Peikoff rant against libertarians

[9thdoctor]

That might be right all right but I'm right to asssume it's wrong all right.

Yeah well you’re obviously a leftist, so how would you know?

The big test is coming up in about a month and a half, when the movie comes out. Will Cato be supportive? Do they really have a choice whether to be supportive or not?

BTW if you follow the links in the Slate article they go to a Catholic libertarian named Jeremy Lott, who I’m not sure I’ve encountered before, but anyway he links to my video (“for a real fun time watch this video”), and to the pugnacious OO thread where I first posted it. This is like, wow, I kinda maybe made a difference. It’s gotten 450 views, 1 like and 6 dislikes.

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/jeremylott/2012/08/how-objectionable-is-john-allisons-objectivism/

[caroljane]

That might be right all right but I'm right to asssume it's wrong all right.

Yeah well you're obviously a leftist, so how would you know?

The big test is coming up in about a month and a half, when the movie comes out. Will Cato be supportive? Do they really have a choice whether to be supportive or not?

BTW if you follow the links in the Slate article they go to a Catholic libertarian named Jeremy Lott, who I'm not sure I've encountered before, but anyway he links to my video ("for a real fun time watch this video"), and to the pugnacious OO thread where I first posted it. This is like, wow, I kinda maybe made a difference. It's gotten 450 views, 1 like and 6 dislikes.

http://www.patheos.c...ns-objectivism/

Make that 451 - you made that video? It is excellent! Is that your voice on the voice over?

I thought nothing would ever induce me to listen to Peikoff' for more than a minute (his voice is really shrill, isn.t it?) but you did it.

[9thdoctor]

Is that your voice on the voice over?

No, those are a couple reformed Daleks of my acquaintance.

[william.scherk]

This is like, wow, I kinda maybe made a difference. It's gotten 450 views, 1 like and 6 dislikes.

http://www.patheos.c...ns-objectivism/

I knew you would get to the bigtime before me! That thumbs up is from me, by the way.

[caroljane]

This is like, wow, I kinda maybe made a difference. It's gotten 450 views, 1 like and 6 dislikes.

http://www.patheos.c...ns-objectivism/

I knew you would get to the bigtime before me! That thumbs up is from me, by the way.

Don't be bitter. You gotta future too, kid.

[caroljane]

Is that your voice on the voice over?

No, those are a couple reformed Daleks of my acquaintance.

Speaking of voice, it is interesting how important physical voice is to relaying a message. I mentioned my aversion to listening to Peikoff because of his pitch. Bush's whiney strained tones detracted from his message. Margaret Thatcher famously took lessons to lower her voice to never sound shrill ,"an excellent thing in a woman". And Rand was endlessly listenable to in her rich alto.

Throatily,

Carol

[Robert Campbell]

I see that in his missive to the Cato folks, Allison says

As discussed at several employee meetings, while I am proud to be an objectivist [sic], the focus on my association with ARI is completely out of context.

Uhhh, no.

This is the same John Allison who, a few years back when he was still CEO of BB&T, tried to talk all of the Atlas Society's big donors into shifting their money to ARI.

And the same John Allison who may or may not have given good answers to the people "grilling" him but was invited to an OCON for said grilling.

Try getting on the speaker list at OCON if you are not in good odor with ARI.

Maybe Allison will do a decent job of running Cato.

But if so, there is likely to be a parting of the ways between him and Leonard Peikoff's crew.

Stay tuned...

Robert Campbell

[9thdoctor]

But if so, there is likely to be a parting of the ways between him and Leonard Peikoff's crew.

Stay tuned...

He says the name calling has been irrational. How does one back up that tractor-trailer?

Someone may have slipped him some Kool-Aid antidote. Or maybe he watched the video of Peikoff blowing his stack. The guy who asked that question deserves a medal.

[9thdoctor]

This looks like really good news:

http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2012/08/30/cato_shrugged_panic_about_an_incoming_leader_s_admiration_for_ayn_rand.html

In fact, now that I have a deeper understanding about Cato, I believe almost all the name calling between libertarians and objectivists is irrational. I have come to appreciate that all objectivists are libertarians, but not all libertarians are objectivists.

