I've taken up a Marketing course (that's one of the irons I've mentioned elsewhere having in the fire), so I forgot to get him anything.
FEE celebrates with these articles:
"The State" by Frédéric Bastiat
"Bastiat: Champion of Economic Liberty" by Richard M. Ebeling
"Frederic Bastiat: The Primacy of Property" by James A. Dorn
And:
"Frederic Bastiat: An Annotated Bibliography" by Sheldon Richman.
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Contemplating the decline of Europe,
Mark Steyn says:
Some links as background for his article:
Frank Field
Russia's Population decline.
Or check out my Google search on that. Steyn's not making it up.
German sewer problems
I have an answer to Mark's question, "...[W]hich is more likely? That Blair will transform a Europe antipathetic to Anglo-Saxon ways? Or that Europe will drag its Anglo-Saxons down with it?"
With Euro-minded people in charge, the latter will happen. If the Brits run a good, nationalistic Classical Liberal to the top, and lead by example, Europe will have to follow.
Any cowboys over there?
A political entity hostile to the three principal building blocks of functioning societies - religion, family and wealth creation - was never a likely bet for the long term. Contemplating the deathbed demographics in the EU and wondering what can be done to reverse it, a correspondent of mine, Jim Ellinthorpe, suggests that President Bush give regular speeches mocking the virility of European males.
Some links as background for his article:
Frank Field
Russia's Population decline.
Or check out my Google search on that. Steyn's not making it up.
German sewer problems
I have an answer to Mark's question, "...[W]hich is more likely? That Blair will transform a Europe antipathetic to Anglo-Saxon ways? Or that Europe will drag its Anglo-Saxons down with it?"
With Euro-minded people in charge, the latter will happen. If the Brits run a good, nationalistic Classical Liberal to the top, and lead by example, Europe will have to follow.
Any cowboys over there?
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
ARI with another interesting take:
[I'd bet most people would profit from reading the last two paragraphs first.]
I'm going to Rendezvous in Cloquet this weekend (but don't look for me Saturday afternoon, should you decide to take a roadtrip, I'll be visiting my sister at her inlaws' in Superior--actually Oakland Township, half a mile from where I grew up; maybe I'll go harass the inhabitants of our former homes, and visit the messes I made, building forts in the woods].
One of the things you learn reenacting, is that there were many pleasures in the old lifestyle. But you also learn that there were many grave dangers. Keeping your babies out of the fire is a serious concern. There were many diseases we no longer have to worry about - any cut could be a death sentence, but, for the most part, anti-biotics and innoculations have solved the worst of them - Smallpox, Polio and Tuberculosis were major killers. We still have flu pandemics, or so they say; we haven't had a really major one since the early sixties. Some say we're due--SARS is the greatest threat today. The AIDS crisis is horrendous in Africa.
But most middle-class Westerners feel pretty secure.
The pleasures of 18th century life were the omnipresence of the normal nighttime sounds of nature, the feeling of accomplishment when you create something useful with your bare hands, and the flavor of meat cooked over a wood fire. Your always solving problems with only your mind and rude hand-tools.
But you come back to the 21st century with a appreciation of the degree to which our modern tools, machinery and computers make our tasks easier. And our medicines make lives like mine possible.
Dear Editor:
The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs is debating whether the United States should formally apologize to Indians for a "long history of official depredations and ill-conceived policies." This proposal should be rejected.
Before Europeans arrived, the scattered tribes occupying North America lived in abject poverty, ignorance, and superstition--not due to any racial inferiority, but because that is how all mankind starts out (Europeans included). The transfer of Western civilization to this continent was one of the great cultural gifts in recorded history, affording Indians almost effortless access to centuries of European accomplishments in philosophy, science, technology, and government. As a result, today's Indians enjoy a capacity for generating health, wealth, and happiness that their Stone Age ancestors could never have conceived.
From a historical perspective, the proper response to such a gift is not resentment but gratitude. America's policies toward the Indians were generally benign, aimed at protecting them from undeserved harm while providing significant material support and encouragement to become civilized. When those policies erred, it was usually by treating Indians collectively, as "nations" entitled to permanent occupancy of semi-sovereign reservations. Instead, Indians should have been treated as individuals deserving full and equal American citizenship in exchange for embracing individual rights, including private ownership of land.
