Allowing Rufo and Lindsay to speak in their own voices,

_{kairosfocus
January 3, 2023

Academic Freedom, Culture, Ethics, rhetoric

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Academic Freedom
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again, as a certain objector here has accused:

Right-wing grifters like Jordan Peterson, James Lindsay, and Christopher Rufo make a lot of money selling these lies to the gullible fools who get their worldview injected into their brains by downloading Fox News propaganda

I have not previously heard of these two, but — courtesy YouTube — it is only fair to let them speak for themselves.

Rufo:

Lindsay:

(He was here giving a workshop, and onward sessions here and here may be helpful.)

I trust that in future, commenters will refrain from such intemperate language. END

F/N: William S Lind interviews Roger Kimball in the 1990’s on culture form marxism and political correctness:

Similarly, this discussion of the labour theory of value vs the marginal revolution, will help clarify thinking on Marx’s exploitation thesis:

The calculation of value challenge:

These two videos on economic issues will help to clarify underlying issues. Ponder, if titanium would make excellent grills, why is it never used for that?

(Why is it primarily used for aerospace work, and why do old cooking gas containers sometimes end up adapted into grills? What was the advantage to the UK c 1943 to take thousands of worn 12 cylinder, V-block Merlin aero engines, take off their superchargers etc and convert them into Meteor Tank engines, going from 1300 – 1600 HP to about 650 HP? A diamond would make a useful stone for a slingshot, or could be used as an industrial abrasive or could even be burned as fuel, why then are certain clear or attractively coloured diamonds reserved for making jewels? Why is water so much cheaper than diamonds or gold or titanium? A certain sheet of paper with $100 printed on it could be used to light a fire, why would we regard this as foolish waste? Hint, what is the next best use of the metal, or the worn engine, or the diamond, or the water, or the sheet of paper, and what price would someone be willing to pay? This is the opportunity cost principle of value, pivoting on the principle of scarcity.)

U/D Jan 10 23: On a more dynamically and historically based political spectrum, using the Overton Window to show how lawless agendas can undermine lawful government:

