Mark Twain wrote, “When in doubt, tell the truth.” That seems, on its face, to be simple enough, but what does it mean? We live in a land of lawyers, where what is the truth becomes more and more a matter for speculation. POTUS has labeled a whole genre of purported information as “Fake News.” But what does that mean? Does it mean news that he doesn’t like, or does it mean misinformation for which determinate proof of falsity exists?
Tag: government
Chicago
Now that I’ve been home a few days, back from Chicago, I ask myself, “How does it all work?” And I keep coming back to self-ordering and the institutionalizing of individuality. Chicago works one human encounter at a time, one negotiated transaction at a time. Mises would be happy to know that the molecules of this economy behaved according to the natural laws of human action.
America Needs More Robin Hoods
Robin Hood is a model of an ethical outlaw. He broke bad laws by doing what was right for the right reasons. His story has been misrepresented. In the original tellings he didn’t “rob from the rich and give to the poor,” but took back property that had been stolen through taxation and returned it to its rightful owners.
Fatherhood, Red & Blue, Backpage/Silk Road, Education vs. Schooling (22m) – Editor’s Break 074
Editor’s Break 074 has Skyler giving his commentary on the following topics: what fathers need to do so that their children will always talk to and confide in them; inconsistencies among right-wing (red) and left-wing (blue) politics regarding their views on government and gun control; a short look at the Backpage.com and Silk Road shutdowns; the difference between education and schooling; and more.
The Philosophical Toolbox
I’m not saying that philosophy as a whole is without contradiction, however through years of weeding through different philosophies and theories I was able to find what works best for me. A collection of tools with which anyone can use to truly test whether an idea, concept, law, or edict is just, fair, and equitable. In no particular order I’d like to present a few of the tools I use use when trying to make a consistent, rational, and logical judgement or claim.
Friends are Individuals, Enemies are Collective
Foreigners, far-away peoples, threats, enemies, or those we fear get labelled as a giant unified collective. In reality, only individual humans act. “The Russians” cannot do or say anything, only individuals can. But it’s too complicated and nuanced when you’re telling yourself a simple us/them, good/evil story.
Back Alley Regulation
If you think a regulation is a bad idea, you should probably prefer regulations that target the most humanized humans involved. Why? Because when the law orders people to harshly punish sympathetic targets, law enforcement looks for excuses not to enforce the law.
Statism’s First Casualty Is the Truthful Use of Language
States engage not only in conquest, plunder, and oppression, but also—in order to create conditions in which the populace is rendered less likely to resist a state’s abuses or rebel against it—in pervasive bamboozlement. Those who support the state ideologically tend to engage in chronic misrepresentation of what the state does and how it does it. So, not only war—the characteristic state action—but statism in general makes truth the first casualty of its claims, proposals, programs, and projects.
First They Came for Backpage
In 2016, after a court slapped down the attempts of Kamala Harris (D-CA), then attorney general of her state and now a US Senator, to prosecute Backpage for “pimping,” I suggested that merely dismissing the charges was not enough. I am still of that opinion.
The Classical Liberal is a Dreamer
Classical liberalism does not disavow the state. Indeed, it embraces and celebrates it, but only, the classical liberals insist, in the form of “limited government.” This regime, sustained by taxation, includes legislators who enact rules, executives who control police and armed forces to enforce the rules, and judges who settle disputes between persons and between persons and the state. In many versions it also includes active engagement in the construction and maintenance of public works (now often called infrastructure) and a system of government schools (now often with compulsory attendance). The classical liberal imagines that this setup will support free markets and more generally a free society and that it can be sustained indefinitely.