The Conquistador with His Pants Down: David Ramsay Steele’s Legendary Lost Lectures assembles fourteen of the penetrating, provocative presentations by this controversial libertarian speaker and writer. The targets of Steele’s acerbic and witty criticisms include Scott Adams, Mattias Desmet, Sigmund Freud, Sam Harris, Karl Marx, George Orwell, Jordan Peterson, Ayn Rand, and all things conventionally Wokish. Steele’s heroes encompass Immanuel Kant, Robert Michels, Ludwig von Mises, Dexter Morgan, Karl Popper, and all who, howsoever confusedly, come down on the side of liberty, truth, and unsocial justice.
“Why Do We See Lysenko-Type Mass Delusions in Western Democracies?”
We’ve learned enough to know that Global Warming Catastrophism and the mass homicide of the Covid “vaccines” are totalitarian insanities. But can Mattias Desmet’s theory fully account for these recurring outbreaks of mass psychosis?
“Here’s Why There Can Never Be a Marxist Revolution”
There are two irrefutable reasons why genuine Marxism can never succeed. But failed fake Marxism is a real threat to all of us, especially the working class.
“The Five Times George Orwell Changed His Mind”
We can best understand George Orwell’s thinking by looking at the five occasions when he underwent a major change in his political outlook.
“The Most Evil Man in History”
Ayn Rand and her slavish worshipers depict Immanuel Kant as the Fountainhead of Evil. But in point of fact, Kant was a far greater friend of liberty and objective truth than the muddleheaded Miss Rand could ever be.
“Sam Harris and How to Spot Dangerous Ideas”
Sam Harris made his fame and his fortune by claiming that suicide bombings occur because of what the Quran tells Muslims. But the truth is that suicide bombings—by Muslims, atheists, and, yes, Christians—occur because they are the most cost-effective means for militarily weak populations to hit back against oppressive foreign occupation.
“Dexter the Busy Bee”
The serial killer Dexter Morgan confers a huge social benefit by deleting bad guys, illustrating the point made by Dr. Bernard Mandeville, that viciously-motivated behavior may give us a valuable public outcome.
“The Conquistador with His Pants Down”
Dr. Sigmund Freud, who likened himself to a conquistador, marketed a deceptive story about what his patients had told him. This false tale has been thoroughly exposed, and the slippery doctor doesn’t come out smelling like a rose.
“Dr. Peterson! Clean Up Your Theory!”
Jordan Peterson is a teller of stories and of stories about stories. But his stories about stories are provably false, and his interpretations of the stories are no more than Rorschach patterns for his own subjective fantasies.
“Is It a Fact that Facts Don’t Matter?”
Scott Adams denigrates truth, yet he continually appeals to facts. And the fact is that truth is a powerful influence in human affairs.
“An Inconceivably Humble Defense of the Inconceivably Holy Book”
In the year 112,075, humankind has recovered from the latest Ice Age and founded a new religion based on an ancient book. You’ll be surprised what our future descendants make of this charming tale recovered from our time.
“Some Second Thoughts on Atheism”
The author of Atheism Explained comes back to look again at this messy topic and mop up some of the mess.
David Ramsay Steele is the author of The Mystery of Fascism: David Ramsay Steele’s Greatest Hits (2019), Orwell Your Orwell: A Worldview on the Slab (2017), Therapy Breakthrough: Why Some Psychotherapies Work Better than Others (with Michael R. Edelstein and Richard K. Kujoth, 2013), Atheism Explained: From Folly to Philosophy (2008), Three Minute Therapy: Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life (with Michael R. Edelstein, 1997), and From Marx to Mises: Post-Capitalist Society and the Challenge of Economic Calculation (1992).
Rave Reviews of Dr. Steele’s earlier books:
The Mystery of Fascism
“From Mussolini to The Matrix, from vegetarianism to mental illness, Steele’s relentless logic jolts us awake.”
—Thomas E. Woods, author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History
Orwell Your Orwell
“an absolutely dazzling book on Orwell, casting a brilliant new light, not just on Orwell himself, but on the entire intellectual history of our time.”
—Yuri Maltsev, editor of Requiem for Marx
Therapy Breakthrough
“Prepare to embark upon a rollicking yet highly informative journey through the intense world of psychotherapy!”
—Debbie Joffe Ellis, author of How to Hug a Porcupine
Atheism Explained
“Covers essentially all the arguments for and against God, in science, philosophy, and theology, with sympathy for the believer’s views even as they are shown to be untenable,”
—Victor J. Stenger, author of God and the Atom
Three Minute Therapy
“Of all the books that explain REBT in simple, clear, and highly usable form, Three Minute Therapy is one of the very best.”
—Albert Ellis, founder of REBT
From Marx to Mises
“a well written and tightly argued defense of Mises’s position that does much to dispel the ‘mystery’ of the socialist calculation debate.”
—Mark Blaug, Economic Journal
