Opus 2026-379: Part B

About a year ago I came across some click bait from a source called the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship.  I listened to a few of their speakers and felt like they were a group that had their heads on straight.

Time marches on and this year I began finding more speakers that were less than inspiring and often off base by my measurement.  I am wondering if this is another example of bait and switch that we see in so many venues.  I recently tuned in to a speaker that was new to me.  He was Yemi Osinbajo, former vice president of Liberia.  He began by listing the high points of the progress made in the 20th century.  He started with items I would agree with.  Among those was the pursuit of free speech.  Then at the end he snuck in a kidney punch.  He mentioned a rule based international order.  What also struck me was that he left out the other points of our first amendment and completely ignored the second.

He kept throwing around the term “democracy” as if it was a good thing and seemed to be totally unaware of the history of democracy.  He attributed all progress to this “rule based international order.”  He then listed how confidence was eroding and, to be fair, most of what he said was correct, but he slipped in a little phrase that would grow as he spoke:  Economic systems that were fair.

Then he went on and came back to the idea of free speech.  That sounded good, at first.  He pointed out that it was once a bedrock of our freedoms in liberty.  He wasn’t satisfied with that.  He said now it has become divisive and he threw out the idea of misinformation.  Where he’s going with this is that we need to find ways to limit free speech because free speech is divisive.  He’s not going to say that clearly because he knows how that will be received by the audience, but that’s what’s in his heart.

He works through a few more positive things until he comes to free enterprise.  He starts off talking about the wonders that is produced, but then he says that it is degenerated into widening inequality and economic insecurity and declining social mobility.  He completely ignores the destructive role of central planning and government regulation.  He does not acknowledge the role of free enterprise in raising the standard of living around the world.

Trust in government is declining because of political polarization.  He moves on to immigration and quickly stakes out a position against barriers to people being able to move freely.

At 4:40 he makes his first reference to climate change.  This theme will keep reemerging.  This is where he really lost me.  If you believe that open borders are good and climate change is a major issue you have traded in your scholars robe for a dunce cap.  Call it a litmus test if you will.  To paraphrase Shakespeare, “A rose by any other name, be it oh so sweet, is still a socialist.”

Like most One World Government people he has no understanding of economics.  He laments the fact that Africa has incredibly high interest rates when they try to borrow money . He seems unaware that interest is a reflection of risk and Africa is very risky.  He does not mention that part of the problem is that Africa never, or seldom, pays back what it borrows.

He fears AI.  He calls for more government regulation.  He sees a need for global organization.  Reforming international finance of course requires lower interest and debt relief.  There is nothing about people learning to stand on their own two feet.  In short he is a One World Government Wolf in the skin of a liberty loving sheep.

We need to wrap our arms around the entire first amendment.  Note that the first concern of the founders was making a state church impossible and allowing Americans to approach God in the way they wanted, or to not approach Him at all.  We need to understand that the glorious concept of free speech is meaningless without the freedom of religion and the other rights guaranteed in that paragraph.  They become impossible without the second amendment.

I shall keep looking for rational voices.

homo unius libri