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Introducing John Allison, Libertarian, Objectivist, a man for our times?

Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 8 years, 4 months ago to Politics
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http://fee.org/freeman/curing-our-lea...

I've been calling him George Allison here and there by mistake. The former President of the BB&T Bank who had all of his 30,000 employees read Economics In One Lesson by Hazlitt and Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand as a condition of employee training and ran the bank into perhaps the one success story of that industry using Randian principles. I'm off to order his books at present, There are two and I didn't spare the pennies using Amazon Prime for faster delivery - but here's a section of the interview which addresses the often argued place of subjective thought in an objective world.

“Objectivity” in this context simply means making logical decisions based on the facts of reality. Obviously, in many situations, we do not have all the facts, nor can we necessarily integrate all the factors that might impact the outcome. So there is a subjective (subconscious and nonmathematical) component based on past experiences that can be part of objective decision making.

However, the dictionary defines subjective as based on personal feelings, taste, and opinions. While there are some individuals who can be successful decision makers because their subconscious integrations are naturally logical, this type of mind is rare. Making decisions on personal, subjective whims often leads to disaster."

Mr. Allison is a former board member of Ayn Rand Institute and at present the President of the Cato Institutes and head of their Economics and Finance Area.

So far I'm impressed and wondering why i don't see his name suggested as a Candidate for much higher office and worthy of support by a wide range of anti-socialist thinkers and doers.

Question: Why are we not seeing people of this caliber instead of the dregs and leavings of the current two faced cesspool of failure? Are we that much in thralldom to the present system of despair with only the excrement of Rinos and Dinos from which to choose?

Professional Biography

https://en.wikipedia.or/wiki/John_A._Allison_IV
SOURCE URL: http://fee.org/freeman/curing-our-leadership-crisis-an-interview-with-john-allison/


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  • Posted by term2 8 years, 4 months ago
    The country is not ready for an Objectivist to be a celebrity. This is the beginning of the end of socialism and there is a majority today who eagerly anticipate the socialist takeover of the USA. These people are going to have to hold socialism accountable for whats happened in this country, and they dont seem ready to do that. Collapse will eventually lead them to this conclusion, but until then Objectivist thinking is not going to be popular.

    Not to say that some people are very much into Objectivist thinking- just not enough to make a difference to politics and the general culture.
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    • Posted by $ allosaur 8 years, 4 months ago
      Ask someone on the street what an Objectvist is and you'll either get a blank look or an intoned questioning reply like "someone with objections about stuff?"--which is in a way lamely correct if you think about it.
      Even my spellchecker has Objectivist lit up in red.
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      • Posted by term2 8 years, 4 months ago
        I would love to get a glimpse of life in the USA during the next 50 years. Just curious. I dont want to live through it actually. Living through Obama was quite enough.
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        • Posted by $ allosaur 8 years, 4 months ago
          I lived through Jimmy Carter. At least that one-termer received his due voter reaction.
          Carter lost by a landslide.
          The far worse Obama? A freaking reelection!
          The thought of the so obviously corrupt Broom Hillary following in the Presidebt's wake makes my stomach turn.
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          • Posted by term2 8 years, 4 months ago
            I think the country has turned in a bad direction to elect Obama twice. Now to see Hillary advancing in the polls is very disturbing. I want anyone but Hillary. I am going to vote for Trump- at least he isnt politically correct and just tells it like it is for a change. He would upend the political scene for 4 years and run the country like a business for a change.
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            • Posted by $ allosaur 8 years, 4 months ago
              Months earlier I was tooting my horn about not voting for the least of two evils this time around.
              Now I'm thinking anyone would be way better than that lying snake..
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              • Posted by term2 8 years, 4 months ago
                I think that Hillary's appeal is that she can be bought and give favors. Her $15/hr wage would kill my company unless I can switch production somehow to china, or maybe mexico. We would have to lay off half of our workers to stay afloat. I guess this is just Atlas Shrugged being played out in real time. At least Trump wouldnt kill off business.
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  • Posted by $ blarman 8 years, 4 months ago
    "Question: Why are we not seeing people of this caliber...?"

    Because a long-term viewpoint is required. There are very few people in the world who can take a thoughtful, over-arching approach to decision-making. And many of those are easily influenced by friends or distracted by technology. [SQUIRREL]

    It is a rare person indeed who is grounded in reality to the point that their convictions determine their course of action.
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  • Posted by coaldigger 8 years, 4 months ago
    One of the problems "we" have as Objectivists is that since "we" reached our beliefs by independent, individual, rational thinking, "we" know the only version of "the truth". john Allison's "The Financial Crisis a nd the Free Market cure" and Yaron Brook and Don Watkins' "Free Market Revolution" represent some of the most practical thinking around. I would take their good start and go from there AND they are actually making an effort to communicate these ideas to a large audience and not just critiquing others on the same team.
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  • Posted by Zenphamy 8 years, 4 months ago
    It appears you're asking why we're not seeing men like this in politics. That area of endeavor is not a very rewarding field for an Objective thinker or producer. Why would one want to get in that cesspool?