Today David Weigel has rehashed the above at Slate, this time adding in material that takes ARI to task over foreign policy. The fact that he makes no acknowledgement of the diversity of opinion within "Objectivism" on this matter is something I find irritating.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2012/09/the_new_president_of_the_cato_institute_wants_the_think_tank_to_adopt_the_personal_philosophy_of_ayn_rand_as_policy_.single.html

[caroljane]

This looks like really good news:

http://www.slate.com...r_ayn_rand.html

In fact, now that I have a deeper understanding about Cato, I believe almost all the name calling between libertarians and objectivists is irrational. I have come to appreciate that all objectivists are libertarians, but not all libertarians are objectivists.

Today David Weigel has rehashed the above at Slate, this time adding in material that takes ARI to task over foreign policy. The fact that he makes no acknowledgement of the diversity of opinion within "Objectivism" on this matter is something I find irritating.

http://www.slate.com...cy_.single.html

This looks like really good news:

http://www.slate.com...r_ayn_rand.html

In fact, now that I have a deeper understanding about Cato, I believe almost all the name calling between libertarians and objectivists is irrational. I have come to appreciate that all objectivists are libertarians, but not all libertarians are objectivists.

Today David Weigel has rehashed the above at Slate, this time adding in material that takes ARI to task over foreign policy. The fact that he makes no acknowledgement of the diversity of opinion within "Objectivism" on this matter is something I find irritating.

http://www.slate.com...cy_.single.html

I have not read this, but face it, even fairly knowledgeable outsiders think of of Objectivism as a wraparound philosophy, thanks to the overwhelming influence of Rand herself.. The basic principles are well-known. And in fairness, the infighting and diversity are of little interest to the outside world, compared to her influence on prominent figures there.

[Robert Campbell]

As long as people outside Rand-land accept the equation Ayn Rand = Ayn Rand Institute = Objectivism, ARI will continue to benefit.

Robert Campbell

[9thdoctor]

As long as people outside Rand-land accept the equation Ayn Rand = Ayn Rand Institute = Objectivism, ARI will continue to benefit.

Now on OO there's Knucklehead Nicky saying Peikoff's post 9/11 sputum is, in effect, part of Objectivism. I don't know whether I should even bother replying.

http://forum.objectivismonline.com/index.php?showtopic=23555&st=50#entry297147

[caroljane]

As long as people outside Rand-land accept the equation Ayn Rand = Ayn Rand Institute = Objectivism, ARI will continue to benefit.

Now on OO there's Knucklehead Nicky saying Peikoff's post 9/11 sputum is, in effect, part of Objectivism. I don't know whether I should even bother replying.

http://forum.objecti...=50#entry297147

I checked out the Knucklehead.

If Gary Johnson knew he was representing this guy, I don't think he would be pleased.

[Brant Gaede]

As long as people outside Rand-land accept the equation Ayn Rand = Ayn Rand Institute = Objectivism, ARI will continue to benefit.

Now on OO there's Knucklehead Nicky saying Peikoff's post 9/11 sputum is, in effect, part of Objectivism. I don't know whether I should even bother replying.

http://forum.objecti...=50#entry297147

That's what happens on Objectivist lists I don't post on. Such intellectual lunkheads infesting the blog-o-sphere is a big reason I no longer called myself an Objectivist.

--Brant

call me a libertarian--I won't object (that was hard to write)

[Robert Campbell]

This Nicky dude is hard to parody:

http://forum.objecti...=50#entry297142

Objectivism is the philosophy of Ayn Rand. How is there diversity of opinion within it? Are you suggesting she was schizophrenic?

Robert Campbell

[9thdoctor]

Today David Weigel has rehashed the above at Slate, this time adding in material that takes ARI to task over foreign policy. The fact that he makes no acknowledgement of the diversity of opinion within "Objectivism" on this matter is something I find irritating.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2012/09/the_new_president_of_the_cato_institute_wants_the_think_tank_to_adopt_the_personal_philosophy_of_ayn_rand_as_policy_.single.html

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/objectivists-for-empire/

And here's another one, a bit longer, and not too much overlap, from the American Conservative. It's funny to see a non-Objectivist saying such and such "should provoke an excommunication from ARI". He's suggesting that otherwise John Allison is practicing duplicity. I, for one, am inclined to take John Allison’s latest statement, the one to Cato staffers, at face value. And I expect his "excommunication" to come about as quickly as Alan Greenspan's. Meaning, not quickly at all.

