Think Free Posted December 22, 2015 Posted December 22, 2015 Can someone explain to me why Stefan is so positive about Donald Trump? I honestly don't get it. Stefan says Donald Trump is for small government, but very little that I've heard from Trump suggests that. I mean, he has even donated to Hilary Clinton's campaign in the past. From where I stand, Trump looks like an unprincipled man running on a platform that, while somewhat more in touch with the sentiments of the American people, is no more principled than the desires of the American public at large, who are largely responsible for getting us into this mess. What am I missing? (Is Stefan really just a Russian operative sent to destabilize US politics?) P.S. That last question is (mostly) just a joke. 3 2
RCali Posted December 22, 2015 Posted December 22, 2015 How many shows have you watched? I don't think Stefan ever said Trump is about small government, quite the opposite. If you had listened to enough shows, you'd know he's not supportive of Trump, and why exactly he isn't, and, also, what he does like about him. He only likes of him that he cares not about political correctness. 1 1
Donnadogsoth Posted December 22, 2015 Posted December 22, 2015 Trump is a self-made man, more real than the others, more candid, more willing to take risks. Those are Ancap traits that Stefan admires, no? Surely a Trump victory places us closer to Ancap than a Hilary Clinton victory or a Bernie Sanders victory.
AccuTron Posted December 22, 2015 Posted December 22, 2015 I missed that material; do you have convenient links? Russians don't need to send anyone over anymore; we screw it up just fine homegrown.
shirgall Posted December 22, 2015 Posted December 22, 2015 There's a huge difference between claiming a candidate is fun to watch and endorsing him. One can definitely enjoy Trump rope-a-doping the media without liking either Trump or the media. Even so, the primary is when I might vote for someone, and the general is is when I usually vote against someone... and I haven't voted at all in a while.
dsayers Posted December 22, 2015 Posted December 22, 2015 The enforcer class is the violent arm of the State. The media is the arm of the State that is just as damaging, but less obviously so (to the sheep) and more prevalent in people's daily lives. I'd say that just about everything FDR does pertaining to politics and current events is specifically for the purpose of providing count-narrative, pretty much in real time. Very important stuff. So I don't think there's anything pro-Trump, but rather the entertainment value that Trump defies the media. And the fact that despite the media's efforts, "the people have spoken" out again political correctness (communism's shield) by supporting him despite the media's best efforts.
ProfessionalTeabagger Posted December 22, 2015 Posted December 22, 2015 Trump is destroying the media narrative and exposing them. He is the kid saying "The emperor has no clothes". If you actually want to ask if Stef is Russian operative then ask it. 3
Think Free Posted December 23, 2015 Author Posted December 23, 2015 Stef says Trump is for small government at the end of his recent Omnibus video. Also calls him a genius. RCali, I would actually appreciate it if you could point out the shows where Stef critiques him more. I certainly don't watch everything Stef puts out. 1
Crallask Posted December 23, 2015 Posted December 23, 2015 In an odd turn of events I watched a Trump rally the other day where he talked about how US policies of foreign intervention have done far more harm than anything else. How every time the US military and gov tries to go in and "fix" some place it just degrades into utter medieval chaos. He also said that the US gov should try to Ally the Russian Gov when it comes to taking out these considerable threats to stability. Trying to get more cozy relations with the other major nuclear power in the world as well as trying to increase security certainly isn't the worst platform I've heard in my life (nor read about being espoused in the history of such things."
RCali Posted December 23, 2015 Posted December 23, 2015 Stef says Trump is for small government at the end of his recent Omnibus video. Also calls him a genius. RCali, I would actually appreciate it if you could point out the shows where Stef critiques him more. I certainly don't watch everything Stef puts out. Saying someone is a genius and endorsing the person is quite different. You can certainly recognize someone has having very high inteligence, and not at all imitate their daily lives, or support what they work on. Just like in formula 1 racing. Say you know an engineer who works for BMW, and you're an engineer for Ferrari. You know that other guy is a complete genius, and has created something so amazing, that it will make competition incredibly difficult. Are you going to give up on your work, or leave your own team and join his, because of this? Not necessarily. What I can tell you of how Trump isn't about small government is this: he wants to increase military power. That, for someone who knows just how much the US spends on military already, surely sounds absurd. They spend more than like the following 5 countries on military expense combined. Is it for small government creating a stronger armed forces? Don't think so. I don't follow politics, so I don't know what else he'd have done, but that's quite enough for me to know. 1 1
Qwent Posted December 24, 2015 Posted December 24, 2015 Say what you will about Trump but his presence in this political cycle is making many people to sit up and take notice that might otherwise not even pay attention. I am not saying he would ultimately be the best choice for president but to have him out there acting and speaking without the filter of political correctness and/or engaged in begging for media approval is just gloriously refreshing. You can agree or disagree with Trump's positions but how could you possibly fail to admire him for his straight forward and unapologetic delivery? As a non-politician, he is willing and able to say the kinds of things that need to be said but would never be uttered by the vast majority of the politicians we see metastasizing all across the country.
