but it
I am still reading Ayn Rand’s “Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal,” this time her essay on the art of the smear. Once again I am struck at how situations she pointed out nearly 50 years ago are still present in our society today. I am unsure whether this is hopeful, if the same things are still being done then maybe we haven’t gone as far down this road as I might fear, or not.
This particular quote is referring to an interview given by New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller