Sebastien
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Posts posted by Sebastien
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dream_weaver,
Cognitive mirror is fine. The mirror is a good analogy.
But there is a point at which you know what you think and what you feel,
and you no longer need a mirror.
Instead, what you need is for the mirror to be another person,
who can recognize and appreciate the value of your thoughts.
In this case mirror is not a good analogy because the other person
will say something different in response to what you have written.
I don't know a good analogy for this,
but I will try to think of one.
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dream_weaver,
To institutionalize the desire to reach the conceptual level,
all we have to do is read, wait, and watch.
It will take 50 years, but by 2070, the United States government will become a minarchist state.
Military, police, law courts.
Why?
Because the left and the right goes back and forth arguing: "Government is good." "Government is bad."
Eventually, we will realize that neither is true and both are true.
Government serves a purpose. As long as it is serving that purpose, it is good.
The young people of a nation grow older and are a witness to change.
As they witness change they grow wiser, but also more powerful.
With greater wisdom, we will eventually ask the government to concede much of its power to the private sector.
This is what the constitution says: all power not exercised by the federal government is reserved to the states, or to the people. The key is to the people.
People will learn that they have power, and that their power comes the rights they cherish and the wealth they make by their own effort.
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The important thing is that while we are not conservatives, at least conservatives are more friendly to talk to than liberals.
Liberals just laugh at us before we can even say Who is John Galt?
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dream_weaver
If your line of argument is sound, which I think it is,
instead of measuring the amount of material when deeming Objectivist content as dear or less dear,
measure the number of Objectivists.
If there are fewer Objectivists than conservatives,
it is not because Objectivism is becoming less dear,
it is because choosing Objectivism requires more courage than choosing conservativism.
Therefore, those who remain strictly Objectivist will be stronger thinkers who did not fall off the map when it came time to vote either for Republican or Democrat.
This is good for us. We are America's Persecuted Minority.
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In the meantime, it's time to buy a Treasury Bond!
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Ultimately, what we will see in the course of history
is that the United States will return to sound money.
Why?
Because gold and silver will always, always be desirable.
Just look at a gold coin and tell me you don't want it.
As more and more people can afford gold and silver, and also learn about Objectivism and also Austrian Economics as well,
there will be a greater and greater push for a sound money standard.
It's just going to take a little bit of time before we get there.
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Sound money is ultimately our goal. But why?
Because when the government promises that a dollar can be exchanged for 1/1000 of an ounce of gold,
in effect this is the same as a bond.
It is just a promise of value.
As long as bonds continue to be attractive, our money, while it is deteriorating, will never completely fail.
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The important thing to remember is that fiat currency is defined
when the dollar is backed by the taxing power of the federal government.
Nowhere does this definition say the dollar is backed by the power to print money.
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The dollar becomes weak when there is little interest in the bond market.
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The answer is they don't.
Market forces dictate uniform raises in prices.
The simple matter is that producers raise prices because the parts in the supply chain are more expensive.
The parts in the supply chain are more expensive because foreign companies raise their prices when the dollar is weak.
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If you want proof for my explanation, just ask yourself this question:
When all sellers of commodities raise prices, how are they all measuring the increase in the supply of money?
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necrovore,
It is in the interests of Objectivists to be a witness to the government's attitude that they can continue to print money every day, as much money as they deem necessary according to their Keynesian formulas.
But the United States will never experience hyperinflation because smart investors are still interested in the bond market.
As more and more people learn about bonds, and as more people in the United States secure higher-paying positions that allow them to buy bonds, the more of a counter-balancing effect there is on the government's money printing.
Hyperinflation is not caused by printing too much money. It is caused by an acute or chronic faltering of confidence in the dollar.
The dollar gets its strength not by what it can buy in the hands of citizens and residents of the US,
it gets its strength by how it trades on the international market.
The strength of any commodity is how well it trades with others. Money is no exception.
If the government stops issuing bonds domestically, foreign countries take it as a sign that the US government is not confident in its ability to pay for the bonds when they reach maturity.
What that does is it freezes the extensions of foreign loans to the United States, and at the same time it causes short-selling of dollars by foreign nations.
As soon as dollars begin to get short-sold, it is a sign to everyone in the international market that the dollar is weak.
The select nations that continue to loan money to the United States raise their interest rates,
and the government is forced to print more money to pay the interest.
Commodities which are traded internationally begin to sell for more dollars.
Only then do commodities at home become more expensive, because they are produced by international supply chains.
Printing money is not the cause of hyperinflation. Hyperinflation is the cause of printing money.
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The reason this makes sense is because of the principle of justice.
No man has a right to what he has not lawfully earned or been given freely.
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Slavery did not create wealth in the United States.
Slavery in the United States created surplus product, and the sellers of the surplus product gained money.
But wealth?
Wealth is much more complicated than just money.
