Episode 370 has Skyler giving his commentary on the following aphorisms written by Jakub Bożydar Wiśniewski: “A fool believes in designing markets. A person of reason believes in marketing designs.”; “A consistent freedom lover is an anarchist in the making.”; “A fool deplores the fact that without the state, the poor would be at the mercy of individual charity. A person of reason delights in the fact that without the state, the poor wouldn’t be at the mercy of institutional violence.”; “Happiness: fulfillment without boredom.”; “A nationalist is someone who praises domestic illusions out of fear of confronting foreign realities.”; “A seeming ontological nihilist believes that nothing really exists. A real ontological nihilist believes that nothing only seems to exist.”
Tag: charity
“Prussian” Indoctrination – The Other Side
In doing a little searching for “The Prussian model” of schooling, I ran across an essay that claims to expose “The Invented History of ‘The Factory Model of Education’”. It’s important to get the other side, so I read it and I’ll give you my thoughts here.
Cancel Culture Is Out of Control
The online mob came for Harald Uhlig. What terrible thing had he done? As I show in my new video, he tweeted that Black Lives Matter “torpedoed itself, with its full-fledged support of #defundthepolice.” Instead of defunding, Uhlig suggested, “train them better.”
Well Done, Billionaires
The dominant narrative that billionaires are greedy and big companies like Amazon are monopolistic, exploitative tyrants is not only misguided but deeply troubling for the future of prosperity and human progress.
John Fargo: Charity in the Land of Individualism (18m)
This episode features an audio essay written by John Fargo in 1992, which comprises Chapter 6 of Everything Voluntary: From Politics to Parenting, edited by Skyler J. Collins and published in 2012.
Do You Talk About X in Open Borders? Yes!
The modal question about Open Borders is, “Do you talk about X?” The answer is “YES” for all of the following…
How Children Learn the Humanity of Trade
My older children attend a self-directed learning center for unschoolers a couple of days a week. I love to hear the stories they share about what they do during the day. Classes are offered and are generated based on the young people’s interests, but they are entirely voluntary. Kids can attend classes or do their own projects, either independently or collaboratively, during what is known as “open hangout.” No one directs the hangout. Adults are present to facilitate and help if needed, but they don’t orchestrate the children’s work and play. The kids are free to create at will.
Malevolence and Misunderstanding
I am glad to report that I have lost few friends in my life. But as far as I can tell, all of the rare exceptions were driven by misunderstandings. Someone spoke rashly, which hurt someone’s feelings, which led to retaliation, which led to more hurt feelings, and so on. Or, someone acted as they thought proper, but someone else perceived otherwise, which led to offense, which led to counter-offense. The same goes for all the people I know well. They’ve lost many friends, but years later they flounder to explain the casus belli.
Governing Least‘s Immigration Oversight
Dan Moller’s Governing Least barely mentions immigration. But it should have, because of its strong implications for this hugely important issue. Applying Moller’s approach, there is not only a moral presumption in favor of open borders, but a host of residual obligations that accompany even justified restrictions on immigration.
Walter Block: Defending the Non-Contributor to Charity (14m)
This episode features an audio essay written by economics professor and Austro-libertarian Walter Block from 1976, and which comprises Chapter 18 of Defending the Undefendable.