Comments

Yet there are very few countries that have not adopted some aspects of socialism
Wrong! Most people confuse welfare with socialism. Even Hayek advocated welfare where needed. Also free market capitalists espouse the value of the commons.jerry_{January 7, 2023
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Andrew writes:
Anyone who thinks they can change human nature with a political ideology is highly delusional, and shouldn’t be allowed to participate in political decision-making.
Many religious teachings go against “human nature”. As do civil rights and women’s’ rights. Society is always a battle between “human nature” and the behaviours necessary to live in a society.Ford Prefect_{January 7, 2023
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Espousing any form of it will kill, probably billions if implemented.
Yet there are very few countries that have not adopted some aspects of socialism. Even the US.Ford Prefect_{January 7, 2023
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PM1, just to refresh, while labour (of various grades) is indeed part of the value of a good and/or service (they tend to be bundled), it is neither the only class of input nor the determinant of price. Price is driven by the need to return to the various factors at a rate where one bids against alternatives. This reflects the underlying opportunity cost, the next best alternative foregone. As we saw, diamonds could be used as fuel or abrasives, but certain grades of diamond have a better use as jewellery. Titanium similarly is bought up by the aerospace industry and some of it goes into medical uses or luxury goods. KF PS, Ti is actually abundant but expensive to extract, see https://www.titaniumprocessingcenter.com/Clone_02-11-25-2021/titanium-extraction-and-refining/ If something approaching the efficiency of Fe or even Al production were on the table, that would shift the economics of its use drastically.kairosfocus_{January 7, 2023
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Yet Norway seems to be doing OK so far
Another stupid remark. Norway is a very small country and essentially has free energy. Not transferable to anywhere else. Norway is also a capitalist country. It just has this source of energy that helps reduce costs substantially for its citizenry.jerry_{January 7, 2023
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@89
Any type of socialism will fail because it is contrary to human nature.
This depends just as much on one's version of socialism as it does on one's theory of human nature. My own version of socialism is based on anti-Bolshevik autonomism and looks to degrowth as a short-term socio-economic goal. And my theory of human nature is based on history, sociology, archeology, anthropology, and primatology. (I'd share my reading list but that would be a waste of time.)
Espousing any form of it will kill, probably billions if implemented.
Yet Norway seems to be doing OK so far.
Recommending adopting it is amazing hubris and an obvious disregard for human life and flourishing.
Apparently no one told Lula before he won while running on a socialist platform.PyrrhoManiac1_{January 7, 2023
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"Any type of socialism will fail because it is contrary to human nature. " Anyone who thinks they can change human nature with a political ideology is highly delusional, and shouldn't be allowed to participate in political decision-making. ;) Of course, people don't really believe they can, but hey, they'll say whatever they think sounds good. Andrewasauber_{January 7, 2023
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If anything, this conversation has convinced me that trying to have an intellectually honest dialogue about the strengths and weakness of Marx and critical theory with people who have been indoctrinated with anti-communist propaganda
Facts are stubborn things. Any type of socialism will fail because it is contrary to human nature. As shown by a zillion facts. Espousing any form of it will kill, probably billions if implemented. Recommending adopting it is amazing hubris and an obvious disregard for human life and flourishing.jerry_{January 7, 2023
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If anything, this conversation has convinced me that trying to have an intellectually honest dialogue about the strengths and weakness of Marx and critical theory with people who have been indoctrinated with anti-communist propaganda is about as useful and enjoyable as talking with New Atheists about process theism. I'd explain how my version of democratic socialism differs from everything you've ever heard about, but at this point I have rather little faith in anyone's willingness to have a conversation even about that. One last point: it is simply not true that "ideas have consequences," contrary to Weaver's little book of pseudo-history. Ideas have entailments and actions have consequences. It's true that if you want to know what someone did what they did, it's often useful to inquire into what they believe; our beliefs about what's true often guide our choices. But it can also be true that the consequences of our actions are incompatible with the entailments of our ideas -- something that can often only be seen in retrospect, and even then, only in the judgment of posterity.PyrrhoManiac1_{January 7, 2023
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As the following graph highlights, after staying stable for years, In 1963, (the year prayer was removed from public schools), the verbal and math SAT scores ‘mysteriously’ started to decline for 17 straight years after 1963 until 1980.
Historical average SAT scores of college bound seniors. – 1950 to the 2020 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Historical_Average_SAT_Scores_%28Vector%29.svg
And as David Barton pointed out in his video. the SAT scores for private Christian schools have not changed since 1962-63, but have remained remarkably stable. And if you are thinking about pulling your child from these ‘failing’ public school systems in America, which have 'kicked God out of the classroom', and enrolling them in a ‘passing’ private Christian school, might I suggest a private Christian school that teaches “Classical, Christian Education”?
