Why do I keep needing to point this out? No, it is not a sound analogy to compare “closed borders” with having a fence around your own yard. In fact, it is a profoundly crappy analogy, since the political crooks in DC do not rightfully own every square inch of land between the Atlantic and the Pacific.
Tag: order
Who Anarchists Are Actually
Thanks to the media’s portrayal of masked malcontents kicking over trashcans as “anarchists,” I believe some clarification is in order. I am an anarchist because I recognize that the institution of the state is fundamentally based on violence and coercion, not because I punch people in the face for exercising their freedom of speech.
The Case for a Voluntary Society
For those of you who think that Anarchy is just an idealistic notion, ask yourself is the more realistic one really a system that is funded through coercion and whose policies are formulated by a select few and whose compliance is mandated under threat of violence? Is this not the incredibly idealistic and I would argue irrational and evil notion? Please, I only ask at the very least not that you agree, but that you instead refrain from supporting the use of violence to forcibly impose your will on me. I promise I will pay you the same respect.
Tacit Submission
Do you and I willingly give up our freedom and property for the benefits of living in these United States? Do we tacitly consent to oppression by not moving to another country? Do we tacitly consent to the authority of our governments by not rebelling, by not throwing the tea into Boston harbor? John Locke and many today say “yes”; we tacitly accept the State by paying our taxes, by receiving its benefits (such as property protection!), and by not emigrating. They say we acquiesce in an implicit contract in which we give up freedom or accept compulsion in exchange for other things that we value. This view is dead wrong.
The Goal of Protests
I want to live in a world of confident individual human beings who use reason and are convinced by thoughtful discussion and deliberation. I don’t want to live in a world where rank intimidation and fear guide people. Maybe I am a bit Utopian in this regard. However, as long as that is the culture I wish to foster, I will always despise protests.
Modern Copyright Built on an Obsolete Assumption
When copyright was reinstated in 1710, the justification was that of publishing being many orders of magnitude more expensive than authoring, and so without it, nothing would get published. But the Internet has reversed this assumption completely: publishing is now many orders of magnitude cheaper than writing the piece you want to publish.
Who Cares About Conspiracies?
I spend little time studying and talking about conspiracy theories. Why? Three main reasons. First, who cares? For your knowledge about a given conspiracy to have any use, it isn’t enough for the theory to be true; you’ll need to convince the very people who are already in on it. So, what are you going to do with this information?
Editor’s Break 006 – Spanking to Teach Danger to Children (8m)
Editor’s Break 006 has Skyler looking at the idea that children need to be spanked or slapped in order to learn the danger in things like running into the streets, or touching a hot stove. Spoiler warning: spanking is totally unnecessary in this and every other regard.
Con Trolling
Here’s how it works: a troll preys on your need to be affirmed. Nearly everything that a troll does is to signal a message to you that says “I don’t like you and I’m not going to grant you the gift of my approval.” Once you start using arguments as a means of begging the troll to become your ally, the troll wins. Now he/she can simply play the easy and endless game of using everything you say as a basis for offering responses that make you feel more desperate for their acceptance and more frustrated for not receiving it.
The Role of Capitalism in Anarchy
Anarcho-capitalists have a tendency to fancy themselves as too far outside the normal sphere of anarchy when we are actually just anarchists who understand both economics and human nature. In a free society devoid of the fiction that is authority, some people would indeed acquire, improve, and trade natural resources. Ergo, capitalism. This would happen not because a system of capitalism was established but simply because no one was stopping production and trade from occurring.