https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1C-eEwx1jv0




Podcast audio:







In this episode of New Ideal, Onkar Ghate and Nikos Sotirakopoulos discuss the question of whether Kamala Harris is a communist, and if not, what the real problem with her views is.



Among the topics covered:




* The essence of the Marxist ideology;



* Why Harris is not a communist;



* How the “communist” label helps New Right tribalists hide their own anti-Americanism;



* The importance of using concepts precisely;



* How mislabeling someone as “communist” whitewashes real communism.




Recommended in this podcast are Ayn Rand’s article “The Left: Old and New” and Sotirakopoulos ’s lecture at AynRandCon Europe 2024 “Lessons From the Intellectual Success of Marxism.”



The podcast was recorded on September 9, 2024 and released on September 14. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Watch archived podcasts here.






Download video: https://www.youtube.com/embed/1C-eEwx1jv0



Download audio: https://media.blubrry.com/new_ideal_ari/content.blubrry.com/new_ideal_ari/20240909_Who-Is-a-Communist.mp3

While claiming to be non-partisan and deeply researched, Jennifer Burns’s celebrated book is an anti-intellectual biography of an intellectual.

The post ‘Goddess of the Market: Ayn Rand and the American Right’ Is Worse than Incompetent appeared first on New Ideal - Reason | Individualism | Capitalism.

 

"What’s better, no teacher or a recently retired, though now deregistered one?

'An Otago principal facing relief staff shortages would rather use unregistered teachers than send his students home.. . . [But] PPTA Te Wehengarua president Chris Abercrombie said the “ad hoc” response ... meant thousands of young people would not be taught by trained and qualified subject-specialist teachers. . . [And] PPTA Otago regional chairman Kussi Hurtado-Stuart said the loosening of regulations [allowing this] was a 'short-sighted solution.'

"Surely a recently retired, albeit no longer registered, teacher would be better than no teacher? ..."

~ Ele Ludemann, from her post 'Union’s politics showing,' in which she submits "the union’s anti-Government politics" are on display here. I'd suggest however that this is less about the union's politics, and more about simply protecting its turf. Just like all occupational licensing.

Stuart K. Hayashi Ten years ago, if on social media you talked about a strange event that happened to you, often someone would quip, “Show pictures or it didn’t happen.” Well, I notice that when they want to denigrate something or someone, anti-capitalists on social media use a thought-stopping cliché that I identify as “Privilege, or it didn’t happen.” That is, if you’re praising an

"[I]f you’re praising an achievement of someone, [an] anti-capitalist will chime in that the person was able to achieve such primarily due to the person possessing, before the fact, some social privilege that other people lack. ... [M]aybe you will be waxing about how impressed you are by Steve Jobs and Stephen Wozniak having founded Apple Computer. An anti-capitalist will chime in that this is actually because of privilege. .. 

"Even if it is true that the achiever was born into privileges that gave the achiever a head start, it doesn’t invalidate your premise that the achiever still made choices for which accolades are deserved. The reason is that many other people were born into the same privileges as the achiever, but, on account of different choices, did not perform the feats that the achiever did.
    "In the case of Stephen Wozniak: the fact is that there were hundreds of other white boys his age, who were the sons of Californian engineers, who attended the same schools that he did. But those other sons of Californian engineers did not invent the Apple II. Stephen Wozniak did. Even if the “privilege” made it easier for him than it otherwise would be, the privilege was not sufficient. The missing pieces that needed to be added were the choices of Steve Jobs and Stephen Wozniak. ... 

"Unearned social privileges do exist. But when someone — even a very privileged person — accomplishes an important feat, it’s usually the case that there were many other people who bore those same privileges but refrained from that feat. The choices of individuals are still what make the difference. And for that, they still deserve credit. To the degree that you make your own choices — choices not made and risks not taken by people from backgrounds similar to your own, and who have the same privileges that you do — you are indeed self-made in character."

~ Stu Hayashi. from his post 'A Fallacy Called ‘Privilege, or It Didn’t Happen’'