WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.240 --> 00:00:04.000 Welcome here in the City Hall of Kudah. I began 2 00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:07.000 with a few opening statements and then I will present 3 00:00:07.360 --> 00:00:11.039 my formal introduction to you. For the second year in 4 00:00:11.080 --> 00:00:14.640 a row, I'm honored to introduce to you doctor Aaron Brook, 5 00:00:14.800 --> 00:00:18.839 president of the Ironran Institute, for one day again. Kuda 6 00:00:19.039 --> 00:00:21.960 is the objectivist capital of the world, for which I'm 7 00:00:22.079 --> 00:00:25.559 very proud. Thank you Eron for coming and also for 8 00:00:25.640 --> 00:00:30.320 your courage given to their circumstances. Also welcome Jonathan Dowan. 9 00:00:30.960 --> 00:00:32.560 He will say a few words at the end of 10 00:00:32.600 --> 00:00:36.039 a program regarding the upcoming European conference in Berlin in 11 00:00:36.119 --> 00:00:39.759 March next year on objectivism the philosophy of iron. Obviously, 12 00:00:40.920 --> 00:00:43.920 I like to thank the people of Mandeville Academy for 13 00:00:43.960 --> 00:00:48.159 their help in organizing this event, in particular highly in Yosvina, 14 00:00:48.280 --> 00:00:51.799 although they are not yet here. But then I had 15 00:00:51.799 --> 00:00:53.640 to say a few things nice to them. They are 16 00:00:53.679 --> 00:00:56.759 both amazing and very dear to me, and I'm happy 17 00:00:56.759 --> 00:00:59.159 for them that they will get married in June next year, 18 00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:02.000 and it pleases me that that shows my birthday as 19 00:01:02.039 --> 00:01:09.079 their wedding day. Of course, and you'll thank you for 20 00:01:09.159 --> 00:01:12.640 coming and showing interest in the application of objectivism to 21 00:01:12.760 --> 00:01:15.519 a very important issue, the conflict in the Middle East. 22 00:01:16.439 --> 00:01:20.719 So now my formal introduction. Last year's topic was how 23 00:01:20.799 --> 00:01:23.680 to be the protagonist of your own life, in other words, 24 00:01:23.959 --> 00:01:27.560 how to fight for happiness in your personal future. This 25 00:01:27.760 --> 00:01:32.000 concerns you as an individual. Thissier topic concerns you as 26 00:01:32.040 --> 00:01:35.280 a member of society. I have asked Sharon to talk 27 00:01:35.319 --> 00:01:39.079 about probably the most complex conflict in the world, the 28 00:01:39.159 --> 00:01:42.319 conflict in the Middle East, and my request was that 29 00:01:42.439 --> 00:01:46.760 you will give us his ideas about creating a lasting piece, 30 00:01:47.319 --> 00:01:49.719 in other words, how to fight for happiness and the 31 00:01:49.760 --> 00:01:54.439 future society. As a thinker and admirer of Finnrant and 32 00:01:54.519 --> 00:01:59.079 offer philosophy objectivism, I'm always looking for fundamental insights into 33 00:01:59.120 --> 00:02:03.280 complex issues and for fundamental solutions based on creative ideas. 34 00:02:04.280 --> 00:02:07.280 And when I have insufficient knowledge myself, I go to 35 00:02:07.280 --> 00:02:11.240 a specialist that I respect with the aim of being educated. 36 00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:15.039 For today's topic, I expect we will be educated by you. 37 00:02:16.560 --> 00:02:20.000 Last year, myself talked about the functioning of man's mind 38 00:02:20.159 --> 00:02:24.960 based on Iran's epistemology her theory of knowledge. I presented 39 00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:27.240 my model called the frame of reason that consists of 40 00:02:27.280 --> 00:02:31.520 four blocks. There is the perceptual problem, representing a block 41 00:02:31.599 --> 00:02:34.479 at the bottom left of the model, indicating something you 42 00:02:34.560 --> 00:02:38.639 perceive in reality which you evaluate as a problem. I 43 00:02:38.680 --> 00:02:44.120 gave the example of a man experience a headache. It 44 00:02:44.199 --> 00:02:46.960 is something real and perceived, and he considers it as 45 00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:50.039 a problem. What he wants is some approach to arrive 46 00:02:50.120 --> 00:02:53.759 at a perceptual solution represented by the bottom right black 47 00:02:53.879 --> 00:02:56.560 block in the model. He made use by imitation to 48 00:02:56.599 --> 00:02:59.280 take a painkiller. Usually then his headache will be done, 49 00:03:00.759 --> 00:03:04.120 but sometimes that approach does not work. Then he goes 50 00:03:04.159 --> 00:03:07.319 to a