The Ideas of Onar Åm

philosophical, technological, political and economical ponderings
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  • Onar Åm

Was Hitler the first cultural Marxist? May 28, 2017

According to New York Times, in 1925 Dr Joseph Goebbels of the Nazi party said that "Lenin is the greatest man, second only to Hitler" and "the difference between Communism and the Hitler faith is very slight." That is an extraordinary thing to say for one of the leaders of the supposedly right wing extremist Nazi party. What kind of similarity did Goebbels see that so few see today? And why are the Nazis and the communists placed on the opposite side of the political spectrum? It is important to understand that it was Stalin who branded Hitler as "right...

By Onar Åm Vote5 1

Are we living in a simulation? Sep 28, 2016

Hello world!

By Onar Åm Vote4 6

Racist Skittles? Sep 22, 2016

Donald Trump Jr has been lambasted by the left and its media acolytes for allegedly "comparing refugees to candy." This, we are told, is an example of the dehumanization and racism which so characterizes Donald Trump and his campaign. Is this true? Let us take a closer look. First of all, using a Skittles analogy is obviously for pedagogic reasons, in order to make a vivid and simple example about what is at stake when you take in refugees from very bad neighborhoods. You will get rapes, you will get murders and you will get terrorist attacks. Perhaps not so...

By Onar Åm Vote9 15

Why globalization has become a bad word Aug 8, 2016

Free trade. The two words that probably have saved most human lives in the history of our species. Yet, globalization has become an increasingly bad word. Why? The main libertarian argument is that globalization is not necessarily free trade. A free trade agreement can be written in one page. Every extra page beyond that, describes exceptions to free trade. In practice this means that globalization and so-called free trade agreements involve a whole lot of unfree trade. And when you have all of these fancy rules, someone needs to administrate them. Who? Globalist bureaucrats. Thus, globalization often secretly means centralization...

By Onar Åm Vote8 22

Bernie Sanders is NOT a Scandinavian style socialist May 2, 2016

In the primary elections, Bernie Sanders has gained traction by presenting himself as a Scandinavian style democratic socialist, and by that most people think universal healthcare and high, redistributive taxes on the rich. As a Scandinavian I think it is important to set the record straight. Bernie Sanders is not promoting the Scandinavian model. I will prove this to you very simply by showing what Bernie Sanders as president would have to do in order to emulate Scandinavian democratic socialism: Cut taxes for the rich, increase taxes for the lower and middle class The biggest difference between America and Scandinavia is that...

By Onar Åm Vote28 33

Correlation is not causation! Apr 26, 2016

"Just because I have strong evidence does not mean I am wrong!" Lately I have found myself saying this with disturbing frequency in debates involving correlation. It sounds absurd, but it reflects the fact that many people dismiss evidence out of hand with the catch all phrase "correlation is not causation." The statement is true and valid, but they use it as an excuse to dismiss evidence and to reject the most obvious hypothesis that explains it. Here is a common example. It's a bundle of correlations between economic freedom and really nice social outcomes. Economic freedom (read: capitalism) is correlated...

By Onar Åm Vote4 1

A constitutional argument for Donald Trump Mar 26, 2016

In an old  Simpsons episode, Bart’s nerdy friend Millhouse exclaims “revolting, yet strangely appealing” upon seeing porn for the first time. That sort of captures my feeling when watching Donald Trump run for president. I bring out the popcorn and watch it all play out with a cheesy smile on my face. You don’t like his rude, un-presidential style? You shiver at the thought of him becoming the next president of the United States? Well, whether you are Republican or Democrat, you pretty much have yourself to blame. Both parties have completely overrun the will of mainstream America for several decades, and now...

By Onar Åm Vote5 14

The true meaning of Christmas Dec 5, 2015

Today most of the world thinks of Christmas as the celebration of the birth of Christ. It hasn't always been like that. Until several hundred years after the birth of Christ, it was the winter solstice that was being celebrated. Winter solstice is the shortest day and longest night of the year and occurs December 21 in the Northern Hemisphere. The further north you go, the longer that longest night becomes. Originally the early Christians were against this festival, but it was so popular that rather than trying to get rid of it they transformed it into a Christian holiday, and...

By Onar Åm Vote6 3

What is stable value? Jun 7, 2015

Anyone who has followed the debate about money and gold knows that one of the key arguments used for the gold standard is that it is stable in value. Stable money is considered a virtue because it stabilizes the economy and removes inflationary and deflationary distortions in the economy. After this lecture on the virtues of stable value money, gold is often declared to be historically proven as the most stable money ever invented. Graphs are shown that the price of some commodity a few hundred years ago is the same as the price today. Everyone is happy and the...

By Onar Åm Vote2 0

Free State here we come May 18, 2015

Wish us luck, guys. Today Doug Casey and I are travelling to Africa to meet the top government officials of two African countries. The goal is to get them to agree on the first step towards creating a Free State somewhere within their national borders. If we succeed with this I am confident that we will be able to secure major investors and partners for the project. This of course is in itself no guarantee for the creation of a Free State but I would say that it maximizes its odds.

By Onar Åm Vote31 104

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