The main objection to @YesYoureRacist doesn’t cut much ice with me. The project is not an “invasion of privacy” or a “violation of rights.” The Charlottesville marchers engaged in public action with the explicit purpose of attracting attention. Mission accomplished. They got noticed.
Tag: media
The Data Don’t Matter
My kids have some clear challenges and opportunities because of their digital immersion. None of those changed because someone did some research. My kids’ unique screen time pros/cons existed before I read stats from a study, and they exist after.
Influences III
If I were a guest on a podcast or an interview broadcast, when asked about my major influences, I would stick close to the names repeated by voluntaryists — Spooner, Bastiat, Jefferson, Mencken, Mises, Hazlitt, Rothbard, Higgs, and Woods. But in this more expansive context, I can stretch out to discuss the influences who made me a voluntaryist before I knew I was one, before I knew to read the internal literature of the voluntaryist, libertarian, individualist mainstream. Three such influences are Alan Turing, Dan Carlin, and Ruth Rendell.
Lessons from Building Praxis – Part 11
There’s a fatal flaw in your plan. Your business model, or market, or pricing, or something about your crazy idea is going to stop you dead in your tracks. Of course. That’s probably why no one else has done it yet. Or maybe that’s why you’re going to succeed where they failed.
Guess What, Some People are Pricks
What humanity needs if we are to become less bigoted overall is to call a prick a prick, and deal with pricks as individuals.
Does This Seem Right to You?
I don’t know if she did what she is charged with doing. It seems completely out of character, based on what I know of her due to a friendship that has lasted 17+ years so far. And, it is completely irrelevant to my current objections, anyway. If she did what they claim, she owes someone restitution, and that “someone” isn’t the State. The State’s injustice system doesn’t even have justice on the radar but seeks only to punish.
US Foreign Military Bases Aren’t “Defense”
The maintenance of nearly 1,000 US military bases on foreign soil isn’t just a nightmare for peaceniks. It’s also an objective threat to US national security. Shutting down those foreign bases and bringing the troops home are essential first steps in creating an actual national defense.
Life, Eating Animals, and Ethics
Do I value society with animals that I find delicious? No. Of course not. I value their taste and the nutrition that they provide. That’s it. And I obviously don’t value the hordes of insects I slaughter on a daily basis with my car. Who does?
A Kind Word on Behalf of the Mexicans
They are in the great majority of cases good and decent people seeking what most people seek—an opportunity to work toward building a better life for themselves and their children. For those of us who know them more intimately than most, it is painful to hear the ignorant and malicious statements that circulate about them, especially perhaps on social media, where people are frequently unrestrained in letting loose the most vitriolic and baseless accusations.
Selfish Reasons for Civilized Behavior
The nihilist in me isn’t too interested in moralizing to my children about right and wrong. Yes, I believe in ethics and morality, but no, I do not believe that we are obligated to anyone but ourselves to be good and moral people. If we aren’t obligated to anyone but ourselves, then any reason why find to be good and moral must necessarily be selfish. Right? I think so. And after polling some friends on what they considered “civilized behavior,” here are some actions and the selfish reasons to perform them.