doctor who identifies who identifies the cause of 51 00:03:07.319 --> 00:03:11.840 the problem, which we call the conceptual problem, represented by 52 00:03:11.840 --> 00:03:15.120 the top left and block in a model. I suggested 53 00:03:15.199 --> 00:03:18.159 last year that the doctors diagnosed in this case is 54 00:03:18.199 --> 00:03:20.639 that he identifies a brain tumor in the man's head. 55 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:25.719 From the identification of the conceptual problem, the doctor analyzes 56 00:03:25.759 --> 00:03:28.800 all kinds of treatments and based on the specific situation, 57 00:03:28.919 --> 00:03:31.000 you will decide on the best approach to cure the 58 00:03:31.039 --> 00:03:35.199 problem that is called the conceptual solution, represented by the 59 00:03:35.240 --> 00:03:38.960 top right hand block in the model. So objectivist thinking 60 00:03:39.400 --> 00:03:43.159 moves from the identification of a perceptual problem by abstraction 61 00:03:43.280 --> 00:03:46.879 to the conceptual problem, by logic to the conceptual solution, 62 00:03:47.280 --> 00:03:50.159 and by action based on the conceptual solution to the 63 00:03:50.199 --> 00:03:55.639 concretization of perceptual situation. Start with realityply reason with your 64 00:03:55.680 --> 00:03:59.520 own rational interest in minds as we go into the 65 00:03:59.520 --> 00:04:03.039 topic of today, how to fundamentally resolve the conflict in 66 00:04:03.080 --> 00:04:06.599 the Middle East. In my opinion, the approach should be similar. 67 00:04:07.520 --> 00:04:11.280 Start with a problem abstract to the fundamental nature thereof, 68 00:04:11.639 --> 00:04:15.599 apply logic to identify the potential solution on the conceptual level, 69 00:04:15.879 --> 00:04:20.040 and act to realize that solution. Again, I like to 70 00:04:20.079 --> 00:04:23.519 compare the approach needed for this issue with the approach 71 00:04:23.560 --> 00:04:27.839 of going to a doctor. First, one has to identify 72 00:04:27.959 --> 00:04:30.879 at the perceptual level why there is a problem. The 73 00:04:30.959 --> 00:04:33.439 doctor will ask you what are the symptoms and what 74 00:04:33.480 --> 00:04:37.720 are your complaints? So perception and evaluation. This is the 75 00:04:37.759 --> 00:04:42.519 identification of one's personal evaluation of the situation. My personal 76 00:04:42.759 --> 00:04:45.399 evaluation of the problem in the Middle East is what 77 00:04:45.439 --> 00:04:49.720 I will present to you first. But before that, what 78 00:04:49.800 --> 00:04:52.720 the doctor is doing next is comparing the specific situation 79 00:04:52.839 --> 00:04:56.399 of some particular patient with the general theory of the 80 00:04:56.439 --> 00:05:00.000 functioning of a man's body, both physical and mental Thus 81 00:05:00.120 --> 00:05:03.439 he applies his theoretical base that he got from university. 82 00:05:04.240 --> 00:05:07.920 That theory is fundamental and applied in general. Thus it 83 00:05:08.040 --> 00:05:12.319 is an objective foundation. He will also compare it with 84 00:05:12.399 --> 00:05:16.600 his personal experience as a doctor, thus with his practical knowledge. 85 00:05:16.639 --> 00:05:20.079 We all know that experience is key in translating general 86 00:05:20.120 --> 00:05:24.120 knowledge to practical circumstances to come up with the right diagnose. 87 00:05:25.680 --> 00:05:27.720 And when the diagnose is there, the doctor will come 88 00:05:27.800 --> 00:05:30.439 up with the right approach, which in general consists of 89 00:05:30.480 --> 00:05:34.199 a medical operation and after that a recovery treatment, so 90 00:05:34.319 --> 00:05:38.800 that the result will be lasting. The use of a 91 00:05:38.839 --> 00:05:42.279 fundamental objective base is the second part of my introduction. 92 00:05:42.800 --> 00:05:45.240 I will come here with the objective foundation as the 93 00:05:45.279 --> 00:05:49.360 base to identify the problem that we discussed today. The 94 00:05:49.399 --> 00:05:54.399 objective foundation I will find in Irn's philosophy, which confirms 95 00:05:54.399 --> 00:05:58.120 the value of philosophy in general and of objectivism in particular. 