Guest Request: Jan Helfeld

[TheAuger]

I'd like Stef to consider doing an interview with commentator, Jan Helfeld.  If you haven't seen Jan's youtube videos, you're missing out on some of the best "gotcha" moments through Jan's "Socratic interviewing" with regular joes, political "celebrities", and big-wig pundits in the political media scene today.

 

His style is seemingly nonthreatening and bumbling and imprecise, until he finally articulates the interviewees own obvious cognitive dissonance trap that they themselves have woven themselves into, often times reducing them to embarrassed little shreds of humiliated (and angry) little sophists.

 

Here's a classic with a very angry Nancy threatening to call security on Jan's ass.  

 

Here is Jan's website:

 

http://janhelfeld.com/

 

EDIT: After posting and before moderation, I remembered watching the minarchist/anarchist debate years ago.  I still think he has some interesting posts, even if he's not so eloquent and he's worth having on to introduce his work to new listeners, in my view.

[nathanm]

Already been done.

Podcasts #1445, 1146, 1147, 1438, 1410 all return hits for "helfeld"

http://www.fdrpodcasts.com

[Libertus]

I was a fan of Helfeld until he "debated" various ancaps. I still like his videos where he exposes politicians and journalists, but when it comes to his own statism, he is not so Socratic anymore, he's basically a toddler. Helfeld is stuck in this loop where he can't see his own errors. He "debated" Walter Block, David Friedman, Stephan Kinsella (hilarious!), Stef and, I think, Larken Rose. Each time Helfeld commits several fallacies, his "argument" rests on unproven assumptions, is stuck on some "predictions" like "war lords will take over" and made up life boat scenarios. He has really tested his limits there and failed miserably doing so. He alienated all his debate opponents and not one of his debates was properly moderated. It was entertaining but in a painful way. In some way, Jan proves that minarchists can be the worst kind of statist.

 

I don't believe inviting Jan to an anarchist show would be of any value for anyone.

 

It's tragic in some ways, that his own arguments of free markets and peace suddenly don't work when somebody turns them around on him. Every minarchist draws a somewhat arbitrary line where 2+2 equals 5, white is black and up is down. At some point, their logic reverses itself, and then we need evil politicians to protect us from evil. But check out these videos, you will find them on youtube, easily.