John Pilger inverts the perception of Greece as a "junk country" and sees hope in the uprising of ordinary Greeks protesting against the "bailout" of an economy plunged into debt by the tax-evading rich. Greece, he writes, is a microcosm for the developed world, where class war are the words seldom used because they are the truth.
Latest notable terms from this and last week’s Slate Culture Gabfest (feel free to email me suggestions or leave them in the comments to the main page, which keeps a running collection of the terms from this series of posts). alternadad [SM, CG05-19-10] cowl [SM, CG05-19-10] detritus [DS, CG05-19-10] dint [DS, CG05-19-10] funereal [SM, CG05-19-10] […]
Interesting column by Oliver Burkeman in The Guardian (8 May 2010), “Are you an Asker or a Guesser?” The “Asker-Guesser” paradigm seems like bogus pop-analysis, but the first part, I like: just say no and don’t give a reason; giving a reason invites negotiation or argument. I like the ways of saying no: “I’m afraid […]
Here’s the first trailer (Vimeo) for a promising new documentary by lawyer-philosopher David Koepsell and filmmaker Taylor Roesch (I was interviewed for it as mentioned here). Who Owns You? – A Documentary – Trailer from Taylor Roesch on Vimeo. Over the last 20 years, the United States Patent and Trademark Office has been issuing patents […]
In Put Your Hands Up In The Air For Peace!, I noted a recent song, “Peace,” by the Luminaries, and other classic pro-peace songs (clips re-posted below). Libertarian philosopher Geoffrey Plauché notes a recent pro-peace video in his post White Flag Warrior: There’s a new anti-war rock/hip-hop song hitting the air waves lately. It is […]
Picture: The primary lesson of public school politics.
Congress, Ariz. school district sues taxpayers to stop questions
Mark Flatten
Goldwater Institute Watchdog Report
March 10, 2010
The Goldwater Institute Watchdog Report is a periodic publication intended to identify government corruption and waste and to hold politicians and public agencies accountable to taxpayers.
Picture: The primary lesson of public school politics.
Congress, Ariz. school district sues taxpayers to stop questions
Mark Flatten
Goldwater Institute Watchdog Report
March 10, 2010
The Goldwater Institute Watchdog Report is a periodic publication intended to identify government corruption and waste and to hold politicians and public agencies accountable to taxpayers.
Picture: The primary lesson of public school politics.Congress, Ariz.
Reply to Roderick Long’s Fall Right, Swing Left: Stephan Kinsella on May 15, 2010 at 8:26 am I agree with the criticism of Stossel. But I disagree with the idea that libertarians are either left- or right-. In my view, the proper conception of libertarianism rejects the left-right spectrum outright, and also rejects left and […]
Famous ‘IP’ Lawyer Argues Against Patent and Copyright Law (Video) Where the author, Dr. Roy Schestowitz, recommends some of my anti-IP materials. This is an anti-software patent blog and site.
Kevin Carson: Sympathy for the Devil, BP. I reply in detail in the comments. Sheldon Richman, Self-Regulation in the Corporate State: The BP Spill. My comments to Richman: This is a good piece–unlike Carson’s (uncharacteristically) weak one on this topic. Of course, Lew’s comments were not a defense of BP of the type Sheldon rightly […]
Yesterday, totally out of the blue, my six year old drops this one on me. We had not even been talking about taxes or anything for weeks. Last serious political talk was right before Earth Day, when I spent an hour inoculating him from propaganda–which, to my pleasant surprise, didn’t occur; his Montessori school hardly […]
I chimed in too: *** Steve, a question for you, Sheldon, Roderick, etc.: If we ditch the term “capitalism,” for the reasons you describe, what do we do with the technical economic terms “capital” and “capitalist”? The same arguments you use against “capitalism” seem to apply, with equal force, to “capitalist.” For doing theory, we […]
See also Jeff Tucker’s Why Klein’s Book Is an Event to Celebrate. From Klein’s blog: The Capitalist and The Entrepreneur: Available Now! 13 May 2010 | Peter Klein | My new book, The Capitalist and the Entrepreneur: Essays on Organizations and Markets (Mises Institute, 2010), is now available. For a limited time, you can get it […]
Latest notable terms from this and last week’s Slate Culture Gabfest (feel free to email me suggestions or leave them in the comments to the main page). avant la lettre [SM, CG0-12-10] curated [DS, CG05-05-10] elegiac [CG05-05-10] frenetic [SM, CG0-12-10] je ne sais quoi [SM, CG0-12-10] sprezzatura [DS, CG05-12-10] valence [SM, CG05-12-10]
Gene Callahan, in Private Domains and Immigration, in 2003, concluded, in a critique of Hans-Hermann Hoppe’s views on immigration: giving more power to the state, based on an arbitrary set of ideals as to who should be allowed to come to the US (or any other country), ideals that are divorced from any actual entrepreneurial […]
China is widely viewed as a “threat” to the US because of its perceived rapid and unstoppable economic growth. This is, in my view, doubly confused. First: if the premise were true, this would be good, not bad. Second: I don’t think China is in such great shape. Unfortunately. Some free market economists think otherwise. […]
I was on The Peter Mac Show on May 12, 2010, with my fellow Libertarian Standard co-blogger Rob Wicks. We discussed a variety of matters, including whether libertarians should use the word “capitalism,” also anarchy, IP and other topics. The MP3 file is here.
