{"id":62000,"date":"2018-06-15T08:21:13","date_gmt":"2018-06-15T14:21:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=62000"},"modified":"2018-09-05T09:53:32","modified_gmt":"2018-09-05T15:53:32","slug":"i-hope-to-see-you-in-las-vegas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/06\/i-hope-to-see-you-in-las-vegas.html","title":{"rendered":"I hope to see you in Las Vegas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"It<\/a>
Vegas by night. (Wikimedia Commons public domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Several times on this blog I\u2019ve mentioned the annual libertarian extravaganza known as FreedomFest<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve participated in (I think) two or three of these previously, and I\u2019ll be doing so yet again this year.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Thursday, 12 July, from 1 PM to 1:50 PM, I\u2019ll be debating with Michael Shermer on the topic of \u201cIs Faith Compatible with Reason?\u201d \u00a0To save you the agonizing suspense, I\u2019ll argue that yes, faith is compatible with reason.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

It now turns out that\u00a0C-SPAN Book TV intends to cover that debate.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Which means that my approaching humiliation will reach a national audience.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dang.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

On Saturday, 14 July, I\u2019ll be moderating a session titled\u00a0\u201cHow to Turn a Bestseller into a Classic.\u201d \u00a0The two discussants will be Maurice O\u2019Sullivan<\/a>, a professor of English at Rollins College in Florida, and Daniele Struppa<\/a>, an Italian-born mathematician and the current president of Chapman University, in California.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

FreedomFest is a very stimulating gathering with lots of interesting sessions and speakers<\/a>, and I hope that you\u2019ll consider attending. \u00a0If you do, please feel free to say Hello. \u00a0In fact, after Michael Shermer pummels me to the pavement and stomps on me, I may need some kind words of comfort!<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

And while I\u2019m in the libertarian vein:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Barack Obama made it quite clear on several occasions that, to some greater degree or other than American presidents previously had, he favored the redistribution of wealth:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=X1irae5l4UU<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=BRPbCSSXyp0<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

In that light, this<\/a>\u00a0strikes me as a really great idea.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

After all, the same differences in opportunity, native talent, luck, health, and the like that affect wealth and earnings also impact grades and educational success.\u00a0 In fact, low grades themselves obviously hinder people from becoming brain surgeons, lawyers, MBAs, classics professors, and engineers, and thus keep them from earning the relatively larger amounts of money that such folks typically receive.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

So why not redistribute grades?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

NIMBY \u2014 Not in My<\/i> Backyard \u2014 isn\u2019t, on the whole, a cogent counterargument.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

So . . .<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

From each according to his ability!\u00a0 To each according to his needs!<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Confronting left-leaning college students with this idea is rather like the notion of arbitrarily failing students who argue for moral relativism in ethics and philosophy classes.\u00a0 (On what grounds could they reasonably complain?)\u00a0 Like James Stewart\u2019s character in Alfred Hitchcock\u2019s 1948 film Rope<\/a>, they\u2019re confronted with the distasteful reality of their own ideas \u2014 for real, and not merely in an intellectual game.\u00a0 And that\u2019s good for the soul.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

We ate dinner last night at the Filomena Ristorante, on Wisconsin Avenue in Georgetown. \u00a0Some of the best Italian food that I\u2019ve ever had in the United States. \u00a0Wisconsin Avenue was hard to navigate most of yesterday, because it was shut down for filming. \u00a0Somebody told me that it was for a forthcoming Wonder Woman<\/em> movie. \u00a0Another person asked him \u201cDid you get to see her?\u201d without naming \u201cher.\u201d \u00a0\u201cNo,\u201d he said with obviously deep regret. \u00a0\u201cBut I saw her stunt double.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Posted from Washington DC<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 Several times on this blog I\u2019ve mentioned the annual libertarian extravaganza known as FreedomFest. \u00a0 I\u2019ve participated in (I think) two or three of these previously, and I\u2019ll be doing so yet again this year. \u00a0 On Thursday, 12 July, from 1 PM to 1:50 PM, I\u2019ll be debating with Michael Shermer on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-62000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nI hope to see you in Las Vegas<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    Several times on this blog I've mentioned the annual libertarian extravaganza known as FreedomFest.   I've participated in (I think)\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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