    But all of that aside, Allison has a problem separating subjective from subconscious and understanding that there's a big difference,particularly in relationship to objective decisions or analysis.
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  • Posted by tdechaine 8 years, 4 months ago
    It appears he erred in mixing subjective with subconscious.
    The subconscious is programmed by the conscious mind. If objective all the time, the subconscious cannot hold subjective thoughts.
    Objectivity does not require omniscience. One only needs to rely only on facts as we know them at any point in time.
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    • Posted by $ blarman 8 years, 4 months ago
      We do not need to be omniscient, but we should be aware of the potential for ignorance and false premises to creep into decision-making. We should never be complacent and satisfied with the little knowledge we have.
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    • Posted by $ 8 years, 4 months ago
      As I recall he made that connection and limited it to a very very few people then stated it mostly was a cause of problems the technique was if a decision had to be made and the objective analysis information had run out 'some very few' could switch to a subjective evaluation but most could not.

      As for being limited only to finance and banking what else? In his business they had people that specialized in the various other forms of endeavor. Some of them probably knew the difference between a four leg and three leg pig!
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  • Posted by Herb7734 8 years, 4 months ago
    We know about Mr. Allison. We have accounts with BB&T. Or as we refer to it, "BIBIT.
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    • Posted by $ 8 years, 4 months ago
      and?
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      • Posted by Herb7734 8 years, 4 months ago
        and...it's a bank.
        Just like other banks, there is no interest to speak of on savings, but they do have interest free checking provided you have a certain amount in the form of a CD or Money Market, which is the same racket as other banks. They get to use your money while paying virtually nothing to you for the privilege. If Allison's banking practices are any different, I haven't detected them.
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        • Posted by freedomforall 8 years, 4 months ago
          Ditto. Its a looters business with no product unless you consider inflation, war, and misery as "products." He could have been naive when he started, but imo he could not have risen to be CEO unless he left his principles far behind. Now, who knows? Does he suddenly have principles? Cato isn't objectivist either. I think Rand's name is being sullied by the looters who claim to have been "influenced" by her work.
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        • Posted by $ 8 years, 4 months ago
          He hasn't been there for a number of years. I was wondering first of all what it was like when he was there and second wha'ts it like now. So that's half the question and thank you.
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  • Posted by Boilermaker 8 years, 4 months ago
    The problems in business and government trace back to an education system that is "goal oriented" to the extent that decision makers only look at data that supports their desired objective, or use "consensus" to base their decisions. "Climate Change" policy ring a bell?
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  • Posted by khalling 8 years, 4 months ago
    I am mixed. He is at CATO and CATO is anti-IP. You know how we feel about that
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    • Posted by xthinker88 8 years, 1 month ago
      That in a nutshell is the problem. We are mixed any time anybody does not share our dogma 100%. So we end up with Hillary Clinton running against Donald Trump. Or Wesley Mouch's wife vs. Orren Boyle.

      I said this before. Objectivists could never have founded the United States. That took smart charismatic leaders of principle who recognized that they could not ever get everything they wanted in any society of men.
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    • Posted by $ 8 years, 4 months ago
      My point was why are we wasting time on crap when their are obviously some bright people out there. I have yet to read about anyone who is objectivist that has done as much or risen has high or has influenced as many people as this guy. So how did he happen to 'go astray?' Did he go astray? I use CATO as a resource but like ALL resources I fact check them as much as possible and I've rejected some things while using others.

      How the hell did some one that bright get over looked is there a hidden dirt little secret. Who else had not onloy bought 30,000 of the text books Rand, Hazlitt etc.and not only taught the course but used it as a work improvement but a work requirement. What was IP again?

      I'm thinking of funding a bunch of those toe bandages. No wonder the left outnumbers us.
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      • Posted by $ 8 years, 4 months ago
        Right so we have anti-property rights. There are none in any case in terms of ownership. We have Austrian Economics which is irrational. Well I confess somewhere in my 200 or so books I haven't run across that yet...so I spent time today doing just that. Also the connections between one thing and another. Never found one but found plenty of the pro "Austrian" school damning Allison because he headed up the Ayn Rand institute. His bank refused to make loans or any business dealings with any imminent domain violation of property rights and he's been quite vocal about that.

        So all that aside. To tell the truth I found the Mizes etc school even more convoluted and hard to fathom or credit than some others I've waded through and to less purpose. and found nothing to connect Allison's words and actions so if you lead me to water I will drink but I'm not going searching for another spring to no purpose, the water is just fine where I'm at....What was IP again?

        I'm 20 books behind now and and another dozen on the way...However...

        The question remains ...how the hell did we lose all the bright successful people who are obviously in our camp while the dregs and leavings end up running for office and it doesn't matter spit which one of them win?

        My guess is too much narrow, myopic thinking that don't mind getting their teeth kicked in every two and four years as long as their precious dogma stays intact. Didn't cooperate and didn't graduate....but let the social promotions take the lead.

        Am I being to rough after all I am just a simple soldier....that doesn't do dialectics.
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        • Posted by $ 8 years, 4 months ago
          Apparently so....ah well....having not connected the actions of the institute with the actions of the individual in question I'll keep digging.... so what flip flop stance is Paul going to adopt this week? Looks like the Trump/Carson move has him in check for this pool of votes never mind his stance on State Economics - Fascist Economics to the rest of you. That by the way is an evaluation of his deeds and his words. Carson? Out of his depth But if he escapes the Bimbo Brigade he's ahead of the game.
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      • Posted by term2 8 years, 4 months ago
        But I bet most of the 30,000 would have subsequently voted for the likes of an Obama to get the goodies he promised (but didnt deliver of course)
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