96 00:05:59.040 --> 00:06:02.160 Iron Rent wrote an important article called the Roots of War, 97 00:06:02.680 --> 00:06:07.480 from which I will give you some important quotes. The 98 00:06:07.519 --> 00:06:11.839 translation of the general theory combined with his professional experience 99 00:06:11.879 --> 00:06:13.879 to the issue of the conflict in the Middle East, 100 00:06:14.480 --> 00:06:17.519 I will leave to Yarin, and also he will do 101 00:06:17.680 --> 00:06:20.079 the reasoning to present us with the approach to the 102 00:06:20.120 --> 00:06:24.959 conceptual solution, thus to lasting peace. In this case, he is, 103 00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:31.000 in my opinion, the most appropriate specialist. Okay, First, I 104 00:06:31.160 --> 00:06:36.759 like to discuss my personal evaluation. My father is a 105 00:06:36.800 --> 00:06:40.040 peaceful man. But when I was a child, we were 106 00:06:40.079 --> 00:06:43.800 once near the German border, which was still closed at 107 00:06:43.839 --> 00:06:47.560 the time. I remember of that occasion the sudden feeling 108 00:06:47.600 --> 00:06:51.240 of hate is my father for Germans. It was based 109 00:06:51.279 --> 00:06:53.160 on what he had experienced as a child in the 110 00:06:53.199 --> 00:06:57.560 Second World War. That war lasted only five years, but 111 00:06:57.680 --> 00:07:01.959 the impact was enormous. The conflict in the Middle East 112 00:07:02.079 --> 00:07:07.000 exists not for five years, but for centuries. Next point, 113 00:07:07.759 --> 00:07:10.920 when one of my daughters was fifteen years old, she 114 00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:13.959 went for the first time to a hallow evening here 115 00:07:13.959 --> 00:07:18.319 in hardar storried for my emotion, at the Saint John Cathedral. 116 00:07:19.399 --> 00:07:22.439 She was beautiful, formally dressed for the first time in 117 00:07:22.480 --> 00:07:26.160 an evening gown. I dropped her off by car at 118 00:07:26.160 --> 00:07:29.279 about thirty meters from the entrance, which she had to walk. 119 00:07:30.319 --> 00:07:32.240 When I picked her up at the end of the evening, 120 00:07:32.759 --> 00:07:35.879 she told me that during that short walk a group 121 00:07:35.920 --> 00:07:39.199 of young Moroccan guys had hissed and ceased to her 122 00:07:39.560 --> 00:07:43.399 and called her a whar. She was really frightened and upset. 123 00:07:44.600 --> 00:07:48.399 It made me incredibly angry, and I identified the fact 124 00:07:48.680 --> 00:07:51.399 that I was capable of killing when someone you love 125 00:07:51.720 --> 00:07:57.160 is deeply hurt and you want to protect her. And 126 00:07:57.199 --> 00:08:00.000 then I saw on TV the horror of October seventh 127 00:08:00.120 --> 00:08:06.120 last year in Israel. Young people innocent and vulnerable were attacked, raped, killed, 128 00:08:06.160 --> 00:08:11.240 and kidnapped, and I thought, suppose these were my own children. 129 00:08:11.879 --> 00:08:13.879 I know what I would have liked to do, but 130 00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:18.959 probably wouldn't have done. Get into personal action. What would 131 00:08:19.000 --> 00:08:22.000 you expect from your government when your daughters and sons 132 00:08:22.439 --> 00:08:26.680 would be victimized like that? If some terrorists would be domestic, 133 00:08:26.839 --> 00:08:29.920 you would expect the police to capture the terrorists and 134 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:34.559 the court to pronounce the appropriate sentence. When the terrorist 135 00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:37.200 comes from abroad, you would expect the government of that 136 00:08:37.279 --> 00:08:41.200 particular country to act for justice. But if the government 137 00:08:41.240 --> 00:08:43.879 of that other country participate in those acts of terror, 138 00:08:44.399 --> 00:08:46.720 you would expect your own government to go to war 139 00:08:47.240 --> 00:08:49.879 as a way of protecting you and your loved ones 140 00:08:50.000 --> 00:08:55.279 against that terrorist government. If a doctor decides that the 141 00:08:55.279 --> 00:08:58.960 medical operation is required to remove a threat to someone's health. 142 00:08:59.519 --> 00:09:02.159 Any surgeon would tell you that the operation must be 143 00:09:02.200 --> 00:09:05.519 focused on the threat, must be carried out swiftly, and 144 00:09:05.639 --> 00:09:09.840 must be carried out complete. No surgeon will suggest that 145 00:09:09.879 --> 00:09:13.039 the operation may take months in duration, or that the 146 00:09:13.080 --> 00:09:16.840 partial elimination of some threat as form of appeasement is sufficient. 