It’s our own small inhumanities that create our great inhumanities. It’s our small humanities that can save the world. If it’s too late, it’s too late. But I much prefer to play my music as the ship sinks than to let myself be ruled by fear.
Tag: rebellion
Everyone Misses This Lesson on Political Power From “Game of Thrones”
Getting a seat on the Iron Throne is a pretty raw deal, and even if you have it, you might now have it for long. So why do Game of Thrones‘s rulers spill so much blood to get there? Why not consolidate their own power elsewhere? And why does the question of who sits in leadership draw so many other people into the sinkhole of war?
Patriotism, an Abomination
How exactly does “celebrating freedom” equate to swearing allegiance to a republic (which is a form of “government,” or ruling class)? Well, it doesn’t. And, for those who dare to look, this is where the true, diabolical nature of “patriotism” starts to rear its ugly head.
Defending a Free Nation
Most societies, at least in this century, handle the problem of national defense by having a large, well-armed, permanent military force, run by a centralized government, funded by taxation, and often (though not always) manned by conscription. Is this a solution that a free nation can or should follow?
State Services Will Always Be a Crappy Deal
Aside from all the immorality of state coercion, “government” services will always be a crappy deal, for a very simple economic reason – so simple that it’s kind of pathetic it even needs to be explained.
Ideology, Identity Politics, and Politico-Cultural Conflict
The past year’s political events, especially the campaign for the presidency as it converged on a contest between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, have illuminated the way in which ideology, with the identity politics that springs from it, drives a dialectical process: political domination creates resentment, which feeds reaction and, on occasion, revolution against a previously entrenched ruling class and its belief system.
A Secret Statist Decoder Ring
Nobody asked but … Here are some of my Facebook responses to a person who seemed to want man-made legislation, which he incorrectly calls “law”. The choice to do an evil happens at a concrete place while the formulation of a law is an abstraction, and the combination has at least two faults, 1) the…
How Goes the Whiskey Rebellion?
Nobody asked but … One of the negative consequences of collective action is that the desire for free lunch must collide with T.A.N.S.T.A.A.F.L. – There Ain’t No Such Thing as a Free Lunch. The Hamiltonian solution is taxes, which must be taken, even if violence is necessary, even if killing is necessary. The modern American…
The Philosophy of Voluntaryism
Send him mail. “One Voluntaryist’s Perspective” is an original column appearing most Mondays at Everything-Voluntary.com, by the founder and editor Skyler J. Collins. Archived columns can be found here. OVP-only RSS feed available here. Philosophy is, etymologically, the “love of wisdom”. One of the best ways I’ve read to define wisdom is this saying, “Knowledge…
The Private vs. the Public Sector
Send him mail. “Food for Thought” is an original column appearing every other Tuesday at Everything-Voluntary.com, by Norman Imberman. Norman is a retired podiatrist who loves playing piano, writing music, lawn bowling, bridge, reading, classical music, going to movies, plays, concerts and traveling. He is not a member of any social network, nor does he…