Nikola Harrington

Seeker of truth, devil’s advocate, pursuer of felicity. Interested in understanding ideology and its effects. Advocate of the freedom necessary for this work.

[Nikola Harrington @CountLatah]

I find it odd that national debt to GDP is the figure economists look at rather than debt to national revenue.

It’s like, instead of looking at my debt to income ratio before taking out a loan, I look at the ratio of my debt to the incomes of everyone on my block I could rob

[Nikola Harrington @CountLatah]

It is both true that Rand believed wars are only justified for self defense and that statist governments have to right to exist. You can’t just invade statist countries willy-nilly, they have to be a threat. That being said, Rand would almost certainly have supported an attack on Iran since Iran effectively declared war on the US during the hostage crisis in 1979. Funding terrorists and developing nuclear weapons has only made more of a case for self-defensive action.

Leonard Peikoff, Rand’s heir, notably wrote about the need to eliminate the Iranian regime after 9/11 (see the link). His organization, the Ayn Rand Institute has been supportive of an attack on Iran since it was founded in the 1980s.

https://t.co/U7wlp8eOH0

[Nikola Harrington @CountLatah]

@Nonviolentmemer @AP4Liberty The novels are fun and informative, but many people find them intimidatingly long. IMO the best place to start is listening to her talk “Philosophy: Who Needs It.” The best summary of her ideas is Peikoff’s book Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand.

https://t.co/u5aeul2z1O

[Nikola Harrington @CountLatah]

I don’t know about influential, but if you want people who haven’t reached blacklist status on television news yet, I have heard Jonathan Hoenig and Amesh Adalja still appear regularly. I have also heard that John Allison had some success at least within his own organization. Other than that, I assume YBS is the most influential Objectivist show, but I don’t have a lot of knowledge of the non-ARI associated Objectivist world

[Nikola Harrington @CountLatah]

@Lieboisout @RayceRJacobson I personally wouldn’t consider him an influential Objectivist in the way you meant in your original post

[Nikola Harrington @CountLatah]

@Lieboisout @RayceRJacobson He has done more philosophical content when hosting for the Daily Objective in the past, but I don’t think that show has the same audience as what you are referring to here

[Nikola Harrington @CountLatah]

@Lieboisout There are plenty of people who know so little about politics to believe this out of ignorance rather than deliberate evasion

[Nikola Harrington @CountLatah]

Come to think of it, I’m not sure there was a time when popular, sensationalist, conspiracy-minded media wasn’t prevalent. It makes me think of the yellow journalism of the 1920s and the populist anti-trust pushes of the late 1800s. Even pamphlets from the Revolution, though having the right principles, often blew the concrete issues out of all proportion (think the Boston “Massacre”).

[Nikola Harrington @CountLatah]

Thinking in terms of bubbles seems more applicable to industries that require outside investment. Bubbles result when investors overinvest. My understanding is that most influencers are probably organic and self-funded, meaning their prevalence is more due to their success with viewers rather than outside funding.

[Nikola Harrington @CountLatah]

@DeeperWithDiego Like hygienically or morally? I’ll always be against government-run anything, but I don’t see anything disgusting about taking a bus or train when it’s safe and convenient.

[Nikola Harrington @CountLatah]

@voicereason05 When I was 28 and read OPAR for the first time. That was a wild transition.

[Nikola Harrington @CountLatah]

@voicereason05 For what it’s worth, Alex Epstein wrote a piece on this. His impression was that Gates’ position hasn’t changed so much as the moral atmosphere around the climate debate.

https://t.co/1tFXwEcE0q

[Nikola Harrington @CountLatah]

There was a time not too long ago when communism and woke were described by their opponents as “religious” movements and were bad as such.

Were they condemned because people recognize that zealots’ dogmas have no place in government or because they weren’t the right religion?

[Nikola Harrington @CountLatah]

@Lieboisout This is my impression of Descartes’ epistemological approach, so yes, at least historically.

Keep in mind that the term “rationalism” can refer to different things. Objectivists use it in a related, but different way than most philosophers.

[Nikola Harrington @CountLatah]

The proper response to the deaths of our servicemen should be a resentment of the senseless destruction evil brings about and a renewed determination to exterminate evil.

[Nikola Harrington @CountLatah]

Veterans Day left me thinking about the glorification of the sacrifices of our servicemen that takes place. My conclusion is that this kind of attitude toward our military and war is pretty messed up.

[Nikola Harrington @CountLatah]

The proper response to our military, to the extent that its actions are really protecting our rights, is gratitude for the victories our servicemen achieve, not their sacrifice.

[Nikola Harrington @CountLatah]

Isn’t this precisely the attitude conservatives used to argue against when they would emphasize that the US is a constitutional republic, not a democracy?

[Cisco @Cisco_Kid45]

@Cernovich The power in a constitutional republic lies with We the People. Trump has been given a clear mandate. The judges need to look at their oath of office, the constitution and if they refuse to comply, step down or be removed. We the People demand it.

[Nikola Harrington @CountLatah]

@Lieboisout Um, didn’t the COVID policies make it illegal for people to work or evict tenants? That seems much worse to me than the war on drugs. Or are you specifically talking about just the vaccine mandates?

[Nikola Harrington @CountLatah]

If you take the time to get to know someone and their views, you will probably be surprised how coherent and consistent they are and you will have a much better understanding of what they think, why they think it, and what would be most useful for them to hear.

[Nikola Harrington @CountLatah]

It’s surprising to me how many people interested in spreading ideas aren’t at all curious about ideas themselves.

I’m not sure how they think they will change people’s minds if they don’t make a genuine effort to understand what people think and what would be persuasive to them.

[Nikola Harrington @CountLatah]

Unfortunately, it seems much more common to brush off all alternative views as stupid or dishonest.

People think they aren’t persuasive because others can’t or won’t engage with their arguments. In my experience, this is only the case in a small fraction of people.