My reply to one “Chris George’s” post No, The Non-Aggression Principle is Not Enough (see Reply to Left-Libertarians on “Capitalism” for other discussions with Chris): Chris, you are getting better. Glad you accept the NAP as a basic rule of thumb. But confusions remain. “If we got down to the really nitty gritty, I’m sure […]
It is clear that the left-libertarians have lost in their campaign to demonize the word “capitalism.” Nice try, fellas, but you lost. Libertarians are not buying your strained arguments and pointless attempt to fight semantic battles. Capitalism as a word just means private ownership of the means of production. I point you to a dictionary. […]
I was a guest on the May 9, 2010 episode of BlogTalkRadio’s show Anarchy Time, hosted by James Cox. Other guests included C4SS Development Specialist Mariana Evica, Wilt Alston, and Stefan Molyneux. (Local MP3.)
TokyoTom, enviro-global-warming anti-corporation libertarian, in Risk-shifting, BP and those nasty enviros, has some criticisms of Lew Rockwell’s Feel Sorry for BP? 1. “It should be obvious that BP is by far the leading victim, but I’ve yet to see a single expression of sadness for the company and its losses.” BP is the leading “victim”? […]
Critical Thinking Question: Imagine if we all woke up tomorrow and all government was just...gone. What's the worst thing that could happen? And how would statists feel about this most catastrophic outcome?The answer might surprise you.Topic: The three most persistent myths throughout history:1. The State is essential for the survival of the human race2. Slavery is essential for the prosperity of all societies reliant upon agriculture3.
Critical Thinking Question:
Imagine if we all woke up tomorrow and all government was just...gone. What's the worst thing that could happen? And how would statists feel about this most catastrophic outcome?
The answer might surprise you.
Topic:
The three most persistent myths throughout history:
1. The State is essential for the survival of the human race
2. Slavery is essential for the prosperity of all societies reliant upon agriculture
3. God and religion are essential for establishing morality
Two down, one to go.
Critical Thinking Question:
Imagine if we all woke up tomorrow and all government was just...gone. What's the worst thing that could happen? And how would statists feel about this most catastrophic outcome?
The answer might surprise you.
Topic:
The three most persistent myths throughout history:
1. The State is essential for the survival of the human race
2. Slavery is essential for the prosperity of all societies reliant upon agriculture
3. God and religion are essential for establishing morality
Two down, one to go.
Good enough for Rothbard, good enough for me. The movement that I’m in favor of is a movement of libertarians who do not substitute whim for reason. Now some of them do, obviously, and I’m against that. I’m in favor of reason over whim. As far as I’m concerned, and I think the rest of […]
I, for one, am sick of the Robin Hood myth and movies. Or I thought I was. On the latest episode of Mark Kermode’s BBC film review podcast, there’s a fascinating discussion with Russell Crowe and “Billy Bragg” about the upcoming Ridley Scott film Robin Hood, starring (and co-produced by) Crowe. The new movie is […]
I was trying to figure out the relative wattages of various Apple power adapters I have–for the MacBook, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro–to see which is compatible with other MacBooks. While doing this it occurred to me that it might be helpful to provide a quick little factoid/tutorial for non-EEs who get confused by the […]
Update: See Bitcoin Freedom Fund. From The Libertarian Standard. Older related posts follow: Besides traditional activism such as politics and writing and speaking, on occasion intellectual entrepreneurs try to find more innovative and creative ways to work for a free society. Examples include various forms of “new libertarian nation” projects (like Patri Friedman’s Seasteading Institute, […]
Of course, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Segway guys sue them for patent infringement.
My posts Left-Libertarians Admit Opposition to “Capitalism” is Substantive and Capitalism, Socialism, and Libertarianism stirred up the left-libosphere–see posts by “Brainpolice” (most lefties like to use nyms), The Public Face of Libertarianism and Chris George’s Against Libertarian Sectarianism. George asks, “who made you King of Libertarianism?” Well, a smart-ass answer might be, I’m the guy […]
John Pilger describes how Edwardian notions of war are again being promoted in western democracies, along with the militarising of history, journalism and parliamentary politics. In Britain, the three main candidiates for prime minister are declared warmakers; and yet popular feeling is very different.
