How to Fix Canada! - The Freedomain Radio Interview with William Gairdner

[eimb1999]

I don't normally care for Stephan Molyneux, as he seems to be a bit of an anrachist, but I must give him credit for allowing Gairdner to speak, and NOT doing a Bill O'Reilly style interview, interrupting all the time. It was great that Gairdner had the freedom to fully explain all his points without interruption. Gairdner, of course makes his points very well.

[eimb1999]

Thanks for posting!

[eminem4436]

@eimb1999 I agree with you, but I would be careful about saying such things out loud...

[eimb1999]

@eminem4436 : Well, if we don't say the truth out loud, how will people learn?

[eminem4436]

Great interview. William G knows his stuff, and everything he is saying has facts to back it up. (You can see that in his books)

[eimb1999]

@eminem4436 : Yep! Gairdner is probably the greatest thinker this country has ever known. His detractors are simply not being realistic and generally not capable of rational thought.

[eminem4436]

@eimb1999 I notice when people disagree with him, they just state what he believes as if that is an actual argument. For example, in one of the reviews on his new book, the reviewer simply said, "This way of thinking is dangerous." But they never gave an example or a reason.

[eimb1999]

@eminem4436 : That's right because they can't. Leftist ideology is based on emotional rhetoric and a perceived utopia that is physically impossible to achieve. They have to lie to themselves to justify their opinions. Conservatives base their reasoning on logic and proven facts along with an intense study of history, human nature and societal realities as well as an understanding of the importance of religion. Leftists oppose all those things because it exposes their fantasy for what it is.

[dudewithopinion]

We have intiative petition in Massachusetts and 9 of 10 times it is ignored by the statehouse or the courts shoot it down.

[modelmark]

oh man quiet a bit of nonsense, you can always tell when people start to ramble without allowing interruption, or a question what the other one thinks and why. 'We have to calculate the indirect, incalculable harm' 'I am this, I am that', he defines himself by his conclusions, not by the method of finding truth. Collectivist non existing, manipulative 'will of the people' stuff. Too bad.

[raffiican]

I'm a little concerned and appauled at some of the ideas presented here that went unchallenged by Stefan. Perhaps it was a poor example, however the 'swingers club' brought up by the guest had all the hallmarks of a state-controlled behaviour judgement. Legislated behaviour...not to mention that, if we are defining our terms here, a 'swingers club' does not involve paying for sex. If they are cloaking a brothel as a swingers club, that's a different story. However, the insistance (see below)

[raffiican]

that this kind of behaviour is immoral or 'unnatural' is a personal judgement on his part and does not have basis in fact. I find it odd that a Minarchist/Anarchist/Libertari­an would gloss over....in fact participate in (by his little "sweaty flesh-pit" comment and lack of challenge) what amounts to a direct attack on personal rights and freedoms. Yes, the guest was correct, society is changing in these regards. His personal judgements only are valid in the choices he makes for himself.

[raffiican]

@raffiican assuming, of course that the 'swingers' do not harm others in the way they conduct their affairs. I would also like to have seen, in the discussion of debt/deficit and unfunded liabilities...some talk of the banking institutions (Bank of Canada, Federal Reserve, etc.) who contribute to this system by creating money as a debt instrument in the first place. Austerity measures, if implemented, should be universal and apply to the central banks as well...but no mention.

[CurtHowland]

"We're spending 30% more and producing the very same goods"

That is govt overhead. Even benevolent government imposes vast overhead costs on everything.

It is refreshing to have someone point out that Sweden's welfare state does in fact have costs. I keep seeing people trying to assert that it's all "free".

[Selecsosi135]

What a collectivist. Important to understand how other people think, but this guy frustrates me with his inconsistency.

[pentelesoikoon]

interesting stuff

[batmanthe]

Stefan looks a bit staggered through most the interview. Many of Gairdner's points are junk ; Stefan would probably have to interrupt the guy every 10 seconds if he were to open his mouth on disagreements.. Which would mean no interview.. I understand though, Gairdner has some good information so it's not a total waste..

[eimb1999]

@batmanthe : Which of his points are junk?

[MrStillmans]

Oh no, the children. Don't let the children know about swingers who exist in the world. No, we must shield their eyes. FFS, who is paying taxes here, the adults or children?