If the United States government were demanding that Indians apologize for the frontier terrorism of their ancestors, as if living members of a particular race could be guilty of their forebears' misdeeds, the demand would (properly) be rejected as racist. For the same reason, American Indians should refuse to be regarded as a race of helpless victims entitled to a collective apology from their fellow citizens.
Thomas A. Bowden
Ayn Rand Institute
2121 Alton Parkway #250
Irvine, CA 92660
(410) 727-4300
Copyright © 2005 Ayn Rand® Institute. All rights reserved.
I'm going to Rendezvous in Cloquet this weekend (but don't look for me Saturday afternoon, should you decide to take a roadtrip, I'll be visiting my sister at her inlaws' in Superior--actually Oakland Township, half a mile from where I grew up; maybe I'll go harass the inhabitants of our former homes, and visit the messes I made, building forts in the woods].
One of the things you learn reenacting, is that there were many pleasures in the old lifestyle. But you also learn that there were many grave dangers. Keeping your babies out of the fire is a serious concern. There were many diseases we no longer have to worry about - any cut could be a death sentence, but, for the most part, anti-biotics and innoculations have solved the worst of them - Smallpox, Polio and Tuberculosis were major killers. We still have flu pandemics, or so they say; we haven't had a really major one since the early sixties. Some say we're due--SARS is the greatest threat today. The AIDS crisis is horrendous in Africa.
But most middle-class Westerners feel pretty secure.
The pleasures of 18th century life were the omnipresence of the normal nighttime sounds of nature, the feeling of accomplishment when you create something useful with your bare hands, and the flavor of meat cooked over a wood fire. Your always solving problems with only your mind and rude hand-tools.
But you come back to the 21st century with a appreciation of the degree to which our modern tools, machinery and computers make our tasks easier. And our medicines make lives like mine possible.
Monday, June 27, 2005
This is the best pic I got tonight before the camera battery died.
Out the back porch door, about two minutes after sunset.
Oh, By The Way...
Here's how I feel about you SOBs and your advice to get more sun:
This was after a couple days of healing.
Hmm. That ceiling could stand some paint.
This was after a couple days of healing.
Hmm. That ceiling could stand some paint.
Thunderstorms here this evening.
I saw the trees shining gold out the window 20 minutes ago and there was a rainbow. Then a lightning bolt shot through it.
A moment for me alone.
Such moments used to make me happy. A lonely thrill would shoot through me.
Now I want to share them with my family, but there was no way.
Will they learn to look for beauty?
From me?
A moment for me alone.
Such moments used to make me happy. A lonely thrill would shoot through me.
Now I want to share them with my family, but there was no way.
Will they learn to look for beauty?
From me?
Saturday, June 25, 2005
Quoted in full from Atlas Shrugs:
Link
Yup, those kids are running our country. Glad to hear it.
Miss Pamela might just draw me away from Janice Rogers Brown.
Have I used the expression, "Yowza!" lately?
Update: Another good round-up of the issue.
Tim McD, enabler of my newsfeed and all things blog related..........sent me this and frankly I couldnt change a word
Have you noticed that most news stories, about the outrageous Supreme Court ruling expanding eminent domain, don't list the justices who voted to expand the power of government over the individual. Why are they afforded this blatant pass from the media. The following story just mentions the name of the justice who wrote the majority opinion, Justice John Paul Stevens. But it does list who voted against giving government this new power.
The Justices on the right are spinning, rotating actually, in their graves...............
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&e=7&u=/nm/20050623/ts_nm/court_property_dc
In case you're wondering the names of those who voted to take away property rights, they are listed below:
John Paul Stevens, Associate Justice, was born in Chicago, Illinois, April 20, 1920. President Ford nominated him as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and he took his seat December 19, 1975. He is 85.2 years old. He has been on Social Security for 20 years.
