Contrasting freedom to liberty is simple: liberty is the absence of physical restraint by others, freedom is the absence of mental restraint by yourself. In other words, freedom is knowing deep inside your bones that anyone attempting to violate your liberty is acting offensively criminal.
Category: Two Cents
On Billionaires
Assuming that billionaires are any sort of “problem” (I don’t), the solution is not to take their wealth and redistribute it to others. No, the solution is to remove any and all barriers to compete with them entrepreneurially.
On Feminism
When I think of feminine energy, I think creation. Like birth, Spring, and newness, feminity is this and many other things. As such, markets are feminine, because markets are the result of the latticework of creative actions.
On Stoicism II
I study Stoicism daily, and try hard to practice what I learn. The ancient Stoic masters ranged from one being a slave to another, an emperor. To say that Stoicism is prepared for every up and down that life has to offer would be an understatement. The current COVID-19 era is no exception to that.
On Pandemics
96% of positive coronavirus cases were asymptomatic across 4 US state prisons, according to research by Reuters. I’d heard previously that asymptomatic persons numbered 50-70% of positive coronavirus cases. If most people who get the virus never show any symptoms, and if total case mortality is well below 1%, is COVID-19 really a pandemic?
On Authority
Our society has a sickness. No, not COVID-19, but a lack of real authority. I’m not talking about the chattering heads in State and national capitals, the authoritarians.
On Airplane Reclining Seats
The one thing that makes flying just a tiny bit more comfortable is the reclining seat. If I were perusing airlines and prices and saw the offering of a ticket without a reclining seat, I would refuse to purchase that ticket!
On Good Government
Here is the beginning and then end of so-called good government: the adjudication of disputes (torts and contracts) and keeping the peace. If that’s all government was and did, I’d probably have no complaints.
On Business
Just as companies accept their employees labor in exchange for money, they also accept their customers money in exchange for goods and services cooperatively produced by their employees. Companies do not and may not take their customers money. We must never forget these salient facts.
On Wages
It’s a common cry across social and popular media to deride one business or another for the way they model their wage structure. Most of my current income is earned by delivering food for companies like DoorDash and GrubHub. I do pretty well, but I’ve also spent a year and half learning how to do pretty well in my particular market.