Whenever someone asks me which philosophers I follow, I very quickly branch off into persons who do not seem to be philosophers within the narrow meaning of the term, lover of knowledge. But how could Mark Twain possibly be not that? If asked who are the great wits, I will come up with a list from all over the place. In what universe would we think Lewis Carroll was not as witty as could be?
Tag: consequences
Betraying the Future in the Name of Pragmatism
Most people want to leave a better future for their descendants, and do certain things they believe will help. Unfortunately, most of them do foolish things without thinking of the long-term consequences.
A Conversation Between Voluntaryists: Responsible Voting?
One of the best things about voluntaryism is you never know who is a voluntaryist. Kentucky is a big-government, culturally-conservative state, where I was born and raised in. Then I found out I have a like-minded neighbor. Among the radical libertarians who have made the Bluegrass state their home is Kilgore Forelle. Over breakfast we came up with a voluntaryist thesis which we turned into this dialogue here on EVC.
10 Points that the Pro-Spanking Crowd Totally Missed
Instead of addressing everyone’s comment individually, I will just write a post responding to all the defenses of spanking children. Which is pretty easy because there are only a handful that I hear over and over again. My hope is that I can shed a little more light on this topic and help radically shift the mindset that these people seem to be deeply conditioned in.
Where Everyone Does Whatever They Want
Once you understand that everyone already does “whatever he wants to do,” then the question becomes, does the presence of a ruling class make people want to do more good stuff, or want to do more bad stuff, than they would want to do otherwise?
Supporting Government “Services”
If I am attacking the theft and coercion behind some things, don’t take it as an attack on you for using those things–unless you start being nasty in defense of the status quo and making it about some tangent that buzzes your bonnet.
A Voluntaryist Begins The Proust Questionnaire
I recently encountered the Proust Questionnaire. It is a regular feature in “Vanity Fair” magazine, where it is answered by a guest celebrity. When I got about halfway through I thought, “Voila! This would be a good architecture for an interview with a very objective voluntaryist.”
There’s Nothing Special about International Trade
“One of the important applications of the principle of comparative advantage is international trade. To an economist there is nothing really special about international trade; individuals make trades when both of them expect to benefit, whether they live across the street, in different states, or in different countries.”
Why Free Immigration Is the Moderate, Common-Sense Position
Far from being utopian, saying “Immigration is a human right” is just the moderate, common-sense position that when natives and foreigners voluntarily interact, strangers are morally obliged to leave them alone unless the overall consequences are clearly awful. Even if the stranger happens to be the government – and the government happens to be popular.
Stories Told to Scare Children
When I was a kid, my parents told me several times about kids my age who met with tragedy–while doing whatever it was they didn’t want me to do. What a coincidence!