Seriously, don't worry about the children. They are going to learn about swingers anyway. This is another old, old fart who is afraid of sexuality issues. Get with the times. People have dicks and holes. They have sex. They enjoy it. Get over it.

[raffiican]

@MrStillmans +1 here. Can't legislate morality.

[eimb1999]

@MrStillmans : You're missing the point. It's not to protect children from knowing about these things, it's about trying to keep children from being normalized by such abberant behaviour. As long as deviant behaviour is shunned by society, people are less likley to engage in it. If you normalize it by accepting it, you open the floodgates to the destruction of a moral society. Immoral societies always self destruct.

[DaveElectric]

Folks listen. Even a man like Stefan can be insecure about correcting such hardcore statists such as Gairdner. Obviously he is among the fools you shouldn't evne be trying to correct.

[clemonsx90]

There's no reason that Stefan has to debate every person who believes that government may be reformed. He's not obligated to compulsively debate and chide every person he meets in the name of honesty. In the words of Ayn Rand "The moral is the chosen _not the obeyed_".

Moreover, whether or not you agree with Stefan's guest, or think Stefan should have contradicted him, such an error of judgment doesn't warrant seething criticism. Keep your forked tongues behind your teeth.

[davyjames]

@clemonsx90 He's under no obligation but then why interview him? It's baffling. If he felt there was no point in debating the guy then simply don't upload the interview. By just sitting and nodding he just spreads this guy's BS.

[clemonsx90]

@davyjames Why interview him? It's a lot more convincing to hear about the details of government shortcomings from a statist, as opposed to hearing the same information from an anarcho-capitalist.

Do you think its likely that a man whose released thousands of podcasts and numerous books and articles on freedom from the state is going to be misunderstood for nodding receptively to a couple of comments from a minarchist? I certainly don't.

[raffiican]

@clemonsx90 I would agree with you, if it weren't for the fact that Stefan has spent a good deal of time discussing how one should sever ties with 'statists' based on the violence contained therein. He has talked of the necessity of confronting family members, friends etc. and has also talked of treating those close to you at least as well as strangers if not better...therefore to be consistant he should at least level the same challenge to a stranger as he would a statist family member.

[StrafingMoose]

Plus, I'd say this is an interesting statist.

[StrafingMoose]

I support Stef interviewing some of the clearer headed statists because the other statists will believe them before they believe people who have accepted anarcho-capitalism or what not principles that sound pretty kooky and extreme to them for the moment.

[debaiona]

Agree with veganmikey and spudboyspud. I'm especially disgusted by the anti-gay attitude of this guy. The upshot is that he supports the government taking away rights -- as long as they're not his. Not a huge fan of this guy, and I was sad to see Stef sitting and nodding along.

[anirishman81]

Just wondering Stef if it just coincidence that both you guys are wearing almost identical tops ? lol.

[spudboyspud]

He has great suggestions for saving the government. Lets hope the politicians don't listen to him or the monstrosity might last an extra 100 years.

[Chickenwing1313]

The Canadian Constitution is pretty much worthless.

[egokick]

31:09 genuinely scared for a few seconds there >.>

[Hashishin13]

How to fix Canada:

Step 1) Legalize drugs.

Step 2) Canada is fixed.

Okay maybe we need to privatize and get rid of the government too, but legalizing drugs will solve like a third of our problems within a year or two.

[Bristow42]

The courts are corporations, that mean they are a financial instution that make profit. That is why Commonlaw is been by passed, for Unverisal Commersial Code which the goverrnment and the court system uses as a revenue raiser. The Judges are not allowing " a right "of the people to defend themselfs from the state. Canada, Australia, UK, and other Commonwealth countries courts have been taken over by the state.  People courts my ass.

[jsudekum]

You guys are misinterpreting Stefan's polite manners and general human decency for concurrence. Were you all throwing fits when Stef hung out with libertarians, constitutionalists and other statists at PorcFest or Libertopia?

He's been vocal about changing his approach from totally isolating statists to promoting philosophical conversation. Because of it, Stef is attaining more credibility, more visibility and, consequently, more supporters.

[jofoatminn]

@jsudekum Its not the fact the he is talking to this guy, its that he isn't even raising an objection to any of the statist points.

