Predictably, the news media spent most of the week examining words Donald Trump may or may not have spoken to the widow of an American Green Beret killed in Niger, in northwest Africa, in early October. Not only was this coverage tedious, it was largely pointless. We know Trump is a clumsy boor, and we also know that lots of people are ready to pounce on him for any sort of gaffe, real or imagined. Who cares? It’s not news. But it was useful to those who wish to distract Americans from what really needs attention: the U.S. government’s perpetual war.
Tag: order
Borders and Neighbors
I’m sure, for natural reasons, that these birds do flock together. But there are no hard-and-fast boundaries. If we were to inspect the demographics, we’d probably find many Orthodox families grouped in distinct clusters. We’d also find some areas where Orthodox and Gentile intermingle to some degree.
“Reasonable” Non-Solutions
I understand it is inconvenient to work strictly within your rights, and respect the rights of others. It is easier to cheat; to use the political method to get what you want. I will always see that as a cop-out. As lazy and wrong. Even if you claim it is necessary to get where you want to go.
The World Doesn’t Pay You Enough to be Nasty
There’s a reason why we like to get nasty. It’s a lot easier to start a fight than it is to take charge of your life when things seem out of control. Our desire to manipulate others often stems from the need to compensate for our own inability to feel a sense of agency in relation to our goals. We enjoy pulling other people’s strings because those are usually the only strings we know how to pull.
Microsoft Corp. v. United States: Jeff Sessions Wants Open Borders, But Only for Police
In 2013, Microsoft refused to turn information from a customer’s email account over to law enforcement pursuant to a warrant in a narcotics investigation. The information, Microsoft noted, was stored on a server in Ireland. Ireland, as you may have learned in elementary school, is neither one of the fifty states nor a US territory. It’s a sovereign state with its own laws. US search warrants carry no weight there.
The Destruction of Property Norms
Private borders are not in dispute, except as straw men, or by Marxists. Bordertarians fail to recognize that many Real Life private borders are “open” for good reason.
Why Are You Surprised by Authoritarianism?
Most kids are conditioned almost from day one to obey arbitrary authority. No one attempts to explain or justify the source of the parent or teacher’s authority; no consent is sought, and no choice is offered.
Is Secession by Referendum Libertarian?
My concerns about group (not individual) secession are over the process of peaceful separation, namely, the referendum. Libertarians have long criticized political democracy — that is, the settling of “public” matters by majority vote either directly or through so-called representatives — as inherently violative of individual rights. By what authority does a majority lord it over a minority? Well, doesn’t this critique apply to referenda on secession?
Libertarian Views on Two Books and a Movie
I have recently, as usual, been bingeing on various dramas and books that have some degree of voluntaryist content. Here are three examples that I would like to recommend to you, dear readers.
Refusing to Recognize This Dangerous Fallacy
This right of exclusion may be exercised at any time for any reason (or no reason), but it does not follow that the property owner has any authority over people simply because they are on his land.