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Avatar – A Pandora’s Box Of Subjectivity
Helping Haiti Till It Hurts
No More Aid For Haiti – The Continuing Curse Of Foreign Aid
There’s No Rogue In Prorogue
Philanthropy Misanthropy
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Star Trek Bloopers – Where No One Should Go – Ever
Mostly Right – The Prime Directive, Individual Rights, The Hero – Star Trek’s Legacy
“Boldly Going Back To Beginning” – Star Trek 2009
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Feedback: On Voting And Socialists
Legalizing Prostitution – Who’s The Victim?
Local TV Versus Cable – ‘A’ Channel’s Don Mumford Gets An ‘A’
Lights Out! – On Everything Good
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A New Voice For Freedom: Introducing Robert Vaughan
Assisted Suicide – A Right? Or A Crime?
Sending Out An S.O.S. – Stop Over Spending!
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The Pope Vs Capitalism: Two Encyclicals – Caritas In Veritate (2009), Populorum Progressio (1967)
Obama Vs Capitalism
The Public Vs Capitalism
Church And State – Together Again
Religion Vs Morality
The Morality Of Capitalism
Philosophy remains the unseen foundation beneath every decision, conflict, and cultural trend, yet countless individuals dismiss it as abstract, irrelevant, or even dangerous. Avoidance often stems from its association with defeat—witness how athletes and politicians turn “philosophical” only after losing—or from the proliferation of destructive ideologies that overshadow the valid ones.
Origins trace back to ancient Greece, where Socrates pioneered dialectic, Plato championed timeless ideals in a dualistic reality, and Aristotle grounded forms within the material world, embracing objective existence and the golden mean. Modern thought finds its sharpest defender in Ayn Rand’s Objectivism, which elevates reason and reality above all. Her analogy of the mind as a computer proves particularly illuminating: garbage in, garbage out. Default on conscious programming, and random or alien ideas seize control, manifesting as unpredictable emotions.
Contemporary trends fare poorly under scrutiny. Pragmatism discards fixed standards for fleeting practicality. Linguistic analysis reduces truth to arbitrary words. Existentialism plunges into nihilistic despair, portraying a hostile universe devoid of purpose.
True freedom emerges not from anarchy’s chaotic faith in voluntary order—which crumbles without enforcement—but from the absence of coercion, safeguarded by objective laws and limited government. Anarchy invites gang warfare; freedom demands protection of individual rights.
These distinctions clarify why philosophy cannot be ignored—it programs the subconscious and directs human action. Approaching these ideas with reason and evidence feels just right.
Here we are with the very first broadcast of Just Right. I’m Bob Metz, stepping up to the microphone after the retirement of Jim Chapman and the end of Left, Right, and Center. I make it clear right from the start: this isn’t about being right-wing, it’s about being just right – that philosophy of freedom, reason, individual rights, voluntary choice, and tolerance that stands in stark contrast to the left’s statism, force, collectivism, whim, and intolerance, whether it comes wrapped in conservative or liberal packaging.
I lay out the real meaning of left versus right, drawing from Plato and Aristotle all the way to today’s issues like abortion (neither ban nor subsidize), Sunday shopping (treat it like any other day), and pornography (freedom of speech, not bans from the religious right or the feminist left). All Canadian parties? They’re all on the left in my book.
Then I dive into that campus controversy over the Western Gazette‘s April Fool’s spoof – a satirical piece that had the usual suspects screaming for apologies, sensitivity training, ethics codes, and even removing editors by vote. I defend it as legitimate humor and free speech, exposing the intolerance behind calls to censor “offensive” content, the myth of a “rape culture” in the West, and the feminist agenda that confuses sexuality with sexism while demanding force and funding to silence dissent. Throw in some history on pornography laws, the Fraser Committee, and the real story behind Linda Lovelace. I Even touch on a few TV shows like Drive, Lost, and that brilliant Firefly.
In the end, defending freedom of speech, individual justice, and reason against the forces of censorship and collectivism is what being on the side of freedom is all about – and that’s Just Right.