Seems hostility towards Milo by ARISIS's Yawon Bwook won't be holding Milo back!

http://www.allenbwest.com/matt...

And not a Scientologist in sight!

Lindsay -- You're right. I missed that totally.

Kyrel, did you ever hear of "tongue-in-cheek"? I did take the precaution of putting a smiley after my statement—I guess to no avail. Here's what I was actually saying: "In the eyes of the orthodox, not only is reading Babs's book a moral crime, it is The Crime of the Millennium."

Sigh.

Lindsay claims:

"Not only is reading Babs Branden's book a moral crime, it is The Crime of the Millennium."

The diametric opposite is true. That's pure cult talk. Every Objectivist whatsoever -- and anyone else who has even the slightest respect for truth on this issue -- needs to read and weigh this book against the essays and books of the ARIans. As on virtually every intellectual dispute, it's essential to read both sides.

And let no-one doubt: Solo Passion is far from free from Randroidism.

Not only is reading Babs Branden's book a moral crime, it is the The Crime of the Millennium. I guess no one warned you. Smiling I attach little credence to Babs's book after research done right here by Michael Moeller, her indefensible smearing of me personally, and of course, the content of Rand's private journals published in the Valliant book. But every Objectivist in my view should read every book.

Linz, in case you didn't know "Babs['s]" book has been confirmed by the Burns and Heller books from 2009.

Not only is reading Babs Branden's book a moral crime, it is the The Crime of the Millennium. I guess no one warned you.

I attach little credence to Babs's book after research done right here by Michael Moeller, her indefensible smearing of me personally, and of course, the content of Rand's private journals published in the Valliant book. But every Objectivist in my view should read every book. This sight-unseen unfriending you've experienced, Anoop, is indicative that the old intrinsicist/rationalist/religiosity mind-set endures. Alas, it afflicts both sides of the divide. Brandroids are as bad, if not as numerous, as Randroids.

Thank you for allowing me to be a member of SOLO Objectivist forum. I am glad to be here.

The last few days have been quite difficult, due to the character assignation campaigns and unfriending campaigns being launched against me in the social media.

About 60 people have thus far unfriended me on FB. None of these 60 people cared to ask me to present my side of the story even though I had been their active supporter for last 3 years since I became active in FB Objectivist circles.

With due respect to the Objectivists in FB, I must say that they are now exhibiting signs of what seems like a severe case of “Anoop Derangement Syndrome.”

It is not as if I have tried to cause any harm to the Objectivist movement. My conscience is clear. In my recent blogs I have only asked the questions which people have been asking for the last 30 years. These questions are 30 years old, and they are very pertinent questions. There is nothing new or illogical that I have said.

Is it my problem if they have not been able to resolve these issues for 30 years? Also, is reading Barbara Branden’s The Passion of Ayn Rand a moral crime?

... highly principled and heroic. No doubt there's been much pain for Anoop in his declaration of independence, some of which he's shared with me privately. But he's persevered. Coming here was a brave step, too.

Death to Obleftivism!

Anoop is highly principled and heroic. Last year I tried to join an Objectivist Facebook group called For the New Intellectual. But some guy, who I don't know about to this day, repeatedly kicked me out. Anoop repeatedly added me back in. Finally, he prevailed. I hugely appreciate this!

And just for the record: I'm 100% respectful and polite over there, with essentially zero ad hominem attacks, and I always attempt to keep the discussion on a high -- but interesting and fun -- level. I conduct myself there almost identically to how I conduct myself here, just a bit more carefully. And I only self-promote with links maybe one out of three of my best Solo Passion articles.

Congratulations on the fire you have placed under the posteriors of the Obleftivist elite!

When I read Lindsay Perigo’s article for the first time, I was shocked by its no-holds-barred attack on people who are regarded as the voice of Ayn Rand’s philosophy.

But then I thought that this article must be seen as a natural reaction to the position that a few highly regarded Objectivist intellectuals have taken on President Trump. If these intellectuals claim that Mr. Trump and vast majority of his supporters are fascists and racists, then they have to prove it with evidence. Mr. Trump has now been in power for 4-months—what fascist and racist acts has he committed thus far?

From the philosopher class, especially those who are stand as the voice of Ayn Rand’s philosophy, a better political analysis is expected. If they project political analysis that is not fully thought through then they will squander the moral support they have been enjoying in the past. Some people may become disenchanted and start drifting away.

The Objectivist intellectuals have to be careful when they present their views on mass political movements like the one that Mr. Trump is leading. They have to have a benevolent view of why the movement is enjoying such support. What concerns are driving the people to Mr. Trump? If the intellectuals fail to take such concerns into account, they will appear insular and elitist.

But Perigo's article is a clear reflection of the fact that all is not well in Objectivism. The movement is no longer being seen by many people as the "voice of reason."

"I wouldn't mind it if we had been beaten by a tall warrior in a steel helmet, a human dragon spitting fire. But we're beaten by a louse. A big, fat, slow, blond louse."

Rand, Ayn. We the Living (p. 391). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

"It was a pedestal from which a god had been torn, and in his place there stood, not Satan with a sword, but a corner lout sipping a bottle of Coca-Cola."

Rand, Ayn. The Fountainhead (p. iv). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

"... and that would be the end of the world, not fire and brimstone, but goo."

Rand, Ayn. Atlas Shrugged: (Centennial Edition) (p. 890). Penguin Group. Kindle Edition.

I expect the Clinton Foundation and ARISIS share some donors in common.

My exasperation here is that now of all times is when we want to hear Ayn Rand's inimitable, incomparable roar against evil. Instead of that, her official representatives are part of the evil. No doubt they are rejoicing that their Dem-Scum pin-ups are thwarting Trump at every turn.

Death to Obleftivism!

Linz, those ARI payout schemes resemble those of the Clinton Foundation.

I still wonder what is the equivalent "pay for play"!

Ed writes:

... if you judge ARI as an organization dedicated to extracting cash from sincere admirers of Ayn Rand's ideas and then distributing that cash to the Objectivist aristocracy of pull, then ARI is a smashing success.

It is indeed. Did someone post here that Bwook gets over $400,000 a year plus bonuses for touting his evil Obleftivism? The feathering of one's own nest well beyond the parameters of genuine merit began with Binswanker and Warts demanding outlandish fees—tens of thousands per lecture—at Thomas Jefferson School conferences back in the 80s. This was the origin of the falling-out between George Reisman, TJS founder, and the OrthOists. I was present at those gatherings. No way were Warts's and Binswanker's lectures worth tens of thousand of dollars.

These guys are just Narcissistic nobodies unfit to lick Ayn Rand's boots. Bwook decidedly included.

Let me make one thing clear: I'll debate this treasonous, Hillary-enabling low-life on any forum moderated by a genuine independent, someone not on his payroll, someone who doesn't demand of me at the last minute that I refrain from "broad generalisations" "critical" of the filth. And I reserve the right to call him what I just called him, since that's what he is and I have ample evidence—this is not an arbitrary assertion. He in turn can call me anything he likes. I am not hung up on politeness. Civility in the face of evil is no virtue. Bwook is evil.

