The United States Federal Government currently threatens imprisonment for many behaviors it has deemed criminal but which do not have as a result the violation of any other person’s self-ownership or property rights (ie. victimless).
Tag: behavior
Gratis is Not Great
Almost every psychologically normal human is delighted to here about products everyone can enjoy free of charge. “The schools are free!” “Health care is free!” “Lunch is free!” According to basic welfare economics, however, gratis goods are almost automatically inefficient. Unless the marginal social cost of the product miraculously happens to be zero, setting a price of zero leads to socially wasteful behavior.
Harvard Study Shows the Dangers of Early School Enrollment
Parents don’t need Harvard researchers to tell them that a child who just turned five is quite different developmentally from a child who is about to turn six. Instead, parents need to be empowered to challenge government schooling motives and mandates, and to opt-out.
Playing “Grown-Up”
You are not having an adult conversation if you are talking about “foreign policy”, “tax policy”, or “immigration policy”. Not if you are talking about what “laws” need to be passed or enforced. Not if you honestly believe other people should be governed by states.
On Schooling
It’s no surprise to you I’m sure that I am not a fan of the institution of schooling. Among other things, I very much dislike the double threat of coercion that it engages in, which are the use of punishments to encourage desirable behaviors, and the use of manipulation, that is, telling children that without school they will be stupid.
“Red Flag Laws”: Rights Can’t be “Suspended,” Only Violated
Hanna Scott of Seattle’s KIRO radio reports that prosecutors in Washington are wrestling with the question of whether or not the state’s “Red Flag law” applies to minors, and trying to stretch it to do so. Under the “law,” Scott writes, a judge can issue an “Extreme Risk Protection Order” to “temporarily suspend a person’s gun rights, even if they haven’t committed a crime.”
On Confirmation Bias
I heard something interesting by an evolutionary psychologist recently. He said that he believed that our ability to reason was not born out of a desire to search for truth. Instead, it came from our need to persuade others toward our opinions.
Train Your Mind Using the Puppy Method
The mind can be trained to do almost anything. It can be trained, for example, to get used to any situation, like sitting in silence for a long time, or concentrating on a task. However, usually we’re training our minds to do what we don’t want: be distracted, give in to cravings and urges, complain, avoid discomfort, procrastinate.
Ethics 101: Reciprocity
People have been arguing about how to deal with ideas of right and wrong for a very long time. Even now, reasonable people sometimes disagree about where exactly to draw the ethical line on some complex issues. After all, the world is a complicated place. That being said, one idea has emerged over and over again in the quest to understand right and wrong from essentially every cultural, religious, and philosophical tradition: the ethic of reciprocity.
Best to Be Smart About Social Media
It’s not necessary to shun social media; just be smart. Don’t offer too much unnecessary information that the bad guys can use against you, but take advantage of the opportunities it presents. Opportunities beyond any the world has ever seen.