David Hackett Souter, Associate Justice, was born in Melrose, Massachusetts, September 17, 1939. President Bush nominated him as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and he took his seat October 9, 1990. He is 65.8 years old and is now eligible for Social Security.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Associate Justice, was born in Brooklyn, New York, March 15, 1933. President Clinton nominated her as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and she took her seat August 10, 1993. She is 72.3 years old and has been on Social Security for almost 7.5 years.
Stephen G. Breyer, Associate Justice, was born in San Francisco, California, August 15, 1938. President Clinton nominated him as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and he took his seat August 3, 1994. He is 66.9 years old. He has been on Social Security for almost 2 years.
Anthony M. Kennedy, Associate Justice, was born in Sacramento, California, July 23, 1936. President Reagan nominated him as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and he took his seat February 18, 1988. He is 69 years old and has been on Social Security for 4 years.
I can't help but notice that if they were treated as normal government employees, they would all have been retired a while ago. Would it be too much to ask Supreme Court Justices to retire at age 70 and let someone else be on the bench?
They were also all born in states that voted Democrat in the 2004 elections.
But I'm sure glad that the Patriot Act was downsized. I feel so much safer knowing the government can't rifle through my library records. After the government seizes our homes we can at least enjoy anonymity at the library
Yup, those kids are running our country. Glad to hear it.
Miss Pamela might just draw me away from Janice Rogers Brown.
Have I used the expression, "Yowza!" lately?
Update: Another good round-up of the issue.
Zeitgeist vs Nomos is back!!
I was getting ready to dump him for abandoning his blog. The title of his blog by itself made me keep it longer than I normally would have.
Here's his conservative Christian take on my July 4th post. And his post about family "roots" should encourage you to - at least - have a chat with your older relatives and see about your connections with the rest of the world. (There's a joke about inbreeding in there somewhere, but somethings blocking it for me.)
The guy writes too well to be keeping it all to himself. But you can't deny the validity of his excuses. [Hint: "It's a GIRL!!!"]
He probably doesn't smoke cigars, but he deserves a good one.
Here's his conservative Christian take on my July 4th post. And his post about family "roots" should encourage you to - at least - have a chat with your older relatives and see about your connections with the rest of the world. (There's a joke about inbreeding in there somewhere, but somethings blocking it for me.)
The guy writes too well to be keeping it all to himself. But you can't deny the validity of his excuses. [Hint: "It's a GIRL!!!"]
He probably doesn't smoke cigars, but he deserves a good one.
Tracy has a good post on the Supreme takeover
of your property at the Anti-Strib. He calls it The Road to Serfdom.
Friday, June 24, 2005
I know a Philistine who has
an opinion about the SCOTUS decision gutting the Takings Clause.
He got a little emotional.
The Old Whig's take: those who think America is a Fascist country now have some serious ammunition for their battle.
He got a little emotional.
The Old Whig's take: those who think America is a Fascist country now have some serious ammunition for their battle.
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
All right! ...I came here for a reason! ...What the Hell was it?
That's a warning that this is just a BS post.
Oh, yeah! I was corresponding with my sister, the Assemblies of God missionary to the former East Germany. She's having trouble mastering German, so I told her to memorize the Gospel of John in German (Das Evangelium nach Johannes, auf Deutsch). I'd bet John has been responsible for more conversions than anybody.
Not having done that myself, I felt the need to pull out the old Heilige Schrift and give it a go.
No umlauts! That makes it easy to type! That passage has always given me shivers.
[I'd be interested to hear how that sounds in Swiss Dialect - Schweizer Deutsch.]
OK, this is turning into one of my scatterbrained posts, but wth.
When I pulled out my Lutherbibel, a napkin fell out. On it was the message, "Thank You for Sharing Our Joy - Nancy and Scott, March 23, 1985."
Sadly, Scott (whose last name translates to 'manure field') appears to be my best friend in the world. Good thing I have my wife. It's sad because I never manage to get back to the old hometown, and I don't call anybody there, because I'm not going to go see them.
I'm a guy, though. The sadness is only skin deep. If I popped into C's (a bar that my old friends frequent) tomorrow, I think we'd all have a great time together. Even though the lot of them seem to have become involved in youth soccer. (Shudder.)
