Even if you can find the one elite who sets a million mites to work on a billion fleas who will infest a trillion dog’s tails, there is another elite starting a similar chain of chains of chains, a nanosecond before and a nanosecond after.
Tag: control
Consent of the Governed, Revisited
“Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed.” This sounds good, especially if one doesn’t think about it very hard or very long, but the harder and longer one thinks about it, the more problematic it becomes.
Net Neutrality Will Neuter The Net
Rather than letting market forces incentivize innovation, net-neutrality supporters are advocating that the state step in and force the internet to maintain a status quo that the market, in response to the increasingly high demand for a scarce resource, may or may not want to keep.
Disobedience is a Virtue
When we spend most of our formative years being bombarded with the message—from parents, teachers, the media, agents of the state, etc.—that obedience is a virtue and disobedience is a sin, we “learn” that lie at a very deep psychological level, way beyond merely an intellectual understanding.
Mission Creep II
Schooling is growing in every direction. And at the same time, it is stifling the growth of its so-called beneficiaries. Once again, process overcomes product. Schooling is destroying education.
Authority Easily Leads to Abuse
This was a shitty circumstance. It isn’t “fair” that it happened. However, this happens with most teachers, and most people in places of unquestioned authority. In fact, the situation that occurred in college was a situation I had vastly more leverage than in previous similar situations.
Resting in the Open Nature of Life
It can take some practice, as it’s easy to have your mind be very active, or reject certain parts of the experience, or get caught up in a chain of thoughts. That’s OK. Just notice that happening, and think of this as a part of the experience. Just keep practicing.
Assertions versus Facts
CNN can show us an apple, but it can’t show us Russian election meddling or global warming or people being made safe by gun control. Unlike apples, these are complex things not amenable to depiction.
Factory-Like Schools Are the Child Labor Crisis of Today
There is mounting evidence that increasingly restrictive schooling, quickly consuming the majority of childhood, is damaging children. Rates of childhood anxiety, depression, behavioral problems, and other mental illness are surging.
Why Policymaking Won’t Work for Complex Societies (and Why Principles Will) – Part 1
You are not an expert. Even the experts know they are not experts. They will spend their entire lives just grappling with one sub-facet of one of these facets, and their work still won’t be done. To claim to empirically know how to ensure the best outcome for everyone in any issue is folly. Policymaking (the practical utilitarianism used in most political thinking) is an unscalable way to make decisions.