One might have thought that, in the wake of the Nazi regime’s systematic crimes against humanity last century, dehumanization would have become unthinkable once and for all. Unfortunately, this has not been the case. It has shamefully continued unabated, the assorted perpetrators including, with tragic irony, those who themselves were victims of Nazi dehumanization. Dehumanization is…
Tag: evidence
Trump and Putin – How about Getting Rid of Your Nukes?
I was disappointed in the summit because it apparently gave no great urgency to what should be the priority by the standard of security for all the people of the world: the two powers’ alarming arsenals of nuclear weapons.
Libertarians Shouldn’t Be Accomplices of Aggression
Immigrants don’t arrive in a place uninvited. They have friends, family members, and/or business relationships who have invited them and provided for them means of doing so successfully. It is short order before they are back on their feet and producing value for others. These people are not criminals. They are our fellow human beings doing exactly what we’d all be doing if we were in their place. It’s the height of hubris and arrogance to believe it’s okay to direct violence at them simply because you are annoyed.
President Trump, Please Free Ross Ulbricht
There is no universe in which life without the possibility of parole is a reasonable penalty for the crime of running a web site. Especially a web site which arguably reduced both drug-related street crime and death by drug overdose.
You Are Surrounded by Alternate Universes
I don’t see a lot of evidence for the actual existence of alternate universes. That sort of thing seems to be beyond the possibility of proving, almost by definition. But there is a metaphorical sense in which choices add up to make alternate universes. We get to see the results of the choices we didn’t make in the other people who did make them. In other words, other people = alternate universes.
Human Nature in Science
Human experience is not divided only into two epochs, the pre-Copernican and the Copernican. The change between those two epochs, while extremely critical, did not mark the end of human advancement in self-knowledge.
State Capacity is Sleight of Hand
While good social outcomes all tend to go together, the state capacity literature fails to show that government is the crucial factor that makes all the others possible. Indeed, as far as I can tell, existing empirics are quite consistent with Sutton’s Law that people rob banks because “that’s where the money is.”
Credentialed Experts: Protectors of the Sacred Dogma
Credentialed Experts are not at the forefront of innovation and discovery, driving truth forward. Their job is to tell a story about the past that doesn’t threaten the present and stymies the future. The process of winning the credential itself is a trial intended to prove how effectively you imbibe and re-enforce the dominant dogma of the academy, or “The Republic of Science”.
In the Wake of Mass Shootings, Parents Reconsider Mass Schooling
Instead of overreacting, parents who decide to remove their children from school to homeschool them may be acknowledging the disconnect between the inherent coercion of compulsory mass schooling and the freedom to live in the genuine world around us. Rather than sheltering their children, parents who select the homeschooling option may be endeavoring to widen their child’s community, broaden their experiences, and restore their emotional well-being.
Technology Kills the State, Over and Over
If we identify a state as not only the particular time and place in which they operate, but also by the tools they use, then what is revealed over and over again are the many ways in which technology has killed the state.