Unclear thinking creates unclear communication. The majority of “debates” I see consist of one person saying something (whether true or false, smart or stupid), followed by someone else misunderstanding and/or misrepresenting what the first one said, and then flinging back something logically irrelevant. I see two main causes of this.
Category: Most Dangerous Superstition
When Practicality Looks in the Mirror
I can’t count how many times, or in how many ways, statists have tried to justify the violent authoritarian domination they advocate by saying that they’re only being “practical” and “realistic.” And that’s it. That’s their entire argument.
Following One Principle Would Abolish Violence and Injustice
I’ve said this before, but it’s worth repeating, loudly and often: Most of the world’s problems would disappear overnight if people lived by the following principle.
Only Behaving “Good” Because Government Says To?
One of the creepiest things about statism is that it seems to actually convince a bunch of otherwise good, rational people that if there were not a political ruling class telling them how to behave, that they themselves wouldn’t behave as they should.
“Protecting Our Freedoms” is as Real as Santa Claus
Are we to believe that, if not for U.S. soldiers mindless terrorizing people on the other side of the world, some band of militants from some third world dictatorship would have conquered, enslaved and oppressed 300,000,000 Americans, 100,000,000 of whom are armed? The implication is idiotic, yet countless “patriotic” Americans proudly repeat the fairy tale on a regular basis.
State Services Will Always Be a Crappy Deal
Aside from all the immorality of state coercion, “government” services will always be a crappy deal, for a very simple economic reason – so simple that it’s kind of pathetic it even needs to be explained.
Why Consolidating Force is a Stupid Idea
You can’t just wish away the capacity for violence. Nor can you deprive aggressors of the means of violence except by way of good people having the ability and willingness to use defensive force. You, personally, don’t have the right or the ability to decide which of the other several billion people on the planet possess the means to use force, including deadly force. And feeling anxiety about that doesn’t make it untrue.