There are plenty of successful ideological organizations, mostly on the Left. On the right, the most successful one is the National Rifle Association, which is both a single-issue organization and non-partisan. Heritage Foundation has been quite successful in getting its policies implemented as well (not that I approve of all or even most of them). The key is narrow focus. ARI is so wildly all over the map on programs, initiatives, speakers, etc., that coherence is not really possible, and this is in spite of, if not because of, the crushing conformity it applies to all employees. The Libertarians have built a much better structure in the Mises Institute, which has had phenomenal success in placing libertarian thinkers at many places in the country, for the most part all Rothbardian anarchists, but it's been quite an achievement. They allow some heterodoxy though, which increases their numbers without diluting the overall message. I don't think it's that hard, really, but Brook is incompetent at running such an organization. On the other hand, if you judge ARI as an organization dedicated to extracting cash from sincere admirers of Ayn Rand's ideas and then distributing that cash to the Objectivist aristocracy of pull, then ARI is a smashing success.

Can anyone here point to a "successful" ideological organization whose lessons can be transferred to ARI to reform it before it self-destructs?

I still think some of its programs are quite worthwhile, but the currently prominent mouthpieces are not among them!

Mr. Verma is taking a hammering for his stance. Predictable.

A brave soul named Anoop Verma has very publicly (Faecesbook) parted ways with ARISIS. He has given me permission to quote a comment he recently made to me in private about my Open Letter:

Mr. Perigo, your article was the catalyst that enabled me to break from ARI brand of organized Objectivism.

Expect to see him show up on SOLO shortly.

... but how would we know? What difference would we notice if it were not a hoax? ARISIS's acquiescence to the Islamisation of Europe renders anything ARISIS says on the subject risible and contemptible.

ARI’s position on immigration makes FluchtHelfer believable but it is in fact a hoax perpetrated by a group calling itself “PENG!” based in Berlin. See
www.homment.com/L8Rfj5hxRm

Ed writes three days ago:

"I am certainly second to none in my condemnation of Amy's behavior with regard to creating a safe space for Yaron on her podcast, instead of a vigorous debate of real issues. However, neither Yaron nor ARI has any control over Atlas Shrugged--that's all Leonard Peikoff. This deal was probably put together back while Amy and Bosch were still a couple, and I'm sure it was what she was talking about a number of times last year when she hinted at "big news." Now that Amy and Bosch are no longer a couple, I can guess the collaboration has been more difficult.

"What does it even mean any more to call oneself an "Objectivist" when the alleged keepers of the flame of Objectivism are no longer themselves faithful to Ayn Rand's philosophy? Like the Scholastics dogmatizing the concretes of Aristotle, ARI is dogmatizing the concretes of Objectivism, ripped bodily from their contexts of the real world. What broke the grip of the Scholastics on the heart of Western philosophy was not so much "more Aristotle" but in fact the flood of manuscripts from Byzantium after it fell, including Plato and others, that introduced a little intellectual heterodoxy into the West. A little heterodoxy is what Objectivism needs these days, more debates on more concrete topics, not less. And who knows, maybe in these debates the "orthodox view" will prevail most of the time? Maybe it won't. But one thing is for sure, without ever being seriously challenged, people like Amy and Yaron will intellectually atrophy to the point of even more irrelevance than they are today, no matter how much money the Koch Brothers pump into ARI. They're flabby and it shows. Any decent Objectivist "Rocky" could give them a beating in the ring, if they were to ever accept such a match. I always thought Yaron was simply so megalomaniacally condescending that he could not even conceive of being beaten by anyone. But now I think he may very well be afraid. He has his gravy train too that he has to protect, just like Amy does."

Wow! That's a hell of a lot of insight and wisdom for just four paragraphs!

I love discussing and debating Objectivism. It's my favorite topic. Frequently saying critical things about it doesn't make me a non-Objectivist. But what an intellectually intimidated, socially conformist, personally defeated, limited, scared, wimpy, weak, pitiful Philosophical World those cult-style "Objectivists" have created! Rational, normal, healthy, happy people don't want to be a part of it. True Objectivists don't want to be, and essentially can't be, a part of it.

For what it's worth, I had a private conversation with David Kelley in 2007 (probably) and asked him if he considered the ARIans to be Scholastics, as I did. He didn't give me a good answer. Only when I repeated it did he agree, under pressure from myself. So I don't know if he truly thinks this, or was just being polite.

But I still hold the position that just as the Aristotle-loving and -quoting Scholastics were, ultimately, enemies of Aristotle; so too the ARIans and other religious-style "Objectivists" are, ultimately, enemies of Rand and Objectivism. They ostensively worship her, and have memorized her words -- but they lack personal and intellectual loyalty to the crucial values of reason, individualism, and freedom and independence of discussion and debate.

I found this article interesting:

http://russia-insider.com/en/p...

It looks like someone may well have hijacked the ARI name as a "Registrant Organization" for a site that promotes Muslim infiltration of Germany.

On the other hand, the "open borders" advocacy of the ARI suggests this may not be a hijacking after all.

A comment to the article suggests Zionists favor overrunning Christian Europe with Muslims as collective revenge against Christian oppression of Jews across the centuries.

It is quite a tangled piece of journalism, and I would normally dismiss it outright as too conspiratorial to accept, but in trying to make sense of what the ARI is doing, I cannot so readily dismiss it after all.

Here is another article on Sweden:

http://www.weeklystandard.com/...

Amy linked to it and briefly discussed it on her show. She said it was hard to find the truth about what was going on with crime in Sweden. Yeah, right.

Amy's show is pretty much the same as before. She should have good guests such as Tom Woods has and not flaky callers who can't stay on topic.

What does it even mean any more to call oneself an "Objectivist" when the alleged keepers of the flame of Objectivism are no longer themselves faithful to Ayn Rand's philosophy? Like the Scholastics dogmatizing the concretes of Aristotle, ARI is dogmatizing the concretes of Objectivism, ripped bodily from their contexts of the real world. What broke the grip of the Scholastics on the heart of Western philosophy was not so much "more Aristotle" but in fact the flood of manuscripts from Byzantium after it fell, including Plato and others, that introduced a little intellectual heterodoxy into the West. A little heterodoxy is what Objectivism needs these days, more debates on more concrete topics, not less. And who knows, maybe in these debates the "orthodox view" will prevail most of the time? Maybe it won't. But one thing is for sure, without ever being seriously challenged, people like Amy and Yaron will intellectually atrophy to the point of even more irrelevance than they are today, no matter how much money the Koch Brothers pump into ARI. They're flabby and it shows.

Ed, this is brilliance from you, as far as I'm concerned. I have touted something new like "Authenticism" to improve upon Objectivism, except I now hate that name and realise anew that the problem with Objectivism is not the philosophy (all tweaks must surely be accommodable within the purview of adherence to reality?) but its purported adherents. If they stuck, metaphysically, to reality rather than their a priori talking points, and if they stuck, ethically, to reality rather than which side their bread is buttered on, Objectivism would flourish—vociferous public debates included.

This much I know: Binswanger is poison. Bwook is mercenary poison. Obleftivism is Fake Objectivism.

Any decent Objectivist "Rocky" could give them a beating in the ring, if they were to ever accept such a match. I always thought Yaron was simply so megalomaniacally condescending that he could not even conceive of being beaten by anyone. But now I think he may very well be afraid. He has his gravy train too that he has to protect, just like Amy does.

