Friedman leveled the poignant question to Burgis on what would happen to he and his friends if they practiced capitalism (one of them hiring the others for a wage) under his socialist system. Predictably, Burgis kept dodging the question.
Category: Two Cents
On Racism
I just read a fantastic essay from 2017 on racism by Slate Star Codex titled, “Against Murderism”. I highly recommend it and was intellectually tickled by how it ended.
On Individualism
I’m reading a terrific anthology of individualist thought edited by George H. Smith and Marilyn Moore. One essay was written by Oscar Wilde and focuses on individualism being the least selfish among alternatives. Let me put it this way: I am an individualist first, voluntaryist second.
On Exploitation
There’s a very simple test you can apply to determine whether or not a market transaction is exploitative: If the transaction is made voluntarily and offers a better alternative to the parties involved, the transaction is not exploitative; If the transaction is made coercively and offers a worse alternative to one of the parties involved, the transaction is exploitative.
On Conversion Therapy
Radicals on the left and the right want to push youth through their own versions of conversion therapy. The right want to force gay conversion on youths so as to fix their minds to match their bodies. The left want to force body conversion on youths so as to fix their bodies to match their minds. Neither seem interested in helping youth feel comfortable with the minds and bodies they were born with.
On Social Media
I can’t for the life of me figure out why or how social media companies like Facebook and Twitter have any obligation to ensure that government elections remain “pure” or unadulterated.
On Socialism
As most economists and political scientists agree, capitalism is “the private ownership of the means of production” and socialism is “the public/state ownership of the means of production.”
On Radical Woke Feminism
Alright I’m calling it: Dworkian feminism will marry racial wokeness and conclude that I am a racist rapist because my wife has more melanin in her skin than me.
On Capitalism IV
It’s vogue these days to claim that capitalism is responsible for the suffering and deaths of more lives than has been communism or socialism.
On Facemasks
I’m not currently wearing a facemask when outside my house, working and what not, nor do I plan on doing so. For me, it’s quite selfish and I may be a murderous asshole for it, but I don’t think so.