John Pilger goes back to Australia, where Rupert Murdoch launched his worldwide media empire, and describes how his and Murdoch's homeland has become a murdochracy - a country where important media, issues and perception are influenced if not dominated by Murdochism: "an inspiration to his choir on seven continents".
ABOVE: Unlike BF Skinner's "box", used for the operant conditioning of rats, government school does have a way out.
Jack is a fourteen-year-old who left government school to educate himself. We discuss the advantages of unschooling, talking to parents about school and politics, and public perception of home schoolers.
Jack shares his story about the realizations that led to his decision to leave school, how he approached his parents, and what has happened since he withdrew.
Please visit schoolsucksproject.com for full show notes, references and links.
ABOVE: Unlike BF Skinner's "box", used for the operant conditioning of rats, government school does have a way out.Jack is a fourteen-year-old who left government school to educate himself. We discuss the advantages of unschooling, talking to parents about school and politics, and public perception of home schoolers.Jack shares his story about the realizations that led to his decision to leave school, how he approached his parents, and what has happened since he withdrew.Please visit schoolsucksproject.com for full show notes, references and links.
ABOVE: Unlike BF Skinner's "box", used for the operant conditioning of rats, government school does have a way out.
Jack is a fourteen-year-old who left government school to educate himself. We discuss the advantages of unschooling, talking to parents about school and politics, and public perception of home schoolers.
Jack shares his story about the realizations that led to his decision to leave school, how he approached his parents, and what has happened since he withdrew.
Please visit schoolsucksproject.com for full show notes, references and links.
(See also Auto mechanic for President – The phony populism of Stephan Kinsella, reproduced below) Palin “Reeks of Local” — The Dumb, Dumb Demonrats Posted by Stephan Kinsella on August 30, 2008 11:55 PM It’s long been my contention that if the demonrats would just jettison the relatively small elitist wing of their party–the condescending […]
Related posts: Fleming on Woods The Trouble with Feser (Feser on Libertarianism) Luker on 10 Most Harmful Books Minarchists as Statist-Aggressors Fleming on Woods Posted by Stephan Kinsella on June 23, 2004 11:34 PM As Tom Woods recently noted, though he was too polite to name names, Thomas Fleming and others at Chronicles (related posts: […]
Related posts: Fleming on Woods The Trouble with Feser (Feser on Libertarianism) Luker on 10 Most Harmful Books Minarchists as Statist-Aggressors Feser: What Libertarianism Isn’t and The road from libertarianism Reply to Feser on Block Posted by Stephan Kinsella on July 13, 2006 03:41 PM Ed Feser’s recent Contra the Rothbardians yet again: A Reply to Walter […]
From my 2006 LRC post. As the editor of Libertarian Papers, I can relate to Higgs’s experience with such authors. Heroic Higgs v. “diZerega” Posted by Stephan Kinsella on December 7, 2005 03:03 PM Oh, this is hilarious–see Robert Higgs’s replies to befuddled diZerega’s whining about Higgs rejecting one of diZerega’s articles for The Indendepent […]
Libertarian Papers, Vol. 2 (2010), Art. #8: “Voltairine de Cleyre: More of an Anarchist than a Feminist?,” by Steve J. Shone. Abstract: The recently rediscovered Michigan-born poet, essayist, and political philosopher, Voltairine de Cleyre (1866-1912) has been celebrated by modern scholars as both an anarchist and a feminist. In this paper, however, it is argued […]
From Mises blog: Should Libertarians Oppose “Capitalism”? 03/03/2010 Stephan Kinsella Excellent post by Bryan Caplan, Should Libertarians Oppose “Capitalism”?, arguing against Sheldon Richman’s contention that we libertarians should not only not use “capitalism” as a synonym for favoring free markets, but that we should say we oppose “capitalism,” because of the term’s connotation of the […]
As noted in Justin Levine’s post, Dissent of the Day, a recent decision of the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit holds “that a U.S. stamp which depicts a view of a public Korean War memorial violates the copyright of the sculptor who designed it.” The case involved the sculptures made by Gaylord, a […]
A “friend” and I were discussing Rand — he said that though Rand said she opposed taxes, “eliminating taxes is among the last reforms Rand would make”. I don’t recall this–instead, I seem to recall she said this about abolishing drug prohibition. Anyone know where there is a cite or quote for either contention?
