Why I Want to Have Dinner with Ivanka Trump

Troy Christensen emails:

Subject: Win Dinner with the Donald

Robert,

Here is a link to a contest to win dinner with Donald Trump.  If I win, I'll be talking about ending the Fed, Austrian Economics, and Libertarian Principals.  Here is a suggestion for your blog; post the link and an article on topics to discuss. There will be 10 winners. Perhaps one of your regular readers might win and expose some sound thinking to the Donald. I doubt it would do much good, but it could fun.

RW response:

I'm with Troy here. I don't believe that dinner with Trump would do much to change his views.

F.A. Hayek once wrote an essay titled Two Types of Mind (Chapter 3). In the essay,  he discussed two types of scientific thinkers, the "master of his subject" versus the "puzzler."

While the discussion Hayek makes in and of itself with regard to these two different types of minds is quite fascinating, the more important point may be that Hayek recognizes the general, broader point that there are different kinds of minds.

I see Trump as having the type of mind that does not think in depth in an intellectual fashion. He just does not appear to do it at all. On the other hand, he appears to have a street-smart mind that can skillfully analyze people and situations quickly and accurately on a pretty much surface, perhaps one step deep, level.

In fact, I suspect he is probably one of the greatest street hustlers to ever attempt to cut a deal on this planet.

If anyone starts talking deep intellectual theory with him, however, his eyes are likely to glaze over  and he is going to lose interest real fast because he won't be able to judge the situation the way he is able to in a "street" situation.

Talking deep theory with him would be quite a challenge.

I suspect his daughter Ivanka Trump is a deep thinker. Proper presentation of deep theory to her will result in her getting it. Here's what is interesting about this. Donald knows that in some fashion via his street-smart sense that Ivanka can think in ways he doesn't.

He normally won't trust a deep thinker because he can't understand the deep thinker and instinctively won't know whether the deep thinker should be trusted.

He trusts Ivanka and so he will listen to her deep thought conclusions (And she is probably very skilled at making her conclusions in a way her street thinking father is likely to understand).

So yeah, it would be fun to have dinner with Donald to attempt to present in some street smart fashion Austrian economics and libertarian views, but the real prize dinner would be with Ivanka. If you get your points across to Ivanka, they will be effectively delivered to Donald.

So I would really like to see the campaign run a "Dinner with Ivanka," for a libertarian that would make a lot more sense, and the campaign would probably raise more money with a "Dinner with Ivanka" promotion.

-RW