One of the things I have been trying to do with this blog is look at why libertarianism isn’t widely accepted by the masses and how it can effectively be sold. In one entry I used Isaiah Berlin’s discussion of the Hedgehog and the Fox to argue that libertarians were hedgehogs in their thinking whereas Joe Public thinks like a fox.
Tag: government
UBI is Even Worse Than Welfare
The Universal Basic Income is much worse than the status quo. In fact, all the fundamental criticisms of the welfare state apply with even greater force.
Getting from Here to There
I’ve been pondering “gradualism” and “pragmatism”– things over which I have disagreed with people in the past. And, I’ll probably continue to disagree in the future. Let me illustrate my thinking.
Government Doesn’t Serve Community
The best way to serve the community is to do the best job you can, being useful, and not violating anyone’s life, liberty, or property while doing it. Avoiding violations is the bare minimum to qualify as service. Master this and the rest will fall into place, even if you don’t get the same praise and recognition as those who draw attention to themselves.
Editor’s Break 016 – What Use Are Facts in the Formation of Our Beliefs? (19m)
Editor’s Break 016 is a look at the role facts play in forming our opinions, beliefs, and convictions, and whether we should reexamine them from time to time as new facts enter our understanding. While these ideas apply to all areas of thought, Skyler focuses on the facts surrounding people who call themselves government.
Skip The Whereases
My father taught me something wise. “When you hear somebody say ‘blah blah blah but such-and-such,’ the word ‘but’ is a signal. Everything before the ‘but’ is preamble, which you can safely ignore. After the ‘but’, that’s the real substance, that’s what they were leading you to. That’s the important part.”
Have the Balls to Admit Your Bigotry
There are a number of people who are xenophobic, nationalist, racist dumbasses, who want the violence of “government” used to keep everyone away who isn’t quite like them. However, in that category are two types: 1) those who openly admit what they think and what they condone, and; 2) those who use “code” rhetoric, intentionally speak in vague euphemisms, and pretend to not be what they are. I can’t decide which I like less.
Predatory States are Predatory
The state only deals with people by hurting, killing, caging, and robbing them. It wraps these actions up in hundreds of thousands of pages of demands, orders, mandates, regulations, prohibitions, licenses, and certificates; but the bureaucratic maze which supposedly allows individuals to escape unscathed is an illusion.
Children Are Not Interchangeable Cogs
Variations of this picture of educational cogs have been widely distributed in schools. Education works best, we are told, when all the parts work together. The picture shows three gears, arranged in a circle. If you remember your studies of mechanics, this arrangement cannot possibly work.
Editor’s Break 015 – Flipping the Rhetoric: Predatory Taxes, Predatory Regulations! (14m)
Editor’s Break 015 is a look at how capitalists, entrepreneurs, and all around free market supporters and promoters can easily flip the rhetoric of our enemies and use it against them. How? By simply adding the adjective “predatory” to everything government does.