I constantly get scolded, and I’ll bet you probably do, too. We shouldn’t be so judgmental. Just accept that some people have perfectly legitimate reasons for being rapists, kidnappers.,Nazis, communists, cops, murderers, or other archators. They feel they are doing the right thing.
Tag: property
What is Fascism?
As an economic system, fascism is socialism with a capitalist veneer. The word derives from fasces, the Roman symbol of collectivism and power: a tied bundle of rods with a protruding ax. In its day (the 1920s and 1930s), fascism was seen as the happy medium between boom-and-bust-prone liberal capitalism, with its alleged class conflict, wasteful competition, and profit-oriented egoism, and revolutionary Marxism, with its violent and socially divisive persecution of the bourgeoisie. Fascism substituted the particularity of nationalism and racialism—“blood and soil”—for the internationalism of both classical liberalism and Marxism.
Why the Schism?
The debates and arguments continue. Both sides can’t understand why their opponents can’t see their own point of view. The battles between Progressives/Liberals and Libertarian/Conservatives are the most vociferous. Why does such contentiousness exist? Here is my analysis. It boils down to some specific realizations.
A Voluntaryist Begins The Proust Questionnaire
I recently encountered the Proust Questionnaire. It is a regular feature in “Vanity Fair” magazine, where it is answered by a guest celebrity. When I got about halfway through I thought, “Voila! This would be a good architecture for an interview with a very objective voluntaryist.”
Editor’s Break 025 – A Look at Georgism and Property Rights (15m)
Editor’s Break 025 is a quick look at Georgism, the political and economic philosophy that argues for tax on land because of its supposed special status as a finite resource. Is it compatible with human nature? Is it ethical? Is it better at reducing conflict over scarce resources than original appropriation?
Editor’s Break 024 – Is Intellectual Property Piracy Theft? (11m)
Editor’s Break 024 looks at the claim that “stealing” creative works, aka piracy, is a form of theft. It’s not; not in the slightest. There, I spoiled it.
Liberty and Community Go Together
There is a form of community that is the whole basis of the market economy. It is an extended network of human relationships worked out in peace and mutual agreement. So far as we know, the capacity to form such cooperative relationships is distinct to the human experience.
Why Can’t You Pay For Sex?
Consensual sex is legal. But as soon as one party offers cash to another in exchange for sex and that money is voluntarily accepted, it’s considered prostitution, and that is illegal. This is hypocritical, illogical, and wasteful — and it needs to stop.
I Hate Litter
I hate litter. Always have. There’s just no excuse for it that holds up for me. I have never intentionally or knowingly littered. And I have picked up hundreds (maybe thousands) of pounds of litter over the course of my life–just because, if I won’t do it, who will? As an anarchist, I accept the responsibility willingly.
ZAPped by Second-Hand Smoke?
I don’t enjoy being around cigarette smoke, but sometimes it is worth it to be in places or around people I want to be around. And it’s my choice, and I can choose to avoid those people and places if I decide it isn’t worth it. I can even make “hard choices” about difficult trade-offs and potential penalties if it is that important to avoid smoke. I can’t understand militant anti-smokers. Yes, I know smoke makes some people sick. I understand it’s not healthy. Being a smoke-Nazi is not healthy, either.