Can anyone think of a single occasion when an OrthOist leader has debated a critic? It would have happened with me but for Amy's last-minute ban on broad, critical statements. Has it actually happened at any time? Look at all the vociferous debates on YouTube where defenders and opponents of various ideologies have at it, and differences within ideologies are aired, uninhibitedly. Heck, there are even Muslims taking on their critics at events organised for that very purpose! Can anyone find an OrthOist doing that? There's no debate culture within OrgOism, just the tried-and-false stale conformism and rote rationalism, so egregiously displayed by Binswanger in his immigration article.

I find it telling that no Oist—except one, who quickly retreated, on Ed Cline's site—came forward to dispute my paragraph about intrinsicism and rights. There should be vociferous debate on this sort of issue within Oism, but of course all one gets is the usual rote recitation.

As far as the Obleftivist gravy train is concerned—let's derail it!!

I am certainly second to none in my condemnation of Amy's behavior with regard to creating a safe space for Yaron on her podcast, instead of a vigorous debate of real issues. However, neither Yaron nor ARI has any control over Atlas Shrugged--that's all Leonard Peikoff. This deal was probably put together back while Amy and Bosch were still a couple, and I'm sure it was what she was talking about a number of times last year when she hinted at "big news." Now that Amy and Bosch are no longer a couple, I can guess the collaboration has been more difficult.

Amy's position as a "Visiting Associate Professor of Law and Research Fellow for the Study of Objectivism" at Southwestern Law School is one of those academic positions funded by ARI/Anthem to promote Objectivist scholarship in the university setting. As a general idea this isn't too bad, though in practice it means just jobs for the well-connected, those in the Objectivist "aristocracy of pull". From the university's perspective, of course, she's just an adjunct--that is, a lowly-paid contract teacher--not a "professor" in the usual sense. If the ARI/Anthem money went away (and while we don't know what that money is, it's probably substantial, given the usual modus operandi of ARI in extracting cash from Objectivist donors to lavish on the elite), she would almost certainly lose the lengthy 13-word title and go back to being an adjunct and teaching a course or two a semester at $5K each, not much to live on in LA.

So Amy's entire life as a lawyer/scholar is directly related to making Yaron happy, and indeed making her ex-husband Leonard happy, or at least not pissing them off in a way that would potentially threaten her sinecure at SWLS. Given how incredibly venal, vindictive, and emotionally unstable most members of Objectivism, Inc. are, if Amy were a normal person, and not an alleged advocate of a rational philosophy for living on Earth, one might almost be able to forgive her for caving into a system designed to breed intellectual conformance and obedience to the Objectivist Elite in a way St. Benedict would be proud of. Unfortunately, Amy put forward a number of times the idea that she welcomes debate and polite disagreement (which I took advantage of numerous times), but when it came down to making her gravy train look bad, she blinked integrity-wise. I have not listened to her show since the debate, but if anyone has, I'd be interested in what has gone on. Is it all sycophants plus crazy people? (Unscreened talk shows always have crazy people). Or are there people like me who politely disagree from a perspective of (at least I hope) intellectual strength?

What does it even mean any more to call oneself an "Objectivist" when the alleged keepers of the flame of Objectivism are no longer themselves faithful to Ayn Rand's philosophy? Like the Scholastics dogmatizing the concretes of Aristotle, ARI is dogmatizing the concretes of Objectivism, ripped bodily from their contexts of the real world. What broke the grip of the Scholastics on the heart of Western philosophy was not so much "more Aristotle" but in fact the flood of manuscripts from Byzantium after it fell, including Plato and others, that introduced a little intellectual heterodoxy into the West. A little heterodoxy is what Objectivism needs these days, more debates on more concrete topics, not less. And who knows, maybe in these debates the "orthodox view" will prevail most of the time? Maybe it won't. But one thing is for sure, without ever being seriously challenged, people like Amy and Yaron will intellectually atrophy to the point of even more irrelevance than they are today, no matter how much money the Koch Brothers pump into ARI. They're flabby and it shows. Any decent Objectivist "Rocky" could give them a beating in the ring, if they were to ever accept such a match. I always thought Yaron was simply so megalomaniacally condescending that he could not even conceive of being beaten by anyone. But now I think he may very well be afraid. He has his gravy train too that he has to protect, just like Amy does.

... I wish that project every success. Just makes it all the more tragic that OrgOism has been hijacked by Obleftivists. What will people do when they come to Oism via this project and find ... Politically Cowwect Yawon and Twump Dewangement Syndwome?! Is he still doing weekly hystewical anti-Twump diatwibes? Thank Galt I don't have to listen any more.

You wrote:
... someone has just made to me privately, re Amy's sad attempt to make the debate a "safe space" for Yawon: "She’s relegated her show to the safety of the echo chamber. No juice, no conflict, no ratings."

Now I hear Amy and Bosch have been working on the Atlas Shrugged graphic novel, which wouldn't go ahead if she were to allow you to convincingly embarrass Yawon. Or, you can see she's compromised.

Linz - Remember that according to Amy and Yawon there can't be any "ideological screening" of immigrants. Satan worshipers? - "let 'em, yeah let 'em in"

Personally, I'd let all of these Russian girls in:

More MS-13-filth murders:

https://www.yahoo.com/celebrit...

Illegals again!

MS-13, referenced in my Open Letter, has just made headlines for some of its routine, grisly murders. Ten of the twelve sub-humans charged are illegals, just the way Yawon likes 'em for his gardening. Presumably there'll now be a call from Obleftivists to drop the charges and offer the filth not just amnesty but an apology?

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/03...

Nothing wrong with being a eugenists, Lindsay. Nature herself is obsessed with it. We find people attractive if we like the look of their *genetic* profile. We are all actually born eugenicists - like all other animals.

When we can accept that a degree of natural (or man made) selection is necessary to maintain the health of our species, our society can then sit down and have a rational conversation on the topic. It's just a shame the Mr Hitler show has made us all eugenic-phobic, and to the point where we can't even be honest about it now.

... in New Zealand, trash is paid to breed by the taxpayer. As an interim measure I advocate paying trash not to breed—i.e., subsidise contraceptive implants for trash. Apparently this makes me a eugenicist.

Trash comes in all colours. I find the subject of race boring and irrelevant. It's human vs sub-human for me.

I have no interest in encouraging stupid white hillbillies to reproduce. I have every interest in encouraging intelligent Hmong immigrants to reproduce. The challenge is creating a public policy that rewards responsible reproduction and punishes irresponsible reproduction. I have no ready solutions. My immediate goal is effective border control, period. This includes effective immigrant screening for basic abilities to live productively in our unique nation. Everything else comes second.

I have no big stake in this with you, Doug. Perhaps you should challenge Linz to a live debate to win him to your way of thinking. He has far more influence than I have.

I consider it unfortunate that certain people here obsess with skin color

Jesus Christ. This is the problem with blank slaters. You think that race is just different "skin color". As if its all just a matter of pigmentation. This shows that you have NO familiarity with the literature. Its not just "skin color". Its different average brain size, different hormonal milieu, different IQ distribution, different degrees of impulse control, different degrees of predisposition to crime, different sexual reproductive strategies (r v K)*, different time horizons regarding delayed gratification, different degrees of ethno-centrism (heavily genetic), etc.

