Proudly Prodos

Perigo interviews Prodos, host of PRODOS.COM & inspiration behind the forthcoming Walk for Capitalism.

"Prodos." What sort of name is that?! Who the hell are you anyway?!

EXTREME PRODOS: (By PRODOS for GIGI)
A brief introduction to remove all doubts

I Am A nice surprise I love to be alive I love my friends and projects And every moment I strive To be Prodos In the extreme Every Year Gets better Like a great big toy store And I know that by the next Life will give me Even more than I expect. More for Prodos In the extreme I seek to shape each moment To suit my selfish plans I hope you'll do the same for YOU I hope you're very greedy too But if you need a hand Just say the word my cutie I'm quite the handy man I even dance the wahtoosie And that is a sight to-see :-) Hey, anyway, call me Prodos in the extreme I tell you all this now upfront So you will understand The explanation? It's very simple For that is also what I am 100% pure Prodos in the extreme Now have a laugh my pretty one I know I often get it wrong I often stumble (But it's never made me humble) It's never slowed me down a bit I'm bouncing back before I've even hit! I don't defy the laws of nature It's just my way of being Prodos in the extreme

Mr Cool? That isn't me Let all half measures rot I entertain I laugh I mock I dance my temperature is white hot So whether you knew it or not Now you see it Can you not? Prodos can rock In the extreme And when I fight you can be sure It's to the death The final score Will leave no doubt If the body count includes me It won't include the enemy To whom does glory reign? Glory for Prodos! The crowds go wild In the extreme Therefore to clear up any misconceptions I thought I'd share these few reflections There's more of course but it's a start It's a direction not a chart But it's very sweet That we should meet Travelling on the same moonbeam Gigi From Prodos That's me! In the extreme

When, how & why did you embrace Objectivism?

I was setting up a new synth/post-punk band in 1983 and attended a workshop on business planning to learn some helpful skills. The workshop leader, Neville Christie, wrote to me saying: "This is one of the most exciting business ideas I've ever seen. But you need better Concept Management. Read Ayn Rand!"

Prior to Objectivism I had dabbled with every philosophy and religion I could get my hands on. When I read The Fountainhead I knew, at last, I had arrived at my destination.

For me, Objectivism has been a long, hard struggle. I know for many it has come easily. But not for me. And I know I've still got so much more to learn. Hooray!

I'm not the proselytising type - not even with my radio show. Not that I'm against that sort of thing. It just isn't my cup of tea. For me, the most important thing is to achieve personal happiness and develop my own thinking skills. Being an example of rationality and happiness is the best I can offer.

Present company excepted, who has been your most enjoyable interview, & why?

My two favourite PRODOS.COM guests have been writer/activist Betsy Speicher, and philosopher Andrew Bernstein. Why? They are just absolutely delightful company, and beautiful people. And they even laugh at my jokes! :-)

Any idea how many people your programme reaches? What sort of feedback does it generate?

My show is now the most popular pro-capitalism and Pro-Ayn Rand show in the world. And the longest established - running almost continuously since March 1995.

I am the greatest. I am the best. No other show even comes close. Many thousands of listeners log on to PRODOS.COM every day.

It's impossible to keep up with my fan mail from all over the world: India, Norway, France, Japan, the UK, Israel, lots from the USA, everywhere, everybody loves PRODOS!

Why? Because PRODOS is positive, constructive, creative. Because PRODOS loves people. PRODOS gives hope. PRODOS is passionate. PRODOS enjoys life and it comes across.

PRODOS.COM is the biggest, brainiest, blockbuster show on the planet. I guarantee to bring you MORE new ideas, MORE fresh viewpoints per minute than any other programme on earth. There has never been a show like this before. It is unique, it is extraordinary. Hey, and it's free! :-)

I speak to scientists, philosophers, entrepreneurs, activists, artists, inventors from all over the world.

My general theme is "possibility thinking". I seek to open up rational possibilities. To uphold all that is glorious about living on earth.

After listening to a PRODOS show you feel: Yes! I will start my own business! Yes! I will tell her I love her! Yes! I will write my novel! Yes! I will resolve that conflict! Yes! Yes! Yes!

To Adventure and Romance!

Internet radio is a damn fine hobby, but how the hell do you make a living?

With great difficulty. I'm actually quite poor. I work as a busker ("PRODOS The Street Singer") in Melbourne and do the occasional odd job and get the occasional donation. I'm actually terrible at making or saving money.

Practically everything I do is non-profit. I work at it from morning until late at night, seven days per week. I've never taken a holiday. On the other hand, every day is lovely. Including today! :-)

When interviewing me you rushed to defend the ARI when I so much as intimated a criticism of it . ...

When my religion is attacked I go completely berserk. I can't help it. It's like I have no will of my own. But sometimes that's really great.

