Topics: 00:07 The Greater Divide: conservatism vs freedom, comparative views – conservative – liberal – freedom, The Great Divide – Bill Gairdner, personal vs public, concept of self, individual vs group, Salim Mansur, individual sovereignty 20:45 Tyrannical democracy: freedom and rights, choice, freedom – democracy – totalitarianism, voting, majority rule, social freedom conflicting rights, democratic cycle 34:50 Definitions please: the problem with adjectives, comparative definitions, conservatism, liberalism, libertarianism 45:08 The political god particle: subjective views of god, supreme being, atheism and morality, floating political abstractions cause confusion and harm 56:49 END
Topics 00:07 The Great Divide: clash between ideological forces, what’s beneath the surface, why liberals and conservatives will never agree, ideas vs politics, modern liberals vs classic liberalism, human nature, change agents, perfection, party politics, virtue liberals, individualism, equality liberals, from liberty to equality, sexual freedom, libertarian socialism 18:55 Feeling blue about red: theory vs practice, Liberal and Conservative contradictions, prostitution politics, politician vs statesman, more democracy but less freedom, concept of the self, self discipline vs self gratification, self-esteem, duty, we world vs me world, choice vs the common good, pornography, freedom not a good in itself 31:00 The great deviation: freedom as a guarantee of rights, freedom vs choice, the six freedoms, social beings, freedom as power, tyranny and democracy go hand-in-hand, the great deviation, society’s rights vs individual rights, libertarian position, the harm principle, individualism and the non-aggression principle, duties and obligations, conceptions of democracy, society and the next generations, rights – objective and subjective 44:45 Conceit in the moral arena: freedom guaranteed by restraint, libertarian conservatives, social conservatives, fiscal conservative, individual vs social freedom, views on morality, morality as a language, principles and facts before debate, an increasingly closed society, eternal discussion and debate, Canada-US divide, Obama is America’s Trudeau, conceits
Topics: 00:07 Amen to secularism: Supreme court decision on prayer, Alain Simoneau, Jean Tremblay, tradition and religion, separation of church and state, Canada as a secular nation, no official religion in Canada, religious history of Canada, Christian heritage, Thomas Jefferson, neutrality of government on religious matters, John Adams, James Madison, religious persecution, atheist government 17:15 State your religion: spirituality and organized religion, tradition, Lord’s Prayer recital, details of Supreme Court decision, state’s duty of religious neutrality, abstaining from prayer, symbolism and prayer 30:50 Fear Factor: fear as a motivator, emotion over reason, future present past, irrational fear vs rational fear, ignorance and superstition, lack of fear, consequences of fear in politics, fear and religion, after life, living with fear 47:50 The only thing we have to fear is…: fear of climate change, fear of majority rule, fear of the future, fear of the self, fear of death, fear of living, fear of freedom 1:01:05 END
Topics: 00:07 Safety First: being safety conscious, safety should be no concern of government, the rarity of carbon monoxide poisoning, Ontario government imposing costs on homeowners, fire department authority over homeowners, safety and liability, smoke detectors, government creating a risk-free environment, increasing state restrictions, safety first freedom last 14:34 Trade Cap: Kathleen Wynne’s cap-and-trade plan, CO2 emissions, Return of the Primitive, purpose of government, earth currently in an ice-age, climate always changes, immoral motivations behind anti-industrial ideologies, being anti-industrial is being anti-human, nature is harsh and cruel, nature’s harmony with industrialism, Wynne’s cartel creation, a moral issue – not just an economic issue, philosophy of destruction, Freedom Party 30:41 Beauty is in the I of the beholder: beauty is objective, standards of beauty, beauty as society’s highest value, religion’s role in art and architecture, symbolism, beauty as harmony, acquiring artistic tastes 49:30 The art of art: art reflects truth, the purpose and function of art, literal vs interpretation, emotion as a sum of values, emotional reason, art and pleasure, art and religion, art an objectification of metaphysics 1:00:24 END
Topics: 00:07 No service please: right to refuse service, Religious Freedom Restoration Act, right to discriminate, public vs private realm, public notice of discrimination 09:05 Ending philosophy: intellectualism, reality is objective, Prospect’s vote for top ten world intellectuals, Thomas Piketty, Yanis Varoufakis, Naomi Klein, Russell Brand, Paul Krugman, Arundhati Roy, Jurgen Habermas, Daniel Kahneman, John Gray, Atul Gawande, Russell Brand’s ending philosophy 30:40 The fact of Camille Paglia: Harvey Mansfield, Camille Paglia, political correctness, academics challenging the status quo, they saw it coming, creating angst division and confusion, properly informed people are less vulnerable to manipulation, cult of personality vs ideas, Paglia’s calls for education reform, the certainty that some ideas are better than others 44:50 Just great: world religions as great symbol systems that sustain, Camille Paglia, state of education, youth as anti-establishment, abandonment of greatness, knowledge of history, there are facts, critique’s that lack solutions, focus on core curriculum, knowledge is hierarchical, postmodernism’s relative contradictions 58:41 END
Topics: 00:07 The militant atheist? Conrad Black vs the militant atheist, using logic to justify faith, God as creator, God as standard of good, H.L. Mencken vs the militant theist, time and infinity, atheism is not a philosophy 14:15 Capital’s real Isms: capital is not an ism, claiming victims of capitalism, conservatism’s impotent defense of capitalism or freedom, misrepresenting capitalism as slavery 31:55 The choice: Paul McKeever, Ayn Rand or status quo, ad hominim attacks against Ayn Rand, Rand’s philosophy of Objectivism, rationality as the highest virtue 40:55 Just plain silly: right or wrong vs good or evil, silly assertion, arbitrary claims, insanity label is a judgement, Progressive Conservative moral and political record, Freedom Party moral standard, immoral Christian influences on the law, philosophy requires effort, faith is effortless, Objectivism unjustly vilified 57:17 END
Topics: 00:07 Ignorance is strength: redefining terms of the debate, political debate, redefining words, Orwellian tactics, progressive goal is ignorance, freedom, general welfare, niggardly slur, from rape to sexual assault, progressive language agenda, prostitute, whore, gypsy, exclusion of man, fisherman to fisher, actress to actor, womyn, changing public mind set and attitudes, gay, homosexual 12:55 Watch your language! changing language standards, retarded to slow to challenged to gifted, crippled to handicapped to special needs, beyond Orwellian, hidden insults in political correctness, fear of offending, Oriental to Asian, Merry Christmas to Seasons Greetings, spelling of words, center and centre, Webster’s political spelling, language sovereignty, plow vs plough, alternative spelling system, ignorance is strength 30:20 Crook-ed thinking about capitalism: keeping capitalism unknown, Glen Pearson, Mark Carney, World Economic Summit, inequality in world’s wealth, economic capital vs social capital, economic inequity – good and bad, collective ownership is communism, market fundamental 45:00 Hydro just One: Ontario’s electricity monopoly, from Ontario Hydro to Hydro One, private monopoly vs public monopoly, profit motive, power at cost, profit is production, peak electricity rates to rise, saving money through price increases, illusion of monopolized choice 59:31 END