Objectivists say they are "pro-science" but are you? Luke, do you think that those Darwinian selection pressures you say you believe in stopped at the neck? That there is some magic ray shield that protects brain tissue? And if you are an evolutionist how can you not take into account ethnic tensions and conflicts in human history? What biologists would call "intra-species genetic variation". Do you even history bro?

I now fully expect vehement, militant, "biologically based" counterarguments

Its not "vehement" or "militant" but it is a science based counter argument. But you say this:

I have no expectation that those certain people will bother to moderate their own views.

Do you need a safe space Luke? Perhaps you can go hang out with the SJWs and together you can all condemn any hereditarians as "worse than Hitler".

I can understand those that want the multi-racial libertarian society. But *at least* understand what it is that you are advocating for and how dangerous the consequences if you fail.

---------

* And related to this: different fertility rates. This is the thing Luke. You want your "Western Civilization" with its commitment to the *abstractions* grounded in natural rights. But the lower IQ people that you would admit into your nation have fertility rates *in excess of yours*. Which means they will OUTBREED you. Now, the trick is to transmit the love of those vaunted pro-liberty abstractions to those people before they swamp you and establish a civilization which is at the level of THEIR IQ BASELINE.

That is no small task Luke. There is a north / south IQ gradient which exists no matter how much you close your eyes to it. The challenge for humanity is somehow overcoming that.

I want to make myself fully clear on this thread. I stopped supporting ARI because of their irrational open borders policy. I oppose open borders because no borders means no nation. No nation means no sensible geographical region under which a single government can maintain a monopoly on the use of force. No monopoly on the use of force means anarchy and chaos. Anarchy and chaos run counter to the use of rationality in social exchanges. No rationality in social exchanges means no recognition of natural rights and so no enforcement of them. The concept of natural rights is exactly that -- a concept, not a percept, or an abstraction rather than a concrete. This concept has a long and rich history of which most of the world remains deprived. Admitting unlimited numbers of people so deprived into an otherwise rational nation leads eventually to an irrational nation.

How ARI people resolve all these conflicts inside their own heads continues to elude me. If someone can point to a single, cohesive, written document that ARI publishes to resolve these many contradictions, I will cheerfully read it. I have no interest in slogging through windy 90 minute podcasts, nor have I interest in attempting to piece passages from many different articles together. The burden falls on ARI to prove their position, not on me to disprove it. Ed Powell has already satisfactorily debunked their position in his exhaustive 69 page monograph. I concede that I engaged in "speed reading" through it to get the main points and the very telling excerpts from leading ARI intellectuals, but that was enough to dissuade me from continued support. Islam poses an immediate, existential threat to us, and we should treat all its adherents accordingly. As for the rest, admitting unlimited numbers of non-Western and non-Anglo people into our borders with little thought to long-term negative cultural impacts against our worthy and proven English and Western heritage is just not acceptable, period.

My position has nothing whatsoever to do with race and everything to do with culture and associated conditioning and norms of behavior. I consider it unfortunate that certain people here obsess with skin color when discussing immigration policy. As a counterexample, I point to the Republic of Panama. The Panamanians currently fight the same problem with border-hopping Colombians as the Americans face with border-hopping Mexicans. While they all speak Spanish and look quite similar, the Colombians still embody different norms and dialects that make them stand apart from the Panamanians to the displeasure of Panamanians. A friend of my Panamanian wife works border patrol between Colombia and Panama. He has interesting stories to share, I am sure. The main complaints I hear are the same, namely the importation of crime and drugs and the disruption of the labor market. I am not familiar enough with the situation to comment further, but I find what I have heard so far quite telling nonetheless.

I will not deny that the United States immigration reform of 1965 and the Reagan amnesty of 1986 have proven giant mistakes. At least, based on arguments I have seen advanced from a range of sources, they show all signs of wrong moves in cultivating a functional national population free of needless conflict and freeloading. We have enough homegrown losers without importing them.

I now fully expect vehement, militant, "biologically based" counterarguments from certain people who continue to conflate race with culture. Linz was right to put those certain people on moderation. I have no expectation that those certain people will bother to moderate their own views.

Reply to Ethno-nationalism

"The Arabs seem to display a thousand times the racism and violence towards the Jews as the reverse."

You haven't read enough on the subject. I used to think the same thing too. I am not a Muslim apologist. Islam is an evil religion and represents a danger to the non-Muslim world but largely because of immigration. But if you study the history of Zionism and Israel you will see that the Jews were *more* violent than the Arabs. Even today the Israelis kill more Arabs than the reverse by far. And the settlements in the West Bank are *explicit* racial colonies. I have no problem with that but that is not what Objectivists and other Israel apologists defend. They defend "an outpost of Western Civilization".

Israel is a mixed economy with a socialist bent that is a de facto apartheid state (although a complicated one). Its a type of ethno state and is defended by Jews like Yaron Brook on the idea that only Jews have the moral purity to have such an ethnic societal organization. Objectivists think that the Jews are "altruistic". Not only O'ists, Larry Auster who I admired used to think something similar. Both are wrong. Jews are the best defenders of their interests on Earth. They manipulate the world's largest empire to fight their wars for them. So great is their influence on America that it can be said of Congress that it is an agent of the Likud Party.

You say:

"Jews and Israelis appease evil almost without limit. They make excuses for, and accommodations with, their Arab and Muslim enemies to a beyond-absurd degree."

Oh god Kyrel. This is literally the most ahistorical and idiotic thing that a person can say. I know because I used to say idiotic things like this too. The reality is that the Jews are the MOST ethno-centric people on this planet and there is a biologic reason for that. Google up Kevin MacDonald and read his essays and books especially "The Culture of Critique" to really understand Jewish psychology and Jewish history.

Doug -- You write of the "often violently racist treatment of Arabs" by Jews. It's hard for me to imagine a more untrue statement, especially since Israel's founding in 1948. The Arabs seem to display a thousand times the racism and violence towards the Jews as the reverse. (Also towards Westerners in general.) As for the intensely highly-principled and ultra-moral Jews -- with their often foolish and self-contradictory philosophy -- I don't know of any race more phantasmagorically tolerant of, and friendly to, their monstrous enemies. They befriend their attackers to the point of suicide. Jews are easily the most self-hating, self-destroying people in the history of man. (With Westerners and Americans as healthy competitors.) Jews and Israelis appease evil almost without limit. They make excuses for, and accommodations with, their Arab and Muslim enemies to a beyond-absurd degree. They do the same with their black enemies here in America. Ultimately, Jewish philosophy and morality isn't close to being purely rational and liberal, thus it leads them badly astray, and renders them very strange creatures.

Very thoughtful comment. But I have some comments in return:

"Thus I find the idea of Israel as the Jewish State perfectly reasonable, despite all the problems that were manifested in its creation. I find it can be defended simply on this basis."

In theory I would agree. If Zionists want a Zionist state then let them pay for it every dime and let them face the consequences for their often violently racist treatment of Arabs. But that's not the way it works out in practice. Israel manipulates America into fighting its wars and is a welfare whore. Now I understand that American foreign policy has been controlled by international leftists and neo-cons, but Israel seems to me to be sociopathic in its manipulation of US foreign policy. The Iraq war was a case in point. And Israel would do it again with Iran. But you are right, Jews should have their own country. Many American Jews should make Aliyah there. It would be better for anti-white Jews to move from the US. It would be better for everyone.