147 00:09:17.559 --> 00:09:21.440 All the bed cells must be eliminated, and every surgeon 148 00:09:21.480 --> 00:09:27.080 knows that collateral damage cannot be avoided. Here in the 149 00:09:27.159 --> 00:09:31.399 Netherlands we also have had some intensive terrorist attacked many 150 00:09:31.440 --> 00:09:35.120 years ago, the kidnapping of a train. I know a 151 00:09:35.159 --> 00:09:38.080 woman who was in the train. She has learned to 152 00:09:38.120 --> 00:09:40.559 live with that experience, but it's carter for the rest 153 00:09:40.639 --> 00:09:44.279 of her life. On that occasion, our government did act. 154 00:09:44.840 --> 00:09:47.720 The military attacked their train and the kidnappers were killed. 155 00:09:48.399 --> 00:09:52.600 That was the appropriate response, in my opinion. In the 156 00:09:52.639 --> 00:09:55.600 public discussion of the Middle East conflict now I hear 157 00:09:55.639 --> 00:09:59.480 primarily emotional responses of the use of violence without the 158 00:09:59.519 --> 00:10:03.559 proper ant pallasis based on reason. The difference between the 159 00:10:03.559 --> 00:10:07.600 initiation of force by terrorists and the retaliation of force 160 00:10:07.679 --> 00:10:11.360 by the government is not recognized. The difference between a 161 00:10:11.399 --> 00:10:15.320 destructive purpose firing rockets to a neighboring country and a 162 00:10:15.360 --> 00:10:20.000 constructive approach building up a prosperous society is evaded, and 163 00:10:20.039 --> 00:10:24.279 the difference between an offensive violence strategy eliminating Israel and 164 00:10:24.320 --> 00:10:28.000 a defense strategy building a protection dome is also neglected. 165 00:10:29.000 --> 00:10:31.600 To me, this is all a demonstration of the neglect 166 00:10:31.960 --> 00:10:34.799 of the objective use of reason and of the evasion 167 00:10:34.840 --> 00:10:38.840 to identify the effects of reality. This explains why I 168 00:10:38.840 --> 00:10:41.519 am on the side of Israel, although I do see 169 00:10:41.759 --> 00:10:46.440 false like they're accepting a partial destruction of the enemy's 170 00:10:46.440 --> 00:10:49.799 potential rather than complete and now of appeasing to let 171 00:10:49.879 --> 00:10:54.840 their enemies recover their strength, as this event today originates. 172 00:10:54.840 --> 00:10:57.440 In my purpose to explain the value of objectivism, I 173 00:10:57.480 --> 00:10:59.879 will now turn to Iran's general theory in o RN 174 00:11:00.120 --> 00:11:04.120 to call the roots of war. Of course, she starts 175 00:11:04.159 --> 00:11:06.720 with the general context of the problem. In what kind 176 00:11:06.759 --> 00:11:09.679 of society and in what kind of political system does 177 00:11:09.720 --> 00:11:11.679 war originate? And when does it? 178 00:11:11.720 --> 00:11:11.799 Not? 179 00:11:12.840 --> 00:11:17.440 To quote her less a fair capitalism is the only 180 00:11:17.480 --> 00:11:20.720 social system based on the recognition of individual rights, and 181 00:11:20.919 --> 00:11:25.120 therefore the only system that bans force from social relationships. 182 00:11:26.039 --> 00:11:29.159 By the nature of its basic principles and interests. It 183 00:11:29.240 --> 00:11:33.360 is the only system fundamentally opposed to war. Men who 184 00:11:33.399 --> 00:11:36.879 are free to produce have no incentive to loot. They 185 00:11:36.919 --> 00:11:39.600 have nothing to gain from war and a great deal 186 00:11:39.639 --> 00:11:44.080 to lose. Ideologically, the principle of insual right individual rights 187 00:11:44.480 --> 00:11:47.519 does not permit a man to seek his own livelihood 188 00:11:47.720 --> 00:11:52.399 at the point of a gun inside or outside this country. Economically, 189 00:11:52.559 --> 00:11:55.720 war costs money. In the free economy, where wealth is 190 00:11:55.759 --> 00:11:58.360 privately owned, the cost of war come out of the 191 00:11:58.360 --> 00:12:02.480 income of private citizens. There is no overblown public treasury 192 00:12:02.519 --> 00:12:05.519 to hide that fact, and a citizen cannot hope to 193 00:12:05.559 --> 00:12:09.320 recoup his own financial losses such as taxes or business 194 00:12:09.320 --> 00:12:13.480 dislocations or property destruction, by winning the war. Thus his 195 00:12:13.559 --> 00:12:19.279 own economic interests are on the side of peace. She 196 00:12:19.440 --> 00:12:23.159 underlies this identification with the reason why, and here is 197 00:12:23.200 --> 00:12:26.799 my second quote. The trader and the warrior have been 198 00:12:26.840 --> 00:12:31.919 fundamentally antagonist throughout history. Trade does not florish on battle fields, 199 00:12:32.240 --> 00:12:35.600 factories do not produce under bombardments, and profits do not 200 00:12:35.639 --> 00:12:40.039 grow un