This episode features a lecture by economics professor David Friedman from 2013. Based on a course he teaches and a forthcoming book, he discusses the characteristics of legal systems quite unlike any we’ve known in contemporary Western society. Examples range from historic Imperial China and Periclean Athens to modern gypsies and Amish.
Tag: society
“Meatless Mondays” and the Rise of Social-Emotional Learning in Schools
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced earlier this month that all New York City public schools would enact “Meatless Mondays,” avoiding any meat offerings during Monday school breakfasts and lunches beginning this fall. The Meatless Monday plan is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to government dictates on right and wrong, often using compulsory government schools to influence young people.
Reward Someone’s Faith
Wouldn’t it be nice to live in a world in which humans had faith in other humans? Wouldn’t it be nice if people had faith that good wins out over evil, that virtue leads to happiness, and that freedom creates the best kind of society? Answer: it would be very nice.
Lawmakers Want to Give Voting Rights to Teens They Treat Like Toddlers
Teenagers are capable of being valuable contributors to civil society. They should be granted greater freedom and responsibility. Lowering the voting age while trapping them in compulsory schooling gives teenagers neither freedom nor responsibility.
Klein on Groupthink
I don’t regard left-wing domination of the humanities and social sciences as the world’s most-pressing problem, or even the world’s tenth most-pressing problem. As I explained in The Case Against Education, educators simply aren’t very persuasive, so they do far less intellectual damage than you’d think. Indeed, despite their teachers’ biases, well-educated Americans tend to be social liberal but economically conservative. How is this possible?
Statism is Malware
The statist brain is a malfunctioning machine. At a minimum, it has been infected with malware (often intentionally downloaded in government schools) which makes it unable to ask certain questions, especially if the answers would expose the malfunction.
Legalizing Blackmail, Goals for Our Children, & The Duty of Children (16m) – Episode 290
Episode 290 has Skyler giving his commentary on the following topics: why blackmail should be legalized according to libertarian principles, but also, why maybe some blackmail should not be legalized; the goals he has for his children; the duty that children have toward their parents, toward society, and toward all of humanity; and more.
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.
The Philosophy of Poverty?: My Opening Statement
The default view is that the government should dramatically expand redistribution programs, forcing the well-endowed – especially business and the rich – to provide a decent standard of living for everyone. I strongly reject this default view.
Killing the American Meritocracy
It is my belief that those who prefer a centrally planned society to one based on freedom, liberty, and personal achievement are intentionally rewriting history so as to make people believe that so-called “privilege” rather than merit has been the primary factor in achieving success throughout American history.