"The United States was founded on a few important philosophical principles"

The United States was founded as a white settler nation Ed. Read the Naturalization Acts of 1790 and 1795. America became a continental empire under Manifest Destiny which was significantly motivated by pro-white racialist thinking. Teddy Roosevelt took us into war with Spain in the Philippines based on more racialist thinking. Hell, the only way they could pass the 1965 immigration act was to say that it wouldn't change the racial demographics. Of course those fuckers lied.

I think that America was at root a fundamentally Western European country which had Classical Liberal ideas. But making too much of Classical Liberalism is a flaw with many libertarians and all Objectivists. I don't think America can be saved in its current form and it would be best if North America could be divided up along racial lines. Hopefully you could get a limited government non ethnic republic but multi-racial America is doomed.

"Only violence on a large scale--we're talking Stalin-level violence--could ever transform the US into an ethno-nationalist state, and obviously I find that abhorrent."

The USSR broke up relatively peacefully. And Russia was able to keep its nukes. I think that we need an American Gorbachev who could transition America out of its imperialist stage and break it up into independent territories. There is historical precedent for a non-blood-soaked transition. I think that if America remains a multi-ethnic empire then you will really see blood. And tyranny.

"If the US wants to be the country organized on the principle that "all men are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights," that's great too."

Again Ed. Rethink this old Liberalism. You have given a great contribution to the immigration debate and its fine if you want to fight for a race-blind minarchism. I'm sympathetic. But I think its important to look at America with historical accuracy. I hate the immature hero-worship and rose-colored glasses that Objectivists display when they analyze US history. Compared to the knowledgable libertarians, especially the Austrians like Tom Woods, O'ists come across as ignorant teenagers which is the stereotype they have always been tagged with.

America was intended to be a free white man's republic. Because of Leftist duplicity, and Jewish duplicity as well (see MacDonald's "Culture of Critique"), America was tricked into changing its ethnic composition. Very few Americans, white or black, back in the early 60s would have voted for Kennedy and Javitz's Immigration Act if they could have seen what it would have lead to. I'm in my mid 40s and the country I live in now is not the one I grew up in. No matter how much I love individual freedom and free markets, I feel betrayed by that. And threatened.

If you study the history of Israel you will find different opinions than the one Brook holds. Its a complicated subject but IMO the Jews come across as unlikeable and often blood thirsty in establishing Israel. Brook is wrong that the Arabs were nomads and didn't own property there. Jews were less than 5% of the population and both Jews and Arabs had been living relatively peacefully for centuries. The British gave away land they had no right to; colonialism run amok. Also, Jewish terrorism was instrumental in creating Israel. Both against the Arabs and the British. Google up the Stern Brothers. Nasty bunch.

Put Brook in a debate on the history of Israel and IMO he would get destroyed. And I haven't even covered Israel atrocities against America such as the Levon Affair and the USS Liberty. Israel has been vicious and treacherous.

Being anti-Islam is important. But I think it is equally as important to be anti-Zionism. This is the step that the mainstream Right just will not take. Not even Trump sadly (and how could he given the situation with his daughter).

...and why it is
ethnocentric in a significant way and why we could somehow justify that.

There is no way to justify that ever IMO.

Its the "moral purity of the Jews" argument that only Jews are worthy of an ethno-centric society because of their suffering (I thought Objectivists didn't believe that suffering conveys moral stature.). Its blatantly hypocritical and really does invite anti-Semitism. What people who have not studied the history of the Jews don't understand is that for various reasons the Jews have always been *fiercely* ethno-centric; and ethno-centrism is a heritable trait so we are at the level of biology here. This has always made Jews very in-group centered and thus anti-social to out-groups. This also explains many of my own interactions with Jews over the years and I think it explains the Objectivist movement (as opposed to Mises U which is largely Christian with Jewish contributors).

Objectivists still believe that anti-Semitism has its root in envy of Jewish success. That may play a small role. But it is the anti-social behavior of Jews throughout the centuries that is largely responsible for anti-Semitism. Jews often show animosity to out-groups and the Talmud is the most racist of all religious texts. Which is the point that many critics of Jews on the alt-right make (namely Kevin MacDonald); that Jews have been complicit in the animosity that has been directed against them over the centuries. This doesn't mean that they didn't experience real injustice. They have. But they retaliate in kind and the cycle keeps repeating. Now, you have many Jewish leftists that want to see white Christians disappear. And Objectivists are oblivious to this as they can't see past their limited filters.

Is there any other conclusion about how he deals with callers to his show?

At 1:06 someone attempts to make some good points (for example he agrees with Ayn Rand that a woman shouldn't be president) then Yaron shuts him off.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/y...

There are about 200 countries in the world and no prominent Objectivist has ever discussed the phenomenon or tried to tease out any ideas about what makes a good country or not. While Rand (and perhaps others) explicitly rejected the idea of global government (since it is such a manifestly bad idea), the approach of Brook and others seems always to point in that direction, in the direction of open borders and thus population mixing and thus increasing homogeneity among populations. But I don't see necessarily how this follows at all from the objective facts on the ground.

I have nothing against ethno-nationalism as the organizing principle for a given country. I don't see why Britain can't be British, France French, Germany German, Poland Polish, Egypt Egyptian, Iran Persian, India Indian, China Chinese, or Japan Japanese. I don't see any reason why these countries can't create immigration policies centered around this idea. There is no universal principle requiring the homogenization of populations against the will of the people involved. Thus I find the idea of Israel as the Jewish State perfectly reasonable, despite all the problems that were manifested in its creation. I find it can be defended simply on this basis.

The question then becomes, do I thin the USA should be an ethno-nationalist state? My answer is no. The fact that I don't see anything wrong with ethno-nationalism in principle, does not mean I find ethno-nationalism to be required. The United States was founded on a few important philosophical principles--rooted it is true in the English experience--but as long as a person agrees with and works toward these principles, I personally see no reason why he can't be as American as any DAR member. Secondly, the facts on the ground have long since prevented the US from exercising ethno-nationalism as its organizing principle--that ship has sailed. Only violence on a large scale--we're talking Stalin-level violence--could ever transform the US into an ethno-nationalist state, and obviously I find that abhorrent.

So, do I support Poland or Israel or South Korea as ethno-nationalist states? Yes! Do I support the US being one? No. This is not a contradiction, because I don't think there is any "categorical imperative" demanding one or the other. If the Poles want Poland to be Polish, that's fine with me. If the US wants to be the country organized on the principle that "all men are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights," that's great too. If "diversity is strength," as we are told endlessly as if we are in the novel 1984, then why can't countries be diverse between themselves, rather than being globally homogeneous but internally so "diverse" that it leads to global chaos? (Also, remember, the pushers of diversity only want to destroy the English-speaking and European countries. They never urge China or Singapore or Saudi Arabia to allow in huge numbers of Syrian migrants).

In the other thread, Doug mentions Rothbard's change of mind on the idea of "open borders" being consistent with libertarianism. I think Hoppe has refined Rothbard's work in this area in a really good couple of essays in his book "Democracy, the God that Failed," which I highly recommend.

I am surprised Brook did not hawk this lecture of his as his standing answer:

https://estore.aynrand.org/p/1...

Has anyone listened to it?

A caller to the BlogTalkRadio show of 11 February 2017 (“Who is Killing Western Civilisation?”) addressed the subject [Israel and immigration] again.

