Fascism isn’t an historical echo or a distant danger. It’s the default position of all wings of the existing American political establishment, from the “nationalist right” to the “progressive left.”
Category: Blogs
The official Everything-Voluntary.com blog.
Extended Contact with a Cop
Even if you pretend the legislation enforcers of the Blue Line Gang are somehow good or necessary (they aren’t), if a cop can’t settle a situation in less than a couple of minutes, he needs to just let his victim go. The recent murder of Rayshard Brooks is a prime example. For over 40 minutes the cop kept molesting him, until he couldn’t take it and ran— only to be murdered by the subhuman failure in a badge.
On Civil Liberties
I think that I finally have the concept of “civil liberties” figured out. So long as the state has coercively prohibited a peaceful activity for every race, gender, sexual orientation, and religious belief equally, then civil liberties have not been violated.
5 Things I Learned Debating the Harvard Prof Who Called for a “Presumptive Ban” on Homeschooling
Last week, I outlined much of my argument against Harvard Law School professor Elizabeth Bartholet that I incorporated into our debate, but here are five takeaways from Monday’s discussion.
My Favorite Philosopher Is Me
Don’t get me wrong: there are plenty of people who are wiser than me. There are plenty of thinkers and writers more profound. There are plenty more original (I’m certainly influenced by lots of philosophers – some whom I don’t even know). There’s just not anyone else who can do my thinking – and living – well for me. And isn’t that what philosophy is supposed to be for?
Values and Principles Against Ideological Jargon
The ideological jargon of hard totalitarianism aims at the subversion of values, while the ideological jargon of soft totalitarianism aims at the reduction of values to self-indulgent mush.
Rioting is Wrong Way to Protest
There’s a correct way to protest injustice and there’s a wrong way. You may have recently noticed people in several big cities doing it the wrong way. Although, perhaps people pretending to side with the protesters were intentionally making the protesters look bad — it’s hard to know which.
Thought Experiments
The claim I heard from some economists was that you can’t have trade without inequality. While I believe inequality is inescapable, natural, not undesirable, and an inevitable outcome of freedom and prosperity, I don’t think it is logically necessary in order for mutually beneficial trade to occur.
On Qualified Immunity
Of all the things I’m pessimistic on, the abolition of the doctrine of qualified immunity is probably at the top. I do not expect to see any significant progress made on abolishing this horrible statist practice in my lifetime, or the lifetimes of my children.
Debunking the ‘Privilege’ Fallacy
To begin with, let’s just acknowledge that the term “white privilege” is a racist and disparaging term that endeavors to shame and ‘other’ white people based on their race. We must also recognize that such needless race shaming is based on myths and lies.