Rubble capitalism is a society of trades for 201 00:12:40.120 --> 00:12:42.639 which it has been denounced by every would be gunman 202 00:12:42.960 --> 00:12:47.679 who regards trade as selfish and conquest conquest as noble 203 00:12:48.679 --> 00:12:52.320 let those who actually are concerned with peace observe that 204 00:12:52.360 --> 00:12:55.679 capitalism gave mankind the longest period of peace in history, 205 00:12:56.200 --> 00:12:59.639 a period during which there were no wars involving the 206 00:12:59.759 --> 00:13:03.159 entire civilized world, from the end of the Napoleonic Wars 207 00:13:03.200 --> 00:13:06.279 in eighteen fifteen to the outbreak of World War One 208 00:13:06.440 --> 00:13:12.840 in nineteen fourteen. Politicians now all call for a two 209 00:13:12.879 --> 00:13:15.519 state future as a means to solve the conflict and 210 00:13:15.559 --> 00:13:18.240 wars in the Middle East, but I don't think that 211 00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:21.320 this is by any means. A foundation of peace. Is 212 00:13:21.360 --> 00:13:23.080 the roots of the war in the Middle East that 213 00:13:23.159 --> 00:13:25.679 have to be fought, from which the future of peace 214 00:13:25.720 --> 00:13:29.879 and prosperity can be built. I expect that capitalism is 215 00:13:29.879 --> 00:13:33.559 the best social system according to objevism will have to 216 00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:38.279 be aimed for, although I do not know how and 217 00:13:36.600 --> 00:13:40.639 what and when this can be achieved and what steps 218 00:13:40.679 --> 00:13:44.159 will be necessary. With this in mind, and will now 219 00:13:44.200 --> 00:13:47.159 ask Aron to present his ideas on the conflict in 220 00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:49.960 the Middle East and how lasting peace can be created. 221 00:14:06.120 --> 00:14:08.840 So thank you for the invitation, Thank you all for 222 00:14:08.879 --> 00:14:15.639 being here this afternoon. The events of October seventh were 223 00:14:15.720 --> 00:14:18.919 real shock to I think so many people around the 224 00:14:18.919 --> 00:14:23.960 world It was truly horrific, and I'm not gonna give 225 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:26.679 you details. I think you've all seen the videos, you've 226 00:14:26.679 --> 00:14:31.200 heard the stories. There's no reason to recount everything that 227 00:14:31.320 --> 00:14:36.200 happened that day. But it was truly true horror. And 228 00:14:36.279 --> 00:14:38.879 yet much of the response of the world, much of 229 00:14:38.919 --> 00:14:42.799 the response of commentators, was, you know, this is just 230 00:14:42.879 --> 00:14:46.919 another skirmish in a long battle, and who knows who 231 00:14:46.919 --> 00:14:49.720 started it. You know, you have to go back decades, 232 00:14:49.840 --> 00:14:55.480 and there's right on both sides, and they're bad people 233 00:14:55.519 --> 00:14:57.840 on both sides, and they're good people on both sides, 234 00:14:58.639 --> 00:15:05.960 and a real moral equivocation. Many as we saw on 235 00:15:06.039 --> 00:15:11.200 American campuses, and I think much of Europe actually celebrated 236 00:15:12.320 --> 00:15:18.799 and sided with the Palestinians on October seventh, I mean 237 00:15:19.240 --> 00:15:23.440 on October eighth, there were already letters at Harvard University 238 00:15:23.720 --> 00:15:28.559 in support of Ramas and articulating the case. And again 239 00:15:28.639 --> 00:15:32.519 the story went something like, yes, it was barbaric, it 240 00:15:32.559 --> 00:15:35.320 was horrible, but what do you expect from people that 241 00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:37.960 have been oppressed for so many years? This is all 242 00:15:38.159 --> 00:15:46.039 Israel's bolt. Others, of course, cited with Israel and said, yes, no, 243 00:15:46.279 --> 00:15:49.080 this is really bad. Israel needs to do something about it. 244 00:15:49.720 --> 00:15:53.519 But almost always once Israel did something about it, they 245 00:15:53.600 --> 00:15:57.399 argued for a strain and not doing too much and 246 00:15:57.480 --> 00:16:03.840 not overreacting. And everybody, I think is overwhelmed. Those seems 247 00:16:03.840 --> 00:16:08.000 overwhelmed with the complexity of what is going on in 248 00:16:08.039 --> 00:16:09.960 the Middle East, right, I mean, there are many players. 