The slavers were forced to live under the same roof as the abolitionists, the pro-lifers with the pro-choicers, the Left with the Right, the Trump crazies with the Clinton lunatics, individualists with collectivists, the pro-liberty people with everyone else, and the list goes on and on. But why?
Category: Editor’s Picks
A Vote is Not a Voice
I would like to reiterate that a vote is not a voice. The power of your actions is your voice. You have just as much voice today as you did yesterday. No campaign or election can diminish that power. Your voice is not relinquished to those who sit in Washington.
Compassion in the Midst of Madness
Whether you’re in the U.S. or not, the results of yesterday’s election can bring up some strong feelings — maybe outrage or depression, maybe elation and shock, maybe contempt for others. In this crazy emotional time, I urge you to try a compassion practice.
You’ve Got to Stop Voting
Boycotting elections alone will not oust the oligarchy, but it is the only proven non-violent way to delegitimize a government. Here are some of the most common canards that political party operatives use to argue against not voting, and my responses.
The Buy Local Fallacy
Advocates of the “buy local” movement claim doing so betters the local economy. The economics and reasoning behind this claim are misguided at best. Here are three areas the locavore’s rationale is wrong.
Democracy Is War by Other Means
Democracy is war by other means. Superficially, it is waged with ballots instead of bullets. At the end of the day, those ballots become bullets. Elections load real guns and aim them at real people. If you disobey the commandments handed down by elected officials, beefy men with shaved heads and Ray-Ban sunglasses will come to take you away. If you resist them, hot lead will fly. Elections are scrambles for control over the service weapons that propel those rounds. In such contests, every faction is trying to point the gun barrels at someone else.
The Trouble With Politics
Politics is of its very nature is biased in favor of intervention and planning. Even in its “minarchist” or “night-watchman” version, politics is based at root on the idea that some decisions must be made coercively and imposed on unwilling minorities – or even majorities, as the case may be. This is contrary to the principle we observe in private life every day: the consent of both parties is necessary for a transaction to take place.
Short Manifesto Against Democracy
Written by Rob Alvord. My quick manifesto against democracy before voting day: Some people have Verizon, some have T Mobile. Some have Progressive, some have Allstate. I love that we are able to choose these preferences without having to cause disputes amongst ourselves as human beings. Tomorrow, a majority of people are going to decide…
Be the Honey Badger
Video by BBC.
Let the Kids Work
The Washington Post ran a beautiful photo montage of children at work from 100 years ago. I get it. It’s not supposed to be beautiful. It’s supposed to be horrifying. I’m looking at these kids. They are scruffy, dirty, and tired. No question. But I also think about their inner lives. They are working in the adult world, surrounded by cool bustling things and new technology. They are on the streets, in the factories, in the mines, with adults and with peers, learning and doing. They are being valued for what they do, which is to say being valued as people. They are earning money.