luxfelix Posted December 24, 2015 Posted December 24, 2015 My amateur perspective: Donald Trump shuts down the neon-techno media rave of delusion and Stefan Molyneux pulls back the curtains to let in the sunlight. Bonus: In other words, Donald Trump uses his experience and expertise with media to gain popularity and discredit them, using their short-term advertising objectives as a means to get them to work against long-term status quo objectives; when the reputation of the media is discredited beyond repair, and their white noise subsides from public attention, more voices like those of Freedomain Radio will be heard. 2
AccuTron Posted December 24, 2015 Posted December 24, 2015 Trump is destroying the media narrative and exposing them. He is the kid saying "The emperor has no clothes". If you actually want to ask if Stef is Russian operative then ask it. 1--Yes, exactly. Whatever the ultimate outcome, the process is stirring things up. Alas, since the "things" are essentially the contents of a cesspool, we hope for the long shot of finding a lost piece of jewelry. 2--It's worse than you think. Yes, you read it here first, Stef is part of a Bulgarian sleeper cell in Canada. All this business with Syria and Europe, China, the economy, BRICS'n'BRACS, etc., is to distract us. It's Bulgaria that's running the show. Didn't Sun Tzu say something along the lines of "To be strong, appear weak." It's obvious once you know how to look. 1
shirgall Posted December 24, 2015 Posted December 24, 2015 My amateur perspective: Donald Trump shuts down the neon-techno media rave of delusion and Stefan Molyneux pulls back the curtains to let in the sunlight. Bonus: In other words, Donald Trump uses his experience and expertise with media to gain popularity and discredit them, using their short-term advertising objectives as a means to get them to work against long-term status quo objectives; when the reputation of the media is discredited beyond repair, and their white noise subsides from public attention, more voices like those of Freedomain Radio will be heard. Except that the media has been discredited since, well, the Tet Offensive. And that's just in my memory. I think the media has consumed the entire galaxy's supply of teflon and still manages to scamper off scot free. 1
Ray H. Posted December 25, 2015 Posted December 25, 2015 What are Trump's principles? His selling point is that he can wheel and deal and get things done. Sounds very free markety doesn't it? But how does he wheel and deal? Eminent domain use? Threatening lawsuits? Bankruptcy filing? Making grand promises, claiming grand wisdom and ability when they come true, and conveniently forgetting about the ones that failed miserably? Generally doing what he can get away with? Are these virtues? Should I expect the same from President Trump? Oprah has built a successful, diverse empire, as well. I'm impressed. I don't think she should be President either. 1 1
fractional slacker Posted December 26, 2015 Posted December 26, 2015 It appears to me Stef's compliments of Donald Trump stem from his ability AND willingness to challenge the leftists of the Republican party and their cheerleaders that saturate the mainstream media. Donald Trump has chosen the virtue of courage rather than pandering to the god of political correctness.
Ray H. Posted December 26, 2015 Posted December 26, 2015 Is Trump not pandering to his supporters? Are his positions this year the same as they have been in the past? If not, why not?