In a facebook note, Quee Nelson writes about Mises the Utilitarian (appended below). I wonder if he was more of a consequentialist than a utilitarian. Below I collect some points I’ve made along these lines before: As I noted on p. 50 of my Knowledge, Calculation, Conflict, and Law, reviewing Randy Barnett’s Structure of Liberty: […]
In a recent excellent facebook post by Quee Nelson (see appended below), she wrote: Some of my best friends are Randians. They’re excellent people, and one of the things I love most about them (among many things), is the fact that, no matter how generous, compassionate, and charitable they behave, they insist they’re just being […]
From Nov. 2008 Re: Teaching Kids about Voting Posted by Stephan Kinsella on November 4, 2008 09:45 PM Well, I followed through on my no-voting plan. Drove my 5 year old to the local polling station around 4pm. Very light crowd. I signed in, and took him to the “booth”–not really a booth, just a […]
The world inclines to Socialism because the great majority of people want it. They want it because they believe that Socialism will guarantee a higher standard of living. The loss of this conviction would signify the end of Socialism. –Mises, Socialism Added to my favorite quotes… (h/t Bryan Caplan)
TCLP 2010-02-24 Interview: Nina Paley This is a feature cast, an episode of The Command Line Podcast. No listener feedback this week. Due to the length of the interview, there is also no new hacker word of the week this week. The feature this week is an interview with cartoonist and animator, Nina Paley, creator […]
My article “Legislation and Law in a Free Society” was published today on Mises Daily (Feb. 25, 2010). An earlier version was published in 1995 in The Freeman, “Legislation and Law in a Free Society,” which was based on the longer “Legislation and the Discovery of Law in a Free Society,” Journal of Libertarian Studies […]
Some additional content from my discussion with Ian Freeman of Free Talk Live, edited out of Episode 15. We cover the Free State Project, Keene, activism for liberty, and the return-on-investment of political action and civil disobedience. Most importantly, we discuss the combination of action and an educational message.
Please visit schoolsucksproject.com for full show notes, references and links.
Some additional content from my discussion with Ian Freeman of Free Talk Live, edited out of Episode 15. We cover the Free State Project, Keene, activism for liberty, and the return-on-investment of political action and civil disobedience. Most importantly, we discuss the combination of action and an educational message. Please visit schoolsucksproject.com for full show notes, references and links.
Some additional content from my discussion with Ian Freeman of Free Talk Live, edited out of Episode 15. We cover the Free State Project, Keene, activism for liberty, and the return-on-investment of political action and civil disobedience. Most importantly, we discuss the combination of action and an educational message.
Please visit schoolsucksproject.com for full show notes, references and links.
John Pilger reminds us of the struggle by an extraordinary few in Israel against the repression and lawlessness of the occupation of Palestine. They are the inspiration to break the loud silence in the Jewish diaspora.
I was listening to the Mises Podcast and came across Rothbard’s wonderful 1972 lecture Scarcity and Choice. Around 34:09 to about 38:00 he discusses why specialization and the division of labor is useful, indeed essential, for civilization and human life and prosperity. He criticizes those intellectuals who still maintain that we should go back to […]
Objectivists say they are against taxation; they say that you can fund a state by some kind of contract fee or lottery system. Obviously, you can’t, not without the state compelling membership or outlawing competitors, which permits them to charge monopoly prices which amounts to a tax. But Objectivists are strongly pro-intellectual property (see Why […]
I confess that I hate self-promotion but I cannot resist reposting comments like the following from the single most important libertarian thinker and organizer of our generation: Daily Bell: One of the hardest issues to resolve from a free-market point of view is ownership of intellectual property. Can you tell our readers where you come […]
Invasive Government and the Destruction of Certainty, by Ridgway K. Foley Jr., The Freeman (January 1988 • Volume: 38 • Issue: 1). An oldie but a goodie. I cited it in my Legislation and the Discovery of Law in a Free Society, Journal of Libertarian Studies 11 (Summer 1995). I met Foley in 1995 or […]
Tyler Cowen seems sympathetic to the idea of imposing a national sales tax (VAT) in his post Is there a case for a VAT? But as I noted in Say No To Tax Reform, Calls for tax reform of a distraction (no offense, my naive, youthful advocacy of a national sales tax). For good material […]
Critical Thinking Question:
What would you think if you saw an arsonist running back to the scene of their crime moments later...with a fire hose?
Topic:
Ian Freeman of Free Talk Live joins me to address the myth that government solves problems. We explore the phenomenon of unintended consequences, using the so-called 'war on drugs' as a case study.
The Formula:
Critical Thinking Question:
What would you think if you saw an arsonist running back to the scene of their crime moments later...with a fire hose?
Topic:
Ian Freeman of Free Talk Live joins me to address the myth that government solves problems. We explore the phenomenon of unintended consequences, using the so-called 'war on drugs' as a case study.
The Formula:
Critical Thinking Question: What would you think if you saw an arsonist running back to the scene of their crime moments later...with a fire hose? Topic: Ian Freeman of Free Talk Live joins me to address the myth that government solves problems.
