United States

EP #100 | Adapt. Persevere. Overcome. Living in a Time of Crisis

The world is involved in an unprecedented crisis driven by a pandemic, an oil price war and a financial crisis that has been years in the making. How should you think about these problems and how should you react? Do not panic. Think. Plan. Accept the idea that your world of last week will be different next week. As the US Marine Corp says: Adapt. Persevere. Overcome. It is a motto for your life in a time of crisis.

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Qatar Papers: FORD NATION & The Islamists

We have have documentary evidence that Councillor Rob Ford was writing letters of support for an organization that was seeking funding from Qatar Charity. This funding they were seeking is given only to those groups who support the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood. But given that Mr Rob Ford is deceased it seems unreasonable to pursue this any further without his being able to identify what he was thinking at the time. But we do have Doug Ford. The examples we will discuss today will show that there are Islamist influences in his government which are commonly known. But yet he chooses to take no action. This does seem strange.

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EP #34 | Eight Socialists Define Socialism

Who are the most important socialist intellectuals and politicians in history? We here offer quotations from eight prominent socialists, representing a wide geographical and temporal range. The quotations illustrate the author’s motivation for advocating socialism, the actions necessary to bring about socialism, and/or the expected results of socialism. What common characteristics best define socialism?

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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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EP #32 | Bootleggers and Baptists or Snowflakes

A generation ago the slogan of campus activist was, speak truth to power. Why has there been such a dramatic change in just one generation?

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EP #31 | Hazony Attacks the Enlightenment

On December 30th 2019, the YouTube channel Prager University released a video narrated by bible scholar and political theorist Yoram Hazony discussing the Enlightenment. Hazony makes eight major claims about the Enlightenment and while there are some thoughtful arguments against the Enlightenment, Hazony has not made them. In this episode of Open College, Dr. Hicks points out the flaws in Hazony’s augments and shows why this video is an example of special-pleading history.

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EP #30 | The Real Scrooge

We all know the tale of Ebenezer Scrooge. Or do we? At least 20 movie versions of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol have been produced, along with innumerable stage plays and live reading. Who was Ebenezer Scrooge? Was his character the Villain according to Socialism, the Homo Economicus and Savvy Investor, the hero of the Anti-Over-Commercialized-Christmas crowd?

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#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 #28 | Keynes Blame

Is Keynes to blame for everything? John Maynard Keynes was the most influential economist of the 20th century. In the 21st century his theories are institutionalized. But how close is current Keyesnian practice to original Keynesian theory?

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#27 Money You Should Love

Money is one of the greatest inventions ever, just as books are one of the greatest inventions ever and for the same reasons. Books are collections of abstract symbols that represent abstract ideas. Writing enhances our thinking through portability, storage, precision and universality. Books enable everyone to communicate with one another. All of these points about books hold precisely for money.

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