[Hashishin13]

@jsudekum Also libertarians are the least offensive statists, I came to anarcho-capitalism first through constitutional republicanism then libertarianism. Both consitutionalists and libertarians are on the vere of being convinced of freedom.

[itchcitizen2]

@jsudekum spot on.

[ProjectFreeSelf]

Think of it this way: The more evidence you collect, the more credibility you have. This is a study in the form and content of the mind of a human being who is utterly convinced without question, of his belief in the state. What an opportunity to observe the great apes in their natural habitat!

[davyjames]

I think this interview was recorded for April 1st and Stef messed up the order of his uploads or something.

[davyjames]

Baffling interview

[mike6459]

EVERY CANADIAN SHOULD READ THAT BOOK

[davyjames]

For somebody who is particularly forceful in preaching that people don't take the easy way out and confront people on their bad ideas Stef doesn't seem to challenge people directly very often. Makes me wonder whether he would step in and say something to a parent who was being obnoxious to their kids like he tells others to.

[qtutoringhelps]

Mere tinkering. Government spending comes from the role and function of government.

[Iseeyoursoul]

Stef you've abandoned your entire platform for this interview.

Seems a breath of fresh air to romp through dreamland for a while, but I much prefer you slamming down statists with freedom bombs.

Rather then highlight the moral fallacies of statism you just agree and smile, adding to his comments as if you agree with the premises.

What happened to the warrior taking down the beast??

[deadman12078]

Is not overpopulation a problem? With energy becoming more of a problem it's good in a way that people are having fewer children. There will be a leveling off when life becomes more sustainable. Some cultures shrink others grow or merge. We don't know what may happen in 100 years and there is no way our planet can sustain the current level of population growth. Children are seen as liabilities in an industrial society not assets since they can not be exploited as cheap labor due to laws.

[drogden]

Stay tuned for next weeks show!!! Stef will be smiling and nodding whilst interviewing the Pope on the best way the church can scare their values into people!!!

[drogden]

I come here for the anarchist prospective. I've heard enough of these fools elsewhere. What the hell is Stef doing? This is just ridiculous...

[Princetonbeats]

I can't believe stef let that line about abused children slide... aw man.. lol.. i think stef was high lol

[rongrite]

The Canadian charter of rights and freedoms, says that every Canadian citizen has the right to vote. There was no age restriction. And never has there been a not-with-standing clause to amend this by Parliament, or restrict a voting age. This means that children, if they are Canadian citizens can vote, even if they are under the age of 18!

watch?v=ei6wLzYcS7Q

[dasdeck]

steff man...shure, offer this retard a plattform, but please, moderate his bullshit!

[dasdeck]

@dasdeck btw...of course the man is a nice fellow for shure. i don't want to insult him personally... just wanted to make a drastic statement of disagreement. as another commenter already stated, he's just another statist, also i could immediately spot a lot of flaws in his "economic reasoning". his swinger club example. the problem is not too much emotional entertainment, its a lack of reason. save your energy destroying things, build up reason!

cheers ;)

jm

[cruiscinlan]

he speaks so highly of Switzerland; but aren't they doing so well because of their banking system, which launders world corruption money? holy cow? Sweden has no coastline? what happened to the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Bothnia? Sweden's coastline is 3,218 km long. how ignorant is this guy? problem with living inside such a narrow mindset

[cruiscinlan]

he speaks so highly of Switzerland; but aren't they doing so well because of their banking system, which launders world corruption money?

[lukaskoube]

:(

[dsturch]

I'm not sure how Gairdner holds Sweden up to be such a pro family state. About 1/4 of families with children in Sweden are 1 parent households. Not as bad a Jamaica, but much worse than the Euro-Catholic countries of Germany, France, Spain etc . . .

[pretorious700]

All of this guy's ideas are based on the fallacy that government CAN work, contrary to hundreds of years of proof otherwise. Nothing he suggests as solutions would ever see the light of day in any political environment. Politics cannot cure politics.

[grumpone]

@pretorious700 Government does work - for people in government and the ones that use it for their benefit.

[pretorious700]

@grumpone yes, it works all too well in that manner

[Tonyokay87]

Stef, thank you for making this video. Your Canadian listeners appreciate it. I posted a comment a week ago asking for some Canadian content. It's great you posted this.

