Law Isn’t Violence?, Children’s Property, & Causes of Criminal Behavior (27m) – Editor’s Break 082

Editor’s Break 082 has Skyler giving his commentary on the following topics: why the [mistaken] belief that “there should be a law” does not mean the threat of a gun to the face boggles his mind; children owning property and what rights a parent has if that property is stored in their house; the causes of criminal behavior in youth and adults alike; and more.

Adherence to the Constitution, or Not?

U.S. conservatives generally make a fetish of, among other things, strict federal immigration policy and strong support of the Constitution. It never seems to occur to them that these two positions are inconsistent, given that the Constitution gives no power whatsoever to Congress in regard to immigration controls. So, federal immigration policy of any kind is unconstitutional.

Bullies, Outrageous Laws, Libertarian Unpopularity and Failures (29m) – Editor’s Break 081

Editor’s Break 081 has Skyler giving his commentary on the following topics: bullying our children into standing up for themselves toward bullies; when laws become totally outrageous and we’re no longer willing to support them; why libertarianism is unpopular; how libertarianism fails and why that’s really a bad question to begin with; and more.

Maybe It’s Time for Libertarian Countries

Contrary to the fears of the skeptics, a libertarian country could provide anything people want. There could be roads, parks, and libraries. The poor could be cared for and people kept safe. Everything provided voluntarily instead of at the barrel of government guns. If you want to make sure only those who paid for a service use it, charge user fees or sell memberships. It would be more ethical, and probably cheaper, than the current system.

On Coming to Grips with the Nature of the State

That so many intellectuals talk about the state as if it were a sort of garden-party amusement, rather than the cold, merciless killing and plundering machine that it really is, now puzzles me. I don’t think the disconnect between the ivory-tower conceptions and the reality of the state springs so much from the philosophers and political scientists having prostituted themselves to the state as it springs from these thinkers’ not getting out more—or, barring actual first-hand involvement in the relevant realms, from their failure to learn more realistic history.

Government: The God of Statism

AronRa, a popular outspoken atelatheist, whose work (in general) I love, defines a religion as “a faith-based belief system, including the notion that some element of self, be it memories or consciousness …a soul, perhaps… continues beyond the death of the physical body; transcends and survives that…”. I see no mention of belief in a god being a requirement for something to be a religion. But, do they really not believe in a god?