Allegiance to a group shouldn’t be assumed, mandatory, or dependent on where you live. Let people choose their own groups, and let the groups’ territories overlap the way those of clubs or churches do. Let people switch between groups, or opt out, as their needs and circumstances change.
Tag: society
How to Believe in Free Speech
Almost all libertarians earnestly say, “I believe in free speech.” Normally, though, this goes way beyond the right to speak freely. Most libertarians also believe that free speech “works” in some sense – that given a free exchange of ideas, the truth will at least ultimately prevail. On reflection, this is an awkward position.
Encouragement as Bad as Discouragement
In our society, we commonly and appropriately demonize discouragement because we see it as someone interjecting themselves into this exploration. Discouragement is a tool to distort the exploration of a child in favor of the insecurities and self-interest of the discourager. It is a means of the adult trying to live through their child. Discouragement is someone trying to tip and distort the scales within the ecosystem of a child’s discovery process. The last paragraph also perfectly describes the problems of encouragement.
The Voluntaryist Ethnicity
As my family has traveled the country and met or stayed with other voluntaryists and unschoolers, I can’t help but notice certain general customs among people and families of this kind. Without putting anybody in a box or limiting how it is expressed or experienced, here is the voluntaryist ethnicity as I’ve seen it.
State Capacity is Sleight of Hand
While good social outcomes all tend to go together, the state capacity literature fails to show that government is the crucial factor that makes all the others possible. Indeed, as far as I can tell, existing empirics are quite consistent with Sutton’s Law that people rob banks because “that’s where the money is.”
Falling Short and Missing the Mark
The guy started in with saying “we” have a Constitution and “laws” that we are required to follow, and … “we”/”our” “society” “social contract” blah blah blah. He was justifying every kind of law, and any amount of violence to enforce them, with his superstitions and collectivism. And this was in a liberty-oriented, individualist group.
Credentialed Experts: Protectors of the Sacred Dogma
Credentialed Experts are not at the forefront of innovation and discovery, driving truth forward. Their job is to tell a story about the past that doesn’t threaten the present and stymies the future. The process of winning the credential itself is a trial intended to prove how effectively you imbibe and re-enforce the dominant dogma of the academy, or “The Republic of Science”.
By Leaving People Alone
Questions: How will children be educated? How will people get health care? How will business fluctuations be prevented or moderated? How will people get personal security? How will people receive income when they can no longer work? How will the society’s distressed and disabled receive support and care?
Man is a Social, not a Tribalistic Creature
Man is not a tribal creature – or, worse still, a tribalistic creature – but a social creature. It is in his nature to undertake collective endeavors, but it is not in his nature to submit to collectivist enslavement.
Two Comments to Ponder This Weekend
Am I the only one that is not completely either in awe or outraged by “the intellectual dark web”? I guess I tend to agree with them more than I disagree with them, but I really true find them to be a bunch of nice people discussing milk toast ideas.