And being libertarian, Objectivist, "Buddhist" Lutheran in Minnesota isn't conducive to gaining a cohort. Maybe if I were gay it'd work, but I'm not.
Maybe dressing like a late Eighteenth Century Frenchman while camping will correct my social balance. I plan to do that several times this summer. I should talk some of those guys into blogging, then we'd really have something in common.
Oh, yeah! I was corresponding with my sister, the Assemblies of God missionary to the former East Germany. She's having trouble mastering German, so I told her to memorize the Gospel of John in German (Das Evangelium nach Johannes, auf Deutsch). I'd bet John has been responsible for more conversions than anybody.
Not having done that myself, I felt the need to pull out the old Heilige Schrift and give it a go.
1 Im Anfang war das Wort, un das Wort war bei Gott, un Gott war das Wort.
2 Dasselbe war im Anfang bei Gott.
3 Alle Dinge sind durch dasselbe gemacht, un ohne dasselbe ist nichts gemacht, was gemacht ist.
4 In ihm war das Leben, und das Leben war das Licht der Menschen.
5 Und das Licht scheint in der Finsternis, und die Finsternis hat's nicht ergriffen.
No umlauts! That makes it easy to type! That passage has always given me shivers.
[I'd be interested to hear how that sounds in Swiss Dialect - Schweizer Deutsch.]
OK, this is turning into one of my scatterbrained posts, but wth.
When I pulled out my Lutherbibel, a napkin fell out. On it was the message, "Thank You for Sharing Our Joy - Nancy and Scott, March 23, 1985."
Sadly, Scott (whose last name translates to 'manure field') appears to be my best friend in the world. Good thing I have my wife. It's sad because I never manage to get back to the old hometown, and I don't call anybody there, because I'm not going to go see them.
I'm a guy, though. The sadness is only skin deep. If I popped into C's (a bar that my old friends frequent) tomorrow, I think we'd all have a great time together. Even though the lot of them seem to have become involved in youth soccer. (Shudder.)
And being libertarian, Objectivist, "Buddhist" Lutheran in Minnesota isn't conducive to gaining a cohort. Maybe if I were gay it'd work, but I'm not.
Maybe dressing like a late Eighteenth Century Frenchman while camping will correct my social balance. I plan to do that several times this summer. I should talk some of those guys into blogging, then we'd really have something in common.
Got a couple emails from DICKENHANCER today
I noticed them just as my finger was hitting the "delete" button. I felt just awful. What if the guy was selling something I desperately needed? That actually worked?
I mean, who doesn't know someone who'd like a couple more inches in some dimension or other?
I should've responded...
He's gonna go out of business because of me!
I mean, who doesn't know someone who'd like a couple more inches in some dimension or other?
I should've responded...
He's gonna go out of business because of me!
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Ah, cripes! (...he substituted.)
I gotta spend some time on my blogroll. One of T.F. Stern's buddies contacted me and his stuff looks pretty good. The guy can structure a blogpost, whether you agree with him or not.
Before I move on to that, I've been reading a bit of Böhm-Bawerk today, thanks to this guy. And my knowledge that a lot of the books on that list are online at the Library of Economics and Liberty.
"Lo-o-o-ove I-it!!!" as Wheezy from Dragon Tales would scream, in her most vocal-chord-destroying tone. (I knew watching PBS's kids' shows would infect my brain eventually. Don't get me started on Teletubbies! Just thank God they don't have any dialogue to quote - the narrator doesn't count.)
As an aside, those who love F.A. Hayek are aware that the name of the Catallarchy blog means 'rule of exchange, or The Market.' Hayek wanted Economics to be renamed Catallactics - the study of exchange behavior.
And I share Tom's hots for Janice Rogers Brown.
Before I move on to that, I've been reading a bit of Böhm-Bawerk today, thanks to this guy. And my knowledge that a lot of the books on that list are online at the Library of Economics and Liberty.
"Lo-o-o-ove I-it!!!" as Wheezy from Dragon Tales would scream, in her most vocal-chord-destroying tone. (I knew watching PBS's kids' shows would infect my brain eventually. Don't get me started on Teletubbies! Just thank God they don't have any dialogue to quote - the narrator doesn't count.)
