Nobody asked but … This past Spring, while I was the organizer of a discussion group on philosophy, a groupmate hit me with a question for which I had an immediate answer. She asked, cordially and sincerely, “what do you know?” My fast response was, “very little.” I have done a great deal of thinking…
Author: Kilgore Forelle
Expertocracy / Idiotocracy
Nobody asked but … Carl Sagan Technology Quotes The same can be said for logic, empathy, history, philosophy, spirituality, morality, … voluntaryism. The one thing that a large part of humanity can understand is self-ownership. We all have to be confronted with it. It is inevitable from birth. The better ones of us learn the…
Words Poorly Used #65 — Argument
Argument is a badly misunderstood word, usually conflated with quarreling and pissing contests. In its classic sense arguing is when 1 or more people examine facts, logic, probability, and observations to pursue truth. A good argument poses a hypothetical truth, then seeks to support that truth. Whether the hypothesis is supported or not, the truth…
Modern Libertarianism
Nobody asked but … I ran across this in Lew’s intro to Murray Rothbard’s For A New Liberty … … modern libertarianism, a political-ideological system that proposes a once-and-for-all escape from the trappings of left and right and their central plans for how state power should be used. Libertarianism is the radical alternative that says…
Islands
Nobody asked but … BI Southeast BI North Prison islands and kidnapper retreat islands excepted, going to an island is supremely voluntaristic. My wife and I are celebrating Mother’s Day/our 49th Anniversary on Block Island, Rhode Island. Although the range of freedoms we may take are bounded by the sea (until our return ferry sails…
Lifeboats
Nobody asked but … Lifeboat scenarios are by definition, statistically meaningless, extremely unlikely in probability, useless in practicality. Central planners need not apply. Every individual, in every place and time, must make choices, even in the face of boundless unforeseen consequences. kilgore
Words Poorly Used #64 — Post-Scarcity
On the day that Cate Blanchett calls me on Skype to propose marriage, I will reconsider the concept of post-scarcity. Kilgore
The Fallacy Fallacy
Nobody asked but … We might even call this fallacy the Facebook Fallacy. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. One will frequently see another person post in a thread on Facebook, “That’s an ‘Appeal to Authority!’” or a citation of another logic fallacy. So what? An appeal to authority in form is not necessarily…
Government and Voluntaryism
Nobody asked but … If we decide that Government of an appropriate size and Voluntaryism are both economic goods, how shall we proceed to construct non-corrupted versions of each? With any two people government and voluntary agreement are one, because any departure would be a corruption — any instance of a disagreement converted to an…
Moving On
Nobody asked but … Here in the Bluegrass, we are currently weathering one of our annular kerfuffles. Seven of the gladiators for the Kentucky Wildcats basketball team declared a surrender of their college athletic eligibility to seek their fortunes in the National Basketball Association (NBA). This is, by the way, record-setting both for the school…