     Stuart:  “I want to ask you about Israel. ... [mentions a few people] just want a white homeland that keeps out non-whites, and then they say, [mocking] well that’s just like Israel. They say, [mocking] well Israel is ... an ethnostate and they make it very difficult for gentiles to immigrate to there. ...”

     Yaron Brook:  “[Dismissive and weary] Yeah, I mean [over-talking] 
Stuart I’m gonna punt on the question not because I don’t want to 
answer it, because I do, but because it requires a lengthy explanation 
of why Israel indeed is a unique country and why it’s different than 
any other country on the planet, that I know of, and why it is 
ethnocentric in a significant way and why we could somehow justify that. At least in the world we live in today. But that would require a whole thing. So I’m still gonna do a show on Israel and cover that point, but I just don’t want to do it right now, uh, all right?”

The docile Stuart changes the subject.

This has to be at least the third time Brook has said he will get around to discussing why Israel is the one and only exception to Brook's prescription for Dhimmitude for the western world.

It was nice of Mr. Brown to answer you but I think he should respond in writing. For example does he agree with Brook that objectivist opponents of immigration are racist ?

Will Trump’s immigration ban protect us from Islamic totalitarianism? Is it based on facts or on irrational fears? Should we vet immigrants? In this episode of The Yaron Brook Show, Brook offers an objective analysis of Trump's executive order on immigration.

https://ari.aynrand.org/blog/2...

This runs 90 minutes, and I have not yet taken the time to listen, so if someone cares to post an executive summary, that would be great.

I really wish these people could be much briefer.

I hope you do pursue it, but don't be a push-over. They're getting a lot of resistance to their Obleftivism right now and are fighting a rearguard PR battle. Of course they're going to be nice to you. Don't be easily seduced.

I'd suggest you offer to resume your donations if they:

1) Ditch the mercenary mole Brook and drain the swamp of all other Obleftivists like Ghate;

2) Ditch support for open borders;

3) Ditch Obleftivism and undertake to Make Objectivism Objectivism Again.

Content follows.
----------------------
Dear Luke,

Thank you for your thoughtful letter. I assure you, ARI is not beholden to "corporate globalists." If you would like to discuss our position on immigration, please call me any time. We appreciate your past support, and we hope we can earn it again in the future.

Sincerely,

Jim Brown
----------------------
I am not sure if I will pursue a dialogue, but at least they did not dismiss me completely.

Assuming for a moment that Somalians, Afghanis, etc. can be Americanized (a very, very dubious proposition in the first place for numerous reasons), they would need an existing muslim-American community to help civilize them like the existing Jewish community did with Eastern European Jews. But what they get is CAIR and other Muslim Brotherhood organs who not only don't help to Americanize them, but only further radicalize them.

On Neil's two comments:

1) That's Bastiat's "Seen and Unseen". Obviously you only see immigrants with jobs. Why would you ever see any others? Brimelow estimates (when his book was written in 1992) that close to half (or even more than half) of immigrants coming at that time through family reunification, refugee, or asylum not only don't work but in many cases CAN'T work because they are parents of previous immigrants, or in some other way are unemployable.

2) I don't want to start a tremendous controversy on this, but I do want to recommend people read Thomas Sowell's two books on this, "Ethnic America" and "Black Rednecks and White Liberals". Here's my summary of Sowell's explanation of the reaction to the Irish and Eastern European Jews when they first came here: They were shunned by Americans because they truly were horrible uncivilized people. The Irish weren't fully assimilated until WWII. The existing Jewish community (mostly from Germany and England) took it upon themselves to civilize their Eastern European co-religionists, and started schools, taught them how to hold jobs, gave them jobs, and really held their feet to the fire.

Assuming for a moment that Somalians, Afghanis, etc. can be Americanized (a very, very dubious proposition in the first place for numerous reasons), they would need an existing muslim-American community to help civilize them like the existing Jewish community did with Eastern European Jews. But what they get is CAIR and other Muslim Brotherhood organs who not only don't help to Americanize them, but only further radicalize them.

Ed -

I hear a couple arguments constantly:

1. "All the immigrants I know are hard working." But we tend to associate with people like ourselves.

2. "A hundred years ago people said the Irish, Jews, etc. couldn't assimilate." Actually I don't know how common this argument was, but assume it's true. That doesn't mean that Syrians, Afghanis, etc. can assimilate.

Ann Coulter writes in her book about Trump:

A hedge fund executive quoted in The Atlantic a few years ago said, “If the transformation of the world economy lifts four people in China and India out of poverty and into the middle class, and meanwhile [that] means one American drops out of the middle class, that’s not such a bad trade.”

She was speaking about globalism, but the idea applies to immigration too. It's a radical egalitarianism reminiscent of Rawls. You would think Objectivists would be immune to it, but nope.

Why do "opinion leaders" like ARI, Koch, etc. support "open borders" when they have to know better?

I think the answer to this question is different depending on the person. I think in the case of immigrants themselves, they personalize the issue. We have no real idea how much bullshit any given individual had to go through to get into the US, either as a student or a worker. I'm sure, given that it's the government, the level of red tape is maximized and the level of actual sensible screening is minimized. So from the immigrant's perspective, it's all "I know I'm not a threat. Why should I have to go through all this nonsense? I want to go to school (or get a job) and the school (or business) wants me, so why can't I just go?" This feeling is understandable from the standpoint of individual immigrants, though not from people who claim to be philosophers, who are supposed to be trained to think on more universal scale.

Secondly there are people who are married to immigrants or whose parents are immigrants, and they think, "hell, if immigration is made any more difficult, I (or my husband) might have to live in Bumfuckistan."

Finally there are the followers. "Yaron Brook (or Harry Binswanger) says our borders should be open, and with open borders would benefit the country, therefore I believe in open borders." These people are the "partisans" in that they root for their team, no matter what their team says. Generally, if for some personal or accidental deviation from the orthodoxy, a person is rejected by their team and kicked off of the cool kids' lunch table--miracle of miracles--all their views on controversial topics reverse almost instantly.

So the first two groups drop the context, the third group wasn't interested in ideas in the first place, just to be among the cool kids.

Sam, exactly WHY do they believe that? Faith? Superstition? Stupidity? Tradition? Whim?

Can they not see the problem of admitting people who adhere to criminal belief systems?

Having open borders between friendly, similar nations is fine.

Otherwise, "good fences make good neighbors."

The open borders argument has been around a long time. Keep it simple. It's just what they believe & think is a high up the priority list, commanding emphasis.

I am trying to find anything supporting my speculation that Koch Industries has contracts for refugee resettlement programs, but the closest I could find was sketchy:

http://www.frontpagemag.com/po...

Has anyone researched this?

I am still trying to understand why they would support an insane policy of long-term destruction, unless they genuinely believe it is not insane or destructive for reasons that elude me.

See also:

https://refugeeresettlementwat...

Their motives may be simply "cheap labor," but that still seems insufficient motive.

Can someone please explain how Koch Industries profits from Muslims entering the United States?

EDIT:

Wait! I think I have an answer!

By creating global turmoil, as part of the military-industrial complex, Koch Industries engages in war profiteering.

Yes?

No?

I see that the Kock Bros. were against the temporary ban. But does Brook have to support de-facto open immigration of Muslims to stay in their good graces?

