There’s a time to speak up and a time to observe and collect data. Wisdom is knowing which time it is.
Tag: politics
The Road to a Dim Dystopia
What has happened with tech companies over the last several years have really challenged certain perceptions I have held on government, private businesses, and markets.
Convenience vs. Social Desirability Bias
Convenience has a massive effect on your behavior. You rarely shop in your favorite store, eat in your favorite restaurant, or visit your favorite place. Why not? Because doing so is typically inconvenient. They’re too far away, or not open at the right hours, so you settle for second-best or third-best or tenth-best. You usually don’t switch your cell phone company, your streaming service, or your credit card just because a better option comes along. Why not? Because switching is not convenient. Students even pass up financial aid because they don’t feel like filling out the paperwork. Why not? You guessed it: Because paperwork is inconvenient.
Earth Isn’t Flat and Government Isn’t Good
Have you ever run into someone who believes the Earth is flat? I was shocked to discover such people exist. Many of them also believe the moon is a hologram, gravity doesn’t exist, and space isn’t real. It’s a bewildering experience listening to them try to make their case while fending off evidence to the contrary.
Shepard Returns, Redneck Hooligans, Humor, Propaganda, & Prison (1h3m) – Episode 451
Episode 451 welcomes back Shepard the Voluntaryist to chat with Skyler on the following topics: sitting on the sideline during political uncertainty; trying on different colored glasses to see the world more clearly; JP Sears success and using comedy to fight the state; Washington DC redneck hooliganism; the outpouring of propaganda through 2020 and 2021; uncontrolled kids becoming uncontrollable adults and untraumatized kids becoming peaceful adults; making peace with going to prison for frivolous and arbitrary reasons; defending yourself with surety bonds, challenging jurisdiction, petroleum jelly, or whatever you can to stop their attack on your peaceful behavior; making the most of being a prisoner, recognizing your sphere of control; dealing with prisoner politics in various ways; the perseverance of the 1st and 2nd Amendments, or rather, the perseverance of the American cultural commitment to free speech, free religion, peaceable assembly, and bearing arms; and more.
Up To You To Make 2021 Better
If 2020 wasn’t the best year, look in the mirror to see who’s responsible for making 2021 better.
Negotiating a Price
The difference $2000 would make to the integrity of the sinking ship compared to $600 is minuscule. Even when multiplied by millions in the current situation. Compared to the multi-trillion dollar hole the feds have dug for themselves, it’s almost nothing.
Gregory Diehl: The Trouble with Traditional Schooling (8m)
This episode features an audio essay written by personal development coach Gregory Diehl from 2011, and which comprises Chapter 17 of Everything Voluntary: From Politics to Parenting, edited by Skyler J. Collins and published in 2012.
Shepard Returns, Consequences, Positive and Negative (56m) – Episode 436
Episode 436 welcomes back Shepard the Voluntaryist to chat with Skyler on the following topics: his ongoing radio show and podcast; an exploration of positive and negative consequences; human interference in natural consequences; intended and unintended consequences in politics and economics; what people going along with monopolistic government means for the idea of people going along with competitive government (free society); never letting a crisis go to waste as a voluntaryism popularizer; the consequences of immortality and “The Good Place” television show; the negative consequences of world peace and the positive consequences of world conflict; and more.
Aaron W. Returns, Leaving California for Texas, & Child Protective Services Ordeal (57m) – Episode 435
Episode 435 welcomes back Aaron White to the podcast to chat with Skyler on the following topics: leaving California and the many reasons for doing so such as living expense, new Democrat Party supermajority in local politics, and the charter school crackdown; moving to Texas, specifically the Dallas / Ft. Worth metro area; social justice and woke ideology verse unschooling and free schooling principles; he and his family’s recent experience with California’s Child Protective Services; why every lawyer he talked to advised him to comply with CPS as thoroughly as possible, the opposite advice they give when dealing with police officers (ie. keep your mouth shut); how child protective services may exist in a free society and the question of “skin in the game” for these kinds of allegations; and more.