Classical, Christian Education: Higher SAT Scores Than All Other School Types “Without Even Trying” – Tom Owens on Jan 17, 2020 One of the distinguishing features of classical education is we refuse to “teach to the test.” Instead, we immerse students in the great conversation of Western, Christian Civilization, exposing them early and often to the best minds humanity has ever produced. We seek the intellectual, moral, and spiritual development of our students above all, but when it comes to the standardized tests obsessed over in conventional schools, we are content to “let the chips fall where they may.” Yet, in following the wisdom of the ancients in our approach, the results speak for themselves. Member schools of the Association of Christian & Classical Schools (ACCS) produce students whose SAT scores are, on average, 325 points higher than public schools, 191 points higher than conventional religious schools, and 138 points higher than secular private high schools. How does this happen when most classical schools don’t formally prep for the SAT as part of the curriculum? Why does it seem like ACCS students easily handle the SAT “without even trying?” https://www.dominionschool.com/dominion-blog/classical-christian-education-higher-sat-scores-than-all-other-school-types-without-even-trying
So thus in conclusion, PM1 may fervently believe that he, and other atheists, can, all without God, reason their way to a 'better world', but common sense and history both betray PM1. Man's attempt "to be his own god', as it were, has resulted in nothing but unmitigated horror for mankind. As was written 2000 years ago, and remains true today, (I might add with the benefit of hindsight, remains even more true today), "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning."
James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
Of supplemental note, Atheists often claim that the supposed doctrine of ‘separation of church and state’ is the reason that prayer was removed from public schools. But leaving aside the fact that the statement ‘separation of church and state’ is not even in the constitution, but was a statement that was lifted out of context from a letter that Jefferson wrote to a minister,
Charlie Daniels: Separation of Church & State Is Not About ‘Religion’; It’s a Battle Against Christianity By Charlie Daniels | September 18, 2017 Excerpt: Many people think there is a section in the Constitution, or somewhere in the federal papers that demands separation of church and state, but there is no such terminology. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution says, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...” Separation of church and state is part of a letter written by Thomas Jefferson, whose original intent was far from what the enemies of public displays of religion would have you believe. https://www.cnsnews.com/commentary/charlie-daniels/charlie-daniels-separation-church-state-not-about-religion-its-battle
Leaving aside that 'little detail', the supposed 'doctrine' of separation of church and state is, basically, a work of fiction that was created out of thin air by the overtly racist Supreme Court justice Hugo Black (i.e. a former KKK member),,,
Hugo Black and the real history of “the wall of separation between church and state” – 2011 Excerpt: So how does this invocation of “wall of separation between church and state” become Supreme Court doctrine, extending from a casual phrase by Thomas Jefferson in a letter to an obscure comment in an 1878 Supreme Court ruling on bigamy to a pervasive doctrine of anti-religious censorship in the public square in the 21st century?,,, http://egnorance.blogspot.com/2011/10/hugo-black-and-real-history-of-wall-of.html
bornagain77_{January 7, 2023
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As well, PM1's claim that enlightenment humanism guided the founding of America is also a patently false claim,
In His Farewell Address, President Obama Misrepresented the American Founding - January 11, 2017 Excerpt: "One thing he said about the American founding was especially troubling. Mr. Obama traced “the essential spirit of innovation and practical problem-solving that guided our Founders” to the Enlightenment. It was that movement, which he defined as “a faith in reason, and enterprise, and the primacy of right over might, that allowed us to resist the lure of fascism and tyranny during the Great Depression” and build a world order based on “the rule of law, human rights, freedoms of religion, speech, assembly, and an independent press.” This spin is common in the leftist canon, but it is historical revisionism of the highest rank.,,, The wisdom of the Bible and the clarity of natural law gave the founding generation the guidance they needed to frame a government suitable for an imperfectible but dignified humanity characterized by moral self-restraint and “a firm reliance on Divine Providence.” The shout of defiance in the President’s farewell address, that man can be made perfect through human cooperation with the “arc of history,” runs counter to the philosophy of the founding of our country and the text of the Constitution." https://stream.org/in-his-farewell-address-president-obama/
As John Adams stated, “The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity. I will avow that I then believed, and now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God.” And as George Washington himself stated, “You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you are.”
A Few Declarations of Founding Fathers and Early Statesmen on Jesus, Christianity, and the Bible Excerpt: John Adams Signer Of The Declaration Of Independence; Judge; Diplomat; One Of Two Signers Of The Bill Of Rights; Second President Of The United States “The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity. I will avow that I then believed, and now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God.”1,,, George Washington Judge; Member Of The Continental Congress; Commander-in-chief Of The Continental Army; President Of The Constitutional Convention; First President Of The United States; “father Of His Country” “You do well to wish to learn our arts and ways of life, and above all, the religion of Jesus Christ. These will make you a greater and happier people than you are.” 121,,, https://wallbuilders.com/founding-fathers-jesus-christianity-bible/
So the way to a 'better world', according the George Washington himself, is "the religion of Jesus Christ"? But what would George Washington know? :) And indeed, whereas enlightenment humanism has only left death and destruction in its wake in all the places in the world that it has tried to build a 'better world', Christianity has had tremendously positive impacts on the world at large, as well as a tremendously positive impact on the United States.
How Dark Were the Dark Ages? PragerU - video What do we owe to the Middle ("Dark")Ages: 1. The University System 2. Modern Science 3. Architecture 4. Art and Literature 5. Musical Notation 6. The establishment of schools, orphanages and hospitals. "Instead of the Middle Ages being called the 'Dark Age' it should instead be called the "Brilliant Age" - Anthony Esolen, English Literature professor at Providence College https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cqzq01i2O3U Were the Middle Ages, also known as the Dark Ages, characterized by oppression, ignorance, and backwardness in areas like human rights, science, health, and the arts? Or were they marked by progress and tolerance? Anthony Esolen, an English Literature professor at Providence College, explains. 5 Ridiculous Myths You Probably Believe About the Dark Ages - 2013 Excerpt: Almost immediately after the church gained a foothold in Europe, they started introducing a widespread system of charity that distributed food, clothing, and money to those in need. Perhaps not by coincidence, the concepts of goodwill hospices, hospitals (mid fourth century), and shelters for the poor were also invented during the "dark" ages, paving the way for the public health care system. http://www.cracked.com/article_20615_5-ridiculous-myths-you-probably-believe-about-dark-ages.html
