Editor’s 106 has Skyler giving his commentary on the following topics: swear words, their playful and hateful uses, and the importance of intent; the possibility of believing in God and a short introduction to ignosticism; several reasons for his abstention from participating in electoral politics; and more.
Day: November 5, 2018
On Sweatshops
A very simple thought experiment should demonstrate the absurdity in the belief that so-called “sweatshops” are evil. Imagine for a moment the likely outcome of any given sweatshop, anywhere in the world, being closed down.
“Sanction”: The Triumph of Ayn Rand’s Worst Idea
Ayn Rand is widely hated. Indeed, if you made a list of thinkers that people “love to hate,” she’d be near the top of the list. Liberals hate her. Conservatives hate her. Socialists hate her. Indeed, plenty of libertarians hate her. It’s hardly surprising, then, that she has not been broadly influential. While she has…
Usability II
We tend to see any scenario in one of two ways. The average, or normalized, case versus the most recent exceptional case. We tend to think of these as mutually exclusive but of more or less equal importance. When we encounter a new exception, we might replace the old exception. We will either discard the old exception, or normalize it into the average case. We still are left with two views.
Government Obstructions on Importation and Immigration Are Parallel Forms of Plunder
When the government imposes tariffs or import quotas, it harms a few foreigners — exporting producers and their workers mainly — but it harms far more people in the country with these trade obstructions, who suffer an absence of superior options or face higher prices for the imported types of goods on the domestic market owing to lessened competition.
Ethics 101: Reciprocity
People have been arguing about how to deal with ideas of right and wrong for a very long time. Even now, reasonable people sometimes disagree about where exactly to draw the ethical line on some complex issues. After all, the world is a complicated place. That being said, one idea has emerged over and over again in the quest to understand right and wrong from essentially every cultural, religious, and philosophical tradition: the ethic of reciprocity.
There’s No Place Like Home
Do you only have rights when on your own real estate? What if you don’t own any real estate? Do you then have no rights? That seems to be the implication.