EDIT: "Industrialist and Republican mega-donor Charles Koch is none too happy President Donald Trump’s temporary ban on immigrants from Muslim countries. In fact, he likes it so little that he compared the Muslim immigrant ban to something Adolf Hitler would have done back in Nazi Germany."

What's *your* theory as to why ARISIS is so irrationally pro-open borders? If it's not Koch Bros, what is it? Their own home-grown evil?

Mises Institute makes available every book Von Mises wrote for free. I think they do the same with Rothbard's works. And I wouldn't call that altruism. I really like the way Mises Institute runs its operations. For me, they provide far more value than the ARI does. Rand's works are the value for me. But I doubt Lenny would give them away for free.

Rothbard comments on the Koch Brothers in this essay on NAFTA:

https://www.lewrockwell.com/20...

It explains why the Koch brothers are so NAFTA; its related to their oil and gas business.

Here Lew Rockwell deals with the Koch Brothers influence on the libertarian movement (specifically Cato) and their antagonism against the principled Rothbard:

https://www.lewrockwell.com/19...

If the ARI were to embrace something like Ed Powell's immigration views the Koch Brothers would not give them financing; guaranteed.

Definitely something fishy going on. The less-than-subtle shift towards Political Correctness, even to the point of dismissing the Muslim threat, can't just be innocent coincidence.

Yawon has acknowledged receiving funding from the Koch Bros. They are for open borders, and recently condemned Trump's attempted 7-nation pause, against which Yawon also wanted and waved:

http://fortune.com/2017/01/29/...

If they started with an "open borders" policy in more peaceful times pre-9/11, got heavily financed by "open borders" people, and then stuck to that party line even after reason says it is a bad idea after all, then that suggests an addiction to the easy cash flow by sticking to the "open borders" party line.

It would help a great deal if we knew who are their major donors and why they donate.

I concede that the ARI may have sold their souls, not for money, but simply to be conceived as "nice" by the multicultural globalist elites, which is just another way to sell one's soul.

The last possibility is that they have simply become the "crusading irrationalists" decried by Leonard Peikoff in "Fact and Value" back in 1989.

I see no room for "honest error" here.

Does anyone disagree?

With all the sh!t happening in the Western world with the Muslims, I am at a loss to explain how any sane person can adopt a view favoring open borders.

Something fishy is happening here, and I dislike it strongly.

I don't see how speculating on the worst is out of the question, nor how withdrawing support based on those worst case speculations openly stated is a bad thing.

I don't see anyone making a BIG point about funders in their critisism here. It's there, but seems more like a footnote... the critisisms are more FUNDamental than that.

A cautionary note: One can certainly offer reasonable criticisms of open immigration policies favored by ARI (and others)—see some on the SOLO threads. But be careful about attributing the ARI position to donor influence.

Colleagues of mine at various organizations and I have been on the other side of such criticisms. For example, Cato and CEI are often accused of being in the pockets of the oil industry and other companies because of their skepticism about global warming, and opposition to many regulations on energy producers and to subsidies for alternative energy. Even when these organizations receive money from such companies—and those companies are sometimes stingy with their supporters, giving little or no assistance—the dynamic is usually this: the non-profit, coming from a certain ideology or philosophy, supports certain policies and other who also favor those policies give to them. Now if you saw, for example, Cato or CEI suddenly receiving funding from leftist, environmental groups and changing their decades-long views on environmental issues, then you’d have evidence of a sell-out!

By the way, when I was at Heritage we lost several major corporate donors because our free-market policies were in direct conflict with their interests in getting special government favors and handout. Heritage stood on principles.

So criticize ARI’s positions as you will, but be a bit careful about assuming the influence of donations on its position.

Cheers!
Ed

That was absolutley outstanding!!

Dear ARI:

With some regrets, I need to direct you to discontinue my monthly $10 donation to your organization.

I began supporting ARI many years ago because of your worthwhile efforts to deliver free books to teachers, host annual essay contests, and train New Intellectuals via the Objectivist Academic Center.

Unfortunately, these last few years, your leadership has shown all signs of having sold their souls for large donations from globalists to advance the globalist agenda by prostituting Objectivism, destroying the philosophy and the nation that Ayn Rand loved in the process.

There is NO WAY that the United States of America, or any other Western nation, can accept unlimited numbers of immigrants and refugees from non-Western countries, especially Muslim countries, and safely assimilate them to Western values. Yaron Brook, your principal ARI mouthpiece, has for years advanced this thesis. It completely defies reality and reason. Any honest undergraduate student of an honest course in Western Civilization I and II and World Religions will recognize this.

Islam is a vile, totalitarian political ideology masquerading as a religion. Both ancient and modern history corroborate this assessment. As for non-Muslims from non-Western countries, even their assimilation ability has limits, and their quantities need tight limits to avoid overwhelming finite limits of Western institutions.

Ongoing attacks from ARI notables such as the extremely well-compensated Yaron Brook on our duly elected United States President Donald Trump because of Trump's worthy efforts to secure our borders raise serious questions about the motives of your speakers. Based on a perusal of 2014 tax records filed by ARI, one can reasonably speculate on a "follow the money" thesis, namely that the bulk of your organization's donations come from multi-millionaire corporate globalists who dismiss "rational nationalism" in favor of nihilistic globalism. Assuming this is true, one can safely infer that those donations come with strings attached demanding that ARI support borderless globalization. I find this speculative development especially interesting considering how your organization has, in the past, published work supporting national self-interest and, more notably, an entire lecture by Dr. Edwin Locke on "The Psycho-Epistemology of the Arab World," described in your catalog as follows:

"The Arab psycho-epistemology, Dr. Locke shows, is characterized by the primacy of consciousness, and Arab values stress collectivism, traditionalism and fatalism. Dominating Arab thinking is the religion of Islam, which stresses blind obedience to Allah, rather than rational thought, as a guide to action. The result is the inability to live successfully on earth, and undying resentment of those who are."

Today, evidently, the ARI has taken a purely "faith-based" approach to the Arab world, assuming that "somehow" large numbers of immigrants carrying this mindset will adopt Western values through osmosis even as their numbers overwhelm current Westerners. Again, this attitude defies reality and reason. The ARI has blinded itself in a fundamental way to the detriment of the legacy of Ayn Rand, all for reasons completely opaque and, consequently, left to justifiable speculation about monetary motives supplied by nefarious globalists.

To quote Donald Trump: "YOU'RE FIRED!"

Luther "Luke" Setzer

RECEIVED FROM ARI LATER IN THE DAY:

Thanks for the feedback in your email of earlier today. We’re sorry to hear that you feel you can no longer support ARI after so many years of regular monthly support. However, as requested, I have canceled your monthly EFT. The last transaction took place on February 6.

Should you have any additional questions or concerns, feel free to reach out and I’ll be happy to assist.

http://ivankatrump.com/ayn-ran...

Thx for the link Grant Jones.

Link posted by Doug on the poll thread:

http://cis.org/immigration-Sur...

Adios, America!

I should think that will sting them. Bravo!

Thanks for the tax form link, Ed ... very informative.

If I had to sum the problem in a few words, I would say that ARI has sold its soul for money from globalists to advance the globalist agenda by prostituting Objectivism, destroying the philosophy and the nation that Ayn Rand loved in the process.

Does that capture the whole problem in a single sentence?

