Dave Filiberti

Name, Major, Year?
Ben Isserlis, first year Computer Science major. Where are you from originally? Around Syracuse. I’ve lived in Manlius (which is south of Syracuse) since I was five.

So what’s with the pink hair?
I need something so that people recognize me; and this really gets a lot of people to stop and take a second look. It also helps my professors learn my name at some point.

How many colors have you dyed it?
I started with blonde, went to blue, which sort of faded to grey… I don’t know if that counts. I purposely dyed it pink, dyed it red and it’s gone to pink, dyed it purple and it’s gone to pink, and dyed it blue a couple of times. I think that’s about it.

What sets you apart from others?
I’m pretty radical, politically. Right now, I’m going through a phase of Agorism. It’s sort of like anarchical capitalism, but with a nicer spin. Not revolutionary with violence, but more so that a black market could potentially phase out the need for a government. I’m anti-authoritarian.

Did you grow up in a political family?
Not really. My mother and father are both Republicans, but when speaking to them, they don’t really know why. They want lower taxes and that doesn’t seem to be what the Republicans are doing.

What other beliefs are import ant to you?
I believe in universal ethical egoism, that everyone should make choices that are good for them, but not interfere in any one else’s life. I’ve read a lot of Ayn Rand, but I’m not really an objectivist. [Also] I’d say that I’m a strong agnostic.

...Yet not atheist?
A strong agnostic and an atheist are pretty much the same thing, but I don’t really like the term “atheism” because I don’t see a lot of religions as having a lot of credibility in the first place. I’m all about logic, so it sort of seems rational that you can’t prove that there is or is not God, so it’s fair to operate as if there isn’t one.

Is that how you were raised?
Well, it’s sort of interesting, because my father is Jewish and my mother’s Christian. Technically, according to both religions, I should have been raised Christian. So I always felt that my upbringing as a Jew was more for political reasons within the family because my father’s family is rather domineering and my mother was always trying to get in good with them. So I went to Hebrew school for a while, finally had my Bah Mitzvah, and stopped going. So I drifted away from that.

What do you do in your spare time?
That’s a good question. I go to a lot of events here, listen to music, watch movies—typical young adult things.