From 2006, an eight-minute documentary clip with my answer. Topics covered: (1) National Socialist philosophy, (2) the Nazi Party’s original 25-point platform — collectivism, economic socialism, nationalism, authoritarianism — (3) negotiations to merge with the German Socialist Party, (4) Hitler and Goebbels speeches on socialism, and (5) the symbolism of the swastika. The book based […]
How Socialist Were the Nazis? Read More »
Among German intellectuals of the generation before and after 1900, there was widespread interest in Eastern religions. Jacob Burckhardt expresses one point of attraction: “Not without cause do the Indians worship Shiva, the God of destruction. Filled with the joy of destruction, wars clear the air like thunderstorms, they steel the nerves and restore the
Burckhardt on Shiva, the god of destruction Read More »
My four-minute response to interviewer Ignasi Boltó’s question about why National Socialism and Communism are often evaluated so differently. My full interview with Ignasi Boltó of Instituto Juan de Mariana: “Stephen Hicks on Postmodernism, Western Values and Jordan Peterson.”
Nazism is Bad, but Communism is “Cool”? Read More »
My two-minute advice to passionate young activists: “You’re a younger person, and things matter to you … but keep an open mind to the possibility that you have received only a partial education — one side of a set of arguments from some very clever people.” “Your life is important, and if you let yourself
My advice to young Social Justice Warriors Read More »
Economist Richard Ebeling at FEE: “The Damage Still Done by a Defunct Economist”: “Keynes helped undermine what had been three of the essential institutional ingredients of a free-market economy: the gold standard, balanced government budgets, and open competitive markets. In their place Keynes’s legacy has given us paper-money inflation, government deficit spending, and more political
Keynes’s continuing destructiveness — Ebeling’s and my evaluations Read More »
Marxism as “scientific socialism” and what happens when the scientific data fail to cooperate. For more, here is the full 2018 lecture at the University of British Columbia.
How Failed Marxist Predictions Led to the Postmodern Left — lecture excerpt Read More »
By diversity I mean the intellectual kind. Numerous surveys (e.g., here and here) show that university faculties lean left, often far left in humanities departments. A purely democratic argument says Yes, politicians should force diversity. Government-funded universities are paid for with tax monies, and in a democracy politicians are responsible to their constituents to ensure
Should politicians force diversity at universities? Read More »
Ontario’s financial debts, as of 2018: “Ontario’s debt has ballooned to $312 billion, the biggest debt held by a subnational government anywhere in the world. Ontario owes twice as much as California, which has a population bigger than all of Canada.”[1] Enron’s debts as determined by its bankruptcy proceedings: “The company paid its creditors more
The Moral of Two Scandals — Enron and Ontario Read More »