Category: Ethics | Page 14 | Just Right Media

466 – Guest: Salim Mansur – The Fountain Beheaded

Aug 182016

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The FountainBeheaded: Is Donald Trump America’s Howard Roark?

That question suggests the symbolic theme behind our discussion with Western University’s associate professor of political science Salim Mansur, who describes Trump as a ‘doer,’ and suggests that Trump’s critics generally fall into the ‘talker’ camp.

We’re all heard the phrases before: “Talk is cheap.” “All Talk. No Action.” “Don’t tell me; show me.” “Small talk from a big mouth.” “Been there; done that. Wasn’t there; talked about that.” and of course, “Those who can, do; Those who can’t, teach.”

In Ayn Rand’s best-seller novel, The Fountainhead, the main character Howard Roark chooses to become the architect of his own fate and destiny. Though his path to greatness – as an architect – may not have been of his own making, his arrival at his chosen destination is the direct consequence of his own determination to take the necessary action to achieve his goal. Along the way, Roark is constantly trashed by the media, the politicians, and the academics – those who Salim would call “the talkers.” Continue reading »

461 – Black racism matters / Racism’s white noise

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Jul 142016

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So how come only white people are generally portrayed as racist? The answer’s becoming clear: Because the mainstream media has been irresponsibly promoting the scripted narrative of political groups dedicated to that racist narrative. So honky if you’re white – because you’re a racist.

Of course, it’s a ridiculous and false perspective. But you might be surprised how many people believe it – and why.

Two stories, one theme: (1) the racist shootings of white police officers in Dallas Texas at a Black Lives Matter protest; (2) the racist accusations made as a consequence of a physical altercation between two Muslim women in London Ontario. The one theme: Even though innocent, only white people were the targets of both.

White people, apparently, are the problem.

On today’s Just Right, tune in to hear that narrative blown back into the world of reality.
Reality is not a place where the left likes to be, so it remains in denial of that reality and continues to push and promote its own very unreal irrational hatreds. Continue reading »

441 – Blacked-out history / The N-word / At ease – with fear / Ignoring the ignorance

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Feb 252016

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Topics:
00:03 Blacked-out history: Black History Month, London Ontario cited as racist community, history as experiences of racism – not liberation, diversity hiring in city hall, legislating racial mirroring, white power groups are on the left, Ontario’s anti-racism directorate, celebrating enslavement – not freedom, essential history
20:45 Run run from the N-word: why the N-word is different from other racial and cultural slurs, the ‘N’ stamp of determinism, colours do not have histories, London Ontario’s Meeting Tree, capitalism freed the slaves, the welfare state as cultural slavery
38:15 At ease – with fear: fear as the mind killer, promotion of fear, fear for attention, at ease with fear during WW2, Chuck Lorre’s vanity card about fear, attention as a commodity, worthy of fear, list of latest fears, unreal fears and lies
54:05 Ignoring the ignorance: failure of the teaching profession, imparting ignorance instead of knowledge, the dominance of fear in reason’s absence 59:42 END

438 – Winning a debate by ending it / Moral relativism’s relevance / Infernal revenuers

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Feb 042016

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Topics:
00:03 Presumptuous Causes: feedback on cause and effect, ‘snapshots of the continuum’, events and causes in historical accounts, progressive thinking, Alberta’s drift to progressivism
13:15 Winning a debate by ending it: “Ecojustice” vs Friends of Science, global warming, climate change, freedom of speech, Calgary and Edmonton billboard campaign, Competition Bureau, censoring the debate, the ‘denier’ label, the nature of censorship, truth as the victim of censorship, Doomsday Clock, end-of-the-world predictions
31:30 Moral relativism’s relevancy: Roger Scruton on moral relativism, shared values, reality and God, progressive lack of external truths, comparing Objectivists and conservatives, nihilism’s imposing imperatives, nihilism’s contradiction, atheism’s variances
44:35 Proper tax: Roger Scruton’s conservative realization, common values, feedback from Liam on property taxes, preferable forms of taxation, land value tax, asset sales, selling the sales tax
59:42 END

432 – Red Alert! – Santa Claus is coming to town / Better to give than receive?

