Episode 390 has Skyler giving his commentary on the following entries to r/shitstatistssay: RustNeverSleeps77 writes, “Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend shot at them, and they returned fire. It was reasonable self-defense…” (Full thread here.); Foucelhas writes, “Modern capitalism would not exist without slavery and genocide.”; DoverBoys writes, “You’re supposed to pay taxes. You’re not ‘smart’ to get away with paying little, you’re just cheating the system. A real supporter of their country would pay taxes. That’s what makes countries work.”; Aditya writes, “We as a society can’t live in a vaccum and isolated from each other (unless you are a part of some tribe living in Andaman or Amazon). Some things are best provided collectively, for they are cheaper and efficient that way.”
Tag: taxation
Trump’s $750 Payment to Society’s Enemy
Am I bothered that Donald Trump only “paid” $750 in taxes in some specific years? That’s like asking if I’m bothered that some billionaire only donated $750 to ISIS, Antifa, or to the KKK.
ARK3 Returns, Income Tax Fraud, Libertarians, & Intellectual Property (1h4m) – Episode 384
Episode 384 welcomes back Alex R. Knight III to chat with Skyler on the following topics: Ruth Bader Ginsburg and nominating new Supreme Court justices in an election year; Biden and presidential debates; origins of political party colors red and blue; meeting Harry Browne; The Law That Never Was by Bill Benson and the 16th Amendment (income taxation); Cracking the Code by Peter Hendrickson; Irwin Schiff and income taxation fraudulence by the US Federal Government; the difference between libertarians and modern conservatives / modern liberals; government interference in market relationships; nonvoting and culpability for bad politicians; private censorship and when it becomes aggressive; historical capitalism verse free markets; intellectual property disagreements; and more.
I Have No Tolerance for Bureaucracy
Unwanted bureaucracy steals your time as surely as taxation steals your money. Bureaucracy and taxation usually go together.
Public Choice: The Normative Core
The economic analysis of politics goes by many names: political economy, rational choice theory, formal political theory, social choice, economics of governance, endogenous policy theory, and public choice. Each of these labels picks out a subtly different intellectual tradition. Each tradition expands our understanding of the world. My favorite, though, remains public choice.
Silence Is Not Consent in Politics, Either
When you undergo a medical procedure or volunteer for a research study, you’re presented with forms to sign, outlining what’s going to happen (and what bad things could happen), and expressly consenting to have those things happen. If you’re accused of rape, “he or she didn’t physically resist” isn’t an acceptable defense. In fact, express consent is the emerging standard, sometimes to seemingly ridiculous degrees (i.e. re-requesting consent at each stage of an encounter). Consent, I think we can agree, is a big deal in America today.
Misplaced Hate Regarding Healthcare
I imagine most government healthcare advocates have the best of intentions, but it’s hard to view such individuals as noble and caring when their main (and often only) proposition to help the poor is to force other people to do it.
Starlink and “Pollution”
I have gone out at night and watched Starlink satellites pass overhead. Most of the time they were too dim for me to see. A few times I was able to see the “train”– a string of satellites following one another across the sky– with some success. It’s rather interesting to see and even beautiful in a way. But, even though I really like antique stuff made of brass, bone, wood, leather, and glass, I’m not a Luddite.
Freedom is Subjective
If you live in a cage, eat only the slugs and rats you can catch, wrap yourself in newspapers the wind blows in (when the wind brings you newspaper), sit in your own waste, and totally rely on someone else to decide everything that happens to you, and this is exactly how you want to live, you are completely free.
Balanced Imagination
There are people who have no imagination. They can’t imagine anything but what is right in front of them right now. Then there are those with overactive imaginations. They imagine– or fall for– everything, regardless of whether it’s possible or realistic. And many people exhibit both conditions simultaneously, but it depends on what you’re talking about at the moment.