Show Notes

Main Discussion Topics​

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Dave Smith and Jake Shields Alliance

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• Dave Smith (comedian/libertarian) photographed with Jake Shields (MMA fighter/Nazi sympathizer)

• Jake Shields openly promotes anti-Semitic views and Nazi ideology

• Discussion of "guilty by association" - when does association become endorsement?

• Michael's critique: Dave Smith lacks moral foundation, making him unable to distinguish between moral equivalents

Michael explained the deeper problem: "What's wrong with Dave isn't that he's not an expert, it's that he gets so much wrong and one of the reasons he gets so much wrong is because he has no moral base... He grounds his ethics in self ownership, or, you know, the NAP, the non-aggression principle. The problem is ownership in and of itself... is a moral term indicating that one has a right to something or a right to dispose of something... You can't start with ownership when you're talking morality. Ownership is derivative. You have to have a moral theory that backs it up."

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Dave Smith's Moral Failures

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• Cannot distinguish between Israel and Hamas morally

• Uses flawed analogies (robber in neighborhood vs. Hamas hiding among civilians)

• Cannot distinguish between Putin and Ukraine

• Supports immigration restrictions based on "democratic ownership" of public property

• Claims victory in debates without addressing counterarguments

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Trump's Federal Reserve Firing

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• First time in 111-year history of Federal Reserve that a president fired a board governor

• Lisa Cook fired without proper cause

• Trump attempting to pack Fed with "yes men" to manipulate interest rates

• Creating artificial economic boom that will lead to bubble and crash

• Another example of "Imperial Presidency" overreach

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Mark noted the historical precedent and danger: "So he'd like to remove people and replace them with yes men so that they'll... Lower interest rates, which will stoke the economy and make everybody think we're in a boom when we're really in a bubble... he won't care because he may be out of office if he doesn't try to run for that third time when that bubble bursts and the economy comes crashing down."

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Trump's "I Can Do Anything" Statement

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• Trump reportedly told Axios: "I can do anything I want. I'm the president of the United States"

• Clear indication of dictatorial mindset and malignant narcissism

• Legislature capitulating rather than providing constitutional checks

• Pattern of pressing boundaries to see how much power he can seize

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FCC Censorship and Google/Fox Dispute

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• FCC chair Brendan Carr pressured Google not to remove Fox affiliates from YouTube

• Historical parallel to FDR using FCC as "cudgel against political enemies"

• FCC's real purpose is censorship, not regulation

• American Capitalist Party should disband FCC - individuals should control their own content consumption

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Mark drew the historical connection: "We all know that the FCC was created by Roosevelt as a cudgel against political enemies... Its real purpose is to censor, which is unconstitutional, folks... You are the best censor for your life folks. You are the one who should edit the content that comes into your life."

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Matt Walsh on Rights and Religion

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• Matt Walsh argued rights are inherently religious concepts requiring God

• Claimed godless worldview cannot account for rights

• Used flag burning and pornography as examples of "fake rights"

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Michael's response demolished the argument: "Right is a moral concept, not a religious one. It is defined as, and has been so defined for centuries as a moral claim or a just claim. To establish rights requires proof of an objective morality. To show that right is a religious concept, Walsh has to prove that morality requires a God... Walsh does none of this. He just asserts. Thankfully, Ayn Rand has demonstrated that there is an objective morality and that rights are a consequence of that morality."

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Key Themes

• Moral foundations necessary for political positions

• Constitutional violations by executive branch

• Censorship through regulatory capture

• Objective morality vs. religious morality

• Guilt by association in political alliances

• Imperial presidency and legislative capitulation​

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Referenced Works

• Ayn Rand's Essays "The Objectivist Ethics", "Causality versus Duty", "Man's Rights"

• George Reisman's "Capitalism"

• Leonard Peikoff's "Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand" (OPAR)
   

LINKS AVAILABLE ON THE RESOURCES PAGE​

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Notable Quotes

Mark on Constitutional Violations: "The things that he's doing today can be done by a president from the opposite tribe. The way in which he's violating the Constitution today can work against you... when the Constitution is violated, everyone's rights are violated."

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Michael on Dave Smith's Moral Bankruptcy: "Without a theory of ethics, you have no theory of proper self defense, no theory of retaliatory force, nothing. These are just things that he spews that he puts out there without a moral basis to back them."

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Mark on FCC Abolition: "The first thing I think an American capitalist party should do if it ever got into a position to do it is to disband the FCC. Because you are the best censor for your life folks."

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Capitalist Thought of the Day

"If you're going to talk about individual rights, it is imperative that you understand what ethics are, you have to have a coherent theory of ethics in order to arrive at a coherent theory of rights and rights are absolutely vital if we are going to talk about capitalism and recommend capitalism because capitalism ultimately is the system whereby your right to life and your right to property are held up, are secured, and are protected. So if you're interested in rights, you have to advocate capitalism. And then if you're interested in advocating capitalism, you have to advocate rights. And in order to both, you have to understand ethics." - Michael