Socratic Dialogues in the Classroom
https://youtu.be/hCu5EgK5TdYMichael Strong discusses the importance of holding Socratic dialogues in the classroom to foster thinking of complex subjects.
Video: Socialism’s Legacy
https://youtu.be/PCrYoYpWuDoFollowing the collapse of the Soviet Union, many optimists claimed that the world was now somehow "after socialism." There are reasons, however—structural, political, moral, and intellectual—why the collapse of Communism did not entail the end of socialism. This talk by Alan Kors will explain why there can be no "after socialism" until the West comes to ultimate terms with the catastrophic legacy of international communism.Video: Free Speech and the Threat of Tech Regulation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xQxjosx-dkYaron Brook, Onkar Ghate, Brian Amerige, and Gregory Salmieri join Dave Rubin to discuss the growing threat to free speech, the Google leak, Project Veritas, free speech, YouTube demonetization, fake news, and more.
Rapid-Fire Q&A with Alex Epstein on Energy and Climate Change
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2_PlEBNms4Alex Epstein, the author of "The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels" and the founder and President of the Center for Industrial Progress, discusses with Aaron Harber the meaning of the term “Climate Change” from a controversial perspective.Epstein challenges the validity of climate prediction models and posits the benefits of Climate Change on a distributional basis versus those who focus only on the negative effects.Other topics covered in the fast-paced program include the proper role of government, human rights violations, and human consumption of resources --- with a historical focus on what the benefits of relatively inexpensive energy resources have been and will be versus the costs of using those resources. Epstein also uniquely emphasizes the relationship between energy and freedom from a cost-benefit perspective.Dershowitz: Mueller’s Suggestion That Trump Might Be Guilty is Non-Objective
Alan Dershowitz, a former Professor of Law, Emeritus, at Harvard Law School, has penned a scathing editorial on Robert Mueller's comment that “if we had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said that.”As a prosecutor Mueller is not in a position to determine guilt or innocence -- that decision "requires a full adversarial trial with a zealous defense attorney, vigorous cross examination, exclusionary rules of evidence and other due process safeguards.According to Dershowitz "prosecutors can only conclude whether there is sufficient evidence to commence a prosecution."Writes Dershowitz in The Hill:
By putting his thumb, indeed his elbow, on the scale of justice in favor of impeachment based on obstruction of justice, Mueller has revealed his partisan bias. He also has distorted the critical role of a prosecutor in our justice system.....No responsible prosecutor should ever suggest that the subject of his investigation might indeed be guilty even if there was insufficient evidence or other reasons not to indict. ....federal investigations by prosecutors, including special counsels, are by their very nature one-sided. They hear only evidence of guilt and not exculpatory evidence. Their witnesses are not subject to the adversarial process. There is no cross examination. The evidence is taken in secret behind the closed doors of a grand jury. For that very reason, prosecutors can only conclude whether there is sufficient evidence to commence a prosecution. They are not in a position to decide whether the subject of the investigation is guilty or is innocent of any crimes.That determination of guilt or innocence requires a full adversarial trial with a zealous defense attorney, vigorous cross examination, exclusionary rules of evidence and other due process safeguards. Such safeguards were not present in this investigation, and so the suggestion by Mueller that Trump might well be guilty deserves no credence.No prosecutor should ever say or do anything for the purpose of helping one party or the other. I cannot imagine a plausible reason why Mueller went beyond his report and gratuitously suggested that President Trump might be guilty, except to help Democrats in Congress and to encourage impeachment talk and action. Shame on Mueller for abusing his position of trust and for allowing himself to be used for such partisan advantage. [Dershowitz: Shame on Robert Mueller for exceeding his role | The Hill]
His new book is “The Case Against the Democratic House Impeaching Trump.”
Salsman and Bernstein Speak Live at TOS-Con
Richard Salsman and Andrew Bernstein will be speaking live at TOS-Con this August in Park City Utah.If you are in the area don't miss out on a chance to hear these amazing speakers.Dr. Salsman will be speaking on “Democratic Socialism”: The Whitewashing of Evil and Dr. Bernstein on The Trader Principle and the Harmony of Rational Values. Here are the descriptions:“Democratic Socialism”: The Whitewashing of Evil by Richard Salsman Socialism has been proposed and practiced in numerous forms since the 1830s, including “utopian” socialism, Marxian socialism, national socialism, Christian socialism, and agrarian socialism. In its most virulent forms—as enacted in Soviet Russia, Nazi Germany, Red China, North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela—the result has been mass misery, mass poverty, and mass murder. Some dismiss such cases as unrepresentative of “true” socialism, claiming that “real” socialism is peaceful, progressive, and morally correct. Many socialists in America today aim to enact it slowly, consensually, and electorally, calling their version “democratic socialism.” This ruse has taken hold already in Europe and is now fast-gaining adherents in America, especially among the young. In this talk, Richard Salsman will examine the means by which so-called “democratic socialism” is gaining ground. He will also zero in on the fundamental principles that people must understand and embrace to defeat it and to advance the only genuinely moral and practical social system: laissez-faire capitalism.
The Trader Principle and the Harmony of Rational Values by Andrew Bernstein An important moral principle underlying civilized society is that of trade: All exchange of values must proceed by mutual consent and to mutual advantage of all parties involved. This principle applies not only to material values, such as food and medicine, bt also to spiritual values, such as friendship and romance. To the extent that people understand and uphold the trader principle, they can live in harmony. To the extent that they don’t, they suffer discord and sometimes violence. In this talk, Andrew Bernstein will examine the trader principle from multiple perspectives, concretizing it in myriad ways and showing its ubiquity in rational relationships. Whatever your current understanding, you will leave with a greater ability to apply the principle in your own life, to articulate it to others, and to advance civilized society.
Link: TOS-Con 2019Below are videos of talks by the dynamic duo of philosopher and economist from last year's conference.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siOQpNYl6mA