-Ali, Toronto Ontario.

[Textra1]

I couldn't disagree more with Gairdner's views on morality. It seems he's advocating the use of "moral standards" as legislation against certain practices without any evidence that said practices do any harm. To me it sounds like he is saying that the prejudices and whims of the majority trump the rights of the individual. We have fought hard to over come that kind of parochial oppression. If my moral choices don't jibe with your societal preferences, that's just too bad for you.

[chotaboy66]

0:49 Here we go again ,SORRY bill ,SORRY stef maths is perfect 2+2= 4 what bills saying here is that 2+2 = 4 but can equal 5 ,again NO LOGIC & more pointless rhetoric.You know theres ONE and ONE only solution , Your evasion of MPE only validates your will in avoidance of a universal language that doesn't lie ,mathematical proof ,the question I ask why are you avoiding even mentioning MPE as a solution.Unless you have alternative motives of EGO your protecting.

Jason Draper

/watch?v=vlze7M3dwHQ

[landlogger]

Who the hell is this guy? Canadians know where they want to go but asses like Harper just do what he wants.

[Salvial1]

Do a review of OhCanadaMovie(dotcom)!

[pauliewaulieflimflam]

AshillaBeige wtf are you bitching about, just stay home and watch your godam

tv shows or go mall shopping baaaaa, Ya our rep parliament system is a joke

for now its all we have. Want to change it seek the change, stop winning. This

land is being hijacked corp take over. This Gairder guy plugging his book, a fool like most older generation fucks in this country has his day and screwed the young. Stef the popous prick talks to much but I give him credit for his price of war vid, it was real.

[Spefbot]

I execrate this man's views on civil society and civil duty. He is a very sophisticated utilitarianist. Every thing he mentioned was fundamentally an unprincipled argument from effect. Lest the powerful tool of ostracism fell on the hands of men like this.

I find it a pity, this man has been one times too many around these parts, but others, Stef included might disagree.

[andyissemicool]

@Spefbot: How can you possibly find something to be morally wrong or right without respect to its effects? How does one completely ignore or discount the effects of violence when deciding on the morality of violence?

[WatcherIsWatching]

HOW TO FIX CANADA?

GET AMERICAN MONEY OUT OF OUR POLITICS!

THE WHOLE CONSERVATIVE PARTY IS BOUGHT OFF BY WASHINGTON!

[veganmikey]

I support Stefan interviewing anyone regardless of their opinion, and rationally exchanging ideas. But knowing Stefan's work, I am alarmed by his seemingly un-offended demeanor at some of the audacious things this guy said.

[cjrsoccer1]

@veganmikey I think this guy is a fairly prominent figure in Canada.... Seems like Stef's always trying not to be too aggressive when there's the potential to reach a new audience (some of his radio interviews and the Love Police vid come to mind). Probably a smart strategy, but sometimes not nearly as much fun to watch!

[INEXORABLE247]

@veganmikey I love these interviews great to see William Gairdner love his opinions not that always agree but smaller government is a start.

[raffiican]

@veganmikey Yes...I was thinking exactly the same thing and was going to write a comment but wanted to see what others were saying. I agree with you...he seemed to be condoning a lot of 'non-anarchical' ideas presented by not challenging the author. Not to mention, all this talk of 'deficit reduction' and austerity measures without bringing up the FACT of debt based currencies undermining our financial well being. I don't know what's going on here...

[eimb1999]

@veganmikey : What "audacious things"?

[kmg501]

This probably won't be a popular comment but I agree with most of what Gairdner stated. I think he is largely on target.

-

[jiveturkeyusa]

It is the demographics stupid. Look at Sweden and why that would not work in the USA. 

[D33Lux]

Politics is circus full of clowns.

[Joe11Blue]

Holy crap, Stef the micing was horrible. I'm not completely deaf, but even with the volume up all the way hardware and software I could barely hear Mr. Gairdner.

[kmg501]

@Joe11Blue

Not to take a dump on your comment and to help you out since I've done audio work, I had no problem with hearing both of them. I'm guess you probably had a problem either due to back ground noise or a lack of dynamic range in your speaker system.