As an aside, those who love F.A. Hayek are aware that the name of the Catallarchy blog means 'rule of exchange, or The Market.' Hayek wanted Economics to be renamed Catallactics - the study of exchange behavior.
And I share Tom's hots for Janice Rogers Brown.
Nothing Persuades Like an Easton!
I deeply believe in getting to the roots of issues, so let's make something perfectly clear. And I mean clear enough to turn a challenge to a fight at a biker bar into a discussion of philosophy! This is a level on which I speak from experience; I've done it more than a few times.
A Right is a restraint placed on the actions of others. It is enforced by you - by your own powers of force and persuasion.
Humans are naturally given to social behavior, so persuasion is very powerful among us.
We are also the most effective appliers of physical force on earth.
Our social nature makes us desire to deal with one another through persuasion; our violent abilities make it necessary to deal with one another through persuasion.
Successful societies do this well, unsuccessful ones don't. Societies whose members deal with one another through persuasion must defend themselves against societies whose members deal with one another through force.
The good news is, that God has ordained (and I, personally, have no proplem with you taking that expression figuratively - replace God with 'nature,' 'reality,' or 'evolution' if you prefer; we are what we are) that persuasion is a more productive/constructive force - cooperation - LOVE! In every sense of the word! - provides Persuasion more tools for its defense than Force (i. e. the physical manifestation of Fear or Hate) can muster.
As long as the practitioners of Love remember that they can't afford to forget that there are practitioners of Force who won't accept Love for an answer.
...
BTW Fear and Hate are not the same thing, and there can be good reasons for either. The initiation of the use of force against innocents is the key to understanding: the initiation of force must be stopped. With force if necessary.
Oh! What's an Easton? One of these.
A Right is a restraint placed on the actions of others. It is enforced by you - by your own powers of force and persuasion.
Humans are naturally given to social behavior, so persuasion is very powerful among us.
We are also the most effective appliers of physical force on earth.
Our social nature makes us desire to deal with one another through persuasion; our violent abilities make it necessary to deal with one another through persuasion.
Successful societies do this well, unsuccessful ones don't. Societies whose members deal with one another through persuasion must defend themselves against societies whose members deal with one another through force.
The good news is, that God has ordained (and I, personally, have no proplem with you taking that expression figuratively - replace God with 'nature,' 'reality,' or 'evolution' if you prefer; we are what we are) that persuasion is a more productive/constructive force - cooperation - LOVE! In every sense of the word! - provides Persuasion more tools for its defense than Force (i. e. the physical manifestation of Fear or Hate) can muster.
As long as the practitioners of Love remember that they can't afford to forget that there are practitioners of Force who won't accept Love for an answer.
...
BTW Fear and Hate are not the same thing, and there can be good reasons for either. The initiation of the use of force against innocents is the key to understanding: the initiation of force must be stopped. With force if necessary.
Oh! What's an Easton? One of these.
Sunday, June 19, 2005
Well, we didn't see any Muskies, and I didn't buy a fishing license.
Saturday was our 17th Anniversary, so I didn't think it'd be that good an idea to spend the day fishing. So I spent it helping my father-in-law get the boat out (an 18 foot Bayliner, 4.3 liter Mercury inboard/outboard, if anyone cares). The we took a ride around Pine Island. The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness touches the lake on the back side of the island, so it's pretty wild back in there. Sunny, breezy, the waves a little too rough for a perfect ride, but pretty nice anyway.
Then the winch died when we got back. My theory is that the ballast went, they're supposed to go to protect everything else, like a breaker, but what do I know.
Anyway, we spent the next couple hours with a chain-hoist pulling the boat back into the boathouse. It's way too heavy to just push it in, and somehow setting up a backup has been overlooked. I've been hanging around the place for 17 years now, and stand to inherit it someday (hopefully, not soon), I need to stop expecting him to do all the thinking around there.
Anyway, Rosie and I jumped in the lake for a sunset swim after all that. I reveled in the fact that sunset was at about 9:10, though you had to go up to the second story and look out a north facing window to see it.