249 00:16:10.000 --> 00:16:13.080 You've got Hamas and Gaza, You've got the Palestinians in 250 00:16:13.120 --> 00:16:15.679 the West Bank, You've got Grizabella and Lebanon, You've got 251 00:16:15.720 --> 00:16:18.440 the Iranians, and you've got all these other Arab countries 252 00:16:18.480 --> 00:16:21.480 in the Middle that's not clear exactly what stand they have, 253 00:16:21.639 --> 00:16:24.639 and it's just it's overwhelming. And then people tell you, well, 254 00:16:24.679 --> 00:16:27.159 it's one hundred years of history, and then you have 255 00:16:27.200 --> 00:16:29.720 to go back and understand exactly what happened over those 256 00:16:29.799 --> 00:16:33.559 hundred years and exactly the consequences and the sequence of events, 257 00:16:34.240 --> 00:16:36.080 and people just give up there, They throw up their 258 00:16:36.080 --> 00:16:40.879 hands and they give up. It's too complicated, it's too hot. 259 00:16:42.960 --> 00:16:47.600 And yet it's not and it shouldn't be, because even 260 00:16:47.600 --> 00:16:49.759 if you don't know anything about the last hundred years, 261 00:16:51.480 --> 00:16:53.919 even if you don't know about the whole configuration of 262 00:16:53.960 --> 00:16:56.039 the Middle East and exactly what happens and who are 263 00:16:56.039 --> 00:16:59.840 the players are and everything else. What you do know 264 00:17:00.200 --> 00:17:04.039 and what you can discover fairly quickly is the nature, 265 00:17:04.279 --> 00:17:09.079 the fundamental nature the character of the parties that are 266 00:17:09.119 --> 00:17:13.000 at war right now in the Middle East. One can 267 00:17:13.039 --> 00:17:16.359 look at Israel. If everybody's visited Israel, people can visit 268 00:17:16.440 --> 00:17:19.279 as well. They can see it, or they can read 269 00:17:19.319 --> 00:17:22.880 about it. And Israel today forget about the last hundred years. 270 00:17:23.839 --> 00:17:26.519 Happy to talk about that as well. But in a sense, 271 00:17:26.519 --> 00:17:30.680 it's irrelevant. What kind of society is Israeli society today, 272 00:17:32.200 --> 00:17:39.440 it's fundamentally Western, it's fundamentally free. People have equal rights 273 00:17:39.480 --> 00:17:43.839 in Israel. People have the freedom to speak, they have 274 00:17:43.920 --> 00:17:52.960 property rights. They live relatively speaking, very European lives in 275 00:17:52.960 --> 00:17:56.400 a positive sense, in the sense of we respect people's 276 00:17:56.440 --> 00:17:59.039 rights in Europe for the most parts. I wish we'd 277 00:17:59.200 --> 00:18:02.880 do more than that, but for the most part, there's 278 00:18:02.920 --> 00:18:07.920 a general sense of individual liberty in Israel. Even if 279 00:18:07.920 --> 00:18:12.720 you're not part of their majority group, if you're not Jewish, 280 00:18:13.480 --> 00:18:16.519 you still have property rights, your freedom of speech, you 281 00:18:16.559 --> 00:18:20.680 can still engage in movement and action, and there are 282 00:18:20.839 --> 00:18:27.480 very few limitations that are exclusive to you as an Arab. 283 00:18:27.680 --> 00:18:31.400 Let's say you actually have one privilege that Jews don't have. 284 00:18:31.599 --> 00:18:34.000 You don't have to serve in the military, so there's 285 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:38.160 no conscription imposed on you. You can volunteer, but you're 286 00:18:38.160 --> 00:18:40.960 not forced. Jews and Israel are forced to go to 287 00:18:41.000 --> 00:18:46.640 the military eighteen. But there's true of Christians and Muslims 288 00:18:46.680 --> 00:18:50.440 and Jews and any other subsect of people within Israel. 289 00:18:50.839 --> 00:18:56.279 They're treated like people are treated in the Western worlds. 290 00:18:56.279 --> 00:19:01.559 They're treated with respect as individuals. Is just far from 291 00:19:01.599 --> 00:19:06.680 a perfect society. Certainly by the standards of objectivism, they're 292 00:19:06.680 --> 00:19:09.200 far from a perfect society. They could be more capitalists, 293 00:19:09.440 --> 00:19:14.359 they could respect individual rights even more. But given the 294 00:19:14.440 --> 00:19:17.480 standard that we have in the world, they're relatively free. 295 00:19:17.519 --> 00:19:20.079 Given the standard of history, this is one of the 296 00:19:20.079 --> 00:19:26.319 freest countries in history, and in particular if one looks 297 00:19:26.400 --> 00:19:32.039 and contrasts them with if you will, the other side Gaza, 298 00:19:32.119 --> 00:19:36.599 where the conflicts this time erupted. Gaza has been ruled 299 00:19:36.640 --> 00:19:40.680 by Hamas since basically since two thousand and six. Israel 300 00:19:41.119 --> 00:19:47.119 left Gaza completely. In