I hung out with John Stossel and Ralph Nader tonight!
So tonight was the debate at Vanderbilt University here in Nashville with John Stossel vs Ralph Nader. The title was "The Future of Capitalism"
Got John's books signed at the book store and then proceeded onto the private reception. I took the TN-CFL coordinator, and some other local CFL types who are good friends along with me; after all, I needed an entourage (or a posse)
At the private reception John hung out with us after he was finished typing his blog for the day. Ralph was there too. And it was funny because the room was mostly segregated with VIPs obviously being for Stossel or for Nader. Ralph had more VIPs at the reception than did John it appeared. One of the things they were worried about was John being all alone or not having enough support on a fairly liberal college campus. In fact he asked me to bring along as many people as I could. I could've had a ton more with just slight earlier notice but it worked out ok. Chatting with him the jist of the conversation was that educating people on the ways of liberty is and should be our goal to change the state of the nation. I also hung out in Ralph's corner of the room for a few minutes. Sheesh he is the true epitome of a true liberal/socialist and is proud of it too ha ha ha. I do believe though that unlike Obama and others Ralph has good intentions and honestly wants to help others, a real bleeding heart.
The debate was well attended and interesting. Each came out alone for 30 minutes or so and gave their side of the argument.
Ralph went first and rambeled on about a great deal of things. Ralph is diabolical in a way. He has the problem identified correctly, collusion of business and government resulting in coercion. However his solution is more government which of course will of course further result in more collusion and ultimately more coercion, corruption, and capitalistic minimization. He was very intelligent, well spoken, and doing great for his age. In a way he sort of reminded me of listening to Ron speak except that every other topic would be something I agreed with, while the remaining ones were completely opposite and advocating leviathan. I almost feel that he has a logical disconnect (as most liberals do) because he says everything right when it comes to understanding the issues at hand, but again he doesn't get that what he is pushing just makes things worse. It's almost sad that he hasn't figured it out by now but some people never learn I guess. Oh yes, and Nader even quoted Hayek and Adam Smith, I think he's read Road To Serfdom which impressed me.
John came on right afterwards and spoke for roughly the same amount of time. John however had slides on a projector and also had more of a sense of humor. He engaged the audience a lot better than did Ralph. He wasn't nearly as dry/dull and used comedic lines to his advantage. He did seem to speak in a bit more sounbites than did Ralph but then again, he is a broadcaster. Ralph got in a few good shots at him after he returned during the response segment. I was a bit disappointed he didn't drive a few points home a bit harder than he did. But that's ok because John was very well received. They both railed on about the drug war, the military-industrial complex, and government/corporate collusion. John of course advocated free-market solutions while Ralph advocated more government.
I can tell you that Ralph and John are most definitely NOT 'buddy buddy'. This isn't like wrestling where they beat each other up and then when backstage they are good friends. I don't even think Ralph and John had any interaction with each other before or after the debate! In fact I think there might be some sincere hostility or animosity between the two of them. Judging from some of the ways they attacked each other during the debate I don't think they care for each other, but they do indeed agree on several issues (drug war, anti-government colluded corporatism, war, etc).
Mitt Romney will at Vanderbilt tomorrow (giving away free copies of his book - ha ha). I'd rather listen to Ralph Nader drivel for hours because at least he is sincere in his beliefs.
And due to popular demand here are some pictures of me, with John Stossel just happening to appear
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Originally Posted by rp08orbust
I don't want to ask people to shell out that money, especially when they could use it for better things (such as Rand's race).
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