Nobody asked but … I have a few candidates for inclusion in any standard list of logical fallacies: The Time Bandits’ Fallacy — in this logic misstep, things are taken out of chronological sequence and set up to be causality observations. Examples are closing the barn door when the horse is gone, pre-crime where actions…
Tag: crime
No Justice for Kelly Thomas
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Manuel Ramos and Jay Cicinelli, the two uniformed thugs who beat a homeless man to death, were today found not guilty of all charges. Inexplicably, the man whose life they ended is still dead, however…. How is it possible that an unarmed man ends up dead after a vicious beating, but those cretins…
On Values
Send him mail. “Food for Thought” is an original column appearing every other Tuesday at Everything-Voluntary.com, by Norman Imberman. Norman is a retired podiatrist who loves playing piano, writing music, lawn bowling, bridge, reading, classical music, going to movies, plays, concerts and traveling. He is not a member of any social network, nor does he…
The Failure of the Victimless Crime Gambit
Nobody asked but … One of the primary attributes of a voluntaryist’s behavior is its focus on effective action. We do not will I, nill I pursue missions antithetical to reality and nature. We look for the natural route. We cut to the root, the primary cause of a problem. So what is the root…
Words Poorly Used #17 — Victim
The place where I feel unease with the use of victim is in the idea of victimlessness. Strategically, I think it is a poor tactical argument to use against arbitrary legislation. If one’s complaint is against the proliferation and enforcement of victimless crime, then all the authoritarians need to do is to trump up a…
Re: Ethics of Torture II
Nobody asked but … A torture scenario such as that in a movie is an exercise in begging the question. It presumes that there is a circumstance under which torture can be justified. Torture may be explained, but it is never justified. Any situation that might be considered as justification of torture is already bankrupt…
A False Equivalency
When libertarians talk about criminal justice reform, we often draw a distinction between real crime and “victimless crime.” The term is actually an oxymoron, however, as an act that does not victimize another cannot be a crime. What we are referring to are voluntary actions that do not harm anyone against their will, but which…
Re: Ethics of Torture
Parrish, Walter Block recently argued in his debate over spanking with Stefan Molyneux that the basis of libertarianism is not the NAP, rather its punishment theory. I think the NAP is an important component of punishment theory, as I think Block does, too, but the reason he said that was because he views libertarianism as,…
The Ethics of Torture
NOTE: This blog post contains mild spoilers for the 2013 Hugh Jackman movie “Prisoners.” An intriguing movie on many levels, “Prisoners” sets up a very thought-provoking scenario in which the father of a kidnapped girl has extremely strong evidence that a particular suspect is guilty of or at least involved in the kidnapping. The evidence…
Theft is Never Justified
Theft is despicable. I’m not saying that it’s necessarily worse than assault or murder, but while those actions may be the result of elevated passions in the heat of the moment, theft rarely is. Theft is a cold, calculated act designed to deprive an individual of their owned property. Perhaps the only thing more contemptible…