How to Get Absolutely Pantsed in a Debate–The Impractical Pragmatism of Andy Craig
Winner on left.
Whether it was ad hominem attacks, circular logic, post hoc ergo propter hoc or some mixture and variation of several other logical fallacies, Andy Craig (above, right) just got crushed by actual, principled libertarian Dave Smith (above, left) in a debate in which Smith simply deconstructed Craig’s mendacious, slanderous claims about him, and Craig was left to fake-laugh about it. Awkward.
Craig–shocker–is an active member of the Pragmatist Caucus of the Libertarian Party which fashions itself as the primary bootlicker of the left progressives here in the United States. This clique in the LP engages in bold initiatives like warning about anti-black racism, disavowing slavery in 2020, and warning of a potential (non-existent) genocide against the trans-community under Trump. How courageous.
Craig’s main sticking points with Smith (as far as I could ascertain them through the various layers of bullshit) were that: A) Because Dave Smith has people on his show who Craig finds repugnant, then Smith must be an essentialist, a racist, and an adherent of phrenology, B) Because Smith called Stephan Molyneux “great”, and C) Because Smith and Molyneux have followings that absolutely dwarf in number and kind the weak-kneed and kowtowing basement dwellers to whom Craig belongs and appeals–well, that means that smearing Smith is a means that justifies the end of ousting any and all thin libertarians who like Mises, Rothbard, Rockwell, Woods, and Hoppe.
Here’s the irony: The supposed pragmatist caucus does not realize that it is not the likes of Smith (the most consistent M-Fer I happen to know) who have formed a “pipeline” to the alt-right from libertarianism. It is Craig and his “crew”.
When people on the left decide they’ve had enough of the divisive, race/class/gender mongering, and conversely people from the right get alarmed by the staid and lethal neo-con foreign policy of the empire, they check out libertarianism only to find Craig and the LP ticket tweeting apologia about BLM and Bill Weld’s (Raytheon lobbyist) nomination to the presidential ticket. It’s a turn off, man, such a turn off that what began as a flirtation that could have turned into an ideological love affair is quickly snuffed out by the suffocating PC-SJW mob.
I’m glad to be in the others’ company.
