The earliest use of writing was strictly commercial and economic, not political or bureaucratic. It was trade, entrepreneurship, and stewardship of private property, not politics, “public education” or the creation of national mythology that allowed humankind to transition from prehistory to history.
Author: Jakub B. Wiśniewski
“You are what you value. I value: individual liberty, economic common sense, logical rigour, clarity of thought, intellectual integrity and quiet charity.”
All Wealth is Ultimately Spiritual, as is All Poverty
Prosperity treated as a gift to be nurtured becomes a blessing. Prosperity treated as a right to be enjoyed becomes a curse.
Anarcho-Capitalism and Economic Development
Anarcho-capitalism is not a utopian vision, but the natural future of a world that is increasingly ungovernable due to its ever-increasing economic mobility, social complexity, and entrepreneurial emancipation.
The Cultural Expression of Social Cooperation
So-called multiculturalism – understood as a purely voluntary phenomenon – is simply the cultural expression of social cooperation based on productive specialization and division of labor, which is bound to take on an increasingly important role in a globalized, human-capital-based economy.
Statism is an Unmistakable Measure of Social Vice
Every step in the direction of nationalism is an implicit admission of low self-esteem. Every step in the direction of protectionism is an implicit admission of low work ethic. And every step in the direction of statism is an implicit admission of generally low character.
Neo-Luddism as the Paradigm of Misanthropy
The ultimate goal of automation and mechanization is to reach the state where all automatic tasks are performed by automata and all mechanical tasks are performed by mechanisms, which will finally allow humans to focus on specifically human tasks, requiring specifically human skills, talents, and dispositions. Thus, the neo-Luddite claim that bringing those processes to their ultimate conclusion will condemn humankind to permanent idleness is one of the most insultingly misanthropic and demoralizing claims imaginable. After all, it is the claim that a human being can be productive only as an inferior replacement for a machine, but not as a being focused on fulfilling his specifically human potential.
Old and New Statism and Ways to Defeat Them
The ancient state consolidated its power by destroying the dignity of its victims, by demanding that they grovel in the dirt before the “god-king” and pay him endless tributes. The modern state consolidates its power by allowing its victims to destroy their dignity themselves, by helping them to parasitize on each other until they all hate themselves as much as they hate one another.
Bad vs. Worse: Welfare Statism and Tribal Statism
Practically no one believes that so-called welfare states have the right to invade non-welfare states and remake them in their image, so that no one in the world is deprived of state welfare. Likewise, practically no one believes that so-called welfare states have the right to impose special taxes on their citizens with the purpose of creating welfare state systems in those countries that cannot afford to do so by themselves.
Liberty, Morality, and Intellectual Responsibility
The relationship between liberty and morality can be described briefly in the following manner: morality without liberty is impossible, and liberty without morality is very fragile.
Christmas, Social Civility, and Spiritual Harmony
It is generally understood that since the Christmas atmosphere is defined by the mood of peace, reconciliation, and forgiveness, the surest way to spoil it is to politicize it. In other words, it is generally understood that politics is the antithesis of peace, reconciliation, and forgiveness.