John Stossel

[JD074]

Anybody see John Stossel's 20/20 show last night? Interesting
stuff. Some of the topics were outsourcing (and how it's not
evil,) ridiculous pork barrel spending, the myth that suburban
sprawl is bad, etc. How in the world did he get on network
television? Hated by liberals for his rational thinking about
environmentalism and incompetent government programs, and
his defense of private property and free enterprise, he has to
be one of the best people on television. We need more
skeptics and rational people in this country, and having Stossel
in the mainstream media is a good thing.

In the same vein, I've enjoyed Penn and Teller's show,
"Bullsh*t." Like Stossel, they spend a lot of time debunking
popular myths. Their show on the animal rights wackos, in
particular PETA, was particularly good (and disturbing.) I
already agreed with them on most of the issues they covered,
but was a little surprised to hear that recycling is such a waste
(not just financially but even environmentally), and only exists
because the government props it up- via tax dollars, of course.
I'd never really thought about it. Religious people won't like
their atheism, but they have a lot of smart things to say.

 

[surfsider]

Stossel is quite an anomaly for network television. For any type of television for that matter. Probably the main reason he is on television is that he was on television before he came around to his current libertarian views. After one of his 20/20 pieces the specifics of which I can't recall, the end of piece commentary was Barbara Wawa saying something to the effect that though he had proven his case she couldn't bring herself to agree with it. Apparently because it didn't comport with current received wisdom.

 

[jaxvid]

I just read Stossell's book "Give me a Break". It's good stuff. Stossell was a pretty boy consumer fraud exposer that questioned his motives after realizing that the real demons were not always the companies but the government. He got turned onto Reason magazine and become the skeptic he is today.

Penn and Teller are also libertarians.

I note that libertarians and racially aware people are often at odds since libertarians are rigorously indiviualists and of course racially aware people are more community orientated.

I believe most libertarians would dislike this site for instance.

 

[JD074]

I note that libertarians and racially aware people are often at
odds since libertarians are rigorously indiviualists and of course
racially aware people are more community orientated.

I believe most libertarians would dislike this site for instance.


True. One way that Libertarianism/ Caste Football can be
reconciled is by understanding that it is individuals - in this
case, white individuals- who are being screwed over. I tend to
look at it that way. I believe in our culture/ heritage/
accomplishments/ etc., but the most important issue to me, at
least with regards to sports, is that white players aren't treated
with enough fairness and respect. That's the individualist/
Libertarian in me, and that part of it is something that they
could agree with if they understood what was going on. They
wouldn't be up for racial pride and loyalty, but they would
empathize with individuals unrightfully being denied something.

But they don't understand what's going on, of course. They're
skeptical of the idea that whites can be much more competitive
with blacks than they are now. Even if they could sympathize
with white athletes who are screwed over, they may not ever
believe that they are being screwed over. That goes for
everybody, and is clearly the big hurdle. It's just so "obvious"
to them that blacks are better, and that only rarely can whites
compete with them as far as running/ jumping/ agility goes.
This is why we would be considered "crackpots" to skeptics. I
consider myself to be skeptical/ rational, and I don't see any
dichotomy between being skeptical/ individualist/ Libertarian,
and also believing that whites are denied a lot of opportunities
in sports because of stereotypes. It seems consistent to me.
The difficulty is that it doesn't seem consistent to others.

 

[Don Wassall]

Very well put. It's a shame that the words "race" and "white," when used together in a favorable way, immediately closes the minds of most people on just about any subject. I don't think you have to be of any particular ideology to support Caste Football, just be open-minded about what we're talking about and interested in fairness. No one here is advocating systematic discrimination against blacks and other non-whites, yet to many we're the "racists" for trying to open eyes to the fact that racism is occurring against whites! But that kind of hypocrisy, double standards and close-mindedness is ingrained when it comes to any subject and race -- white is bad, anything else is good. Americans are well-indoctrinated in "political correctness" when it comes to race.

 

[bjan]

Good post Don,I agree that political correctness is the key here!

What most of our citizens do not realize is that "The Wicked Sisters" of PC being, "Feminism" Normalization of "Alternative Life Styles","Racial Discord" and an attempt to remove all symbols of what has made this country great,does not bode well for us.

Hopefully, "The Social Engineering" being used against us will be Illuminated and Eliminated!