Editor’s Break 116 has Skyler giving his commentary on the following topics: practicing the Stoic teaching of recognizing your own complicity in your emotional reactions to the speech of others; the insidious institution of schooling and its coercion and manipulation of children; how markets will respond to the grave and dire threat of climate change; the sad state of affairs in his culture toward care for the elderly; and more.
Tag: markets
Voluntaryist Solutions to the Public Benefits and Immigration Problem
What’s a voluntaryist, who is a person who recognizes the criminal nature of governments, to do about the problem of immigrants exploiting public benefits? There are several possible solutions to this problem, many of which are consistent with the voluntary principle, that all human relations should happen voluntarily, or not at all, and many of which are not.
Light Emitting Diode (LED)
Have you noticed that all of the new Xmas lights are LEDs now? Next thing you know, we’ll be lit up all the time, 24/7/365. LEDs will only go away when we can get light more effortlessly and less expensively. It’s like free lunch.
Two Numbers That Explain Why Trump Won’t Sanction Saudi Arabia
No later than December of 2002, and presumably before that, the US government knew that the 9/11 hijackers had received significant funding and support from Saudi government officials and members of the Saudi royal family. That information remained classified until 2016, when 28 previously redacted pages from Congress’s official 9/11 report were finally released to the public — and still “friendly” relations between Washington and Riyadh continued without interruption.
Scott Gottlieb’s Nicotine Nazism Will Kill Kids, Not Save Them
On November 15, US Food and Drug Administration commissioner Scott Gottlieb announced new measures regulating the sale of products that seem to reduce the negative health impacts of nicotine addiction — in the name of protecting children from those health impacts. Oddly, Gottlieb also announced a plan to dramatically increase the availability and variety of flavored cigarettes — in the name of banning them.
Open Borders as Global Justice: Sowell Edition
Immigration laws don’t merely allow discrimination; they require it. As the result, such laws are deeply anti-meritocratic. Employers may be allowed to hire the best citizen for the job, but not the best person.
My Most Excellent Election Day Experience
Last Tuesday, special day that it was, I awoke early and prepared to go out. By 7am, I was where I always go on this special day, eager to do my duty and exercise my sacred right to choose. Entering the warm, brightly lit building, I was greeted by friendly folks who make me feel welcome. Not many others were there yet.
Government Obstructions on Importation and Immigration Are Parallel Forms of Plunder
When the government imposes tariffs or import quotas, it harms a few foreigners — exporting producers and their workers mainly — but it harms far more people in the country with these trade obstructions, who suffer an absence of superior options or face higher prices for the imported types of goods on the domestic market owing to lessened competition.
Optimality versus Fire
Public choice economists have long argued that conventional economists hold markets to far higher standards than they hold government. Markets “fail” unless they’re optimal. Governments “succeed” unless they’re on fire.
Let’s Stop the Merchants of Death
It’s safe to say that America’s major military contractors would not exist — or exist in anything like the size and form we know them — were it not for the U.S. government and its mammoth military establishment.