I won’t lie – it’s nice to be told that you have a leg up. I’m a competitive person just like anyone else, so it’s great to hear that some of my life choices have put me “ahead.” But despite all of the ego gratification I get from being told that, there’s part of me that really doesn’t like the idea. And another part doesn’t believe it’s entirely true.
Tag: rights
“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.
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.
Putting Grit in The Clockworks
Scott Adams almost gets it, but just misses the mark right where you’d expect. Right where “pragmatism” excuses violating people.
Kidnappers and Dangerous Psychopaths
If I ran someone off the road, forcibly pulled them out of their vehicle, put them in shackles, threw them in my vehicle, and transported them to a cage where I locked them up, I would rightly be regarded as a kidnapper and a dangerous psychopath.
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?
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.
Natural Law in a Nutshell
Natural Law is the source of your rights. It does not depend on humankind, and it is universally valid. It cannot be voided or amended by kings, constitutions, or legislatures. It is the universe in harmony with reason. It’s not a new idea. Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Thomas Aquinas, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, Immanuel Kant, Thomas Jefferson, and many others have taught it in one form or another.
I Am a Voluntaryist
I am a voluntaryist, anarchist, libertarian, agorist, and capitalist. These are legitimate, effective ways of accomplishing worthy goals without resorting to authoritarian control.
Overcoming Confirmation Bias on Guns
A one-time gun-control advocate came to believe gun violence is not likely to be reduced by “sweeping bans focused on the guns themselves.” If more people would do what Libresco did, we might be able to have an intelligent conversation about guns.