by Kelly | Feb 21, 2012 |
What is it that defines good? According to Webster’s dictionary, it is defined as “being positive or desirable in nature “. Is good then a subjective value to be determined by each individual according to what they find desirable? If that were the case it would mean that there is no such thing as good or evil, that man’s life has no meaning, that there is no existence outside of consciousness; that the world is nothing but an accidental playground of pure, unbridled nihilism and that we are the devil’s children with empty, cackling, infinite nothingness as our total sanction and final purpose. While looking to any form of mainstream media at various interludes might depict this to be the case, rationality tells us quite differently; and although my overall faith in the human race is sometimes lacking I highly doubt that such a concept accounts for the inner beliefs of anyone but a psychopath. (more…)
by Ian | Feb 15, 2012 |
Henry Acton of Keene emailed FK via news at freekeene.com with this essay on why you should support the BEARCAT:
Hello my fellow New Hampsters!
I’ve been reading with great interest the debate about the LENCO Bearcat Armored Personnel Carrier. I have decided to support Keene obtaining this fine piece of military hardware. This might surprise some of those of you who know me so I thought I would explain why.
There are two main sets of arguments as to why Keene needs such a beast of a vehicle. (more…)
by Ian | Jan 31, 2012 |
Arpad Toth writes the Sentinel this excellent letter about the Bearcat and how fear is hurting us:
Fear leads to BearCat
There is a specter haunting our nation — a specter of fear.
To me, and I know that in this evaluation I am not alone, it is apparent that since Sept. 11, 2001, fear has been the motivating force for change across the United States.
Where do I see fear? For the present I use but one parameter — despair, the need to arm one’s self, seek protection against the “other.” The “other” is too often an illusion than a reality but what a powerful one it is. (more…)
by Kelly | Jan 26, 2012 |
I was always a rebel.
One of my earliest memories is of my mom telling me that touching the hot iron would result in burning my finger. Subsequently, I attempted to touch the iron with just my fingernail. Much to my disappointment, I got burned, but the experience didn’t dissuade my affinity for questioning the status quo and inventing innovative ways to subvert authority. My parents are both employed at institutes for “higher” education and always emphasized that earning good grades, going to a good (preferably Ivy League) college, and getting a good job is the way to achieve a good life. To them, such values are intrinsic and thus uniformly the best thing for every individual. I had different ideas. (more…)
by Skeptikos | Jan 6, 2012 |
Working in Democratic politics can do strange things to libertarians. Part of the job is selling libertarian economics to hardcore liberals– and that’s a daunting task. Perhaps impossible. It led me to re-evaluate major aspects of my libertarianism (Liberals support x. Libertarians oppose x. But is libertarian philosophy really opposed to x?) and take a much closer look at liberal ideas.
When I started, I was already skeptical of some core libertarian arguments, due to my near-obsession with academic economics. My work with liberalism opened the floodgates. Eventually I was forced to admit that I was probably wrong in advocating free market anarchism and adopted a position awkwardly in between liberalism and libertarianism.
Since then I’ve struggled to find a way to describe my views. “Left-libertarian” was an obvious candidate, but it seems that most people using the term are anarchists, and I’m not nearly that radical. Taking a cue from Will Wilkinson, I started to use “liberaltarian“. But, in many cases, people simply interpreted that as “libertarian”, defeating the purpose.
For a while, if asked, I would just shake my head and laugh nervously. Finally I gave up and called myself a liberal.
So I was intrigued to find an essay at the Bleeding-Heart Libertarians blog by left-leaning libertarian Will Wilkinson, titled “Why I’m Not a Bleeding-Heart Libertarian“: (more…)
by Ian | Dec 2, 2011 |
Don’t miss this excellent piece about the term “Capitalism” from Ofer at Free Manch:
I don’t mean that in the sense that poop is a bad word. I mean bad as in poor, suboptimal, tragically flawed – worse than useless, in fact.
The Words
Capital
The term capital refers to a store of value (like gold), or supplies and equipment that can be used to produce goods and services (like a hammer or a pile of wood). If you get stranded on a deserted island, and go find and sharpen a stick to use to spear fish with, that sharpened stick is capital, and you’re now a capitalist— congratulations! (more…)