We celebrated Father's Day with a cake today, and the daughters made the fathers gifts. Laurie bought me The Incredibles DVD. I won't tell you what I bought her because... um...well...uh, it hasn't come in yet. [Insert John Lovitz line here.]
I guess I'd better go see what the wife wants. That'll be my motto for a while.
Then the winch died when we got back. My theory is that the ballast went, they're supposed to go to protect everything else, like a breaker, but what do I know.
Anyway, we spent the next couple hours with a chain-hoist pulling the boat back into the boathouse. It's way too heavy to just push it in, and somehow setting up a backup has been overlooked. I've been hanging around the place for 17 years now, and stand to inherit it someday (hopefully, not soon), I need to stop expecting him to do all the thinking around there.
Anyway, Rosie and I jumped in the lake for a sunset swim after all that. I reveled in the fact that sunset was at about 9:10, though you had to go up to the second story and look out a north facing window to see it.
We celebrated Father's Day with a cake today, and the daughters made the fathers gifts. Laurie bought me The Incredibles DVD. I won't tell you what I bought her because... um...well...uh, it hasn't come in yet. [Insert John Lovitz line here.]
I guess I'd better go see what the wife wants. That'll be my motto for a while.
Friday, June 17, 2005
Ah, what's going on out there?
Kinda been stuck in my little world this week.
Hey, I stepped on a packet of Taco Bell hot sauce today and got it all over my pants! That was great. I probably would have run home to change them, but things conspired to keep me from doing that.
Looks like I'll be out of town again this weekend. Might actually get to swim on purpose this time. Although, the two monster muskies we saw in the lake last time make me feel a little nervous about that.
Maybe I should get a license and haul 'em out first. Then I could post one of those great pictures of a disheveled guy (me, in this fanciful case) holding up a couple big fish.
Hey, I stepped on a packet of Taco Bell hot sauce today and got it all over my pants! That was great. I probably would have run home to change them, but things conspired to keep me from doing that.
Looks like I'll be out of town again this weekend. Might actually get to swim on purpose this time. Although, the two monster muskies we saw in the lake last time make me feel a little nervous about that.
Maybe I should get a license and haul 'em out first. Then I could post one of those great pictures of a disheveled guy (me, in this fanciful case) holding up a couple big fish.
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Ah, wonderful! Somebody said something
that makes getting a post out tonight an easy thing:
Can you summarize that better? Nail that to the church door! I'm ready to defend that thesis now, thanks to The Unrepentant Individual's perspicacity.
I don't think it needs to be said how despicable I find flag-burning. I think it is the highest form of disrespect to our nation and the ideals we espouse. But it is the very fact that flag-burning is not illegal that makes this country what it is. The fact that someone can burn a flag here without facing penalty is exactly what makes it unnecessary to use flag-burning as protest. It is its very legality that sets our country apart.
I understand why people are trying to change that. For those who have dedicated their lives to public service, especially those who have come from military backgrounds, fighting for that flag, it has to be appalling to see people desecrate it. But the flag is simply a symbol of deeper things. Nobody fights for a flag, they fight for ideals. One of the chief ideals is the continuing freedom of people in the US and around the world. And the fact that flag desecration is legal means that desecration of the flag is an exercise in futility. Protecting and furthering freedom includes the freedom to be unpopular.
Can you summarize that better? Nail that to the church door! I'm ready to defend that thesis now, thanks to The Unrepentant Individual's perspicacity.
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
More from Uncle Al
Yeah, I wish I could claim a close kinship with Dr. Einstein.
I want Conservatives to meditate on this (because they won't find it entirely foreign, and yet it leads further than their thought usually does):
Do our modern Liberals find those ideas antithetical to their own? They shouldn't. Here's what I'd like them to consider:
Perhaps The Left prefers this:
I am partial to a spirit of humble reverence in the face of the yet-unknown. Einstein's aphorisms to that effect are wonderful, for the purpose of meditation, but his faith in existing and previously existing theories (particularly unproven ones) of economic and political organization of collective action, strike me as naive at best. The man didn't know how to comb his hair or tie his shoes! Was he the man we'd trust to direct our economy?