This is an amazing animation by Nina Paley, “America’s Best-Loved Unknown Cartoonist” (and creator of the amazing animated (and free online) film Sita Sings the Blues, given rave reviews including 4 stars by Roger Ebert). Entitled “All Creative Work Is Derivative” (and blogged here on her blog), and concluding “All creative work builds on what […]
see KOL 035 | Antiwar Interview: Federalism, Bill of Rights, Constitutional Sentimentalism, IP (2010)
This story happened more than 70 or 80 years ago, in the Galilee Heights, during the British occupation “Mandate” to Palestine, a long time before we had the “honor” to host our “cousins’ the jews. There, in one of the …
Interesting when people are hoisted by their own petard–it’s terrible when those who oppose the leviathan are accused of being motivated by bigotry, ain’t it? FEBRUARY 12, 2010 Will Wilkinson and Brink Lindsey Get the Finger Arnold Kling from Ed Kilgore, of the Progressive Policy Institute. Certainly, few self-conscious libertarians have much tolerance for racism, […]
Somin’s overall take on secession is reasonable, but notice how he doesn’t consider the 600,000 people killed in the Civil War, or the option of not fighting that war, when he says that Northern victory was a “far better outcome” than Southern victory would have been. Anyway, no offense, preening anti-secessionist, pro-Lincoln “libertarians” such as […]
5. “Two Concepts of Rationality”, by Danny Frederick 6. “Is There an ‘Anomalous’ Section of the Laffer Curve?”, by Walter E. Block 7. “How Anticommonism ‘Cemented’ the American Conservative Movement in a Liberal Age of Conformity, 1945–64″, by Lee Haddigan
John Pilger asks why directors and writers allow Hollywood formula propaganda to dominate the movies, with a hot contender for the Oscars airbrushing a million dead Iraqis, Clint Eastwood dispatching the truth of the struggle against apartheid and George Clooney amusing himself with the same old stereotypes.
and my Cajun heritage, and apropos nothing in particular, here is the joke “Illegal Cock Fight”: The Louisiana State Police received reports of illegal cock fights being held in the area around Lafayette, and duly dispatched the infamous detective Desormeaux to investigate. He reported to his sergeant the next morning. “Dey is tree main groups […]
Jeff Tucker was interviewed yesterday by Mark Edge, as part of his “Edgington Post Interview Series,” for his Free Talk Live radio show, about the Mises Institute’s “open information” approach (see Jeff Tucker, A Theory of Open, B.K. Marcus, Mises.org on iTunes U, Doug French, The Intellectual Revolution Is in Process). The interview is lasts […]
As I’ve noted elsewhere (see posts appended below), the left-libertarian (and other) critics of corporate limited liability are off the mark. As far as limited liability for contractual obligations and debts, this is a contractual matter. As for limited liability (of shareholders) for torts (committed by employees of the corporation), there is simply no reason […]
Four new articles published today in Libertarian Papers, vol. 2 (2010): 1. “Moundsville Penitentiary Reconsidered: Second Thoughts on Hyperreality at a Small Town Prison Tour”, by Allen Mendenhall Abstract: In 2007, I toured Moundsville Penitentiary, a tourist spectacle that was once—and fairly recently—a working prison. I wrote about the experience as would a journalist, except […]
In his post OK, So What Have I Been Up to These Last Four Years?, Gene Callahan notes he has almost finished his PhD dissertation, so one assumes his PhD is imminent. The dissertation also looks very interesting, in particular this part: Chapter VIII examines some post-founding American history in light of Oakeshott’s contention that […]
An email I just received: My name is Luke Mroz and I am a Ron Paul supporter in NYC and a fan of your work at Mises.org. I just wanted to share a brief story with you from an event I went to last night: Last night I attended a Comedy Central taping for a […]
One of my posts from years back on another blog: Reflicted When I was a youngling in rural Louisiana, we would often use the pejorative, colloquial term “reflicted,” as in, “Oh, shut up, you’re so reflicted!” It was a synonym, roughly, for “retarded” or stupid. Other colloquialisms from my home state: silver dime, meaning, a […]
Critical Thinking Question:
You know that light at the end of the tunnel that political leaders are always pointing at...
Telling us to be hopeful about...
Directing us to follow them in that direction...
What if that distant illumination is actually the headlight on a big, dirty oncoming train with no brakes?
Critical Thinking Question:
You know that light at the end of the tunnel that political leaders are always pointing at...
Telling us to be hopeful about...
Directing us to follow them in that direction...
What if that distant illumination is actually the headlight on a big, dirty oncoming train with no brakes?
Critical Thinking Question: You know that light at the end of the tunnel that political leaders are always pointing at...Telling us to be hopeful about...Directing us to follow them in that direction...What if that distant illumination is actually the headlight on a big, dirty oncoming train with no brakes?Topic: A continuation of the previous topic. Gardner Goldsmith (Liberty Conspiracy) and I switch from the legend of Abraham Lincoln to the legend of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
I wasn’t always a woolly-eyed anarchist. In 1989, I was still clinging to minarchy, trying to find ways to justify it. Hence, my article Freedom and Government, The Wonderland Times (underground LSU student newspaper), vol. 1, no. 6, July 5, 1989. I think I could see even then that minarchy made no sense; hence the […]
