This episode features an audio essay written by economics professor and Austro-libertarian Walter Block from 1976, and which comprises Chapter 13 of Defending the Undefendable.
Tag: libertarian
One Cheer for Trump on Iran
In violating the agreement and returning to a belligerent footing, he confirmed something the Iranians, like the Sioux, have long had good reason to believe: That the US government can’t be trusted to keep its word.
Libertarianism is The Balance
One objection I frequently see against libertarianism is that it’s “too extreme”. “There needs to be a balance between the extremes of libertarianism and fascism” (as illustrated by “border enforcement” and so forth).
Facebook’s Libra Isn’t a “Cryptocurrency”
Libra will not be a true cryptocurrency like Bitcoin or Ether. Neither its creation nor its transactions will be decentralized and distributed, let alone easily made anonymous. A “blockchain” is just a particular kind of ledger for keeping track of transactions. It does not, in and of itself, a cryptocurrency make.
The “Solution” to Flag-Burning is Simpler Than a Constitutional Amendment
If flag-burning is really a “problem,” it’s a problem with a simple solution: If you don’t want to burn a flag, don’t buy a flag, soak it in kerosene, and set it on fire. If you do want to burn a flag, don’t steal someone else’s flag, and don’t burn a flag on the private property of someone who objects, or in a way that creates a danger to others (in a dry forest, for example). Either way, don’t try to tell people what they may or may not do with pieces of cloth they rightfully own.
Opposition Research: It’s Not Trump’s Fault That Politics is a “Dirty” Game
In a June 12 interview with George Stephanopoulos of ABC News, President Donald Trump freely admitted that he would listen to foreigners offering him “dirt” on his political opponents: “I think you might want to listen, there isn’t anything wrong with listening …. Somebody comes up and says, ‘hey, I have information on your opponent,’ do you call the FBI?”
Pork is Not the Problem
Congressional appropriations for 2019 include 282 earmarks, up from 232 last year. The cost comes to $15.3 billion, up from $14.7 billion. That sounds like a lot of money, and it is. But not nearly as much as one might think, in the scheme of things.
Los Angeles: Homelessness Meets Economics 101
“The stunning increase in homelessness announced in Los Angeles this week — up 16% over last year citywide,” reports CNN, “was an almost incomprehensible conundrum given the nation’s booming economy and the hundreds of millions of dollars that city, county and state officials have directed toward the problem.”
Erich Fromm on “The Authoritarian Character”
He was a supporter of toxic authoritarianism when he obviously– from his own observations– should have known better. Why? Maybe he was just genetically inclined that way. Maybe he wasn’t able to rise above his early brainwashing. But who knows?
If the University of Alabama Doesn’t Need Hugh Culverhouse, Jr.’s Money, it Doesn’t Need Yours
Last year, Florida attorney and philanthropist Hugh Culverhouse, Jr. donated $26.5 million to the University of Alabama. The university, grateful for its largest private contribution ever, reciprocated by naming its law school after him. Hugh and UA, sittin’ in a tree … On June 7, the UA’s board of trustees voted to return his donation (and presumably rename the school). Love-hate relationship, I guess.