The economy isn't an abstraction - it's about the guys living under a bridge; guys like me, living in old houses that need work; rich people in Condos and Mansions - what we eat, drink and entertain ourselves with, inside and outside our homes.
Einstein provided many, many insights in to Life worthy of his genius, but it was extraordinarily inconsistent with his genius, and many of his aphorisms, to promote Statism: the "Only Our Way" solution to social problems.
The Libertarian Way allows experiments like those of Robert Owen, the Phalansteries and the Amana Colonies without fear. We will adopt your socialist ways if they prove to be more effective than our own.
Thus far the evidence for Socialism over Freedom isn't all that strong, but, hey! We're willing to allow you all to keep experimenting.
As long as your vic... I mean subjects... er, participants are volunteers.
100% pure volunteers.
I want Conservatives to meditate on this (because they won't find it entirely foreign, and yet it leads further than their thought usually does):
An autocratic system of coercion, in my opinion, soon degenerates. For force always attracts men of low morality, and I believe it to be an invariable rule that tyrants of genius are succeeded by scoundrels. For this reason I have always been passionately opposed to systems such as we see in Italy and Russia to-day.
Variant translation: In my opinion, an autocratic system of coercion soon degenerates; force attracts men of low morality...
Do our modern Liberals find those ideas antithetical to their own? They shouldn't. Here's what I'd like them to consider:
The really valuable thing in the pageant of human life seems to me not the State but the creative, sentient individual, the personality; it alone creates the noble and the sublime, while the herd as such remains dull in thought and dull in feeling.
Perhaps The Left prefers this:
This topic brings me to that worst outcrop of the herd nature, the military system, which I abhor. That a man can take pleasure in marching in formation to the strains of a band is enough to make me despise him. He has only been given his big brain by mistake; a backbone was all he needed. This plague-spot of civilization ought to be abolished with all possible speed. Heroism by order, senseless violence, and all the pestilent nonsense that does by the name of patriotism—how I hate them! War seems to me a mean, contemptible thing: I would rather be hacked in pieces than take part in such an abominable business.
I am partial to a spirit of humble reverence in the face of the yet-unknown. Einstein's aphorisms to that effect are wonderful, for the purpose of meditation, but his faith in existing and previously existing theories (particularly unproven ones) of economic and political organization of collective action, strike me as naive at best. The man didn't know how to comb his hair or tie his shoes! Was he the man we'd trust to direct our economy?
The economy isn't an abstraction - it's about the guys living under a bridge; guys like me, living in old houses that need work; rich people in Condos and Mansions - what we eat, drink and entertain ourselves with, inside and outside our homes.
Einstein provided many, many insights in to Life worthy of his genius, but it was extraordinarily inconsistent with his genius, and many of his aphorisms, to promote Statism: the "Only Our Way" solution to social problems.
The Libertarian Way allows experiments like those of Robert Owen, the Phalansteries and the Amana Colonies without fear. We will adopt your socialist ways if they prove to be more effective than our own.
Thus far the evidence for Socialism over Freedom isn't all that strong, but, hey! We're willing to allow you all to keep experimenting.
As long as your vic... I mean subjects... er, participants are volunteers.
100% pure volunteers.
Monday, June 13, 2005
Somehow I'm back into the Large Mammal realm.
Let me just say a thing or two about each of the people ahead of me who've helped me get up there.
But before I forget, I can't ignore a guy who calls himself The Unrepentant Individual! See if you like anything there.
Ach! TTLB is tied up!
I know The Moderate Voice is there, as is Hot Abercrombie Chick, Omni and Liberty Dog. As soon as I can get the full list, I'll link them and make my comments. Until then, I'll just enjoy surfing and indulging my off-line pursuits.
But before I forget, I can't ignore a guy who calls himself The Unrepentant Individual! See if you like anything there.
Ach! TTLB is tied up!
I know The Moderate Voice is there, as is Hot Abercrombie Chick, Omni and Liberty Dog. As soon as I can get the full list, I'll link them and make my comments. Until then, I'll just enjoy surfing and indulging my off-line pursuits.
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