When I terminate my donations this week, I want to sting them with something brief and pithy.

ARI is destroying Objectivism. Yes, I think sending books to schools is valuable. If you want, buy 50 copies of The Fountainhead and send it to your local high school. But absolutely don't place ARI in an intermediary position.

ARI's Form 990 gives more info on their business (though not where their money comes from). They raise $10M a year and spend $5M+ on salaries, bonuses, and benefits. Brook himself is accumulating a shit-ton of deferred compensation, so his effective compensation is much more than the $441K/yr of direct compensation.

Go through the From 990 and then decide whether this organization even qualifies as a "charity" in your mind.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/d1hw...

The "can't remain civil" argument shows that OrgOists are either liars or stupid. Lindsay's argument is that Yaron Brook's view on immigration is based on a host of thinking flaws which are repeated everywhere in OrgOism; that Yaron is repeating errors of thinking that affect his views on immigration, foreign policy, left-right analysis, cultural analysis, etc.. OrgOism is drenched in rationalism is really what this comes down to and that their entire approach to Objectivism is flawed. How can you not make that argument without making "sweeping statements"? Banning "sweeping statements" is banning intellectual debate.

I'll add this. Mark Hunter who posts here occasionally is the founder of ARI Watch. On that site he documents the ENORMOUS insanity and stupidity of ARI and OrgOist writers on virtually EVERY subject especially foreign policy (although Andrew Bernstein's idiotic pro-Nat-Turner essay has me thinking that OrgOism is now officially culturally Marxist). ARI is wrong in just about everything outside of cookie cutter material like "there should be no welfare state", which is low hanging fruit when you are a libertarian. "Sweeping statements" are absolutely necessary when dealing with intellectual corruption of that kind. More than intellectual corruption, I would say financial corruption as well. Yaron Brook makes over $300k a year. For what? Decimating Rand's philosophy? Its tragic as well as repulsive.

And I say it again, you get a guy like Luke Setzer that still thinks that ARI is worth donating to because of the book distribution program. Jesus Christ. At this point, ARI and OrgOism are a major threat to the spread of Rand's ideas. Young people are going to compare the stuff they see and hear from ARI and its affiliates with what they are seeing from alt-right sources (including guys like Molyneux, Mike Cernovich, Milo, Alex Jones, Paul Joseph Watson and hot babes like Laura Southern). As the race war intensifies and the Left becomes increasingly militant under Trump (which we are seeing unfold before our very eyes), the OrgOists are going to be indistinguishable from leftists and left-libertarians. Rand's philosophy will die in the process.

This is a war and OrgOism is on the side of the Left. Everyone who supports open immigration is.

Not agreeing to avoid "sweeping statements" is hardly the same as "admitting [I] couldn't remain civil." I had in fact already undertaken to do so when I was hit with the "no sweeping statements" thing at the last minute.

Are all Obleftivists liars?

I've just started listening to yesterday's show.

At the beginning he says his opponent backed out of the debate because he couldn't agree to be civil. Brook also said if an opponent had taken part in the debate he would have "distorted" his (Brook's) views.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/y...

EDIT: It was originally slated to be a debate but the person I was supposed to debate bailed out because he admitted that he couldn't stay civil during the debate.

... someone has just made to me privately, re Amy's sad attempt to make the debate a "safe space" for Yawon: "She’s relegated her show to the safety of the echo chamber. No juice, no conflict, no ratings."

... is set up a Contra Obleftivism resource, a permanently blue-stickied thread like the Global Warming one, into which Neil can pour all his Yawon quotes. I'll set it up in a minute. Also, vote in the new poll (scroll down. left).

The remark in my essay about the Koch Bros was not idle or gratuitous. Yawon has acknowledged on air that he gets funding from them. They're very pro-open borders and anti-Twump. I guess while he's getting money from them he doesn't have to worry about small fry like us. I've contributed, modestly and intermittently, in the past, but never again.

Re the leftward lurch, I just read another piece on Mark Hunter's site, about ARISIS's embrace of gay activist Jason Hill. I think we can all see what's happening here. As I just said, Obleftivism as the voice of "oppressed" minorities. It'll be Islamectivism next!

See the interview below for an overview. Remember, I oppose Brook not primarily because he advocates open borders, but because he has no fixed position on the issue at all, changing from week-to-week and never writing anything down. That allows him to state he's for open immigration when talking to tech executives, while saying he's for keeping terrorists out when talking to zionist groups, while saying he's in favor of green cards for all students when they get their degree when talking to colleges, to saying no muslim immigration at all when talking to the Israeli press. It's the blatant dishonesty that I abhor, combined with righteous indignation and smears when this is pointed out.

https://libertarianrealist.blo...

Yes, the original article is quite something to behold. Relying primarily on a communist history that even Howard Zinn would think was over the top, Bernstein delivers a tour-de-force of Philosophical Fakery, to use Ed Cline's term.

One can't really psychologize in these circumstances as to why someone like Bernstein would publish such nonsense, but one does wonder why any self-respecting editor would allow its publication. Okay, I answered my own question.

I'm not entirely sure why ARI has veered so radically to the Cultural Marxist end of the spectrum. Perhaps Bill Buckley was correct when he said that any organization not sufficiently conservative will eventually become leftist. There is certainly an alienation towards Western Civilization in general and America in particular among the ARI crowd and those who take their money. I'm afraid hitting them in the wallet is the only really effective way to get to them. I will try to research who the big donors are and perhaps we can organize a letter-writing campaign to them, asking them to stop donating. It's the only thing I can think of that might get these people's attention.

What positions has The Atlas Society (TAS) advanced on border control and immigration?

I quickly searched their site and found these hits:

https://atlassociety.org/topic...

The gist I get from skimming the articles is that TAS at least favors border control to keep out troublemakers and prevent system overwhelm within a given nation's borders.

I did not notice any shrill name-calling in the same vein as Brook and company.

Ed?

I have just read, in disbelief, Mark Hunter's account of Andrew Bernstein's vile revisionist history here:

http://ariwatch.com/Valedictor...

The pattern is becoming clearer to me. Obleftivism as the voice of "oppressed" minorities. Wait for Bernstein to applaud Black Lives Matter. And the Ugly Wimmin's March.

Good to see you! Thanks for the comment and suggestion. Re "Obleftivists"—it's got them worried. Here's the owner of one orthodox site:

"Obleftivism," is an notable word and it is also a sharp accusation. If this word is not countered firmly and clearly, the accusation may actually stick and the reputation of certain popular leaders of Objectivism may get tarnished. Such an outcome will be very unfortunate.

http://www.fornewintellectual....

YB: I would rather not get into a discussion of the more prominent articles out there that have criticized my position on immigration. I don’t think they’re worthy of it.

AP: Yeah, yeah, yeah, no.

Still the same closed cult after all, unable to cope with dissent, run by bullies and serviced by sycophants.

At 51:09 to 54:00

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/a...

If I have the time, I'll transcribe it. Yaron says that Objectivists who are fans of Coulter are "dishonest" and questions whether they are "objective."

Note that Amy doesn't enforce her "no sweeping statements" policy when Brook is doing the talking.

I can't image anyone new to Objectivism finding it worth looking into after
listening to his condescending and smug attacks on anyone and anything. Ed's right: he's not a good spokesman for Objectivism.