Episode 452 has Skyler giving his commentary on the following questions from Quora: he starts the episode with a complaint against Quora for banning it’s most prolific author, Dennis Pratt; “How do Libertarians intend to implement/enforce the NAP?”; “Libertarians, what do you make of the argument that taxation isn’t theft because you are able to choose your representatives, so either choose ones that disagree with taxation as well or start your own political party?”; and “What is a simple explanation of libertarianism?”
Author: Skyler J. Collins (Editor)
Founder and editor of Everything-Voluntary.com and UnschoolingDads.com, Skyler is a husband and unschooling father of three beautiful children. His writings include the column series “One Voluntaryist’s Perspective” and “One Improved Unit,” and blog series “Two Cents“. Skyler also wrote the books No Hitting! and Toward a Free Society, and edited the books Everything Voluntary and Unschooling Dads. You can hear Skyler chatting away on his podcasts, Everything Voluntary and Thinking & Doing.
Tidy Home, Conspiracy Theorists, Anticipation and Happiness, & Steelmanning (21m) – Episode 055
Episode 055 looks at keeping a tidy room (and home) by removing one or two items that don’t belong every time you leave; asking someone to explain their conspiracy theory in detail in order for them to see its holes themselves; the difference between excitement from anticipation and your long-term happiness; and the value in asking your discussion or debate partner to explain the other side as well as they can (steelmanning).
Shepard Returns, Redneck Hooligans, Humor, Propaganda, & Prison (1h3m) – Episode 451
Episode 451 welcomes back Shepard the Voluntaryist to chat with Skyler on the following topics: sitting on the sideline during political uncertainty; trying on different colored glasses to see the world more clearly; JP Sears success and using comedy to fight the state; Washington DC redneck hooliganism; the outpouring of propaganda through 2020 and 2021; uncontrolled kids becoming uncontrollable adults and untraumatized kids becoming peaceful adults; making peace with going to prison for frivolous and arbitrary reasons; defending yourself with surety bonds, challenging jurisdiction, petroleum jelly, or whatever you can to stop their attack on your peaceful behavior; making the most of being a prisoner, recognizing your sphere of control; dealing with prisoner politics in various ways; the perseverance of the 1st and 2nd Amendments, or rather, the perseverance of the American cultural commitment to free speech, free religion, peaceable assembly, and bearing arms; and more.
Jim C. Returns, Surviving 2020, Living is Learning, & TV Recommendations (56m) – Episode 450
Episode 450 welcomes back Jim Carigan to chat with Skyler on the following topics: surviving 2020 in Kentucky; living is learning; facial hair; memorable years in his life comparable to 2020; his Yankee mom and Dixiecrat dad; comparing mask mandates to the Vietnam War draft; recent attention on Federal spending; long term view of the effects of money inflation; 80% of humanity are meat puppets, 80% of the remaining have screwed themselves up, and the remaining 4% of humanity are “with it”, and even they disagree among themselves about good and evil; television show recommendations: PBS’s “Line of Separation”, HBO’s “Chernobyl”, Netflix’s “The Crown”, and Prime Video’s “The Expanse”; and more.
Your Actual Needs are Small & The Pressure of Time (27m) – Episode 054
Episode 054 looks at two Stoic topics: the first from Seneca who wrote, “Nothing can satisfy greed, but even a small measure satisfies nature. So it is that the poverty of an exile brings no misfortune, for no place of exile is so barren as not to produce ample support for a person.”; and the second from r/Stoicism, a post by Ok_Intern_4405, which started, “I’m in my late twenties and I feel I am constantly pressuring myself to make good use of time, whether it is a conscious decision or not. I imagine a number of you could relate. Maybe it’s the rat race that has gotten into me, I’m not sure. But looking at the success of my peers, I can’t help but feel the need to not waste any second of my life.”
Washington Shitshow, Good People, Radio vs. Streaming, & GPS Speed Limiters (26m) – Episode 449
Episode 449 has Skyler giving his commentary on the following entries to r/unpopularopinion: his own commentary on the January 6th events in Washington DC; GNU_Yorker writes, “Good people still outnumber bad people by a monstrous amount”; CainKilledAbleton writes, “Listening to radio when driving is better than music streaming”; and flammmes writes, “Cars should have speed limiters that communicate with GPS signal to update the limiter according to the road’s limit.”
Walter Block: Defending the Pimp (6m)
This episode features an audio essay written by economics professor and Austro-libertarian Walter Block from 1976, and which comprises Chapter 2 of Defending the Undefendable.
Millennial Socialism, Teachers’ Strike, Fat Capitalist Bezos, & Work or Die (26m) – Episode 448
Episode 448 has Skyler giving his commentary on the following entries to r/shitstatistssay: @NathanHRubin writes, “Millennials don’t hear socialism & think about the USSR or the Cold War… we think about Canada, Switzerland…”; PixPls writes, “It’s time that teachers stood up to their states and just said ‘No’. And while they are at it, a 20% raise is in order.”; Wordsmifff2991 writes, “The biggest cause of poverty is greed… Yes Jeff Bezos I’m talking to you.”; and NeonDepression writes, “There wouldn’t be any value without labor period. The worker HAS to create it for there to be any wealth whatsoever. Property inherently is theft… There is no such thing as a free market when people are forced to work in order to live. Thats called coercion.”
Avian Flu, Elected Transgender Women, Macron on Brexit, Pedophile Castration, & Pope Francis (30m) – Episode 447
Episode 447 has Skyler giving his commentary on the following news stories: from IndianExpress.com, “Avian flu confirmed: 1,800 migratory birds found dead in Himachal”; from PinkNews.co.uk, “Two trans women win election in historic moment for LGBT+ visibility in India” (Wikipedia.org, “LGBT themes in Hindu mythology”); from reddit.com, “Brexit a product of ‘lies and false promises’, Macron says in New Year’s message”; from JakartaGlobe.id, “Child Predators to be Chemically Castrated Under New Regulation”; and from TheGuardian.com, “Pope condemns travelling abroad to escape coronavirus lockdowns” (YouTube / Ivor Cummins, “Crucial Viral Update Jan 4th – Europe and USA – Covers it ALL”).
The Zero-Sum Fallacy & Gambler’s Fallacy (18m) – Episode 053
Episode 053 looks at the Zero-Sum Fallacy and the Balancing Force of the Universe, or Gambler’s Fallacy, cognitive bias.