He links to my video, and I just checked the analytics on it. One interesting fact, this even surprises me, is the demographics of the viewership. 88% male, 12% female.

[caroljane]

88-12....

looking at the regular posters on O-sites, assuming them representative of interested browsers, that number seems about right.

[9thdoctor]

88-12....

looking at the regular posters on O-sites, assuming them representative of interested browsers, that number seems about right.

Not to me. 70:30 wouldn't have surprised me, 88:12 did.

[caroljane]

Today David Weigel has rehashed the above at Slate, this time adding in material that takes ARI to task over foreign policy. The fact that he makes no acknowledgement of the diversity of opinion within "Objectivism" on this matter is something I find irritating.

http://www.slate.com...cy_.single.html

http://www.theameric...sts-for-empire/

And here's another one, a bit longer, and not too much overlap, from the American Conservative. It's funny to see a non-Objectivist saying such and such "should provoke an excommunication from ARI". He's suggesting that otherwise John Allison is practicing duplicity. I, for one, am inclined to take John Allison's latest statement, the one to Cato staffers, at face value. And I expect his "excommunication" to come about as quickly as Alan Greenspan's. Meaning, not quickly at all.

He links to my video, and I just checked the analytics on it. One interesting fact, this even surprises me, is the demographics of the viewership. 88% male, 12% female.

Anyway, did you notice that the online users here are about triple the usual number today? Maybe your new fans are all checking out the Tardis.

[9thdoctor]

For those of you who can't get enough of the Doctor, and have to read everything he writes, I joined Irfan Khawaja in posting on Jeremy Lott's site, who, according to David Weigel*, "broke the story" about John Allison's OCON Cato Q&A. You can't miss the Catholicism over there, so I decided to wrap up with: Finally, as Ayn Rand reportedly said upon first meeting William F. Buckley, “You are much too intelligent to believe in Gott.”

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/jeremylott/2012/09/who-would-ayn-rand-bomb/

* what, Slate won't let you cite "Ninth Doctor"?

[9thdoctor]

Maybe Allison will do a decent job of running Cato.

But if so, there is likely to be a parting of the ways between him and Leonard Peikoff's crew.

Stay tuned...

I've been staying tuned, and here's the latest:

http://www.aynrand.o...rticle&id=27508

The Ayn Rand Institute (ARI) announced today that John Allison, a member of the Institute’s Board of Directors, has decided to resign from the Board, noting a desire to reduce his professional commitments and devote full energies to his new position as chief executive officer and President of the Cato Institute in Washington, D.C.

[9thdoctor]

I, for one, am inclined to take John Allison's latest statement, the one to Cato staffers, at face value. And I expect his "excommunication" to come about as quickly as Alan Greenspan's. Meaning, not quickly at all.

FWIW, I'm disinclined to take ARI's latest statement at face value. OTOH, I don't believe this was an excommunication. A has not entirely been A when it comes to this topic, so I'll just leave it at that.

[9thdoctor]

Ay yi yi. I do a totally vanilla post on OO and it gets deleted! It was on the equivalent thread to this one over there. Here it is:

I'd like to see the ARI become more consistent with Objectivism.

First you need to review the forum rules as insulting comments about ARI are not allowed.

Then, if you can manage to conduct yourself according to those rules, you'll have to provide evidence for this extremely insulting comment. As far as I can tell ARI is perfectly consistent with Objectivism.

The moderators must be taking their siestas all at the same time!

BTW, thanks again for this post. It's such a favorite of mine, I've linked to it repeatedly, you don't know how much I appreciate the effort you put in there. I felt I had to retire my Catullus sig line after that, it could never be as fresh as before. Hope you like my current one too, I went for something a little more obscure, but with a little Googling I'm sure you'll figure it out.

[Brant Gaede]

Perhaps if we say DIM is the greatest thing we can now speak the truth about everything else respecting even the ARI and libertarianism* and not get run out of Objectivism-land, tar and feathered on a rail.

--Brant

salve for the soul

*x-The Brandens™

[Robert Campbell]

One has to wonder what Leonard Peikoff's role was.

Robert Campbell