Talking Brook: 'Yaron Brook Show'

Economy and state ought to be separated, according to Dr. Brook. The fact that the bureaucrats lambasted Mark Zuckerberg demonstrates this ideal. There are few things that “piss” off Dr. Brook like government asking pointless and stupid questions. Dr. Brook finds that Zuckerberg doesn’t understand many things about free speech, but that does not take away from the young man’s brilliance. The Congress People who blew their lids against one of the most productive minds in human history posed the most asinine and unrelated queries. The Libra foundation has a white paper or an outline of various ideas that lets private individuals know what the currency will entail. Zuckerberg is touting the Libra to further expand his business, and create more wealth for himself. Is this what the Congress People wanted to hinder, or even halt? The competition is fierce on the web, as sites like Google and Amazon go head-to-head to track the production and consumption actions of individuals. Facebook wishes to create a type of money to allow for the free flow of the innovative currency in the market.

Dr. Brook shows how Mr. Zuckerberg is just testing this thing like a glider leaping off of a cliff, and trusting it to fly. It is the risk-taking that is most admirable in Zuckerberg. If the project fails, it’s on him. That’s the way business works. The central banks don’t want “competition” because it is still backed by monies such as the USD. What is beautiful to Dr. Brook is the fact that you can efficiently purchase items “at the cheapest cost for the highest quality.” Imagine, Dr. Brook puts out there, that this “global monetary system” may alter the entire picture of the world economy. The “massive opposition” from the left and the right and the banks, and virtually everyone that feels instead of thinks, will put everyone else who uses reason at a disadvantage.

As examples, Dr. Brook offers what it would be like if Edison, the Wright Brothers, or the minds behind IBM sat in front of Congress to explain their innovations and businesses to the clueless. Dr. Brook holds that the Congress People don’t really care what a Libra is, but just want to wield their “power” over an immensely successful businessman. Dr. Brook takes offense to the idea that “diversity and inclusion” should be involved in a hearing on Libra. The economic “genius” of Representative Maxine Waters wishes only to see altruism take hold in Facebook. The emphasis is not on Libra, but on the collectivistic and statist notions of Congress. A laugh bursts from Dr. Brook’s throat when Congressman Al Green asks about the number of women who work at the company. Dr. Brook once wished that Zuckerberg had performed in the way that Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Kavanaugh did, who yelled back at the bureaucrats over a totally different issue, but still. “Nuttiness” and “insanity” rule in Congress.

If only Mr. Zuckerberg had the backbone to say from the film as his fictionalized version of himself, “But there’s no requirement that I enjoy sitting here listening to people lie. You have part of my attention—You have the minimum amount. The rest of my attention is back at the offices of Facebook, where my colleagues and I are doing things that no one in this room... [is] intellectually or creatively capable of doing. Did I adequately answer your condescending question?” (The Social Network 2010). Contract employees that, through this private company, decipher the vicious content that the site receives, become part of the round of questioning. Do they have the option to leave their jobs, or no? Do they have the power to say what is right for their individual lives? Representative Porter asks a question like many of the other Congress People, that doesn’t allow Mr. Zuckerberg to answer. In the query, she wants to know if the CEO of Facebook would perform these lower-skilled jobs. Dr. Brook poses that Mr. Zuckerberg work as “a janitor” of the office of Facebook “for a week.”

Dr. Brook says that Mr. Zuckerberg is right in saying that some “political ads are not acceptable,” and that he makes a nuanced response. He says that all political ads lie, and that it would be impossible to take down any and all ads because every politician lies in their commercial endeavors. Dr. Brook picks up on the tone, condescension, and attitude of the Congress People. He then talks about a Tweet that he sent to Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, discussing political ads. Congress People receive the title of “clowns” from the good doctor. He then laments the fact that it would be a dream for Mr. Zuckerberg to read Atlas Shrugged (1957).

"But would that be enough?" Dr. Brook asks his audience. There’s a barrier that exists for people to stand on the words and actions of the heroes of Ayn Rand’s works. Dr. Brook explains that it is the deep, philosophical knowledge that drives a true Objectivist. He says that overall, Zuckerberg kept his head and allowed the Congress People to look like “idiots... which they are.” There’s a sense of “I don’t need Objectivism," in the lives of highly successful business people. Dr. Brook compares Mr. Zuckerberg to Dagny Taggart.

In Atlas, it is like this heroine is being swallowed by quicksand. She fights and fights but she only goes deeper until she is able to escape through the actions of another hero. What changed with Dr. Brook’s life was the clash between ego and altruism. But he concedes that altruism “has a grip that is unbelievably strong.” Dr. Brook then launches into a mini evaluation of Hank Rearden, Dagny, and Francisco. He compared himself to Eddie Willers at the age of 16. Dr. Brook holds that he has done good and has provided a value with the work that he has produced. The vague notion, or the complete and groundbreaking force that has to do with how people embrace Atlas, comes up in the talk. The late great Mr. Steve Jobs becomes part of the topic, because Dr. Brook discusses the thoughtfulness and ideology of the late businessman and innovator.

Dr. Brook is at his most animated when he returns to the discussion of Mr. Zuckerberg. He says that Mr. Zuckerberg is a lefty, but who cares? What else do you have, if you don’t have the ideals of Objectivism on your side? To Dr. Brook, the left and right are collectivist. “Objectivists are not on the spectrum,” he claims. He is about individualism.

“Audacity” to run our lives includes the little despots that wish to oversee things or destroy them. “But it’s not as if they care,” Dr. Brook says. They want to see the world burn.

Dr. Brook finds that television hosts care more deeply about the trade of ideas in regard to Ayn Rand outside of the United States. He claims that there is “less resistance.”

A questioner asks whether some people find Atlas out of depression. While this was not the case for Dr. Brook, he says that there may be a chance for people to search for the works of Miss Rand. Furthermore, some people search to find out that they’re using her words to justify antisocial behavior, and to be depressed. The movement away from Objectivism, to Dr. Brook, is because it takes “a lot of honesty, courage, and studying.” He outlines how you ought to “integrate, integrate, integrate” once you have the tools of Objectivism. Walks become a part of that integration. Miss Rand would encourage Dr. Leonard Peikoff to walk after taking a lesson as a way of cognitive digestion.

Dr. Brook comments on the genius of Ayn Rand, despite her minor shortcomings and how she got stuff wrong. He explains how easy and accessible it is for people to discover Ayn Rand’s ideas nowadays. It is a net positive (in the most selfish way) for anyone willing to put their brains to use to apply Miss Rand to their lives.