Dear Friends,
It seems to me, truth tellers want their message out in the light of day, both so others can hear it and be swayed, as well as to test it’s veracity. A concept is tempered in the arena of ideas. They are forged and hardened by argument, consideration and insight. For any idea to be compelling it must have something good about it. That good sounding thing may, sadly, electroplate arsenic. Such can only be discovered if the idea is scratched at by society as a whole. Moreover, if someone has an idea that is solid through and through, they want it discoverable by everyone, to sway them. On the other hand, those who are selling dross, would seek to keep their ideas, teaching and actual proselytizing, hidden and targeted. So… why would university professors worry about their lectures becoming public?
If a truth is indeed truth, it can withstand the eyes of many. In fact, I believe it was the inventor of Linux, Linus Corvallis who said, given enough eyes any flaw becomes obvious. He of course was talking about code, but that same insight holds true of ideas as well. Unlike code, that must go through registers, gates and down buses, proving it clean or flawed… ideas are run on the complex system of humanity, economics, culture and under the operating system of the pathological order. This is no great secret. Those most learned among us must know this, if I do, so one would think that if they want to purge their ideas of flaws, they would expose them to the eyes of the world? Cleaning their concepts of bad code so they can run perfectly in the morass of humanity.
Pragmatically, if an idea is sent through the complex system of humanity multiple times, and it always produces calamity, resulting in millions of deaths, gulags, oppression and want, one would have to deem that idea, bad. If one is pragmatic, that socialism is a bad idea since it has always led to disaster, is the only conclusion possible. Pragmatism is why you don’t throw good money after bad, you cut your losses, keep friends out of your business… and you don’t give government unlimited power. Now, one could argue, why didn’t people see that socialism would lead to such terrible outcomes, if Linus Corvallis was correct? Well, they did. Edmond Burke called it, and is hated to this day for being right. Showing the pathological nature of human governance fights the truth… even after it’s proven.
If you believe in what you are saying, you want others to hear to convince them of that truth, and thus improve their life outcomes. That which is truth, when known understood and practiced, always improves life outcomes, and those who are human hearted seek to improve the lives of others. Because it is manifestly obvious that the improvement in the lives of others, added up, results in the improvement of everyone’s, and therefore ours as well. On the other hand, if you are indoctrinating and manipulating people into self harm, you would want your manipulations, lies, and conniving, hidden from the world. Those engaging in manipulation of people into self harm must follow a different philosophy. Destroying the life outcomes of others gives the worthless a sense of self worth.
There is a news story going around, that the Wuhan Coronavirus, the Kung Flu has caused colleges and universities to go online, to practice social distancing. Several professors have voiced concern that “right wing” websites could get a hold of their lectures and post them. Personally, I would love it if a left wing website posted my articles, so if you run a left wing website, please feel free to reproduce my articles, in their entirety and unedited. These university professors worry that exposing their lectures to the world could undermine their “lessons” to the youth. This could only be done if their lessons contain manipulations or deceptions. I would hate to think multitudes of people are taking on unforgivable debt, to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars, only to give the worthless a sense of self worth.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
