The American flag, the “star-spangled banner” is one of those things whose meaning to me has changed significantly over the course of my life. Once upon a time it meant being a winning nation, the best the world had ever seen in terms of righteousness, justice, freedom, and opportunity. When I saw the flag, those are the ideas that were brought to mind, ideas that I value, and produced the warm and fuzzies deep inside. I admired and waved the stars and stripes with a sense of pride. What the American flag means to me today is very different than what it meant to me as recently as 10 years ago.
Tag: markets
Reliable Sources
Where do you go to get reliable accounts of news, weather, and sports? I recently surveyed my students in 4 computer literacy classes regarding this information. On reviewing the results, I stressed to them that a “good” source was no better than its reliability, and furthermore its alignment with the goals of the seeker.
The Cycle of Life and the Cacophony of Statism (6m) – Peaceful Anarchism 024
Peaceful Anarchism 024, “Statism is a self-destructive ideology, from whose ashes a wonder will emerge of epic proportions that will catapult human progress to the stratosphere and beyond. I look to the future with bright and hopeful eyes at what magnificent splendor awaits us.”
You Can’t Go Home Again, but . . .
Today, when I buy a cantaloupe brought to me in the far reaches of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, I immediately feel a link to my boyhood and relive at least for a few moments the youthful joys of that long-ago time and place.
The Socio-Political Equivalent of a Catch-22
If anyone ever managed to create real socialism – that is, a system completely detached from external free markets, perfectly efficient at destroying internal black markets, and not dependent on financing by other, not-fully-socialist regimes – then such a system would immediately collapse in a spectacular manner, consumed by calculational chaos so exhaustively described by Ludwig von Mises.
Superstition Still Plagues Humanity
When I think of behaviors or convictions from the past now considered superstitious, I can’t help but find many modern analogs. It’s not difficult when we define superstition as follows: a belief in something in spite of the absence of supporting facts or evidence.
My Brief Guide to Getting Started with Bitcoin
I’ve gotten a fair number of questions from friends and strangers like you about how to explore, understand, and use bitcoin properly. Rather than send you the same email and retread old ground, I’ve decided to make my recommendations available publicly here. I hope this helps you in your search!
Words Poorly Used #105 — Insurance
A substantial part of my jagged career was spent in the vineyards of the property and casualty insurance business. I learned that, in its principled form, true insurance was only possible where every unit was equally exposed to a loss.
Libertarian Universalism Won’t Be a Successful Strategy
We don’t have great products and services because high minded individuals searched for a greater cause that required virtue and nuance. We have great products because of how complex markets works in satisfying consumer desires.
The American Führerprinzip
Although Trump went to Texas and Florida after the recent hurricanes, he was criticized for being insufficiently sympathetic — or perhaps empathetic. He apparently neither shed tears nor hugged storm victims, as his predecessors did. Do people really want that? Disgusting.