Governments around the world began trying to bring the Internet under control as soon as they realized the danger to their power represented by unfettered public access to, and exchange of, information. From attempts to suppress strong encryption technology to the Communications Decency Act in the US and China’s “Great Firewall,” such efforts have generally proven ineffectual. But things are changing, and not for the better.
Tag: security
The Missing Planks
Prominent presidential candidates are advancing proposals that frankly horrify me. Should we dismember big tech firms? Or just give every American adult $1000 a month? Rather than critique these awful ideas, I’d rather ponder the Dog that Did Not Bark – moderate, common-sense proposals that no major candidate is likely to advocate. Just a few that have been on my mind lately…
That Look College Opt-Outs Get
There are going to be plenty of people who believe that you are ignorant, lazy, or unwise for not going to college. They are going to give you plenty of chances to deal with the awkwardness of having made an unconventional decision. You will want desperately to say something to wipe the look of pity or contempt or condescension from their faces.
Wish List Politics: Green No Deal
The resolution calls, fuzzily, for “a new national, social, industrial, and economic mobilization on a scale not seen since World War II and the New Deal,” but it doesn’t advertise that as a cost. It calls such a “mobilization” an “opportunity” and claims that its named predecessors “created the greatest middle class that the United States has ever seen.”
Reflections on the Balan-Caplan Poverty Debate
I really enjoyed my Tuesday debate on “The Philosophy of Poverty?” with my friend David Balan. Many thanks to GMU’s Economics Society for setting it up. While we had a great discussion, here are a few thoughts I’d like to add.
On Entitlements III
Human sacrifice to the gods for the promise of blessings differs only in degree to the sacrifice of liberties for the promise of entitlements. Both require unjustified acts of coercion by the sacred authorities against your peaceful neighbors.
The Constitution is Not Your Security Blanket (6m) – Episode 004
Episode 004: Jared shares a quick rant about gun owners who deify the Second Amendment to the US Constitution.
A Short Hop from Bleeding Heart to Mailed Fist
When Hugo Chavez began ruling Venezuela, he sounded like a classic bleeding-heart – full of pity for the poor and downtrodden. Plenty of people took him at his words – not just Venezuelans, but much of the international bleeding-heart community. By the time Chavez died, however, many admirers were already having second thoughts about his dictatorial tendencies.
The Fired Next Time: A “Shutdown” Proposal
I’ve got a better idea. Instead of taking off work in support of furloughed federal employees, why not seize the jobs those employees are doing and free the employees, and the customers, from the competing manipulations of Donald Trump, Charles Schumer, and Nancy Pelosi?
On Freedom II
There is a sense that I agree with the statement, “Freedom is not free“. Everything we want has a cost that must be paid. Who is forced to pay for the things we want determines the amount of freedom we have. Under total freedom, our welfare, security, wants, needs, and desires must be paid for,…