-

[Joe11Blue]

@kmg501 Yeah, some of us are watching on laptops, and some of us are partially deaf. I fit both of those.

So go take a dump on your face.

[AshillaBeige]

Elections coming up. I'm spoiling my ballot. I wanna write something meaningful though, and not the usual, "they all suck." No libertarian candidates for me to vote for: I got Libs, Greens, NDP, Conservative... So corporatist crap, commie crap, socialist crap, and fundie crap. Oh joy!

Suggestions as to what to write?

[dothackerkiko]

what happened at 3:29 in the video. was something edited out?

[kmg501]

I'm not sure what is up with all the cranky comments but I liked this dialogue. As an American I could compare and contrast very similar issues.

Thanks Stef.

-

[TreachMarkets]

Ugh! Is this guy Stef's cranky right-wing uncle? Heterosexual? Ban abortion? God forbid a productive immigrant shows up instead of an unwanted baby born into poverty. Let this statist have it!

[Jollyprez]

I'd quibble with the analysis of the US' two-party system. The two parties agree on virtually everything. They quibble about relatively small things with regard to intrusion of government. Both love war. Both love the police state. Both love the highly intrusive tax system. Both expand the role of government relentlessly. The nastiest fights are among people who mostly agree.

[ZiggleFingers]

A very interesting interview. I'm not much on CAD affairs. The insight into the political system as to the three party centrist system as described by Mr Gairdner was enlightening, as was the aging demographics and his inability to allowing foreigners into to rectify.

I found myself pausing the video to ignorance on multiple topics, I did come back to see what the generation of people that he represents believed on such topics.

Good job on your composure, I'm not sure I could do the same.

[NIK4EVA]

@ZiggleFingers There were a few instances where I thought Stef would rip him shreds. Kudos to Stef for keeping his cool and letting man speak his mind. Now, we know what he is made of.

[alique087]

I'm not longer going to watch Stefbot's new videos. I'm just going to continue re-listening to his podcast from 3-4 years ago...

[TreachMarkets]

I keep waiting for Stef to go into his 'Against Me' approach. Something tells me that would not end well. But it would be entertaining as hell to see.

[jofoatminn]

What are you doing Stefon??? This guy is just another statist trying to save the system.

[linkdead14]

@jofoatminn - We'll never see a solution to the state in our life time. People have always been highly valued as property and that will never change. 

[Yamakoto120]

@jofoatminn maybe he is sarcastic for 52 minutes

[Yamakoto120]

@jofoatminn oh wait. It's an interview - inter-view.

[Heallun]

Canada has a problem with radical feminism? Gairdner's great to listen to and as I'm largely ignorant in Canadian politics. It's win-win ~

[scarmenl]

Perhaps we should start by making our Government take back the control of the currency from the banks. Don't be fooled by the fact that the Government prints the money. What I'm talking about is the fact that the banks, every year, issue more money than is issued by 2 to 3 hundred times. So in reality the banks control the currency. We need to stop this. This is another thing we need to thank Trudeau for. He was a traitor as far as I'm concerned.

[storageish]

Off topic, but I thought the book cover at the beginning was a poster and it really startled me when it disappeared into thin air at 0:48

[Aliothemage]

Same here, lol

[thefirmhandshake]

1st! Everyone in Canada and the US needs to be buying and holding physical gold and silver to preserve their purchasing power through the coming US dollar collapse. Buy the dips people! Buy the phucking dips!

[CoronaMage]

Harper is doomed.

His grave has been dug, and there is no climbing out of it now.

I don't think we will see a majority government, but rather a Liberal or NDP minority government.

Personally, I think Canada needs to see massive cutbacks to our military budget and we need to seriously discuss the need to change how currency works. Fiat currency can only further degrade the economy, and it may in fact be time to return to a gold and silver backed currency.

[LunaticFringe20]

@CoronaMage Public polls and seat estimations (based on both national and regional breakdowns of national polls) seem to still point towards a Tory minority victory, of course they're just projections. EKOS has been presenting some interesting statistics suggesting the NDP will gain primary opposition status over the liberals, however Nanos and Forum's results disagree. Possibly just a statistical anomaly, but the NDP have been experiencing a general rise in the polls so could be a trend upwards