Bullying behavior emerges from the incentives of cultures and systems. By punishing bullies and making strict rules, you will often just make it so another brand of assholish behavior emerges.
Tag: rules
Technology Kills the State, Over and Over
If we identify a state as not only the particular time and place in which they operate, but also by the tools they use, then what is revealed over and over again are the many ways in which technology has killed the state.
@Twitter: Net Neutrality For Thee, But Not For We
Companies that use lots of bandwidth love the idea of Net Neutrality because it’s a subsidy. When it comes to their own apps, though, this “no fast lane, no slow lane” stuff goes out the window in a hot second. They want to cash the corporate welfare checks, not write the corporate welfare checks.
Government Not Designed to Help
No government has ever protected life, liberty, or property when it meant scaling back its own power. Expecting government to do so is like hopping in your family SUV expecting to drive it to Alpha Centauri. That’s not what it was designed to do, and not in the realm of possibility, no matter how much you wish it were.
Laws Always Mean Guns to the Face
The budding voluntaryist recognizes that the claims of territorial jurisdiction made by people who call themselves “government” are without factual merit. They are nothing more than, “Pay us and obey our rules, or else!” The commands wouldn’t be so bad if not for the “or else!” What is the “or else!”? It’s a gun to the face. Always.
The Deviousness of “Have To”
“Have to” is one of those phrases that I only began thinking critically about when we travelled further along our unschooling journey. A major theme in radical unschooling is the removal of rules and obligations, and replaced with principles and choices. “Have to” often implies unchosen obligations, and can be, but is not always, incompatible with respecting your children’s autonomy and preferences.
CFPB Makes War on the Poor in the Name of “Protecting” Them
Daniel Press of the Competitive Enterprise Institute calls the US Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s name “the ultimate misnomer.” He’s right. The “Protection” part only makes sense in the manner of mob racket slang: “Nice loan operation you got there. Be a shame if anything happened to it.”
Standing Up for Liberty Isn’t Political
You have no obligation to tolerate those trying to stop you from doing what you have a right to do. You have no obligation to play politics in self-defense. Why march or v*te for your rights? Just exercise them.
Different Beats Better
Don’t play the game like everyone else and hope to be the best. Change the rules. Play a different game. This shift forces creativity, self-discovery, and big breakthroughs.
You Get to Make the Rules
It’s a rush when you remember your agency. It’s also a weight of responsibility. Most of the time, most things are efficiently outsourced to common practice. But when it’s not working or doesn’t feel right, don’t forget you can do whatever the heck you want.