The president’s actions might capture media attention and create the impression that he is going to bat to protect threatened jobs, but the visible effects of such random blundering about will be tiny in comparison with the far-reaching effects on corporate managers and owners across the board, because such selective intervention in the details of companies’ operations epitomizes the kind of action by which governments create what I have called regime uncertainty—a pervasive fear that existing private property rights in one’s property and the income the property yields will be attenuated or destroyed by unpredictable changes in government taxation, regulation, or other action.
Tag: rights
Compulsory Education
Everyone loves learning. The thing is that not everyone likes studying and what’s even more frustrating is to be told how we should study, why we should study etc. Making education available to everyone is benevolent but making education compulsory for everyone is something that we are so used to that we do not see the blatant problem with it – the deprivation of freedom that prevents the flourishing of precisely those who have the most potential in society; children.
Why We Need Less Politics and More Private Governance
We’ve lived through another election season, and this year, as with every years, the candidates competed to tell us about all the ways they were going to use the power of government to make our lives better. Unfortunately, many voters appeared quite sympathetic to the idea that government action can improve living standards and generally make markets work better. That’s the bad news. But, there are also trends at work right now that are bigger than any single election cycle, and while the candidates this year provided little reason for optimism, the voters themselves may be growing skeptical of just how much the government can solve all their problems. Nevertheless, one of the most important things we can do is really explain and understand how markets, and not government intervention, are our best hope for an orderly and prosperous society.
IP is the Enemy of Technological Progress
I was recently asked whether I thought intellectual property (IP) encourages or inhibits innovation. I believe the latter for several reasons, but first, let’s cover some background.
The Extraordinarily High Burden of Proof for Violating Liberty
There are excellent observations and reasons for a presumption in favor of equal liberty for all – which led me to “therefore I am libertarian.”It is true that the libertarian political philosophy I have grown to believe greatly influences my policy analyses. However, it is not merely an opinion, no different in credibility than any other opinion held for any reason.
The Non-Aggression Principle isn’t Mystical
The non-aggression principle (NAP) isn’t some magical or mystical moral code handed down by a deity or discovered in ancient ruins, it’s derived from logic and reason
So-Called Intellectual Property
Property ownership is central to liberty and civilization. Property rights prevent conflict over the use of scarce resources. Ironically, the term “intellectual property” (aka “IP”) represents a hodgepodge of concepts that generally introduce artificial scarcity and needless conflict.
Arguing for Voluntary Slavery
The libertarian view of “voluntary slavery” or “slave contracts” is mixed. There seems to be a great divide among the academics, such as Walter Block on one side and Murray Rothbard, et al. on the other.
Psychoanalysis and Pathological Voting
Politics is just an ongoing Rorschach test. Government rulers and media puppets paint pictures of the world, and the great majority of people respond with their own insecurities and fears by supporting psychopaths who promise to slay the monsters from their nightmares.
Redistributing Stolen Property to Non-Producers is a Hallmark of Leftism
I have observed a constant factor among what are roughly considered ‘leftist’ ideologies which appears to transcend what broader philosophy the leftist may advocate. This factor is the desire to create a system by which non-producers (those who consume more than they produce) can survive in relative comfort.