communist

EP #54 | Socialism: Scientific or Religious?

September 28, 2021 admin Open College with Dr. Stephen Hicks Comments Off on EP #54 | Socialism: Scientific or Religious?

While communist/socialist/social democratic have always had a scientific-pseudoscientific verneer about it, time has worn away much of this verneer, exposing much of the ideology as hyper-idealistic/proto-religiousist in many regards. Despite this verneer being largely washed away, many if not the vast majority of communists/socialists refuse or cannot see their views as anything except entirely rational. In this podcast, Professor Stephen Hicks delves deep into this phenomenon.

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EP #36 | Democratic Socialism for Beginners

May 11, 2020 admin Open College with Dr. Stephen Hicks Comments Off on EP #36 | Democratic Socialism for Beginners

In contemporary times, most socialists have shifted away from overtly dictatorial socialism. Among the younger, there is some level of awareness of its terrible history but they still think of it as an ideal to be striven for despite obvious concerns. What are the aims of democratic socialist, what do they wish to achieve and how will they achieve their goals? Should socialism be Monarchical, Aristocratic, or Democratic? Who should have power over you: one person? An elite group? The majority?

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EP #33 | Young People’s Socialism

February 11, 2020 admin Open College with Dr. Stephen Hicks Comments Off on EP #33 | Young People’s Socialism

Where are young socialists in their thinking? What expressions of socialism are meeting their mark rhetorically? What does socialism mean to them and what values do they think socialism is advocating?

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#29 War on Socialism

November 5, 2019 admin Open College with Dr. Stephen Hicks Comments Off on #29 War on Socialism

William James was a leading American philosopher who lived at the turn of the 20th century. In his essay the Moral Equivalent of War, James describes himself as a socialist and pacifist and is very disgusted with the human history of war and is looking for a solution. This essay, while thoughtful and well argued is to my mind, highly objectionable. Here is why.

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EP #11 | Is Envy Worse in a Free Society?

January 23, 2019 admin Open College with Dr. Stephen Hicks Comments Off on EP #11 | Is Envy Worse in a Free Society?

The argument claims, Socialism is motivated by anti-rich, anti-success envy, and that’s simply an illegitimate motivation. The envy-charge against socialism is that it institutionalizes envy. How does this compare with liberal capitalist countries? Is there more or less potential for envy to flourish in a liberal capitalist society?

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