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Dec 242015

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Topics:
00:03 Red Alert! – Santa Claus is coming to town: Santa Claus on the political spectrum, is Santa a socialist or a capitalist?, socialism’s monopoly on the spirit of giving, source of wealth, Santa as a generous capitalist, elves economics, needs vs wants, commercialism of Christmas, gifts valued and de-valued
14:30 Better to give than receive? preference to give, selfless giving vs selfish giving, the morality of giving vs receiving, presents not wanted, expectations vs actuality, personal Christmas depression, a brief history of Santa Claus, popular ideology and Santa, duty gifts, caller John, consumerism – bad or good, materialism, consumer societies vs producer societies, happiness on subsistence, gift entitlement
33:30 Naughty or nice: caller Don, Canada a free country, Canada a productive country, caller John, mercenary-minded profit motive, foolish commercialism, exploration of space vs wealth redistribution, Christmas tenant evictions, the coal issue, naughty or nice, Black Peter and the lump of coal, Christmas stresses, religious significance, the secularization of Christmas, Christianity’s appropriation of pagan ceremonies, annual celebrations of harvest, festival of the nativity, creation of myths, evolution of the myth of Christmas, a multiculturalist Christmas
53:00 Be sure to check the Santa clause: Santa a contradictory figure, working conditions of Santa’s elves, union busting at the North Pole, Christmas wishes
58:57 END — Promo to 59:42

404 – Guest: Dr. Andrew Bernstein – philosopher, novelist, radical for capitalism

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Jun 112015

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Topics:
00:07 Ego, ergo no go: resistance to Objectivism, progressive vs progress, making the case for capitalism, dominant moral code of altruism, abysmal record of socialism, confused views of altruism, values of pursuing self-interest
14:30 Philosophy’s course: course of philosophy, absorbing philosophy vs learning philosophy, being overwhelmingly positive through truth, open immigration, welfare state is the problem, moral case against welfare state
38:16 Objectivism’s class act: Atlas Shrugged, putting Ayn Rand’s books into schools, Obamacare, socialized health care, disappearance of independent thinking, legacies of Marxism, moral and economic ignorance, regulating the doctors – and profit, competition required, America is a mixed economy, stimulating demand restricting supply creates high prices
40:45 A war on drug prohibition: a case for ending drug prohibition, ethics of using recreational drugs, supporting a war on drugs without prohibition, transforming the political/legal battle into a moral/philosophical battle, virtues of clean living, lowering the homicide rates, juvenile reactions to legalizing drugs, paradoxical truths
55:25 END

387 – Bode’s flaw / Vacuous notions on vaccinations / Capitalism: the moral system

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Feb 122015

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Topics:
00:07 Astro-logic about life on other worlds: imagining a galaxy teeming with life, Bode’s law, exo-planet systems, habitable planets in the millions, not necessarily earth-like, Bode’s flaws, stable planetary systems, habitable zones around red and yellow dwarf stars, lack of metalicity, the Goldilock’s principle
12:50 Vacuous notions on vaccinations: the anti-vaccine controversy, role of the internet, fears of vaccines as a cause of autism are unfounded, finding conspiracies in the face of contrary evidence, fallibility of science, science is self-skeptical, Kant and Plato, government and medical business
29:15 Capital schisms on capitalism: science and capitalism, conference – Capitalism in today’s society, only one form of capitalism, socialism, the mixed-economy myth, why capitalism is losing the political war against it, Adam Smith and the invisible hand
44:40 Discovery, not invention: Conrad Black’s pragmatic defense of capitalism, concealing capitalism’s definition, socialists in capitalist clothing, discovering capitalism, capitalism is a moral system – not an economic system 56:52 END