Decisions that are based on the greater good for the greater number are often made by jiggering the frame, not by examining what is the good for whom, and not by properly accounting for the effects.
Tag: society
Hard-Won Homeschooling Freedoms Are Under Threat and Must Be Defended
I sometimes wonder about the courage it took those earlier homeschooling parents to remove their children from school before it was fully legal, to chart an alternative education path for their children when they were often the only ones on that road. I sometimes wonder if I would have had the same courage.
How to Compromise on the Government Question
The libertarian philosophy posits absolute liberty among consenting individuals. Don’t want the government? You shouldn’t be forced to pay for it or live by its rules. Want the government? You should voluntarily pay for it and voluntarily live by its rules.
The Success of Your Friends is Your Success
Envy is evil. Not just for it’s corrosive effects on society, but for what it can do to undermine your own success. Envy makes you bitter and joyless. Worse, it blinds you to your own potential and the opportunity around you. If the success of those around you makes you less happy, you’re in a death spiral. Conversely, one of the great secrets to personal growth and achievement is the realization that the success of your friends is your success. Not metaphorically, and not just ’cause it gives you feels. In a very literal sense.
Feminism or Masculinism? Neither…
In light of the many and varied types of unfairness that both men and women endure today and have endured throughout history, I can’t say that one gender has been treated more unfairly than the other. Both are and have been treated like shit for the benefit of others. But maybe we can agree that the one group of people that is and has been treated the most unfairly… is children.
Anti-Gun Societies are Not “Civilized”
One non-negotiable mark of a civilized society is that it doesn’t interfere with the liberty or rights of those inside it. Anti-gun “laws” do interfere. They treat the residents as bad, stupid, helpless children.
America Needs More Robin Hoods
Robin Hood is a model of an ethical outlaw. He broke bad laws by doing what was right for the right reasons. His story has been misrepresented. In the original tellings he didn’t “rob from the rich and give to the poor,” but took back property that had been stolen through taxation and returned it to its rightful owners.
The Philosophical Toolbox
I’m not saying that philosophy as a whole is without contradiction, however through years of weeding through different philosophies and theories I was able to find what works best for me. A collection of tools with which anyone can use to truly test whether an idea, concept, law, or edict is just, fair, and equitable. In no particular order I’d like to present a few of the tools I use use when trying to make a consistent, rational, and logical judgement or claim.
The Classical Liberal is a Dreamer
Classical liberalism does not disavow the state. Indeed, it embraces and celebrates it, but only, the classical liberals insist, in the form of “limited government.” This regime, sustained by taxation, includes legislators who enact rules, executives who control police and armed forces to enforce the rules, and judges who settle disputes between persons and between persons and the state. In many versions it also includes active engagement in the construction and maintenance of public works (now often called infrastructure) and a system of government schools (now often with compulsory attendance). The classical liberal imagines that this setup will support free markets and more generally a free society and that it can be sustained indefinitely.
Who’s Afraid of Russian Propaganda?
If we believe the people who claim to be so concerned about Russian Facebook activity, we really ought to be concerned about something much deeper: the apparent fragility of American society. For if the Russians can strike a propaganda blow comparable, as some have ludicrously said, to Pearl Harbor and 9/11, isn’t that also true for any number of domestic websites across the political spectrum?