Rothbard described Mencken as “The Joyous Libertarian,” a label that could also be applied to Rothbard himself, called by Justin Raimondo “the happy scholar-warrior of liberty.” Yet Rothbard also famously said “hatred is my muse”. By this he meant, I think, hatred of the state and all manifestations of statism. Anti-statism is an essential aspect […]
Picture: Pragmatists love charts. Charts that illustrate effects. So here's a chart showing how much government school sucks. It's also pretty representative of all 'services' provided at gunpoint, in terms of cost verses quality.Critical Thinking Questions:-Why do people accept government education?-Why do people need tangible alternatives?Topic:Kate Richards from The Scholars' Academy joins me to discuss the possibility of non-government solutions and alternatives to public education.
Picture: Pragmatists love charts. Charts that illustrate effects. So here's a chart showing how much government school sucks. It's also pretty representative of all 'services' provided at gunpoint, in terms of cost verses quality.
Critical Thinking Questions:
-Why do people accept government education?
-Why do people need tangible alternatives?
Picture: Pragmatists love charts. Charts that illustrate effects. So here's a chart showing how much government school sucks. It's also pretty representative of all 'services' provided at gunpoint, in terms of cost verses quality.
Critical Thinking Questions:
-Why do people accept government education?
-Why do people need tangible alternatives?
In Leonard Peikoff’s latest podcast, we learn: If you enter someone’s house with a concealed weapon, you have to let them know; a pregnant woman has a right to abuse her body even up until the moment the baby’s born, even if it harms the fetus. It’s vicious and immoral but people have the right […]
Latest notable terms from this week’s Slate Culture Gabfest and Slate Political Gabfest (feel free to email me suggestions or leave them in the comments to the main page). august (adj.) [JT, CG04-28-10] callipygian [JT, CG04-28-10] slanket [JT, CG04-28-10] wheelhouse [DS, CG04-28-10]
Last night I downloaded Magic Piano for iPad, by Smule (iTunes page; Smule page). This incredible app cost only $0.99. Several things about it startled me. First, the sound is very good–the imitation of piano sound, and the speakers on the iPad. Second, I didn’t realize the iPad’s multitouch allowed so many simultaneous touches to […]
A Tea Party-sympathetic friend sent me a link to a video, Tax Day Tea Party Racists Caught Saying N-Word!!, which mocks the people accusing the Tea Party of racism (the host can’t find anyone who will say the N word). My 6 year old was watching over my shoulder and says, “Dad, what’s the N-word?” […]
From his post Against Libertarian Nostalgia (linked in Preference Falsification: A Case Study): I’m sure that David [Boaz] would be happy to add genocide against American Indians to the list of historical crimes that libertarians ought never forget. But I wonder whether he’d join me in condemning the American Revolution itself as yet another unjust […]
My reply to Roman Pearah’s blogpost: You have to refer to property rights and force to define aggression. “using someone as a means” won’t cut it. In fact it’s perfectly okay to use people as means: see my discussion in Causation and Aggression–the section “COMPLICATING THE PICTURE: CAUSATION, COOPERATION, AND HUMAN MEANS” on p. 101. […]
Yet another thing Rand was good on. No offense quasi-mystical/collectivist types who “take pride in” belonging to ethnic, religious etc. groups like atavistic cavemen. Racism Racism is the lowest, most crudely primitive form of collectivism. It is the notion of ascribing moral, social or political significance to a man’s genetic lineage—the notion that a man’s […]
Fundamentalist Christians are often “young earthers” who believe the Bible is literally true often think the earth and human history is only 6,000 to 10,000 years old–you get this by counting enumerated generations in the bible back to Adam and Eve. This leads to ridiculous theories about dinosaurs living contemporaneously with man, skepticism of carbon-dating […]
Update: see Open the Borders, End the Housing Glut My comment to Michael Barnett’s post Anti-immigration libertarians are treading in dangerous waters, where he linked to my article “A Simple Libertarian Argument Against Unrestricted Immigration and Open Borders“: Mike, my article was to provide a simple argument against unrestricted immigration. I did not imply that I […]
The recent case of the lost next-generation iPhone prototype can help illustrate the absurdity of intellectual property rights. The basic idea of IP is that information can be owned–patterns, recipes, methods, designs, and so on. Even Rothbard, in The Ethics of Liberty, makes this assumption in arguing for a type of contractual copyright: A common […]
See Roderick Long’s blogpost Left Cop, Right Cop. In my view, this just gives further support for the contention that we libertarians should associate ourselves with neither right nor left. Both are corrupt and statist. I have spoken.
Update: This was just a rant when I was in a bad mood. In actuality I like helping people, especially friends and fellow libertarians. So take the following with a grain of salt. However I do wish more libertarians had better manners when the approach others for help. SK *** I don’t mind giving free […]
Picture: Hey kids! The military wants you to know that if you eat right and exercise, a nice box like one of these could have your name on it one day.
School lunches called a national security threat!
Retired military officers say kids are growing up too pudgy for service
WASHINGTON - School lunches have been called many things, but a group of retired military officers is giving them a new label: national security threat.
