Episode 74 - Pragmatism versus rational morality, collectivistic independence, family and State

The best pedogogy fosters intrinsic motivation and respects the will of the learner Challenging the bureaucrats on their methods of immorality... http://freekeene.com/2009/07/02/liberty-activists-pays-property-tax-in-1-bills/ The institution of government blinds people to its coercive nature, so ingrained it is Activism must be accompanied with education Caller ridicules free staters, but questions the nature of the statist system (first few mins of clip) http://freekeene.com/files/Talkback2009-06-13.mp3 People putting the pieces of the statist puzzle together, only to reject the final product (and what it implies for their beliefs and behavior) Passing principled moral judgment in the realm of statism can be scary, which explains why most avoid it Stephen Colbert vs Ayn Rand? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-tIY99QFFk If people had the freedom to make their own choices, would they starve? Should self-interest and economic efficiency be favored over governmental coercion and its expropriated "safety net"? Government is the complete invitation for the abdication of moral responsibility From each according to their ability to each according to their need, the Marxist death knell for any economy Central governmental planning has resulted in millions of deaths A coercive social "safety net" is immoral and unjust and encourage self-responsibility Selflessness is not virtuous, but those in government pretend that it is Governmental programs basically create excuses to perpetuate themselves The present form of tyranny, the status quo, is the real evil that plagues us, not the supposed evildoers abroad "We" don't need "national defense" Libertarian Accusations by Ayn R Key http://aynrkey.blogspot.com/2009/05/libertarian-accusations.html Accusations against liberty-lovers as selfish, greedy, or arrogant are merely the projections of the accusers The philosophy of pragmatism dispenses with rational moral principles and upholds self-sacrifice and collectivism Statist intellectuals are the new high priests asserting the divine right of Kings (governments) http://aynrandlexicon.com/lexicon/pragmatism.html Pragmatism, being philosophically bankrupt, adopts the ethics of altruism, the ethics of self-sacrifice and collectivism Open letter from Edward-Lewis and Elaine-Alice Brown http://newhampshirefreepress.com/node/423 Using mystical concepts to forward freedom ideas confuses rather than clarifies The mafia must envy those in the governmental "justice system"...if they only had a flag Governmental courts practice the unscience of injustice, as Lysander Spooner noted eloquently A government is not a corporation; a corporation is an extension (legal fiction) of government People's compliance with governmental edicts tends to foster the illusion that they're voluntary High cost of texting, one big example of the costs of fascism in the telco industry... http://techguylabs.com/radio/ShowNotes/Show492#toc7 http://www.dvorak.org/blog/2009/06/20/why-do-text-messages-cost-so-much/ What Carriers Aren’t Eager to Tell You About Texting http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/28/business/28digi.html?_r=1 http://blogs.abcnews.com/theworldnewser/2009/06/if-text-messaging-is-so-cheap-why-does-it-cost-so-much.html Government "works" by concentrating the benefits and dispersing the costs The 4th of July: Collective Independence Day!...replacing one despotic government with an even worse government One of the main problems with Democracy is that everyone has their own version of "representation" The best way is the present way, so says pragmatism Meet (and obey) your new mommy/daddy: Government You can't opt out of a system that is inherently collectivistic Can anyone really be an individual in the matrix called America? http://www.lostlibertycafe.com/index.php/2009/04/10/is-evil-necessary/ The good-end-justifies-coercive-means-argument predominates our culture It's wrong to aggress against a person and their property; 2+2=4 Clarifying the coercive nature of government and using the moral argument are key When you were little, did you really experience making your own choices as a respected person? The best "politics" can do is offer you bad choices based on the central planning premise The family is the place where people learn to associate arbitrary power with protection, welfare, and love Thus, the State If persons don't have a firm belief in their self-worth, changing their mindset becomes quite difficult Pseudo self-esteem results in all sorts of dysfunctional and disrespectful behavior http://www.nathanielbranden.com/catalog/articles_essays/what_self_esteem.html bumper music "The Way It Is" by Tesla http://teslastaging.com/index.php  http://www.myspace.com/teslatheband to comment, please go to http://completeliberty.com/magazine/category/91697