Jesus Christ.

Edit: The full debate is here. I highly recommend listening to it.

Yaron Brook is the chair of the Ayn Rand Institute - he's very well spoken, has very good debate skills, and is highly intelligent. I can easily see how he would run circles around most people. But this is where Sam Seder's brilliance shines through. He is also well spoken, has good debate skills, and is intelligent. He was able to counter each point Brook made and further the conversation till the natural end.

The debate was civil and w/o any insults while still being challenging and intellectually stimulating. So completely unlike the usual online debate-bros. One of the things I tried to do while listening was pause it and try to form a counter to Brook on my own w/o listening to what Seder said. I needed to take far more time than Sam did and my answers were nowhere near as precise or well-articulated or counterattacking.

  • LeninsRage [he/him]
    ·
    3 years ago

    This is where neoliberal ideology bleeds into Randian ultraliberalism. Neoliberals assume everyone is a perfectly rational actor on the free market with unfettered access to all the information and resources they need to make the most rational decision. If they don't, it's never the result of systemic biases against them or - God forbid - market failure or other structural forces of capitalism, but rather whatever individual moral failing led them to fail to consult the available resources.