... As a long-haired hippy & headbanging muso you scarcely fit the "Randroid" mould, so why so defensive?

You're right. I've tried to be a Randroid, I really have. But I've failed. It's my one regret. That and Betty Messimeris, my high school love. And my dad's cheese factory. They're my only three regrets. Those three things and that I never learnt to play the piano or study ballet or join the Scouts. How I wished mum had let me join the Scouts when I was little. These six things are my only regrets apart from ...

Sorry, what was the question?

What hold do they have over you?

I get very lonely sometimes. Like, there's no one to turn to. Nowhere to run or hide. Rather than risk psychological oblivion, I chose to become a Love Slave.

To sacrifice my soul and my body in order to get the approval of those who are my intellectual and moral superiors. I am thrilled by their aggressive style and their cheeky grins and short, hip-hugging skirts.

And, quite frankly, I think it's more hygenic than many other forms of "recreation".

Being a Love Slave isn't for everyone. But golly it sure works for me!!

The history of the ARI - the Anal-Retentive Institute as I like to call it ...

Ha ha ha. That's funny BECAUSE it's true, isn't it?! I've NEVER ever heard it called that before. Seriously. You're the FIRST person in all my life who's ever had the GUTS to stand up to those oppressive bastards!

... is a horror story of intrinsicist religiosity,

That's why I really feel RELAXED now that David Kurly's The Orifice Center (as I like to call it) has been set up. It's like the pressure's off baby.

You know, I used to get so uptight! Is this moral? Am I using my so-called "rational" faculty? Does this correspond to reality? Blah, blah, blah, goo, goo, gah, gah.

Oh please, give me a break man! Remove the condom from your mind! Why can't we just be ourselves? Sorry. I meant "ourselves" (quote marks added). Yeah! Instead of denying our nudity and trying to play act some ultra-rugged-mega-hyperbolic-super-robot?

It's unreal. It's impossible. It can't be done. You can't MAKE me do it!! Look, I just have one word of advice for those "ARIan" (hee hee) types:

"Groove baby!"

Get it?

Start of thinking: Is it okay to use words like "cool"? It might be useful to attract a younger, teenage audience, and boost magazine circulation. Or maybe I could say "friggin cool". Yeah, that would suggest a certain risque rock and roll kind of attitude. End of thinking.

You know something Lindsay? I think it would be friggin cool to do something amazing. Don't you?

Start of thinking: God, that was awful. Maybe they won't notice. Maybe I could get Lindsay to put up lots of photos. People really like looking at photos! I know I do! Especially photos of me!! End of thinking.

... presided over by such talentless jerks as Schwartz & Binswanger & the talented but hapless Leonard. ...

Ooh, interesting!

To All Free Radical Readers:

What does the above statement tell us about Lindsay Perigo? Please write to me now and tell me what YOU think!

e.g. Where is Lindsay coming from? How informed or ignorant is he? Does such a comment seem hysterical/defensive/bitter or calm/objective/benevolent? Is it consistent or inconsistent with the Objectivist "Sense of Life"? Does it take a lot of talent to make such a statement or just a little bit? Does he sound happy or angry? Fair or bitchy? Thoughtful or muddled?

Have a go! Describe the man who presides over the Free Radical in your own words!

Email me now on: AboutLindsay@prodos.com

Thanks!

... Why would you wish to be their puppet?

I can't really explain it. But I suppose puppets aren't that ehm bright are they? LOL. I send these guys money, I read their essays, buy their tapes. I mean it's like an addiction. I have no control over it. As a puppet I suppose that's not surprising.

They send me their scripts and strict instructions and I follow them to the best of my meagre ability.

Ha ha ha (nervous laugh) Ha ha ha (another, but not as loud.)

At one point in that interview I turned the tables & asked YOU a question: Why is there so little libertarian (oops, sorry!) sentiment in Australia ...

Oops, the "L" word! Let me put it this way ...

THE 'L' WORD (By PRODOS FOR LINDSAY PERIGO)

I'm a little nigger boy Married to a spick But she's a dirty little wog So when a Slope Head ate her dog And some drunken Abos banged her I explained that these were only words No need to get "Defensive" or angered! Did it make a difference? When I spoke was she listening Or even caring? Of course! Because now she is my favourite Little scumbag libertarian!

... where people are supposed to resent being pushed around, & so much, relatively, in little old New Zealand, notoriously populated by "sheeple," as I like to call them? Any further thoughts on that since?

You think the good and thoughtful people of New Zealand are "sheeple"? Mindless pack animals? No way. I've lived with many Kiwis over the years. And my best mate is a Kiwi, now living in Australia. New Zealanders are one of the most resourceful, enterprising, independent people in the world. I don't like them being knocked.

