The idiots are not only on the left. On the libertarian and “Objectivist” right, people are trying to argue that while Kamala Harris is evil and wrong about everything, a second term of President Trump would be worse. Why? Because, they claim, in the long run we’re better off with a catastrophically bad regime not associated with capitalism (Kamala/Walz) than we are with a President associated with capitalism, America and the Bill of Rights, but who may get a few things wrong.

The evasion here is staggering. It’s truly cataclysmic. They’re saying that for the sake of the long run, we must destroy ourselves. That, in essence, we must pull the trigger and blow our brains out — so that down the road, we’ll have a merry old time and get Thomas Jefferson (or John Galt) as President. Even though America will be incinerated by then (assuming it’s not too late already).

The Ayn Rand Institute has been promoting this approach to government, as have some others on the libertarian right, in the name of Ayn Rand, the brilliant author who predicted our present downfall in her transformative work, Atlas Shrugged. Note that Ayn Rand, when she was alive, viewed it as imperative to vote for Richard Nixon, in 1972, over George McGovern, because McGovern was virtually a socialist. The Ayn Rand Institute (and the camp followers who parrot everything they utter) claims to know that Ayn Rand, who died in 1982, would never vote for Donald Trump. How do they know? Seances, I guess. And just think: Kamala Harris makes George McGovern look like Ronald Reagan.

I find these conclusions inexcusably dishonest and worse than the worst of the leftists. The leftists are either ignorant, neurotic or intellectually lazy. Some are just plain evil, and want America destroyed. But these proliberty, purportedly rational people on the right know precisely what’s wrong and what the solutions are; yet rather than risk a mixture of truth and error in a Trump agenda, they opt for a murder suicide — all for the sake of the “long run.” It’s madness and idiocy on steroids, and I find it increasingly incomprehensible. The world is truly morally inverted and upside down, and this includes even those who sought to be on the side of truth, freedom and justice.

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The leftists in charge of our culture, media, corporations, schools and government constantly lecture us. “Columbus is bad. Whites are bad. Men are bad. Capitalism is bad. Money is bad. Republicans are bad. TRUMP IS BAD. Unless you think and act precisely as we do: You are racist, heterosexist, misogynist, xenophobic.”

Yet the people who lecture us on morality appear devoid of morality and character themselves. They follow none of the principles they claim to uphold. In fact, virtually everything they do is the polar opposite of what they proclaim you and I must do.

We’re supposed to bow our heads in shame for our “privilege,” pretending we do not achieve anything, that it’s all luck. “Shame, shame, shame” say the people who do the canceling, impose the censorship, shred the Bill of Rights, skewer science and reason while claiming they are apostles of … science and reason. And always (in the end) these amoral moralists are the ones who build the extermination camps.

Be careful of the people trying to make you feel guilty. You can be sure they have something to feel guilty about themselves.

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Leftists, who have renamed Columbus Day “Indigenous Peoples’ Day”, are not fit to criticize Christopher Columbus.

Columbus Day. Say it over and over — and agitate a leftist. Leftists are inherently fragile. Why? Because their entire “ideology” is actually psychopathology, resting on intellectual quicksand. Psychopathology is, by definition, unstable.

Columbus was a hero. He was an achiever. If it hadn’t been for him (or someone like him, and they come along very rarely), then life as we know it would not exist. There would have been no United States of America. There would have been no discovery of individual rights. There would have been no Industrial Revolution, and there would have been no Information Revolution, because the system of capitalism most embodied by America was required for life to move beyond the horse-and-buggy and outhouse era.

You are NOT entitled to disagree with me — UNLESS you’re prepared to renounce (in practice) all the creature comforts of modern life that Columbus set into motion. Columbus was the first American innovator and achiever. In many ways, his courage and achievement made all the others that followed possible.

You like your smart phone? Your computer? Your Internet? Your automobile, video games, cheap clothing — even your electric car, if you’re a super rich leftist who can afford one? Then thank Columbus. Because without his kind, there’s no America. And if there’s no America, you’re living like your ancestors did (or worse).

You leftists out there who condemn Columbus: You’re not nearly so quick to condemn the fruits of a free, rational and productive society which require some individuals (only a few are needed) to take risks.

Columbus didn’t take risks so you idiots out there didn’t have to take risks. He took a gigantic risk because he was that kind of man.

You snowflakes are not fit to criticize him.

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The craziness of the last few of years has created a situation where potential retail and restaurant employees will sometimes present glowing resumes, then don’t come close to living up to what they claimed they knew – assuming they showed up for work at all. The next thing you know they’re applying for unemployment. I got to thinking about this when a website visitor told me that his odds of finding a job seem to decrease as time passes. He goes on to say that a friend offered to compose a fake resume and provide a fake reference for him, but that he’s uncomfortable with lying to get a job he wouldn’t otherwise get. He wonders if there are any circumstance under which he could justify accepting the offer of the bogus credentials.

I first suggested that he mentally walk through what could happen if he took the offer of the made-up resume. I told him, “Assume you’re hired. You have an immediate double burden. First, as with any new job, you have to prove yourself. Second, you have to maintain the lie. You have to remember two realities: the truth, and the ‘truth’ as you presented it. You can never slip up and forget. In addition to doing your job well, you have to do a good job preserving the fraud.