two thousand and five, it literally 301 00:19:47.160 --> 00:19:51.920 evacuated its own citizens out of Gaza. There were Israeli 302 00:19:52.279 --> 00:19:56.880 villages in Gaza. The Israeli military went in and dragged 303 00:19:56.880 --> 00:20:00.839 people out of their homes and evacuated them from Gaza. Basically, 304 00:20:00.839 --> 00:20:04.640 the idea was, we can't defend you here, so we 305 00:20:04.680 --> 00:20:07.839 need you out. If you stay, we have to devote 306 00:20:07.880 --> 00:20:11.359 resources to defending you, it's obligation. We can't do that, 307 00:20:11.799 --> 00:20:16.160 so we're going to force you all out. And as 308 00:20:16.200 --> 00:20:19.720 All did that, and it handed over control to Gaza 309 00:20:20.240 --> 00:20:24.480 to the Palestinians. Whoever wants to control it, right, Palestinians 310 00:20:24.519 --> 00:20:26.000 had a choice on how to do it. There were 311 00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:30.559 elections Ramas won. We expected them to win, but they 312 00:20:30.599 --> 00:20:34.279 won and h then there was a civil war between 313 00:20:34.319 --> 00:20:36.839 the Haramas and the PLO, and they kicked the PLO 314 00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:40.000 out and Haramas dominated the Gaza stript. By the way, 315 00:20:40.000 --> 00:20:45.599 one indication of what was to come happened the day 316 00:20:45.640 --> 00:20:50.680 after all the you know, Jewish civilians were evacuated from 317 00:20:50.680 --> 00:20:55.359 Gaza because they had left behind in these villages. They 318 00:20:55.359 --> 00:21:00.440 had left behind their lives, but they'd left behind economic assets. 319 00:21:00.480 --> 00:21:06.039 They'd lift behind, you know, small factories, they'd lift behind, greenhouses, 320 00:21:06.799 --> 00:21:11.920 very advanced technologically greenhouses. You know, Gaza's the desert, yet 321 00:21:12.279 --> 00:21:14.960 they had grown stuff and they'd created a Becausin left 322 00:21:15.000 --> 00:21:18.680 the greenhouses and you would expect that the Palestinians say, 323 00:21:19.039 --> 00:21:22.240 whool isn't this great? We now get to use the greenhouses. 324 00:21:22.279 --> 00:21:24.920 These people, you know, built you out because we don't 325 00:21:24.920 --> 00:21:29.480 have any Next day they went to the greenhouses, they 326 00:21:29.519 --> 00:21:32.920 went to factories and they destroyed them all. They destroyed 327 00:21:32.920 --> 00:21:36.160 them all, which gives you an indication of kind of 328 00:21:36.160 --> 00:21:46.359 their inclination. It's not to build, construct, improve Hamastakova. And 329 00:21:46.440 --> 00:21:50.960 now we can judge, okay, what was life like in 330 00:21:51.000 --> 00:21:55.920 the Gaza strip under Hamas? Are individual rights respected? Is 331 00:21:55.960 --> 00:22:01.039 their free speech? How? How do people live in Gaza 332 00:22:01.200 --> 00:22:04.720 under this regime of Ramas? Because is what was out 333 00:22:04.759 --> 00:22:09.720 of it. And it turns out not surprisingly at all 334 00:22:09.799 --> 00:22:12.880 if you know much about Palestinian history or the Arab 335 00:22:12.920 --> 00:22:14.920 world generally, because this is true of the Arab world 336 00:22:14.960 --> 00:22:20.000 more broadly, that in Gaza there are no individual rights 337 00:22:22.640 --> 00:22:27.400 people are. You know, Ramasa is a dictatorial power. It's 338 00:22:27.440 --> 00:22:33.519 authoritarian to the core. It dictates everything. If you oppose them, 339 00:22:33.599 --> 00:22:37.480 you are killed. If they don't like you, you are often killed. 340 00:22:38.400 --> 00:22:42.079 You know, you see these signs in the United States, 341 00:22:42.079 --> 00:22:47.119 maybe seeing them in Europe as well. Gaze for Palestine right. 342 00:22:48.240 --> 00:22:52.200 Ramas was known for taking gaze to tall buildings and 343 00:22:52.319 --> 00:22:55.839 throwing them off the building. The Quran says this is 344 00:22:55.839 --> 00:23:00.079 the punishment, so does the Old and New Testament, but 345 00:23:00.119 --> 00:23:06.960 the Muslims take it seriously. So no freedom as a consequence, 346 00:23:07.240 --> 00:23:10.559 no economic progress. The people remain poor to the extent 347 00:23:10.599 --> 00:23:13.279 that there was anything. You'll you'll see pictures of Gaza 348 00:23:13.319 --> 00:23:18.000 before the war looking quite nice. But anything nice that 349 00:23:18.079 --> 00:23:21.119 existed in Gaza was because people in Katar and people 350 00:23:21.160 --> 00:23:24.720 in Iran and Saudi Arabia sent