To control wealth from the perspective of the government means you have legally acquired assets
which the government is authorized and empowered to protect.
Money is only wealth if it is held securely without fear of seizure.
The United States Government invalidated the South's legal sanctions on ownership of slaves with the 13th Amendment.
In retrospect, slavery was deemed unconstitutional. Therefore, according to Objectivist interpretation of social contract theory, it was never the right of any person to own another person as property.
Money earned from selling the products of slaves was not authorized by constitutional law,
therefore it was not wealth.
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If you are interested in measuring inflation concretely,
measure the rise of property values in a given locale.
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Brightsparkey,
It is commonly assumed that inflation comes from over-expansion of the money supply.
But if this was true, it would mean that everyone selling something is measuring exactly
how quickly the money supply is expanding and how much to raise prices.
Does this sound realistic to you?
A much better measure of inflation is the gradual rise in ground rent.
Higher rents for retailers require higher prices.
But what causes ground rent to rise?
Increased economic activity in a given area increases interest in land there.
As a city's economy grows (more jobs, more amenities) the area becomes more desireable.
Inflation does not just keep pace with economic growth.
It is caused by economic growth.
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As far as tyranny is concerned,
I personally wish for the United States to never be tyrannical.
This is primarily because I myself do not want to be a victim of tyranny.
But I also value the freedom of others, not because I am an altruist,
but because I think it is right and just for others to be happy and free.
Why would we Objectivists want capitalism if it wasn't capitalism for everybody?
Our interest in a free society comes from our adherence to the truth and beauty of the idea,
not because we value other people's freedom more than our own.
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The Laws of Biology,
Ayn Rand made a small fortune writing on her philosophy of Objectivism
and integrating its principles and values in her fiction works.
She personally had a lot to gain from speaking truth that she held dear.
We Objectivists are not being altruists by wanting to promote her ideas.
It is in our own interests for others to be happy and lead good lives.
We take a sense of pride from promoting principles we deem to be sound.
The fact that these principles are helpful to others does not constitute altruism.
Ayn Rand always said it is not wrong to help people,
as long as you know that you are not morally obligated to
and that helping others is not the primary purpose of your existence.
Most people on this forum and in the institutions promoting Objectivism
work for a living,
or if they are young, plan on working for a living.
Sharing Objectivism with others is something that interests us on the side.
It is in our interest. Each of us has a selfish interest in helping others learn.
Otherwise, it would be impossible for an Objectivist to become a teacher.
As soon as you choose helping others as a value, it is in your interest to help others.
But that comes after your decision to live primarily for yourself.
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Jeff Palmer,
The strength of a movement is the sum of the strength of its members.
If there was only one Objectivist in the world,
but that Objectivist lived the best possible life according to Objectivist principles,
Objectivism would still be successful.
The point is not to judge whether Objectivism has skin in the game of life.
It is whether you have skin in the game of life.
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Jimbean,
The goal of studying Objectivism is to learn the values that make life worth living,
so that at every moment of your life, you can look back, hold the sum of your choices and actions in your hand,
and be proud of what you have done.
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TruthSeeker946,
Value does not need to be completely and perfectly aligned with action.
Early childhood experience allows us to program our values into our subconscious,
until we reach an age of independence, after which the values we have programmed become
actionable through our own volition and effort.
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TruthSeeker946,
Value is a concept of consciousness (Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology).
In order to expand the concept of value,
one only need to apply it to all conscious organisms which act on value.
So it is a rich concept, because its differentiation occurs when we try to embrace in our minds not just "value"
but also "valuers."
Without the expansion of this concept, we would have no basis for theorizing about capitalist society
and how it works.
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Easy Truth,
It is a law of economics, according to Rand and others,
that in the absence of a better and cheaper product,
some entrepreneur will be willing to step forward to offer something better and cheaper.
My advice, in judging whether a source is credible is:
1. Is the quality higher than its competitors?
2. Is it cheaper?
I bought a subscription to Wall Street Journal for $4 a month.
I've yet to find any problems with credibility, and the work is always high quality.
Ultimately it doesn't matter what media you read,as long as your reason is clear and discerning.
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Happiness,
The crucial difference between feudalism and communism or fascism
is that feudalism is characterized by a pre-modern mentality, whereas communism and fascism are characterized by a modern mentality.
The difference is the role of science in production and defense.
Whereas before it was the plow and the sickle and the sword,
in communism and fascism it is the tractor and the gun and the nuke.
Completely different epistemology, completely different means and ends.
philosophy addresses issues that can’t be settled by facts alone
in Dream Weaver's Allusions
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dream_weaver,
I sympathize. For me philosophy has always been about facts.
What is the nature of a person?
What is the self?
What is self-interest?
The difference between philosophy and science with regard to facts
is that science will often study dead facts, whereas philosophy will more often study living facts.
(Think concepts of consciousness from Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology).