"Those who say I do not belong here are correct."
I am curious, who are those 'those'?

A post that says jbrenner does not belong here deserves a downpost.
Now, jbrenner being among the top of really good posters on this site,
quality over quantity, has posed this dilemma to work out,
do not hold your breath while I decide.

Thanks! I have told many people that by far the best description of what I saw in the first 10 years or so (1944 - 1954) of Tito's tyranny in Yugoslavia is Rand's "We the Living". We were ordered to empty our home in 24 hours (because one of the ministers want it). They stopped rationing food in 1951 (not that after that food was abundant or even always available). Etc. etc. ... ad infinitum.

She is a piece of work. And she hid what she did with private email server. It's very obvious what kind of person she is

I don't consider a campaign agenda in the lie camp. When the Billary's says no classified emails or I deleted only personal messages, or the Bengazi attack was because of an offensive video.
That is bull $hip.

Yes FOF.

FOF.

Nicely put. Thank you for adding your experience to the conversation. I have not experienced true dictatorship. I have only read We The Living. :-)

I was not invited here. I came as a result of an ad in Reason Magazine. I am not an Objectivist, though I agree with many of Objectivism's conclusions. Those who say I do not belong here are correct. I have come here to learn, and have learned some hard lessons.

you are not a squatter. ? please give context!

Squatters unite

Jerome Huyler might be a candidate for the Gulch, but as a squatter here, I don't think it would be appropriate for me to invite him. ;)

I do not think so. and if you look at his other work in more depth, I think you will see that this is not the case, Dr.Z

oh, and that other pesky thing of pushing the ideas. just keep doing it, even if you think it falls on deaf ears....

do not vote in this national election uness you are good with the majority of clear, laid out plans by the candidate. if things are not clear, or you disagree, we will long haul it to '20. we might have to be patient, vigilent and ready to be meeting outside regular political channels. that is what I think. :(

Hello, K,
I do too. How do I participate in helping to build that best world?

I understand he's performing as an observer, trying to denote the thinking of the current crop of those who seek to lead. Nonetheless, unless he ascribes to their practices, I think there's a duty to point out the amoral nature of such thought processes.

Reading this I felt like I was listening to a defense attorney explaining the viciousness of a serial killer as understandable due to an abusive childhood. I have no desire to understand the twisted thought processes that lead to an acceptance of dishonest, immoral behavior.

Ultimately, it boils down to the fact that most people have philosophically accepted the skepticism of Hume.

Martimus,
I want the best world for my children. therefore, I need the best world for me.

I know not, but he has published two books under that name.

I think you are confusing what the author is saying. When the article says there is truth he is explaining how modern politician think.

"wink, wink" :)

wiggys I think you are misinterpreting the author. He agrees that A is A.

Hello, dear Kira,
As you know, I lived for 21 years where, if you said loudly a politically incorrect truth, you might be expelled from school, loose your job, put through a phony trial on the way to jail, or just put against the wall and shot dead. I have to tell you that I spent a lot of time thinking very hard about why these things become possible. In the end, I extracted what I consider an axiom, a quasi scientific principle (definition: a self evident truth which nothing in human experience ever contradicted): PEOPLE GET THE GOVEERNMENTS THEY DESERVE.
Derivatives: if you do not rebel, you accept; if you do not have the courage to take the risk of opposing tyranny, you cannot possibly earn your own freedom etc. etc.
If the axiom is true, how do the people "deserve" tyranny? At the bottom, I believe it is because of inadequate education (for me, education = parenting + schooling). I say this because I think, on the surface, people "deserve" tyranny by being irrationally optimistic, by being self-delusional about reality, by being unable to read and listen between the lines of the sophisticated propaganda thrown at them, by not being trained in careful thinking and unable to stick with the inviolate logic.
Over there, I found myself, in my twenties, in a place where majorities accepted the propaganda of the "peaceful" tyranny in the aftermath of the horrific WWII (10% of the population dead). My choices: (1) join the party and thus become a 1st class citizen (and eternal liar), (2) remain silent and "safely" never achieve my potential, (3) try to organize rebellion, which at that time I considered nearly suicidal (my goal number one was to raise kids that will become better people than I am, not to let the tyranny indoctrinate them into subservience). I concluded that I had to leave and I did. I achieved all my important goals because I became free to do as I wished.
I think that in the real world the Rand's Gulch does not exist, but behind it is the idea that a shared vision of a better world leads to the creation of that better world.
For me, all this means that my kids' generation will have to find a way to enlighten a majority of Americans that there is a much better world than the one collectivists (progressives, leftists, socialists, communist, liberals - let's leave for another day the "out-of-focusness" of all these labels) try to impose, or split the country (ever heard of blue and red states?) and save only a piece of it as a beacon of free life, individual rights and unbridled innovation in pursuit of happiness. I never ceased to be impressed how tiny Athens of Pericles and Florence of the Medici were and how enormous and eternal influence they had on humanity's development.
As an aside. Not all leaders lie. I claim that I never lied to my kids. As the owner of my own business for 20 years, I claim that I never lied to my employees nor to my customers. I believe that it is true that George Washington never lied.
What say you?

Hello khalling,
Thank you. Very worthy read. :)
Regards,
O.A.

This article is troubling assertion that truth is a mere convenience, relative to one's personal views. The author exercises no judgement on those who lie with impunity, and in fact goes out of the way to justify prevarication as standard practice.

The American people are the shareholders in government, which is supposed to be answerable to us. It is not acceptable for government executives to hide behind artificial barriers and fabricate whatever fiction suits their needs of the moment, but that's where we are today.

The screaming illustration of the death of truth and facts is the broad support for Hillary Clinton. Staring us in the face, she lies about the lies she's told to cover her lies, and she still has fervent believers who trust her to hold the highest office in the land.