Public schools are the worst education system imaginable. In addition to the trillions of dollars which are stolen to fund such a monstrosity, the curriculum itself is statist brainwashing beginning with the earliest forms of pre-kindergarten.
Tag: wealth
On Noprofits and Risk
For the people who work there, nonprofits are a wonderful, dangerous vacation from the feedback of reality. They provide a sort of cushy anti-moral hazard, where people take less risk than they would if they faced direct market feedback from customers. An environment like that is good at slowly stagnating or even corroding the human spirit, as safety nets tend to do. Be careful.
Economic Nationalism: Elitism in Populist Clothing
My old friend and former “American Conservative” editor Dan McCarthy gets it all wrong about Donald Trump’s “national security” tariffs on aluminum and steel.
The First World Problems Foundation
As I accumulate wealth, I think I’ll get working on establishing the First World Problems Foundation. Maybe you can join me. Together, we can remove small annoyances from the lives of the super prosperous, and thus make the world a better place.
On ‘Wage Slavery’ and Word Games
Metaphors and language matter. If you see yourself as a slave, your imagination shrinks, and your sense of what’s possible declines. Verbiage associated with victimhood, etc. have a powerful self-enforcing tendency.
The Propagation of Knowledge
People don’t pass you information because it is true, they pass you information because it benefits them to do so. People don’t study information because it is true, people study what information benefits them. This isn’t a slight at scientists. Few people would suggest that scientists ought to spend time studying information that has no benefit. Many scientists study information based off of flawed premises built within the culture. Few scientists get grants from disinterested parties. The force that links “knowledge” to accuracy or truth is incentives.
Trading Places
“What protection teaches us, is to do to ourselves in time of peace what enemies seek to do to us in time of war.” –Henry George When Donald Trump can propose tariffs on imported steel, aluminum, washing machines, and solar-panels without being roundly booed off the stage, one has to wonder if reason has any…
Capitalism vs. Socialism: Reply to Bruenig
Since Elizabeth Bruenig has posted her whole opening debate statement, I thought I’d reply point-by-point. She’s in blockquotes; I’m not. Before I get started, though, let me say that personally, Elizabeth seems a gracious and kind human being. Still, even if I were an avid socialist, I’d be baffled by the way she tackles the issue.
Consolidation
I went to a “consolidated” high school. Franklin County Consolidated High School still bore that label when I transferred to it, in its second year. The process adjective was soon dropped as the little previous schools were forgotten. Names like Elkhorn, Bald Knob, Thornhill, Peaks Mill, and Bridgeport preceded that ugly, stark consolidated moniker. Economies of scale were sought. Franklin County beefed up its bus fleet, too. Many students now spent more than an hour a day riding on buses.
Hippies With Money
The fact that massively influential multimillionaires (sometimes billionaires) in the soon to be dominant crypto space spend time on Twitter calling each other names, using coarse language, and angrily arguing on live YouTube broadcasts is a radical deviation from past generations of leaders in business, tech, and finance.