If I make cars and people don't buy my cars, does that make people idiots? Or does it suggest that my design and/or marketing is inadequate? Pehaps I haven't done my homework? See my point son?

Regarding Australia, we see some very bad trends: Smoking banned from cafes and restaurants, Anti-free market regulation on the rise, more protectionism, the left getting bolder every day, more nihilistic anti capitalist demonstrations, and so on.

But keep in mind that the actions of today are the result of the ideas of *yesterday*. They don't necessarily tell us that much about today's ideas!

Australia's two greatest champions of laissez-faire are PRODOS.COM and Gerry Jackson's "The New Australian" (Gerry is a Catholic by the way.)

One of the most extraordinary things that the WalkForCapitalism project has done is to give an indication of the ENORMOUS hold Ayn Rand's ideas have around the world!

Currently we have 58 coordinators around the globe. Nearly every single one of them is a keen Ayn Rand fan!

It's a tough battle ahead, but with Ayn Rand at our side, I am hopeful that victory will be ours.

In Australia you face the imminent prospect of a Labour Government. Could it be much worse than the weasel-worded appeasement of John Howard's Liberals?

Personally, I don't get that excited about politics or politicians. I don't think they're that relevant. At least not to the work that I do.

Your "Walk for Capitalism" idea is as magnificent as it is ambitious. Plug it now, shamelessly. Where, when, why, who?

PRODOS Invites YOU to WalkForCapitalism on D2 I address every freedom-loving man and woman of Reason across the world. I extend a hand of friendship and support to the Creators and Producers of the world and call upon all defenders of the good to join this first-ever global rally FOR Capitalism - http://WalkForCapitalism.ORG. On D2 - December 02 - we strike the FIRST of a series of death blows to the nihilists and statists (of both the socialist and fascist variety) around the world. We will take away their "Divine Right to Rule". And we will pound them into the ground. D2 is D-day for the Destroyers. Our weapons are not violence, hatred, envy, and evasion. For those are the tools of craven cowards and hypocrites. They are the methods which our enemy embraces so desperately. And they represent incontrovertible PROOF of their intellectual and moral bankruptcy!! Their every ridiculous chant, and every act of sneering violence show them to be utterly empty and stupid. We will expose and destroy the Destroyers! How? By using the ultimate power. The ultimate weapon. Reason. Yes, this is the power our enemy lacks. That is WHY they resort to the methods we have been witnessing around the globe. From Melbourne to Genoa. From Seattle to Gothenburg. In sharp contrast, we will reach out across the globe to the productive and creative, to those benevolent souls who love life and respect human values and universal individual rights. Most importantly - And I repeat: MOST importantly - on D2, we will uphold and celebrate the moral and practical glory of CAPITALISM. This is NOT a counterprotest. D2 will be a proud and POSITIVE declaration of support for free trade and free thinking. In every major city around the world we will "Walk" with: Ayn Rand, Fredrik Bastiat, John Locke, Ludgwig Von Mises, Thomas Jefferson, and all the great thinkers and activists for freedom and prosperity. We will offer the grand ideas of these giants to all good men and women around the world. And we will be the friend and ally of all creators, producers, and builders - whether poets, entrepreneurs, teachers, scientists, doctors, inventors, workers, or football players. We will fight and we will win! Will you join us? Do you reject the inherent stagnation, hypocrisy, and corruption of statism? Will you step forward? Will you declare your proud, personal, passionate allegiance to: free trade, free thinking, technology, private property, individual rights, and human happiness? In every major city around the world we will stand up and declare: "I own my life!" It does not belong to the state. It does not belong to the "community". I will not be held hostage, intimidated, or paralysed into submission by anti-capitalist thugs or power-lusting bureaucrats. You know it's true. You know it's right. Now, let's Walk the Talk! Walk FOR Capitalism on D2! http://WalkForCapitalism.ORG - "Let's Walk!"

Aside from the promotion of reason, freedom & capitalism, what gets Prodos' juices flowing?

I adore women and romance, writing and performing my songs to people - whether in rock concerts or on the streets of Melbourne or Paris.

Listen to a selection of my work @ http://Adventure-and-Romance.COM

I really luuuuv to party! Loud music, dancing, lots of people to talk to and have a laugh with.

As Andrew Bernstein said on my show once: "Other people are my second highest value!"

Your picks for the future - yours, Australia's, the world's?

CAPITALISM AND THE GYPSY IN ME (BY PRODOS FOR LINDSAY PERIGO)

I would like to beat my drum Meet my friends in Oslo and London I would like to pop some corks In California and New York I would like to kiss some girls Tell some jokes, sing my songs From Havana to Hong Kong I would like to grasp your reasons Laugh with the Kiwis and Parisians Oh dearest friend wherever you are I hope we'll meet and work together And reach across the seven seas For freedom and prosperity For capitalism! And the gypsy in me

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