For instance, Christianity founded the university system, and "approximately 106 out of the first 108 colleges were Christian colleges" in America were founded by Christians.
Atheism’s Myth of a Christian Dark Ages Is Unbelievable - Mike Keas - January 22, 2019 Excerpt: Atheist biologist Jerry Coyne once wrote, “Had there been no Christianity, if after the fall of Rome atheism had pervaded the Western world, science would have developed earlier and be far more advanced than it is now.” Did Christianity really drag the West into an anti-scientific “Dark Ages,” a period said to stretch from the fall of Rome to 1450 AD? In my new book, “Unbelievable: 7 Myths About the History and Future of Science and Religion,” I show why this and other anti-Christian myths crash and burn against the facts of history.,,, The University — A Christian Invention The institution in which most scholars investigated natural motion is also noteworthy — the university. This Christian invention began with the University of Bologna in 1088, followed by Paris and Oxford before 1200 and more than fifty others by 1450.,,, The Dark Ages Myth Contrary to the Dark Ages myth, medieval European Christians cultivated the idea of “laws of nature,” a logic friendly to science, the science of motion, human dissection, vision-light theories, mathematical analysis of nature, and the superiority of reason and observational experience (sometimes even experiment) over authority in the task of explaining nature. Medieval trailblazers also invented self-governing universities, eyeglasses, towering cathedrals with stained glass, and much, much more. Although labeling any age with a single descriptor is problematic, the so-called Dark Ages would be far better labeled an “Age of Illumination” or even an “Age of Reason.” https://evolutionnews.org/2019/01/atheisms-myth-of-a-christian-dark-ages-is-unbelievable/ Michael N. Keas is Lecturer in the History and Philosophy of Science at Biola University and a Fellow of Discovery Institute’s Center for Science & Culture. The History of Christian Education in America Excerpt: The first colleges in America were founded by Christians and approximately 106 out of the first 108 colleges were Christian colleges. In fact, Harvard University, which is considered today as one of the leading universities in America and the world was founded by Christians. One of the original precepts of the then Harvard College stated that students should be instructed in knowing God and that Christ is the only foundation of all "sound knowledge and learning." http://www.ehow.com/about_6544422_history-christian-education-america.html
Moreover, secular humanists, with their removal of prayer from school, (not to mention their outlawing of teaching anything other than Darwinian evolution in public school), have, basically, tried their damndest to kick God out of public schools in America, in spite of the fact that Christianity gave us widespread education in America in the first place. Well, what have been the results of secular humanists, basically, kicking God out of public school in America? ,,, all in order to try to create a 'better world'? Well, sadly and predictably, along with a host of other social ills, starting in 1963, SAT scores have dramatically plummeted for students in public schools in America.
The Devastating Effects When Prayer Was Removed From School in America in 1962-63 - David Barton - video (excerpted from Barton’s “America’s Godly Heritage’ lecture) https://youtu.be/1No--GpdqCY Education Expert: Removing Bible, Prayer from Public Schools Has Caused Decline By Penny Starr | August 15, 2014 Excerpt: Education expert William Jeynes said on Wednesday that there is a correlation between the decline of U.S. public schools and the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1962 and 1963 decision that school-sponsored Bible reading was unconstitutional. “One can argue, and some have, that the decision by the Supreme Court – in a series of three decisions back in 1962 and 1963 – to remove Bible and prayer from our public schools, may be the most spiritually significant event in our nation’s history over the course of the last 55 years,” Jeynes said. On June 25, 1962, the United States Supreme Court decided in Engel v. Vitale that a prayer approved by the New York Board of Regents for use in schools violated the First Amendment because it represented establishment of religion. In 1963, in Abington School District v. Schempp, the court decided against Bible readings in public schools along the same lines. Since 1963, Jeynes said there have been five negative developments in the nation’s public schools: • Academic achievement has plummeted, including SAT scores. • Increased rate of out-of-wedlock births • Increase in illegal drug use • Increase in juvenile crime • Deterioration of school behavior “So we need to realize that these actions do have consequences,” said Jeynes, professor at California State College in Long Beach and senior fellow at the Witherspoon Institute in Princeton, N.J., “When we remove that moral fiber — that moral emphasis – this is what can result.” https://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/penny-starr/education-expert-removing-bible-prayer-public-schools-has-caused-decline
bornagain77_{January 7, 2023
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PM1 at 63,
The whole point of Enlightenment humanism is that a reasoned faith in human capacities (intelligence, creativity, compassion) points the way to a better world than the one we’ve inherited. hu·man·ism - noun an outlook or system of thought attaching prime importance to human rather than divine or supernatural matters. Humanist beliefs stress the potential value and goodness of human beings, emphasize common human needs, and seek solely rational ways of solving human problems. *a Renaissance cultural movement which turned away from medieval scholasticism and revived interest in ancient Greek and Roman thought.
Hmm, there seems to be fatal flaw in PM1's "a reasoned faith in human capacities (intelligence, creativity, compassion)", i.e. in "humanism". leading to a 'better world', all without God. Specifically, "intelligence, creativity, and compassion" all find there basis in God. Thus for a humanist to try to use his 'intelligence, creativity, and compassion' to reason his way to 'better world', all without God, is for him to literally cut off the branch upon which he is sitting. As to 'intelligence', leading evolutionary thinkers themselves have admitted, after four decades of research no less, that they have, "essentially no explanation of how and why our linguistic computations and representations evolved",,
Leading Evolutionary Scientists Admit We Have No Evolutionary Explanation of Human Language - December 19, 2014 Excerpt: Understanding the evolution of language requires evidence regarding origins and processes that led to change. In the last 40 years, there has been an explosion of research on this problem as well as a sense that considerable progress has been made. We argue instead that the richness of ideas is accompanied by a poverty of evidence, with essentially no explanation of how and why our linguistic computations and representations evolved.,,, (Marc Hauser, Charles Yang, Robert Berwick, Ian Tattersall, Michael J. Ryan, Jeffrey Watumull, Noam Chomsky and Richard C. Lewontin, "The mystery of language evolution," Frontiers in Psychology, Vol 5:401 (May 7, 2014).) Casey Luskin added: “It's difficult to imagine much stronger words from a more prestigious collection of experts.” http://www.evolutionnews.org/2014/12/leading_evoluti092141.html
As to 'creativity', 'creativity' entails the ability to think 'abstractly', Yet 'abstract' thinking is profoundly immaterial in its foundational essence, and can therefore find no basis in the Atheistic materialism of Darwinian evolution. As Dr. Egnor noted, it is in our ability to think 'abstractly, i.e. 'immaterially', that "We are more different from apes than apes are from viruses."
The Fundamental Difference Between Humans and Nonhuman Animals - Michael Egnor - November 5, 2015 Excerpt: Human beings have mental powers that include the material mental powers of animals but in addition entail a profoundly different kind of thinking. Human beings think abstractly, and nonhuman animals do not. Human beings have the power to contemplate universals, which are concepts that have no material instantiation. Human beings think about mathematics, literature, art, language, justice, mercy, and an endless library of abstract concepts. Human beings are rational animals. Human rationality is not merely a highly evolved kind of animal perception. Human rationality is qualitatively different -- ontologically different -- from animal perception. Human rationality is different because it is immaterial. Contemplation of universals cannot have material instantiation, because universals themselves are not material and cannot be instantiated in matter.,,, It is a radical difference -- an immeasurable qualitative difference, not a quantitative difference. We are more different from apes than apes are from viruses.,,, http://www.evolutionnews.org/2015/11/the_fundamental_2100661.html
Same with 'compassion'. Exactly how is 'compassion' to be grounded within the Darwinian worldview where it is held, (as the 'one general law' of evolution no less), "let the strongest live and the weakest die”?
“One general law, leading to the advancement of all organic beings, namely, multiply, vary, let the strongest live and the weakest die.” – Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species – 1861, page 266
As should be needless to say, Darwin's "Death as the Creator" simply lacks compassion of any sort,
How Has Darwinism Negatively Impacted Society? – John G. West – January 11, 2022 Excerpt: Death as the Creator A third big idea fueled by Darwin’s theory is that the engine of progress in the history of life is mass death. Instead of believing that the remarkable features of humans and other living things reflect the intelligent design of a master artist, Darwin portrayed death and destruction as our ultimate creator. As he wrote at the end of his most famous work: “Thus, from the war of nature, from famine and death, the most exalted object which we are capable of conceiving, namely, the production of the higher animals, directly follows.”13 https://evolutionnews.org/2022/01/how-has-darwinism-negatively-impacted-society/
So PM1's hope for a 'better world', all without God, via "a reasoned faith in human capacities (intelligence, creativity, compassion)", is an act of self-delusion on his part. Without God, PM1 simply would not even have the capacity for "intelligence, creativity, and compassion" in the first place. Moreover, humanists have been trying to build a 'better world', without God, for quite a while now. At least since the French Revolution. So what are the results of enlightenment humanists trying to build a 'better world', all without God? Well, sadly and predictably, enlightenment humanism started horrifically bad,,
Solzhenitsyn Mourned Bastille Day. So Should All Christians. - July 2015 The French Revolution invented radical nationalism and socialism, and launched the first modern genocide, aimed at Christians. Excerpt: the first such modern genocide in the West took place in France, beginning in 1793. It was undertaken by modern, progressive apostles of Enlightenment and aimed at pious peasants in the Vendée region of France. By its end up to 300,000 civilians had been killed by the armies of the Republic. This story is little discussed in France. Indeed, a devout historian who teaches at a French university once told me, “We are not to mention the Vendée. Anyone who brings up what was done there has no prospect of an academic career. So we keep silent.” It is mostly in the Vendée itself that memories linger, which may explain why that part of France to this day remains more religious and more conservative than any other region. The local government opened a museum marking these atrocities on their 200th anniversary in 1993 — with a visit by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, who noted during his eloquent address that the mass murders of Christians in Russia were directly inspired by those in the Vendée. The Bolsheviks, he said, modeled themselves on the French revolutionaries, and Lenin himself pointed to the Vendée massacres as the right way to deal with Christian resistance. It was ordinary farmers of the Vendée and Brittany regions who rose up in 1793 against the middle-class radicals in Paris who controlled the country. The ideologues of the Revolution had already *Executed the king and queen, and left their young son to die of disease in prison. *Seized the Cathedral of Notre Dame, stripped it of Christian symbols, and enshrined a prostitute as the “Goddess of Reason” on the altar; *Declared a revolutionary “war of liberation” against most of the other countries in Europe; *Suspended all Protestant services, in deference to the state’s cult of Reason; *Seized all church property from Catholics, expelling thousands of monks, priests and nuns to fend for themselves, then sold the property