luxfelix Posted December 26, 2015 Posted December 26, 2015 The enemy of my enemy is my friend? Edit: Or maybe this falls into the last exit on the highway to freedom category? 1
vwanderer Posted December 27, 2015 Posted December 27, 2015 I think Stefan made a very clear case in regards to Trump on today's show, very well I might add. Not to place on the spot the caller that was in the show but he at one point compared him to Julius Cesar, which Stefan very quickly rebutted rationally as always. He also goes on that in "his humble opinion" as Stefan states, Trump brings a lot that many other don't, kind of like the change promised by Obama, more secure world by Bush and etc..., none of which he promised, yet. Nobody really knows whether Trump will make a good president or not, but this sort of reminds me of a very bad abusive marriage or relationship and neither party wants to call it quits because they have developed a tolerance for abuse and assumed as the norm. Like women who have been jumping from one abusive guy to another, and when a decent guy comes around they don’t know what to do, often more than not natural reaction is to push it away. I personally don't have dog in a fight since I do not vote, and probably never will. Nevertheless, when Stefan made a case of how intelligent Trump really is, which I must admit I didn't know myself either, thank you for that in comparison to 99 percent of politicians today, despite their "education" are making some very irrational, stupid comments, singing to the tune of poles and media rating as well the paychecks from lobbying efforts, and often easily bought by the highest bidder, opposite to Trump whom is funding himself, goes against main stream media at every chance he gets. This is the guy worth billions and still cares enough to get into the mix with rest of those candidates, whom are waiting for a paycheck from people like Trump and many others. In closing I must say that I am slightly puzzled as everyone has an agenda at some point, why would guy who is worth billions even care to run for a president, I guess we shall just wait and see. 1
Mantis Posted December 28, 2015 Posted December 28, 2015 I hadn't been around FDR in awhile and trump had come on the scene by the time I came back. I had a feeling in my gut that Stef and the team would be pro trump. Well I made it back and that's what I found. Damn it I'm intuitive. You are good when you can read the FDR narrative while being offline. Now it's possible that the pro trump sentiment here was strictly a result of the shocking trump meme that has infected everyone's brain. I don't care who you are when you saw trump come on the scene in mid summer you literally had several weeks on cognitive dissonance while you struggled to wrap your mind around WTF was happening. Before trump went public, I was thinking to myself, WTF are they going to do this year about the presidential elections. Obama set the precedents, Obama changed the game, politics will never be the same. After the big deal of Obama, I was thinking how will they top this. Novelty, it must be novel. All I wondered is how the F are they going to make this ish interesting this year. Then two weeks later trump was on TV and I literally was I shock. I believe trump was put in to make people "interested" in politics again. His purpose was to light a fire in the presidential race. I'm mean let's face it no one gets on the campaign trail by accident, they are put there for a reason. And, I will predict, that every presidential candidacy from this point forward will be wired with novelty. It will be flashy and out there every year because you have to overcome the weight of the first black president. Now, I think FDR probably does like trump, but who doesn't. That's the issue even if you don't like him you like him and fdr is rather susceptible to these memes. With the collapse of Western civilization why not go out with a bang and pick trump. Plus trump and Stef have a lot in common, both charismatic well spoken public speakers and leaders. So if Stef was gun ho for trump at one point it's because they practice them same art. My take. 2 3
Dobrodave Posted December 28, 2015 Posted December 28, 2015 Hello all. I'm new here but have listened to several hundred FDR podcasts/ videos over the last couple of years (and donated accordingly!). I love FDR and it has truly and profoundly changed my life for the better. Anyway, after listening to the video "my girlfriend hates Donald Trump" today, I'm really having a hard time understanding why Stefan is such a fan of this guy. While I really love what Trump is doing to the media and the political class, I can't overlook his outspoken war-hawk tendencies and big government solutions to almost all problems and am concerned he might start WW3 or something. And remember, this is the same guy (Trump) that says he would execute Snowden, makes fun of Penn Jillette for being an atheist and all the other very un-free market and anti-liberty things that have been pointed out in this thread. I probably need to listen to the video again, but did I actually hear Stefan tell the caller that basically it would be good to vote for him? Please correct me if I am wrong (sincerely). The thing that troubles me most is that I remember a call in show (from what I believe is less than a year ago) where Stefan gave the caller a really hard time about voting at all, for anyone, ever. And the guy was just going to vote from a position of being pragmatic, but Stefan insisted that his vote would change nothing and that voting was an endorsement of the evil political system (which I agree with). Also, in another fairly recent call in show from a Marine who had spent time in Afghanistan, Stefan said he has great respect for members of the military. Just last year I listened to a podcast where he said military members are paid mercenaries who are murders and only serve their political masters for a paycheck. So wtf is going on here? Anyone know the podcasts titles/ numbers? I was in the military and while it was personally positive for me, I have great regrets for supporting that system. Anyway, I'm feeling a bit confused about Stefan's seemingly 180 on these issues. If I have misrepresented anything he said, please correct me. Thanks. 2
fezjones Posted January 7, 2016 Posted January 7, 2016 i think stefan just likes trump on the fact so many people hate trump for irrational reasons. trump could be a closet ancap tho, theres more than you would think who are either big business men or government insiders. Ron Paul is a good example of a dude who is most likely a closeted ancap but he has enough immorality in him to use the access he has to mass media to spread a minarchist position.
