 The Inescapable Importance of Philosophy: the Root of and Solution to our Problems
by Bob Palin
Have you ever wondered why seemingly intelligent, articulate people cannot seem to come to a consensus on the important issues facing our nation today? Or even on what the issues should be? Whether it’s the economy, foreign policy, immigration, gay marriage or any other issue you could name, the diversity of opinion is... (Read more...)
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The Parable of the Octopus Man
by Richard Gleaves
It wasn't anything serious, just a head cold-- a minor bit of sniffles. Every reputable doctor he visited told him to go home and drink fluids and sleep and he'd feel better within a few days. But, because Quincy was a hypochondriac, he continued searching until he found someone who told him what he wanted to hear. (Read more...)
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Peddling the Corruption of Liberty
by Tibor R. Machan
When a human being is free in the most important, political sense, he or she is sovereign. This means that one governs one’s own life—others must refrain from intruding on this life, plain and simple. That life may be fortunate or not, rich or not, beautiful or not, and many other things or not, but what matters is that that life is no one else’s to mess with. One gets to run it, no one else does. (Read more...)
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"A Republic, If You Can Keep It"
by Joseph C. Maurone
The obvious question to ask is: Did we keep it? The tougher question is, was it ever even possible? (Read more...)
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Game Theory of Communism and Capitalism
by Dean Michael Gores
Ever want to see what the numbers were behind people's motivation to be productive in Capitalism vs in Communism? Here's the full scoop, with equations in generalized form. Maybe its time to relax? (Read more...)
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Saturday
December 26, 2009 |
The Myth of Surplus Wealth
by Tibor R. Machan
The right to private property is a right of action, an extension of the more general right to liberty: everyone must be left free to pursue wealth, to take those peaceful actions that could result in prosperity (although there is no guarantee that they will). (Read more...)
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Soros is Confused Again
by Tibor R. Machan
Whatever it is that Soros is aiming for, one thing is clear: he despises
freedom in the market place. And so long as there is any trace of
respectful discussion of free markets in universities, Soros is going to
spare no money in thwarting it. (Read more...)
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Saturday
September 5, 2009 |
It's Not Capitalism, Stupid
by Tibor R. Machan
Any kind of subsidy, a standard policy of various levels of American governments--whereby the government confiscates some citizens' resources and hands these to other citizens--violates the principles of the free market. Those from whom the resources are confiscated have lost their liberty to make use of them in their own market activities. (Read more...)
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THE HORROR FILE: "Silicon crystal = Linda Ronstadt," claim today's error-filled schoolbooks
by Kate Gladstone
The math and science textbooks issued to millions of American schoolchildren contain glaring errors by the thousand.. (One textbook photo, claimimg to show a silicon crystal, actually depicts Linda Ronstadt. A map in another textbook has the equator passing through the USA). Erroneous textbooks -- produced because authors and publishers work in a legislative and social climate that makes accurate textbooks unprofitable -- devastate our civilization's progress. (What kind of science can we expect to maintain or attain, when tomorrow's scientists must first spend precious time and energy learning false information today?) Teachers who care about the minds of their students must refuse to use textbooks that misrepresent observable physical facts -- if the school administration or anyone else demands use of such textbooks, teachers must go on strike for the right to teach accurately and for the safety of their students' minds. (Read more...)
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Our Genuine Collectivism?
by Tibor R. Machan
How can one detect the socialist version of this attempt to revamp the
American system in Mr. Obama & Co.'s proposals? The one straightforward
way is to pay attention to how the regime has accepted one of the most
basic tenets of classical socialism, namely, that wealth is publicly
owned, not by individuals who earned or otherwise honestly came by it. (Read more...)
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Dismissing Your Thoughts
by Tibor R. Machan
Whenever I would voice any of my views about politics, economics, child
rearing or whatever, these folks explained it away by my origins, my
having been born and raised in Budapest, Hungary, then a Soviet
(communist) satellite. Everything I thought and said was deemed to have
been caused by my background. (Read more...)
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Philosophical Foundations of the Enlightenment
by Michael F Dickey
With then the application of reason to every philosophical realm; truth, existence, art, morality, and politics - all the great progress of the modern world; freedom, democracy, science, and capitalism – would be forged and would cultivate the very same lush vibrant human garden Voltaire desired, because in cultures that adopted the ideals of The Enlightenment a flourishing to an extent never before seen in the history of humanity would take root, ushering a period of unequaled material affluence, unprecedented scientific growth, unparalleled religious and ethnic tolerance and unequivocal individual freedom. (Read more...)
