Seeking the Rewards of an Open Mind
Allan Bloom’s seminal book “The Closing of the American Mind” (Amazon)
John Stossel is a breath of fresh air.
Do I agree with everything he says? Well, no, but he makes me think. Stossel is a libertarian who almost crosses the line into objectivism, the ideology espoused by Ayn Rand. Stossel believes that self-interest leads to incentives, which leads to innovation, and that makes life better for everyone, but especially the poor.
He also questions a lot of things that are sacrosanct to the Left.
One those things is Climate Change. If you happen to disagree with Stossel, you might do some research. You’ll probably come away convinced that the climate is in a warning cycle, but you’ll note that the slobbering alarmism from the Left has never come true. An open mind always makes you better informed.
Stossel comes under fire for publishing ideas that go against the grain.
Good for him. The op-ed page of any newspaper is always my favorite part. But I’m not interested reading a daily dose of 5 or 6 columns that all lean left, or right. I read other columnists’ writings to get opposing points-of-view. Never in my life have I ever written to a newspaper suggesting that some columnist ought to be discontinued because I don’t agree with what he or she says.
AUDIO: Random Samplings of a Logical Mind (TO COME)
On the other hand, I will take them to task for being factually wrong, or for taking a position on some political controversy that I think would do damage to the country. This is what Stossel does. He mostly looks at government programs, and pronounces them failures.
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On my radio show in Austin, Cardle & Woolley, I’ve said many times that the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, is a failure. But you say, it helps so many people. And I say that it has to have large government subsidies or it falls apart, and yet the Left supports it and wants Medicare for All. What a disaster that would be.
The main person that’s in the process of proving Stossel right is New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Mamdani, unlike Ronald Reagan, believes government is the solution to everything. He’s talking about rent controls, a pied-à-terre tax on wealthy people who have a second residence in New York, and he’s off and running with government-run grocery stores.
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All of these things will crash and burn, and the new socialist movement will declare that we didn’t spend enough on them.
It’s this kind of big-government lunacy that Stossel rages against.
The problem with some people, who want to see Stossel removed from the op-ed page or from his internet posts is this: their minds are closed. An idea such as “wealthy people like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos create things that make life better for us all” is foreign to them.
Stossel and Climate Change.
Global warming, along with abortion on demand, are religions of the Left, and no one may safely challenge them with cancel culture kicking in. Stossel is not a true believer in the sense that we are all going to die from it. I’ve never met Mr. Stossel, but I think our opinions on Climate Change are likely similar:
- The planet appears to be warming.
- Humans may or may not have something to do with it.
- The planet may someday be in a cooling cycle.
- A cooling cycle would be worse.
- The media generally take a sympathetic view of climate alarmists.
- Associated Press reporter Seth Borenstein is perhaps the top alarmist.
- Virtually none of the warnings issued by Borenstein, Al Gore, or AOC has come true.
- There are many scientists who are skeptics of conventional climate science.
- The AP and other parts of the media rarely quote them.
If you believe we’re all going to die from global warming, and that’s what you typically read about, a Stossel column would be therapy for your mental health. Most definitely, there are two sides.’
Video: Stossel looks at climate myths.
Who is this Linnea Luecken that Stossel has quoted?
Here’s a short bio taken from the Heartland Institute:
Linnea Lueken is a Research Fellow with the Arthur B. Robinson Center on Climate and Environmental Policy at The Heartland Institute. While she was an intern with The Heartland Institute in 2018, she co-authored a policy brief ‘Debunking Four Persistent Myths About Hydraulic Fracturing’. Lueken graduated from the University of Wyoming in 2018 with a B.S. in Petroleum Engineering, and a minor in geology. In college, she was active in her sorority, the UW Shooting Sports Team, and College Republicans, as well as a variety of engineering organizations. Before coming to Heartland, she worked in the Gulf of Mexico on deepwater drillships as a logging geologist.
The only thing in this bio that matters to the typical Climate Change groupie is that she’s a Republican. That’s all they need to know. But her bona fides are impressive. Why then would someone suggest that Stossel should not use her as a source, and that he ought to be cancelled because he does?
Please remember that the Number One source for Climate Change has been Al Gore, and even though lot of scientists agree or used to agree with him, his alarmism has fallen flat with the passage of time.
I think you should listen to Al Gore anyway. You ought to be aware of what his claims are.
If you read a newspaper and it runs a story on how Climate Change is worse than ever, it was probably written by Seth Borenstein. Go ahead and read it. There is nothing wrong with reading columns written by people you disagree with. But do some research from sources you would not ordinarily come across. Look at the stories published by Climate Depot.
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You might learn that polar bears are thriving. You might learn that glaciers melt and refreeze. You can easily find all the information you want to scare the hell out of you about Climate Change. You also might sleep easier at night know that some of this alarmism is bull.
Closed minds as revealed by philosopher Allan Bloom.
Bloom’s 1987 book entitled The Closing of the American Mind: How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today’s Students is a classic.
Here’s a short description from Wikipedia:
[T]he author criticizes the openness of relativism, in academia and society in general, as leading paradoxically to the great closing referenced in the book’s title. In Bloom’s view, openness undermines critical thinking and eliminates the point of view that defines cultures. The book became an unexpected best seller, eventually selling close to half a million copies in hardback.
The American mind is far too often closed.
The only way to open it is to be a skeptic about most of what you are told, and look for other points of view. Cancel culture is the product of closed minds. Open minds are always searching for what others are saying, as a pathway to what the truth really is.
Lynn Woolley is a Texas-based author, broadcaster, and songwriter. Follow his podcast at https://www.PlanetLogic.us. Check out his author’s page at https://www.Amazon.com/author/lynnwoolley. Order books direct from Lynn at https://PlanetLogicPress.Square.Site.
Email Lynn at lwoolley9189@gmail.com.
John Stossel would just LOVE this book! I know he would.
