Many people have killed — sometimes a few, sometimes millions — in order to put their ideology in the saddle. I am deeply invested in my ideology; I have great confidence in its coherence and its foundational values; I have little doubt that if it were to become a society’s reigning belief system the members of that society would reap enormous benefits.
Tag: peace
Business vs. Government: A Few Contrarian Thoughts
A few months ago, Mike Huemer published a pithy defense of business in general, and big corporations in particular. Since I’ve made similar arguments in the past, my admiration for Mike’s essay is no surprise. Yet as I read, counter-examples and complexities sprang to mind. When is business unresponsive? When is government responsive? And why?
The Murder of Breonna Taylor Isn’t about Racism
It’s about cops being out of control. It’s about the evil and destructive policy of “qualified immunity”. It’s about the evil practice of no-knock raids, and the expectation that people sit quietly and allow violent intruders to invade their homes without opposition. It’s about the demand that you sit and die peacefully instead of shooting back at bad guys who are kicking in your door with guns drawn. And it’s about prohibition.
The Desire for Purpose verse The Betterment of Others
I don’t give progressives, socialists and generally left-wing people the pass others often do. These people are rarely well-intentioned. I can only give this pass to very young or very naive people. The emotional dynamics in the minds of these people lead them to seek purpose and validity in others, most often others that are…
The Uniformity and Exclusion Movement
Out of all the major political movements on Earth, none is more Orwellian than “social justice.” No other movement is so dedicated to achieving the opposite of what its slogans proclaim – or so aggressive in the warping of language. While every ideology is prone to a little doublethink, “social justice” is doublethink at its core.
The Dystopian Nightmare is Already Here
Based on what we are seeing right now at both the government and corporate level, it is clear that the 2020 “pLandemic” is being pushed as a strategy to exclude rebels and freethinkers from the market and to ostracize them from society altogether. It starts with demanding masks and temperature checks, but it will soon include mandatory vaccinations and biometrically encoded “COVID-passports” being required at both government and corporate checkpoints.
Billionaires in a Free Market
Someone else having a billion dollars does no harm to you. Fight for freedom, not against others having arbitrary amounts of money.
The Problems We Must Solve Are Too Important to Reduce to Left vs. Right Politics
When considering a way forward, the discussion initially seems to be complicated because there are a lot of things that have gone wrong in the aftermath of George Floyd’s tragic death.
The New Censors
Do you say what you think? That’s risky! You may get fired! You’ve probably heard about a New York Times editor resigning after approving an opinion piece by Senator Tom Cotton that suggested the military to step in to end riots. Many Times reporters tweeted out the same alarmist wording, “Running this puts Black NY Times staffers in danger.” Really? How?
Aphorisms in Honor of Liberty, Part Two (26m) – Episode 320
Episode 320 has Skyler giving his commentary on the following aphorisms written by Jakub Bożydar Wiśniewski: “A bad economist believes that pay can be legislated. A good economist believes that legislation can be paid for.”; “A barbarian believes in the benevolence of power. A civilized person believes in the power of benevolence.”; “A fool believes that people are free when they are all equal. A person of reason believes that people are equal when they are all free.”; “Achieving peace of mind is the dual task of becoming aware of the extent of stupidity in the world and resolving not to contribute to it by refusing to dwell on it.”; “A fool believes that a ban can eliminate debauchery. A person of reason knows that it can increase its attraction.”; “A fool believes that uncertainty infects human life with the misery of fear. A person of reason knows that it imbues human life with the benefit of choice.”