the money. It was 351 00:23:24.920 --> 00:23:29.559 nothing was actually produced in Gaza. There was no real 352 00:23:29.640 --> 00:23:34.599 economic activity. Again, contrast that to Israel, which is booming, 353 00:23:34.920 --> 00:23:38.759 has been booming for years now. Is the you know, 354 00:23:38.799 --> 00:23:41.359 I think second in the world only to Silicon Valley 355 00:23:41.359 --> 00:23:46.079 in terms of entrepreneurship and innovation and technology. It's not 356 00:23:46.160 --> 00:23:48.960 an accident. The country that basically respects the individual rights 357 00:23:48.960 --> 00:23:52.799 of its citizens, basically leaves them alone, allows them to 358 00:23:52.920 --> 00:23:56.119 pursue their happiness, is a country in which there will 359 00:23:56.119 --> 00:23:59.079 be economic activity and people will achieve real economic success. 360 00:23:59.400 --> 00:24:05.839 A country that oppresses its population, you will see no 361 00:24:06.400 --> 00:24:13.240 economic progress. A Israel as a secular country, yes, there 362 00:24:13.319 --> 00:24:15.519 is a lot of religion, and I think in the 363 00:24:15.559 --> 00:24:18.839 news we see more religion than there really is in Israel. 364 00:24:19.119 --> 00:24:25.279 But generally it's a secular country. There is not as 365 00:24:25.319 --> 00:24:27.240 much as I'd like it to be, but there is 366 00:24:27.359 --> 00:24:30.400 a separation between state and church, between state and religion. 367 00:24:31.319 --> 00:24:40.000 All religions again have equal standing before the law. Comas 368 00:24:40.920 --> 00:24:47.079 there's a theocracy, it's a theocracy of Islam is inspired 369 00:24:47.119 --> 00:24:50.599 by the radiant regime and the role of religion in 370 00:24:50.640 --> 00:24:54.279 their license. Religion dominates every aspect of what they do, 371 00:24:55.599 --> 00:24:58.319 in how they governance, again in the attitude to gays 372 00:24:58.400 --> 00:25:04.400 or their attitude to individuals. Israel, as a relatively individualistic society, 373 00:25:04.559 --> 00:25:09.759 people are treated as individuals. In Gaza, people are treated 374 00:25:09.880 --> 00:25:15.960 as members of groups, tribes. Tribal identity is what is important. 375 00:25:17.359 --> 00:25:21.799 So even without knowing any history, even without knowing all 376 00:25:21.880 --> 00:25:24.640 the details of how it is always founded and what 377 00:25:24.839 --> 00:25:28.359 happened and how it all played out, and every Palestinian 378 00:25:28.440 --> 00:25:31.720 leader in a row, and what the Palestinians did over 379 00:25:31.759 --> 00:25:33.759 many of those years, all one has to really do 380 00:25:34.599 --> 00:25:37.960 is look at the reality as it exists today, accessible 381 00:25:38.119 --> 00:25:41.440 to almost any human being on planet Earth today. The 382 00:25:41.480 --> 00:25:46.440 information is right there, it's not hard to discover. And 383 00:25:46.519 --> 00:25:52.200 what you find is good and evil. What you find 384 00:25:52.240 --> 00:25:55.359 as a country that is basically a good country with 385 00:25:55.480 --> 00:26:00.480 flaws and a country that's fundamentally as a police galant 386 00:26:00.480 --> 00:26:11.400 at the evil with nothing positive, nothing positive. And if 387 00:26:11.440 --> 00:26:14.759 you understand it in those terms, then what does evil 388 00:26:14.880 --> 00:26:18.400 have to what is hamas in order to sustain its 389 00:26:18.759 --> 00:26:23.160 authoritarian ways? What does it have to do? What do 390 00:26:23.200 --> 00:26:26.839 authoritarians really every way ultimately have to do because their 391 00:26:26.960 --> 00:26:33.880 failure is domestically the economy of Gaza didn't exist. Again, 392 00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:35.599 all the money they got, they got them overseas. What 393 00:26:35.599 --> 00:26:36.920 did they do, by the way, with all their money, 394 00:26:36.960 --> 00:26:39.599 they came a little bit, improved the streets and their 395 00:26:39.599 --> 00:26:41.799 buildings a little bit. But what mostly did they do? 396 00:26:42.200 --> 00:26:46.839 We know now. They dug tunnels, They bought weapons, They 397 00:26:46.839 --> 00:26:50.559 put weapons into tunnels. And the tunnel system is amazing. 398 00:26:51.079 --> 00:26:54.400 I mean, in America you cannot build a tunnel right 399 00:26:54.799 --> 00:26:57.160 because of all the environmental regulations and all the rest. 400 00:26:57.200 --> 00:27:00.359 It cost a gazillion dollars, and Gaza was no problem. 401 00:27:00.440 --> 00:27:04.759