Alchemy: The medieval chemical science, whose great object was the transmutation of baser metals into gold. – Webster’s New International Dictionary of the English Language, 1914 edition
The debate over possible military intervention in Syria has put on display, for all who can see, the perverse alchemy that has been taking place in this country for at least the past 75 years or more. Unlike medieval alchemy, which sought to convert base metals into valuable gold, the modern, perverse
There are a number of great podcasts that come out weekly that I get a lot of value out of. Here are the links for the broadcasts from the past week.
Yaron Brook on Leonard Peikoff’s Podcast:
Philosophy in Action with Dr. Diana Hsieh
I am taking a break from reading Ayn Rand’s “Captialism: The Unknown Ideal” and have started in on “The Myth of the Robber Barons” by Burt Folsom. I have not read a great deal as yet, just the first couple of chapters, but it is fascinating reading. The author gives a pretty complete picture of the big businessmen
Great video from Yaron Brook regarding the potential (likely?) United States intervention in the Syrian civil war. (Click here to skip down to the video.) This is same position, though much more completely, that I took in a recent letter to my state’s congressional delegation.
I have received responses from both our state’s Senators, and while both express objections to or reservations on the President’s proposal, they are sadly lacking in principle. I am excerpting from
I came across this little tidbit following a link from a Reason.com article about the absence of high profile Hollywood anti-war celebrities speaking out against President Obama’s proposed strikes against Syria.
I came across this quote and had to go back and reread it. To me it perfectly sums up the leftist philosophy of altruism, or self-sacrifice. Actor Ed Asner is quoted in the Hollywood Reporter as saying, in regards to President Obama:
I voted for him, but I’m not proud. He
I had intended to start in on costs for food, but I realized that a better place to begin this time is on food quality. It does not matter much if your food is cheaper if it is poor quality as well.
As I mentioned in part 1, no one would argue that if you pick your own produce or get it from a nearby neighbor, farm stand, or farmers market you will in general get better quality, in terms of taste and nutrition, food than what you can generally find in the local supermarket. This is almost entirely
As I write this, I have actually finished reading “The Myth of the Robber Barons” but I have a lot of quotes built up that I think deserve to be shared.
When I read this quote, I could not help but think of the recent tariffs imposed on Chinese made solar panels. This was done supposedly to help protect domestic solar panel producers against “dumping” done by Chinese companies that receive a large amount of support from their government.
First the quote:
One of the traditional
I wish this video had come out, or that I had seen it, a few days ago. I wrote a somewhat lengthy post on the difference between Objectivism and “raw greed.” In this video Yaron Brook explains essentially the same thing, selfish as opposed to self-destructive, but in much more detail, and likely making much more sense.
In her essay “The Pull Peddlers” which is part of “Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal,” Ayn Rand discusses the phenomena of lobbying. This is a very interesting essay and as applicable today as when it was written more than 50 years ago.
The first quote I want to share is her definition of lobbying:
“Lobbying” is the activity of attempting to influence legislation by privately influencing the legislators. It is the result and creation of a mixed economy–of
I really enjoy listening to Leonard Peikoff’s podcasts, both when Dr Peikoff covers philosophy and morality and when Dr Brook covers polics, economics, and foreign polocy.
This week Yaron Brook answers more questions on foreign policy on episode 285 of Leonard Peikoff’s podcast. Topics include:
Why does the United States not allow India to do what is necessary to protect itself from terrorists who gain support from Pakistan?
Muslims in the US and UK
Guantanamo Bay
At the end he recommended