to their cronies to raise money for their wars; *Ordered all clergy to swear allegiance to the government instead of the church; and *Launched the first universal conscription in history, drafting ordinary people — most of them devout peasants bewildered by the slogans that held sway in Paris—to fight for the Revolution. When the Parisians came to take away their sons for the army, the Vendeans finally fought back and launched a counter-revolution in the name of “God and King.” It quickly spread across the northwest of France,,,, https://stream.org/solzhenitsyn-mourned-bastille-day/ How atheism led to horrors of French Revolution 01/10/2016 Bill Federer remembers words of wisdom from 19th century Yale president Timothy Dwight IV Excerpt: On July 4, 1798, Timothy Dwight gave an address in New Haven titled “The Duty of Americans at the Present Crisis.” In this address, he explained how Voltaire’s atheism inspired the French Revolution and it’s Reign of Terror, 1793-1794, where 40,000 people were beheaded and 300,000 were butchered in the Vendée: “About the year 1728, Voltaire, so celebrated for his wit and brilliancy and not less distinguished for his hatred of Christianity and his abandonment of principle, formed a systematical design to destroy Christianity and to introduce in its stead a general diffusion of irreligion and atheism.” http://www.wnd.com/2016/01/how-atheism-led-to-horrors-of-french-revolution/#1B3fDxTw5KBO9Ttb.99
And the results of enlightenment humanism have, sadly and predictably, only gotten catastrophically worse since its horrific inception in the French revolution,
Atheism’s Body Count * It is obvious that Atheism cannot be true; for if it were, it would produce a more humane world, since it values only this life and is not swayed by the foolish beliefs of primitive superstitions and religions. However, the opposite proves to be true. Rather than providing the utopia of idealism, it has produced a body count second to none. With recent documents uncovered for the Maoist and Stalinist regimes, it now seems the high end of estimates of 250 million dead (between 1900-1987) are closer to the mark. The Stalinist Purges produced 61 million dead and Mao’s Cultural Revolution produced 70 million casualties. These murders are all upon their own people! This number does not include the countless dead in their wars of outward aggression waged in the name of the purity of atheism’s world view. China invades its peaceful, but religious neighbor, Tibet; supports N. Korea in its war against its southern neighbor and in its merciless oppression of its own people; and Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge kill up to 6 million with Chinese support. All of these actions done “in the name of the people” to create a better world. https://www.scholarscorner.com/atheisms-body-count-ideology-and-human-suffering/ Hitler, Marx, Lenin, Stalin, Mao – quotes – Foundational Darwinian influence in their Atheistic ideology https://uncommondescent.com/philosophy/david-berlinski-the-bad-boy-philosopher-who-doubts-darwinism-is-back/#comment-749756
bornagain77_{January 7, 2023
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I can see why the left hates Chris Rufo. A voice for sanity in higher education. Appointed by DeSantis for a new university in Florida.
I'm proud to announce that Gov. Ron DeSantis has appointed me to the Board of Trustees of the New College of Florida. My ambition is to help the new board majority transform New College into a classical liberal arts institution. We are recapturing higher education.
https://twitter.com/realchrisrufo/status/1611406507815636993jerry_{January 7, 2023
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F/N: I have added to the OP, Lind's interview and two videos clarifying the issue of value and markets. Ideas have consequences. KF PS, profits mean various things in different contexts. Accounting profit is not economic profit, e.g. it often embeds risk premiums, returns to the scarce labour of entrepreneurship, invention, high quality analysis, decision making and broader management, also astute investment. These too, are key contributions to creating goods and services in markets that provide good value for money. Profit is exploitation of labour is simplistic but often persuasive though lacking in warrant; it is now a generally recognised economic fallacy, especially in a high tech era that pivots on innovation. It is also a toxic slander that has had horrific consequences and feeds a destructive attitude of general resentment that sees society as pivoting on oppression. Which, is at the heart of not only classical marxism but its neo-marxist culture form derivatives that typically operate as critical theories.kairosfocus_{January 7, 2023
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Kairosfocus @73, Considering your quote
If one is making a profit while also paying other people, then one is taking more value from their labor than one is paying them for. If you take something from someone without paying them for it, that’s called stealing. So yes, all profit is theft.
The labor theory of value would also suggest that the invention of the wheel massively reduced the value of labor prior to its invention. Thus, by reducing technology further by banning copy machines and printers, for another example, and requiring all written communication to be produced on clay tiles would thus increase the value of labor (much more work for the same output). Receiving a newspaper handwritten on clay tablets would require hundreds of hours of labor for delivery at a single address, eclipsing the value of anything written on these tablets. So, yes. As Jerry said @77, we'd all become hunter-gatherers spending our time feeding one person, ourselves. But that's not the end of the story! In exchange, for progressing onto the stone age, we'd all receive massive wealth in Social Credit Points (SCPs)--uncountable billions of them each! And this would be Totally Different than the original stone age in that billions of laws would ensure equality to the most minute level should you deviate from immediately and literally eating the fruits of your labor as you hold discussions of every word of Marx, Engels, Lenin, Castro, and all the others. How noble! ;-) -QQuerius_{January 6, 2023
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When it comes to making most of the planet increasingly unlivable for human beings, destroying in a few decades ecosystems that have been around for many millennia, and turning human beings into semi-robotic slaves in mines, plantations, factories, prisons, and businesses — no, you’re right, nothing better than “free market capitalism” at doing all of that.” Gee sounds like that wonderful workers paradise in China which adopted Marxist philosophy. https://thediplomat.com/2022/10/minerals-and-chinas-military-assistance-in-the-dr-congo/ https://www.dailywire.com/news/joe-rogans-podcast-shows-horrifying-slave-conditions-used-to-mine-materials-needed-for-electric-cars Vividvividbleau_{January 6, 2023