“You’ll have to go out of your way to avoid situations in which you might be exposed. For example, if you said you had a college degree when in fact you don’t, you’d have to avoid discussions about college – or be prepared to make things up. And once you did, you’d have to remember them. The same gnoes with a phony reference. All these fictions must be remembered.

“Of course, what does all this do to your pride and self-respect? It may be true that you’re good at what you do, but if your work is the only factor that matters, then why lie? Also, when you lie to someone, you’re not showing them respect. The fact that you got away with it will lead you to respect your employer even less.”

The simple fact is this: Desperate situations sometimes call for desperate measures – assuming that the desperate measure is effective. Lying undermines your relationship with your employer and it imposes burdens on you. Yes, you might claim, “I now have a paycheck whereas last week I didn’t. It worked.” But all you did was trade one high-risk situation (unemployment), for another (getting found out and fired). The old adage, “What a tangled web we weave…” is true.

Sophisticated liars can often get away with it, but if you were a good liar, you wouldn’t have emailed me. You’re particularly at risk for getting caught for the simple reason that you’re divided on the subject. Commitment to a difficult course of action requires unwavering resolve. Without that, you’re going to create new problems rather than alleviate old ones.

Before setting yourself up for exposure, you could say, “I don’t have that credential. But here’s what I do have to offer. Will you hear me out?” If nothing else, you’ll be respected for being honest – qualities in short supply nowadays. It doesn’t guarantee you the job, but it does give you an opportunity to show a virtuous trait on which people place great value. It also shows confidence and security; qualities that matter to employers.

Most of us are taught, “Don’t lie. It’s wrong. Do the right thing.” And then life gives us a simultaneous “wink-wink” implying, “Do what you have to do.” What passes for morality is often nothing more than a mishmash of dogmatic commands, hypocrisy and contradiction. Some people fall for it, and some don’t, but there’s certainly enough of it to go around – starting with politics and ending with your resume.

I suspect you’re already convinced that you shouldn’t lie. But you’ve got to have reasons other than the fact that lying is hard work. Otherwise, you’ll never feel good about your course of action. You don’t pour gasoline on a fire or use poison to cure a disease. Explore other options.

Michael J. Hurd

It’s important to be careful about the way we phrase things when talking about ourselves or others. And “being nice” has nothing to do with it; the way we phrase things has an impact on how we view them, and sometimes it can be unhealthy.

For example, if you say, “I think I’m addicted to cigarettes,” you’re implying that you are helpless. I know everybody says we’re supposed to think of things like this as addiction, but that doesn’t do you any favors. Validate your power over smoking by saying, “I shouldn’t smoke, but I like the effect I get from it. But it’s more important that I commit to stopping.” It’s honest and closer to the truth.

Another example: “Johnny is rude and hostile. He should work through his issues.” The implication is that he can’t help his insulting behavior and attitude. If so, then what does “work” have to do with it? Perhaps it’s more accurate to say, “Johnny is rude and hostile. If he doesn’t stop, he’s going to alienate people who are important to him.” In other words, Johnny changes his behavior or he faces the consequences.

How many times have you heard somebody say, usually in reverent tones, “Please be supportive.” In reality this usually means, “Please agree with me.” If you want me to agree with you, just say so. Don’t giftwrap it in guilt by implying that not agreeing with you is failing to be supportive. Nonsense. Of course, if you ask me to agree with you and I cannot comply, I have to be honest with you. Make-believe doesn’t accomplish anything.

One of my favorite phrases is, “I’m not motivated.” When translated into reality, it means, “I’m not going to do this because I don’t feel like it.” “I’m not motivated” is just a convenient bypass around having to give a reason. In reality-speak, one could say, “I don’t see the point of doing this, and here’s why…” – a perfectly valid reason. Another way to handle not being motivated is to say, “I have weighed the pros and cons and I don’t see doing this as important enough to warrant the effort.” At least you’re being honest with yourself.

How we talk to others and to ourselves is a reflection of the way we end up acting, feeling and thinking. It’s important to listen to yourself and make sure you’re clear and consistent in what you say, think and do. And feel free to examine the words of others in the same way.

A lot of this has to do with thinking. People often ask me what a cognitive behavioral psychotherapist does, and I say that he or she invites you to look objectively at what you’re doing, saying and thinking. By subjecting your thoughts and statements to the honesty test, a skilled therapist can help you to help yourself.

Another phrase with no clear meaning is, “Get help.” More often than not, when someone says that, they’re really saying, “This person should do what I want him or her to do.” Oops … control is not the same as help. A psychotherapist can help you help yourself, but when you leave the therapy office, it’s all up to you. Therapists don’t “treat” you as if you’re a medical case, or “operate” on you to mold you into something you’re not. You mold yourself.

If you’re not getting the results you want out of life, it most probably goes back to erroneous thinking. Therapy or not, you owe it to yourself to pay attention to what you say. Remember: When you speak, you’re also listening to yourself, and it all comes down to the words.

Follow Dr. Hurd on Facebook. Search under “Michael Hurd” (Charleston SC). Get up-to-the-minute postings, recommended articles and links, and engage in back-and-forth discussion with Dr. Hurd on topics of interest. Also follow Dr. Hurd on X at @MichaelJHurd1, drmichaelhurd on Instagram, @DrHurd on TruthSocial. Dr. Hurd is also now a Newsmax Insider!