pnelson Posted January 9, 2016 Posted January 9, 2016 I think the biggest thing that's held back the liberty movement from becoming a broad force is our collective desire to nitpick the crap out things and tarnish everything that lacks complete philosophical and intellectual purity. Now Trump is not perfect, obviously. Yet he does something no one else dares do. He holds a mirror up to the mainstream culture and says; "Look at what you're doing, stop pretending it's all fine, stop pretending your being honest, just look at the mess you perpetuate". If we are ever going to have any kind of hold on the culture then we need to stop bickering about the most boring and technical of details and instead capture the spirit of what we support- freedom, self determination, choice, strength, courage etc... - and shout about it loud and clear. The left didn't win the culture by arguing the long term economic impact of increased minimum wages, or the ROI of government spending in infrastructure. I can hold up a chart that shows how government screws the simplest of things up and people won't care not a jot because they are convinced it's right on an emotional level. It's like being at high school; the nerds and geeks are the smart ones, with great ideas, great personalities, interesting hobbies but they are also the ones who are socially awkward and weird and insist on discussion minutiae. The jocks are loud, brash, idiotic, but "cool" and can get a crowd going (the freedom lovers being the nerds, in this analogy).
TheAuger Posted January 9, 2016 Posted January 9, 2016 Because Trump is taking-on the goddamn mainstream media and blowing their controlled national political narrative out of the water. 1
RicardoMata Posted January 10, 2016 Posted January 10, 2016 Stefan discusses in detail why he is positive towards Trump in the most recent call-in-show: http://www.fdrpodcasts.com/#/3174/weeping-hugroom-fascism-call-in-show-january-6th-2016
Matthew Ed Moran Posted January 10, 2016 Posted January 10, 2016 I think he also discusses it towards the end of the show with Bill Whittle most recently, How Western Civilization Can Be Destroyed. Might not be as comprehensive as the show posted by Ricardo, but it's a fun listen nonetheless (as I always find their spunky conversations )
luxfelix Posted February 18, 2016 Posted February 18, 2016 Related: It's possible that the use of simple language is deliberate on Trump's part and that, rather than indicating a lower intelligence than the other candidates, it reveals his deliberate effort to communicate effectively with a wider audience. 1
Crallask Posted February 18, 2016 Posted February 18, 2016 Related: It's possible that the use of simple language is deliberate on Trump's part and that, rather than indicating a lower intelligence than the other candidates, it reveals his deliberate effort to communicate effectively with a wider audience. This is a great video BTW - I watched it quite awhile ago... It almost seems as though the host of this is also underestimating Trump. Not to say that this would be surprising because at the end he tries to prime us to believe that somehow Trump isn't that smart. Despite the overwhelming evidence and history of astounding performance he's just not that smart of a guy. It seems like masturbatory self congratulating. "Oh yes, but we're so smart, look at us deconstruct him. Posh, he doesn't have your interest in mind and is only well received because he's just pitching you a sale." Of course the fact that they judge Trump being on a fourth grade scale and then go on to mention how high Bernie ranks leads me to believe they're just appealing to their leftist Audience. Still, it all seems pretty dishonest to me. 1
RCali Posted February 18, 2016 Posted February 18, 2016 It seems like masturbatory self congratulating. I don't think there's a better way to describe it. These lower IQ people don't actually realize they can't see just how smarter he is because of exactly this. They are inferior.
luxfelix Posted February 19, 2016 Posted February 19, 2016 It almost seems as though the host of this is also underestimating Trump. Not to say that this would be surprising because at the end he tries to prime us to believe that somehow Trump isn't that smart. Despite the overwhelming evidence and history of astounding performance he's just not that smart of a guy. It seems like masturbatory self congratulating. "Oh yes, but we're so smart, look at us deconstruct him. Posh, he doesn't have your interest in mind and is only well received because he's just pitching you a sale." Of course the fact that they judge Trump being on a fourth grade scale and then go on to mention how high Bernie ranks leads me to believe they're just appealing to their leftist Audience. Still, it all seems pretty dishonest to me. I don't think there's a better way to describe it. These lower IQ people don't actually realize they can't see just how smarter he is because of exactly this. They are inferior. To the host's credit, he is building his show on patronage/views, and there are some very thoughtful entries on the channel regarding art critiques that are worth a watch. (He may or may not make the connection between his own free market methods and Trump's as having a fair bit in common though.) The host is intelligent, observant even; however, if I had to guess, he is also eager to please those in the prevailing climate of political correctness; as you mentioned, appealing to a leftist audience with the mention of Bernie Sanders (though no mention of the two Republican candidates that scored higher than Sanders ). As comparatively mild as his criticisms of Trump are, he is also pointing a finger at the audience whom the host recommends looking to Trump's words, specifically Trump's meter and word choice as opposed to the actual message, or better yet the metaphor for simple language that supports Trump's simple goal to "make America great again" (as a host with a reputation for identifying form following function). At the very least, there is a disconnect between the way the host usually synthesizes text, subtext, and context, compared with the treatment of Trump in the video. 1
Recommended Posts