Headlines in Idaho declared that Blake Edmund Cody was guilty of a most heinous crime — he tried to grab an officer’s gun during a fight! Mr. Cody, you see, had the misfortune of being the passenger in a vehicle whose driver failed to obey a traffic sign. Predictably, this victimless act on the part…
Author: Parrish Miller
Parrish Miller has worked as a web designer, policy analyst, blogger, journalist, digital media manager, and social media marketing consultant. Having been largely cured of his political inclinations, he now finds philosophy more interesting than politics and is focused particularly on alternative ideas such as counter-economics, agorism, voluntaryism, and unschooling.
The Minimum Wage is Just More Government Coercion
Those who advocate an increase in the minimum wage (particularly a drastic increase) are either economically illiterate or they secretly want to destroy the economy. Either way they are enemies of the free market and individual liberty. The minimum wage is a government-imposed price floor on the commodity known as unskilled labor. (Of course there…
What If…?
Some are now giving credit to the “militia” who showed up at Cliven Bundy’s besieged Nevada ranch this weekend for turning back the federal enforcers, but I’m afraid I remain unconvinced. What would have happened if the gang of tax-fattened government hitmen had actually unleashed the fury of their amassed weapons of war against the…
Should “Criminals” be Disarmed?
I frequently find myself discussing the issue of who should be allowed to “keep and bear arms.” Most people (even those who claim to be “pro-gun”) support disarming at least some people — often those who have been previously convicted of committing a “crime.” Unsurprisingly to those who know me, I don’t support restricting this…
A Simple Request
In my experience the primary reason why individuals reject libertarian philosophy is because they are unwilling to tolerate the notion that free people may engage in activity of which they don’t approve. They imagine that the world would be “better” without gambling, alcohol, drugs, pornography, prostitution, violent video games, guns, knives, single-parent households, trans fats,…
No Justice for Kelly Thomas
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Manuel Ramos and Jay Cicinelli, the two uniformed thugs who beat a homeless man to death, were today found not guilty of all charges. Inexplicably, the man whose life they ended is still dead, however…. How is it possible that an unarmed man ends up dead after a vicious beating, but those cretins…
A False Equivalency
When libertarians talk about criminal justice reform, we often draw a distinction between real crime and “victimless crime.” The term is actually an oxymoron, however, as an act that does not victimize another cannot be a crime. What we are referring to are voluntary actions that do not harm anyone against their will, but which…
The Ethics of Torture
NOTE: This blog post contains mild spoilers for the 2013 Hugh Jackman movie “Prisoners.” An intriguing movie on many levels, “Prisoners” sets up a very thought-provoking scenario in which the father of a kidnapped girl has extremely strong evidence that a particular suspect is guilty of or at least involved in the kidnapping. The evidence…
Re: If Libertarianism Is Such a Great System
To argue that libertarianism/statelessness is invalid because it’s never been adopted (on a large scale) is similar to arguing that trying to find a cure for cancer is foolish because we’ve never lived in a world without it. When something (be it cancer or the state) has been consistently shown to be destructive and to…
Theft is Never Justified
Theft is despicable. I’m not saying that it’s necessarily worse than assault or murder, but while those actions may be the result of elevated passions in the heat of the moment, theft rarely is. Theft is a cold, calculated act designed to deprive an individual of their owned property. Perhaps the only thing more contemptible…