I certainly appreciate the concept of non-violence and agree that many (and likely most) situations can be resolved in this matter, but (and I assume you will agree) there are some situations in which swift and violent action is the only way to prevent the innocent from being harmed. Examples of such scenarios include home…
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.
Remember, Remember the 5th of November
As the 5th of November dawns and we remember the “gunpowder treason and plot,” I can’t help but muse about the ethics of intentionally killing politicians or other government officials. Was Guy Fawkes’ justified in attempting to blow up Parliament? If so, would similar actions be justified in the present day? It’s easy to pretend…
The Costs of Prohibition
The state destroys wealth and wastes human initiative by forcing individuals to spend time and money endeavoring to circumvent unnatural impediments to the market instituted by the state. Recently state enforcers seized a tunnel equipped with electricity, ventilation and a rail system that connected San Diego, California, to Tijuana, Mexico. This tunnel was allegedly built…
The “Nuclear Option”?
Last week, American-Jewish billionaire Sheldon Adelson suggested that the US military should drop a nuclear bomb in the middle of the Iranian desert in order to show Iran that they mean business. He further suggested that the next bomb be dropped on Tehran if Iran refuses to comply with US demands. Now I understand that…
Belts, Hairbrushes, and Shock Collars
There is a story in the news today about a Connecticut couple who are facing charges after forcing a 9-year-old girl “in their care” to wear an electric shock collar designed for dogs and to bark like a dog so that it would shock her. The couple was allegedly “upset about the girl’s school progress.”…
Leviathan and its Enforcers
People are finally waking up to the realities of the growing (and already well-established) police state that this country and many others have become, but they by and large still don’t seem to grasp that it is not just the tools and training of the enforcers that are to blame, but also the nature of…
Forts or Prisons?
One point that might be worth making to the anti-immigration conservatives is that the difference between a border designed to keep people out and a border designed to keep people in is really not all that significant. I have stated in the past that ‘the only real difference between a fort and a prison is…
The Property Paradigm
I’m becoming increasingly convinced that there are really only two camps of people in the political and philosophical worlds: Those who recognize the reality of private property and those who support force and theft. Ultimately, statists don’t truly believe in private property (no matter how much they may extol the virtues of “capitalism”) because they…
Re: On GMO Labeling
It strikes me as somewhat arbitrary to declare that “a genetically-modified carrot is no longer a carrot.” What about a crossbreed carrot? Would that also be sufficient grounds for a civil suit for “mislabeling” a product? Thanks to government, we have seen all manner of this nonsense which is why we have “cheese food” instead…
Theft and Hypocrisy
Those who support government theft and redistribution in any form or for any reason can hardly claim to be indignant when that principle of plunder is extended to include goods or services they consider unnecessary or excessive. Republicans, in particular, are frequently guilty of this hypocrisy. How many Republicans who have recently mocked ‘Obama phones’…