Bob and Robert were invited to attend the Annual General Meeting of the Society for Academic Freedom and Scholarship held at Western University on May 13th.
Here is our recorded presentation of Jan Narveson, Emeritus Professor of philosophy at the University of Waterloo. Dr. Narveson used the current controversy surrounding climate change to speak on “When Science is Political.”
Few things have become more perverse than the Left’s various obsessions with race, gender, sex, ethnicity, skin color, language, and “identity” issues. All in the name of “diversity.”
But “diversity” based on obsessions with race and identity is not a value. When treated as such, its pursuit places society on an inevitable road to conflict and division. And that’s exactly what we see happening across North America today.
From politics to movies and TV shows, the tidal wave of media propaganda focusing on identity politics has of late reached a crescendo. It has also become decidedly fascist, as was inevitable given the nature of the collectivist philosophy that supports these obsessions.
We see it in our newspapers and media reports each and every day: manufacturing racism to pursue fascist policies.Continue reading »
Kevin Flynn, Ontario’s Minister of Labour (Liberal) has made it explicitly clear that his government’s planned minimum wage increase is not about minimum wages at all. The legislation has been designed primarily for the purpose of exercising the Liberal Party’s Marxist philosophy, most popularly (and incorrectly) understood as: “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need…”
“We told our advisors ‘Don’t deal with minimum wage’ because we already have a good handle on that,” Flynn said to interviewer Andrew Lawton on July 10. “The underlying principle is that there are a number of people in our province that are doing very well these days.” (From each according to his ability…)
“The underlying concern is that people in this province are making less than $15 per hour, which we know is below the poverty level.” (…to each according to his need).
So the whole minimum wage debacle is not about minimum wages at all! It’s about socialist wealth redistribution, plain and simple. Straight from the Labour Minister’s mouth.
In the world of politics, an operative principle is “Define, or be defined.” Unfortunately, whether that definition is objectively true or not is quite secondary to other political considerations.
As a result, the labels used to define differing ideologies and political policies do anything BUT define those so labeled. Left, right, centrist, liberal, conservative, democrat, and a whole host of other terms, have come to mean entirely different things to different people at different times.
Which side benefits by this confusion? The Left? Or the Right?
Who gets hurt? And how does the damage manifest itself? Continue reading »
To fully comprehend that the political Left and Right are polar opposites is also to understand that the two completely opposite ideologies cannot co-exist.
This represents a great frustration to supporters of both the “liberal left” and of the “conservative right.”
Those on the “left” find themselves forced to compromise with the idea that at least “some capitalism” (on the Right) is necessary, for without it, there is little to no wealth for socialists to “re-distribute.” Those on the “right” find themselves forced to compromise with the notion that at least “some socialism” (on the Left) is necessary, for without it, the elderly, sick, and poor would be unable to survive.
Both camps share a common error. To the extent that each is sincere in its desire to address its concerns as stated (which is another matter entirely), the road to both ends (prosperity, security) has been clearly demonstrated to be Right: the environment of freedom and capitalism.Continue reading »
Comments Off on 512 – Tweeting above the media storm trumpers
Jul062017
He’s the master of insults,” says our in-studio guest Salim Mansur, “and that is a good thing.” U.S. President Donald Trump has pioneered the social media of Twitter in a way that resembles “the Haiku of American politics,” notes Salim. He predicts that in the future we should not be surprised at the emergence of “a serous and academic discussion on tweeting.”
No doubt, Donald Trump would have to be the primary subject of that serious and academic discussion. Trump has successfully taken control of the “news reports” surrounding his presidency by mastering the art of tweeting, and in so doing, has amassed a following on Twitter that dwarfs that of the “established” media news outlets.
What have been called “outbursts” and “undignified comments” etc., penned by Trump’s tweets, are, upon closer examination, very calculated and effective methods of communicating with the public at large. Once again, Trump towers above his media opponents in every respect – from being effective at getting his message across, to the size of the audience following him on Twitter. It is an unprecedented revolution.
But that’s only half the story. As repeated experience has been demonstrating, it turns out that it is Trump, and not the media, who appears to be the guy who’s telling it like it is to the American public.Continue reading »
Comments Off on 511 – Identity crisis and the primacy of consciousness
Jun292017
The idea that words, which represent concepts about the real world, can be subjectively and variably interpreted is not only false, but exceedingly dangerous. It is a root cause of much of the strife in the world today.
Nowhere can this be seen more clearly than in the world of politics, where the very term “identity politics” has come to mean a concealment or misrepresentation of identity.
Among the words most misunderstood in the political lexicon are those used most often: left, right, conservative, liberal, communism, fascism, capitalism, socialism – to name but a few.
Having never clearly defined these words since they were first used, there has been a massive failure in the ability to identify political ideologies – and their consequences when put into action. The political identity crisis has now been expanded into all fields of human discourse, including sexuality, where it has now become politically acceptable to deny one’s sexual identity and to declare it to be something that it is not.Continue reading »