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Q re 72 Bravo! Vividvividbleau_{January 6, 2023
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“2. This number is not property damage but insurance claims. I suspect that insurance companies are highly motivated to inflate the cost of damages, since they know that the price will be negotiated down. (At least that’s been my experience with medical insurance.)” Ok it’s all making sense now you are a Marxist no wonder you don’t understand how insurance works but I am glad,to enlighten you. You talk about your experience with medical insurance which shows your ignorance but of course what can one expect from a Marxist. Incredibly you do not know that when you submit a medical claim YOU are the claimant! You or your Doctor( a claimant), or your hospital ( a claimant) submits your claim or there claim to the insurance company. The insurance company then try’s to lower what they have to pay. My goodness you don’t even know what you experience! “Notice that $1.4 billion is between $1 billion and $2 billion. So the insurance claims filed as a result of the 2020 protests are in line with the insurance claims filed as a result of the 1992 protests.” So I will just add the 1.4 billion to your estimate of the 2020 riots, 1.4 billion, for what you call “feint and meager” PMI remember It’s important to keep track of the difference between perception and reality . LOL Vividvividbleau_{January 6, 2023
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Relatd writes:
But I wish the man-haters would wear “I’m a Man Hater!” T-shirts so I can avoid them.
Have you ever thought that they may not hate you because you are a man, but rather because of your attitude?Ford Prefect_{January 6, 2023
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This whole discussion of economics has gotten ludicrous. We are talking about basic microeconomics. There are some fundamental processes based on human behavior and costs that drive the key decisions. The main one is the supply and demand curves which produce the optimum price. If the cost is higher than the price, nothing will be produced. So there must be a profit. If the profit is excessive then this will attract competitors and drive prices and profits down. To argue that there should be no profit is one of the more insane and inhumane policies imaginable. It essentially says nothing will be made and people can only resort to hunter gathering status. Anyone who suggest this is extremely ignorant. So we have person here who claims to be an expert on socialism, who had no idea what the left/right designations are, who obviously doesn’t understand microeconomics, doesn't know the history of economic development and then claims to unbelievably wide read. This person also promotes emergentism but cannot produce a single incident from this process. There seems to be a contradiction here.jerry_{January 6, 2023
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“The figure for the 2020 protests is not “$2 billion” but “between $1 billion and $2 billion”. So it’s not 2 billion and you are so sure of that that you then say it could be 2 billion? Sheesh Vividvividbleau_{January 6, 2023
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“2. This number is not property damage but insurance claims. I suspect that insurance companies are highly motivated to inflate the cost of damages, since they know that the price will be negotiated down. (At least that’s been my experience with medical insurance.)” Let me see if I get this right. Insurance companies inflate damages in order to negotiate down what they have to pay. Who are they going to negotiate with? Ohhh I get it they are going to negotiate with themselves. They certainly are not going to negotiate with the claimants. Hey mister business man we have determined that your damages are a million dollars please take less. Insurance companies don’t inflate what they owe they do everything to lower damages not inflate them! Off the chart crazy. “The figure for the 2020 protests is not “$2 billion” but “between $1 billion and $2 billion”. Says you however let’s split the difference, you contend that 1.5 billion is feint and meager got it. Hey I will use the lower number 1 billion, yeh feint and meager. Vividvividbleau_{January 6, 2023
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@55 "I simply do not accept that the value of the theories and arguments of Marx, Engels, Luxemburg, and others is invalidated by the millions who were killed by agents of “state communism”." Outrageous but so predictable. The classic "but this was not true communism" trope... You judge a tree by its fruits and Marx's tree has given us nothing but bloody disgusting rotten and toxic pieces of crap for over a century now, and the gift keeps on giving to this day. I suppose that if you had been in charge to put Marx's wonderful theory to practice, then we would have reached the utopia... This horrible and murderous philosphy and ideology was thoroughly discredited in shame in the 20th century, at the cost of more death and suffering than any other philosophy in the history of mankind. Defending it today with the benefit of hindsight is really shameful.Jblais_{January 6, 2023
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PM1, perhaps you do not know I lived through a marxist revolution attempt backed by Cuba and the USSR [who publicly aoologised for their part a decade later]. Yes, the labour theory of value had roots in Ricardo et al and by the 1870's was already on the way to utter discredit. With the marginal revolution, it should have died. However, it was baked into marxist economics, and became pivotal to precisely the grand oppression thesis you are trying to dismiss. Do you think I made up, expropriate the expropriators out of thin air? A key pattern I saw live was the attempt to pretend that property was theft in effect, grand theft of the product of labour, which then justified treating the business-entrepreneurial classes as thieving parasites on society; feed in agit prop, let loose some sociopaths and we get to my aunt shot down in her shop because, rice being scarce the agit prop agitators propagandised that the problem was hoarding; through the usual front groups, here XXX for Progress . . . itself a clue word. After her murder the same operator got back on radio to pretend utter innocence. No, I am not going to forget something like that, the sort of real world murderous consequence you seem to be unaware of. The wave of thought we have been seeing extended that thesis to everything from watermelon environmentalism to project 1619, with intersectionality playing a key role. And we both know denial of objective truth is a major issue today. More can be said. KF PS, do you not see the implications of your:
If one is making a profit while also paying other people, then one is taking more value from their labor than one is paying them for. If you take something from someone without paying them for it, that’s called stealing. So yes, all profit is theft.
This is a grossly false slander. The value of a product, strictly, is the next best alternative foregone, and to pay labour at a reasonable and competitive rate with a senior claim to enterprise and even bonds, is not theft. Entrepreneurship is a valuable input, as is investment on prudent, informed estimate of the net present value of future earnings [or the equivalent], etc. One of the tricks here, is to quietly omit the riskiness of enterprise and the fact that the minority that succeed have to pay for the failures. For example, the computer industry, in aggregate did not net contribute value until IIRC sometime in the 80's, that's how risky it was.kairosfocus_{January 6, 2023
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PyrrhoManiac1 @63,
“There’s something Eric Hoffer said: ‘Intellectuals cannot operate at room temperature.’ There always has to be a crisis–some terrible reason why their superior wisdom and virtue must be imposed on the unthinking masses. It doesn’t matter what the crisis is. A hundred years ago it was eugenics. At the time of the first Earth Day a generation ago, the big scare was global cooling, a big ice age. They go from one to the other. It meets their psychological needs and gives them a reason for exercising their power.” -Thomas Sowell
Free Enterprise Free Enterprise is the natural enemy of Capitalism, which is merely a method of finance. The entrepreneur puts in sweat equity, her own money, ingenuity, and time. She hires people at their going rate, but they’re most certainly NOT being exploited when she retains the profit from her venture. Why? Because she also assumes ALL of the risk. Her employees do not. If her venture fails, as nine out of ten do, then how many employees would accept the risk of taking on a massive portion of the losses of her venture in exchange for the possibility of sharing the profit should it succeed? Enemies of the State So, to achieve your Socialist Worker’s Paradise, be it fascist or communist, you must first make sure your children are ignorant of history, and you must fill your children’s hearts to overflowing with enough intense hatred and anger that they demand a brutal authoritarian dictatorship to “get things done” and to “finally set things right.” Then, when you’re in power and luxury, you can tell your serfs how much better their abject poverty is than before the glorious revolution! You must constantly publish images of your happy slaves on the State plantation working together in community for the common good. Everyone there receives an equal distribution consisting of the barest minimum for survival in the name of true equality and environmentalism. Just as in the days of plantation slavery, you provide free housing, free healthcare, and free food! Naturally, you and your friends will receive the wonderful perks you deserve that are commensurate with your wisdom, education, concern, and level of responsibility to guard and maintain the plantation against Enemies of the State, which for some odd reason always seem to be Jewish . . . or Christian, if you run out of Jews. But you must find Enemies of the State! Would you deny that anti-Semitism is on the rise? According to the Anti-Defamation League, 2021 was the highest year on record for documented reports of harassment, vandalism and violence directed against Jews and that 2022 looks a lot like 2021. Right on schedule.
“Under capitalism, man exploits his fellow man. Under Communism, it’s the other way around.” – Eastern European proverb
And when it all predictably collapses, you will once again lament that it “wasn’t TRUE socialism.” Whatever that is. And immediately start working on the NEXT incarnation of this failed fantasy. -QQuerius_{January 6, 2023
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Relatd, MY -ism is better than YOUR -ism. ;) Andrewasauber_{January 6, 2023
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I've never seen so many ism's in one place.relatd_{January 6, 2023
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Under Capitalism, They will overcharge you. They will also overcharge you under... Anarchism Classical anarchism Individualist anarchism Libertarianism Social anarchism Insurrectionary anarchism Authoritarianism Absolute monarchism Autocracy Despotism Dictatorship Imperialism Oligarchy Police-State Totalitarianism Plutocracy Theocracy Communitarianism Communitarian corporatism Mutualism Distributism Eurasianism Communism Barracks communism Leninism Stalinism Marxism Naxalism Conservatism Authoritarian conservatism Bioconservatism Black conservatism Civic conservatism Classical conservatism Corporatism Absolutist corporatism Communitarian corporatism Conservative corporatism Economic corporatism Mutualist movement National syndicalism Neo-feudalism Democracy Associative democracy Bioregional democracy Bourgeois democracy Cellular democracy Majoritarianism Producerism Sortitionism Environmentalism Bright green environmentalism Deep green environmentalism Light green environmentalism Free-market environmentalism Fascism and Nazism Classical fascism Crypto-fascism Eco-fascism Neo-fascism Neo-Nazism Identity politics Age-related rights movements Animal-related rights movements Disability-related rights movements Feminism Neo-feminism Radical feminism First-wave feminism Second-wave feminism Third-wave feminism Fourth-wave feminism Liberalism Neoclassical liberalism Neo-liberalism Ordoliberalism Secular liberalism Social liberalism Technoliberalism Secularism Libertarianism Classical liberal radicalism Eco-socialism Free-market anarchism Paleolibertarianism Propertarianism Nationalism Bourgeois nationalism Civic nationalism Cultural nationalism Diaspora nationalism Populism Conservative populism Economic populism Liberal populism Reactionary populism Social populism Progressivism Economic progressivism Social progressivism Techno-progressivism Transnational progressivism Socialism Democratic socialism Reformist socialism Marxist revisionism Revolutionary socialism Ba’athism Nasserism Andrewasauber_{January 6, 2023
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Relatd, Indeed. Our enlightened vision of a better world for you, whether you like it or not, at your own expense, for our own good. Andrewasauber_{January 6, 2023
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Andrew at 64, Humanism. Man is the highest being on Earth. Only man can improve man. There is no other being more wise, more productive and more enlightened. Or - man worships man. He surrounds himself with philosophers. He exalts himself.relatd_{January 6, 2023
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