I think personality drastically shapes how we view people. I was thinking about this in regards to Robert Murphy. He and Nassim Taleb are probably my favorite living thinkers/philosophers. Plenty of people would look at Nassim Taleb and think that makes a lot of sense, but most people that read Robert Murphy’s work wouldn’t think the same thing.
Tag: friends
The Destructive Habit of Evaluating Everything We Do
We are in the mental habit of constantly evaluating everything we do, to see if we’re worthy or not. This mental habit of evaluating everything — while completely normal and natural — is actually pretty destructive. Why?
Everyone Misses This Lesson on Political Power From “Game of Thrones”
Getting a seat on the Iron Throne is a pretty raw deal, and even if you have it, you might now have it for long. So why do Game of Thrones‘s rulers spill so much blood to get there? Why not consolidate their own power elsewhere? And why does the question of who sits in leadership draw so many other people into the sinkhole of war?
Police Lead to Police States
You can’t have a police state without police. And, if you allow government to have police, you’re probably going to find yourself in a police state sooner or later.
Political Action Exacerbates the Problem of Hate
Politics is your neighbor and his like-minded friends rallying together to lobby for government to shift their policies in their favor. If your neighbor and his friends hate intrusive government, those policy shifts may be a good thing for those who value peace and prosperity. But if your neighbor and his friends hate people wealthier than them, or people with a different skin color, those policy shifts are sure to bring about an exacerbated level of conflict, and thus a reduction in prosperity.
Economics Helps You Deal with Difficult People
You wake up to the realization that you have an important meeting in 30 minutes. You leap out of bed, throw some clothes on, grab your keys, and rush out the door. You’re halfway to your car when you see it.
It’s not a moment of zen, but of economics.
Somebody has slashed your tires.
How an Airborne Ranger Became a Voluntaryist
Government directives to do evil (whether by commission or omission) do not override our conscience and our understanding of right and wrong. I favor agoristic obviation of government institutions. I support voluntary alternatives to government services as much as I can and continue to encourage government institutions to reduce and eliminate their restrictions on our freedoms.
Individualist, Voluntaryist, and a Human Being
I believe that if your actions neither pick my pocket nor break my leg, they’re none of my business. I believe in peaceful coexistence, voluntary transactions, and free markets.
Suicide Isn’t Selfish or Cowardly
Suicide is purposeful action. Therefore, to understand why people commit suicide we must understand what felt uneasiness they have decided is too much to continue tolerating. It may be many things, but this much is true as it concerns suicide: life itself has become intolerable, and the knowledge needed to make it tolerable is not currently known.
Hard is Not the Same as Hate
The hard stuff in school is stuff we’re forced to do against our will and rarely has any connection to our own goals and desires. We learn to see escape from hated stuff as equal to escape from hard stuff. This is tragic.