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Truncated "Liberty"
by Tibor R. Machan
In public finance there is a trick well captured by the famous Laffer
Curve. Up to a certain point people will tolerate being taxed and then,
after that point, they won't take it any longer. So governments do well if
they identify that point (not an easy thing because our tolerance level is
not the same). (Read more...)
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Intelligence, Animality, and Machinery
by Stephen Boydstun
In the first section, I articulate what definitely does not possess intelligence. In the second,
what definitely does possess intelligence and what intelligence, if any, might be reasonably ascribed to animals and machines. (This paper was written in 2000.) (Read more...)
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Executive Compensation
by Tibor R. Machan
With the current brouhaha about high payouts in bonuses to company
executives whose companies didn't manage to be successful, it may appear
to be unjust to pay as per the terms of the contract but it isn't. As the
saying goes, a promise is a promise. (Read more...)
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Obama and Measuring and Improving the Economy
by Dean Michael Gores
My take on Obama is that his dream is to make everyone equally wealthy-- while disregarding how this will impact productivity and the health and life of US citizens. The impact will be severely negative, exactly to the degree that spends our wealth away in his expensive "change" policies. (Read more...)
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Ayn Rand and the End of Malthus
by Manfred F. Schieder
The existing altruistic type of society that characterized mankind's existence up to now, belongs to the realm of the irrational animals and is, thus, kept within bounds by Malthus' "solutions": hunger, plagues (diseases) and wars. The type of society that characterizes the rational human being, avoids these prospects by applying a totally different code of social existence. (Read more...)
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Wednesday
December 17, 2008 |
The Minimal Secular Agenda Regarding Religious Belief
by G. Stolyarov II
In order to achieve peaceful coexistence among all individuals, Mr. Stolyarov presents a list of understandings which he believes all religious people need to adopt and that any reasonable secularist should expect them to adopt. Adopting the Minimal Secular Agenda Regarding Religious Belief (MSARRB) will defuse tensions among the religious and non-religious and will enable more peaceful, mutually respectful, and productive interactions among them. (Read more...)
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Art and Evolution
by Manfred F. Schieder
Painting and sculpture clearly depict and describe mankind's painful growth to what nature's evolution itself automatically designed it to be: beings characterized by the faculty of reason, a faculty whose development itself history has shown to be a stumbling, hesitant progress toward the goal of total fulfillment. The article analyzes the evolution of man from the point of view of his aesthetic efforts and the colossal task that lies ahead. (Read more...)
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Obama’s Redistribution of wealth
by Miscellaneous Authors
This story has been making the rounds in e-mails. I can't be sure how true the actual incident is, but it does make an excellent point. (Read more...)
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How to Approach Unjust Laws
by G. Stolyarov II
How do we, as private citizens seeking justice, approach the many unjust laws existing today? What is the best way to act in order to ensure that the harms of these laws are minimized and that they are eventually repealed – without bringing harm on oneself or those for whom one cares? Mr. Stolyarov proposes a few guidelines for thinking about these questions. (Read more...)
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Why the Right Should Stop Attacking Homosexuality
by G. Stolyarov II
Mr. Stolyarov makes an appeal to everyone on the political Right to cease attacking homosexual individuals as immoral, obscene, vicious, flawed, self-destructive, or unnatural. He urges the withdrawal of all objections to homosexual marriage or open manifestations of homosexual preferences – provided that those manifestations are done civilly and in accord with the same expectations of good taste as accompany manifestations of heterosexual preference. (Read more...)
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The War on Jihad and the Jihadis
by Kyrel Zantonavitch
Some basic thoughts on "the war on terror." (Read more...)
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Civility: A Powerful Weapon
by G. Stolyarov II
Advocates of political freedom and strong ethical standards have a powerful weapon on their side – if they choose to use it. In an age where too many people are ready to hurl insults at one another at the onset of any discussion or debate, civility sets one apart from the crowd and gives one a chance to actually persuade people of the soundness of one’s views. (Read more...)
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"West of the Wall" -- May It Rise Again
by Rodney Rawlings
The almost-forgotten 1962 record “West of the Wall” by Toni Fisher was intended by the songwriter as a denunciation of the barrier separating West from East Berlin and East Germany. Though it reached moderate success on some charts, there are indications that moral cowardice and ideological factors held the song back. (For example, the record’s performance in the United States was among the lowest, it did not make the charts at all in Britain, and a German release was halted.) The song is still relevant to our time, and deserves to be revived in whatever form possible.
(Read more...)
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