Topics: 00:07 Politics is personal: Me myself and I – the trinity of the individual, object-subject-agent, inclusion and exclusion, the self, life liberty and property 18:20 Interested in running – away from politics: political candidate selection process, no qualifications necessary, public life vs private life 30:40 Depersonalization of politics: a public personal protest, impersonal political process, citizen as political, committee decisions, group decisions, recording votes, passing the buck, referenda 45:00 Freudian slippage: government is a gun, Sigmund Freud, sovereign individual, super ego, ego, id, self-made individual, freedom of choice and sovereignty 53:49 END
Topics:
00:07 ‘A is A’ is Affected: GUESTS: Ted Harlson, Conrad Lagowski, affected by Ayn Rand, personal paths to Objectivism, theory and practice, purpose of life, self-interest vs altruism, material and spiritual, promoting values, search for truth 15:55 ‘A is A’ is Aristotle: Ayn Rand’s critics, objections to Objectivism, confronting the critics, consistency of reason, dogma vs proof of truth, activating the mind 30:55 ‘A is A’ is Ayn Rand: taking the right action, from religion to reason, the unknown ideal, rational selfishness more strict than religious rules, lifeboat ethics, altruism as a philosophy, selflessness 47:15 ‘A is A’ is Activism: political and social activities, provincial Freedom Party candidate, municipal campaigning, Caledonia protestor, Undercurrent, The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels, promoting full potential for life, maximizing the life in our years 53:42 END
Topics:
GUEST: Keith Weiner – Gold Standard Institute USA 00:07 Fools about gold? challenging assumptions about gold, returning to the gold standard, a moral issue, printing fiat money, legal tender laws, capital gains tax, forced to hoard gold and silver, prohibition of gold ownership, 1929-1933 history 15:15 Not just a marginal issue: marginal utility – what makes gold different, the value of gold, cornering the silver market, human inventory of gold and silver, money supply and prices, observation vs theory, Gold Standard movement’s tragic mistake – focusing on prices, wealthy at risk 32:25 Militantly indifferent: price of gold, gold standard, Coinage Act 1792, no price of gold before 1971, extinguishing debt, why debt accumulates, resistance to the gold standard, what is really wrong with the dollar, 45:00 From paper to gold: Ludwig von Mises, Milton Friedman, central planning of money, from ending slavery to ending prohibition, the destruction of capital, falling rate of interest, fiat victims – retirees and unemployed 57:38 END
Topics: 00:07 Party politics – parting politicians: London municipal election results, the Fontana Ate, Fontana’s council not dysfunctional, socialists are dysfunctional, zero percent tax increase promise, the power of a repeated lie, legal theft vs illegal theft, election signs, door-knocking, voter turnover between elections, the media agenda, defacto political party, party politics in municipal elections, predicting a boring council 16:30 Change please: London municipal election results, change but little difference, Toronto election, right and left, consensus and debate, Ontario Ombudsman says democracy unfolding, forcing people to vote, voting as a duty or a right, freedom of religion 30:05 Islamists Branded mental: Russell Brand’s tirade against Stephen Harper, Ottawa terrorist link to ISIS inescapable, religious motivation or mental illness, insensitivity of Russell Brand, Russell Brand’s brand of politics, Brand promotes destruction and anarchy, True News is distorted news 49:05 Just right copyright: Political parties and news copyright, Conservative government’s omnibus bill, CTV News protests, no copyright in news, radio and TV advertising, democratic freedom 56:30 END
Topics: 00:07 Choice – or freedom of choice? Ottawa terrorist attack, it’s just right to prevent the threat to democracy, the way the world has been going lately, radicalized opinions, democracy’s objective is freedom, voter threats to Western civilization, trading freedom for security, growing dissatisfaction with government, we the people, John Macmurray, freedom-dignity-responsibility, Listen Little Man by Wilhelm Reich, two kinds of people, the emotional plague, voter distrust of each other, hope springs from understanding, confusing freedom of choice with choice 15:32 A plague on democracy: understanding vs belief, God, trickery in favour of truth, petty misdeeds, on the side of the persecutors, aiming at the truth, the public as dictator, rising from the mass into individuality, the process of individualization, democracy is no guarantee of freedom, Wilhelm Reich on humour, the joke’s on us 26:40 GUEST – Scott Williams-Oakes: October-Jest 2, London’s re-emerging comedy scene, for mature audiences, politically incorrect comedy, costume contest, comedy vs fear, the late great dead comedians, rise of social media, fake apologies, freedom of speech 41:24 Comedy is the fool’s occupation: Smothers Brothers, heroes of comedy, court jester, acting the fool, Lenny Bruce, breaking the obscenity envelope, Don Rickles, kernel of truth, too soon escape clause, cold war comedy, poking fun at sacred cows, All In The Family, Sanford and Son, Soap, late-night comedy 52:04 END
Topics: 00:07 London’s sElectors: a progressive agenda is a spending agenda, a worrying election, a divided council, debate, progressive interests driving the electors candidate options, Kingsmills, political connections – naming the groups and individuals pushing their agendas, Emerging Leaders, Urban League, Women and Politics, Citizen Core, Pillar Non-Profit Network, Fanshawe College Foundation, London Economic Development Corporation, candidate connections, candidate debate sponsors 15:05 Middle class muddle: Aristotle, democracy, middle class, Justin Trudeau says middle class is disintegrating, Canada vs US middle class, middle class as an election issue, clashing definitions, changing attitudes on the middle class, somewhere between rich and poor, government class 30:20 Poverty Trapped: Poverty Trapped: poverty, London-Middlesex Housing Corporation, Joan Ball, no specifics, public-private partnerships, waiting lists, Paul Cheng, no solutions, jobs, unemployment 44:20 Poverty plans – a poverty of solutions: Poverty plans – a poverty of solutions: poverty, social housing, no incentive to work, community strategies, governments in debt, welfare, minimum wages, universality, central planning, personal income tax, housing 56:22 END
Topics: 00:07 MuniciPALS – Partners in Politics: Kingsmills-Fanshawe deal, Mayor’s Joni Baechler’s case for the Kingsmills deal, consensus over sense, actual costs of deal approaching $16 million, comparison shopping, LBDA running a deficit but promising millions, misleading the public to get results, city councils not qualified to get into venture capital market, the net new students argument, escalating costs, city debt over $400 billion, interest $66 million per year, no new students – just new taxes 13:05 Hong Kong democracy – in London Ontario? mayoral election, unbalanced media coverage of election, the chosen ones, pre-chosen candidates reveal the hidden agenda of lobbyists, losing the right to choose the citizens’ candidate, voter dis-interest and apathy, preventing an informed electorate, no democratic debate, the Pillar mayoral debate, invitation to not participate, revitalizing downtown 25:33 It’s no ‘experiment’ – Socialism: revitalizing down town, Paul Van Meerbergen, unproven socialist experiments, socialism, fascism, role of property, central planning, communism, capitalism, control, public-private partnerships, competing interests 41:10 London mayoral candidate review – top five picks: Matt Brown, Roger Caranci, Paul Cheng, Arnon Kaplanski, Joe Swan 55:53 END