Teenagers are capable of being valuable contributors to civil society. They should be granted greater freedom and responsibility. Lowering the voting age while trapping them in compulsory schooling gives teenagers neither freedom nor responsibility.
Tag: action
Irresponsibility Is the Youth-Killer
There’s this myth in our culture that youth is a blank check to be irresponsible. “Have fun and cut loose a little,” older folks tell us, not without a little envy. But being young is not the opposite of being responsible. And to be carefree is not the same as to be irresponsible. In fact, irresponsibility is the youth-killer – the very reason that our older friends and family look and feel the part of the elderly before their time.
Chelsea Manning: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished Again
One of the 21st century’s greatest heroines is behind bars again, held in contempt by federal judge Claude M. Hilton for refusing to help prosecutors trump up charges against the journalists who published information she paid dearly for giving them.
Irrelevant Conclusion Fallacy, Availability Bias, & Power of Reaction (23m) – Episode 006
Episode 006 looks at the Irrelevant Conclusion (ignoratio elenchi) fallacy, Availability Bias, our power to control our reaction to the seeming offenses of other people, and powering down your microwave for more even heating.
Ignoring Information as a Form of Intelligence
I’ve seen my kids provide way too much information in several situations, and I have too. The inability to spot useless information is a sign of a young mind. The more intelligence is developed, the more information gets left out. People who tell you only the parts that really matter have a kind of genius.
Jeffrey Herbener: Demystifying the Federal Reserve (26m)
This episode features an interview of economics professor and department chairman Jeffrey Herbener from 2016 by Jeff Deist, host of the Human Action podcast. They cover the basics of central bank mechanics: how commercial bank reserves are created, the difference between the monetary base and the money supply, and how the Fed Funds rate impacts lending and the structure of production. They consider how Austrian business cycle theory describes the distortions created by artificially low interest rates, and how interest rates ought to operate as price signals. Finally, they discuss how early recipients of newly created money and credit benefit in ways that ordinary citizens don’t.
Remember Who the Real Enemy Is
Never participate in a contest over who’s the most disadvantaged. Everyone loses in that scenario. If someone is fighting with you to achieve the status of “person with the hardest life,” let them win.
Words Poorly Used #139 — Complexity
Complexity is an ambiguous word covering any combination. It is a minefield. It is the stuff of unforeseen consequences. The user of the word can stretch its meaning to post-describe any set of relationships.
The Shadow Factory
All units (individuals) have agenda. Each human will try to attach her agenda to the agenda at the highest levels attainable — for instance, in The Shadow Factory, the top set of agenda is that of the White House (nominally authored by George W. Bush, truly by Dick Cheney), a lower but very high set of agenda for the NSA, expressed by and through General Mike Hayden.
Death is Not the Ultimate Sacrifice
At the moment she faced the decision of death or defacement, she heard the voice of God tell her step on the face of the crucified Christ. She, a devoted Christian, was asked by God there, in front of everyone, to disrespect the cross. She was asked to make the ultimate sacrifice.