August 2012
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"You Didn't Build That" Properly Framed
Here’s the wonderful Percy Greaves, from a series of lectures delivered in Argentina in the summer of 1969, properly understanding the interconnectedness of free people (emphasis added).
The essence of freedom is that people be free, not only to select their actions, but also to deviate from traditional ways of thinking and acting, so that they may plan for themselves rather than have an...
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The Fed, Enabler of State Growth →
For the past few years the Federal Reserve has received criticism from all sides of the political spectrum, and rightly so, for its unprecedented intervention into the economy and its bailouts of large Wall Street banks and foreign central banks. Yet this criticism risks losing sight of the most insidious result of the Fed’s actions, which is to enable the growth of government.
For nearly...
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“Since outright grants of monopoly or quasi monopoly would usually be considered baldly injurious to the public, governments have discovered a variety of methods of granting such privileges indirectly, as well as a variety of arguments to justify these measures. But they all have the effects common to monopoly or quasi-monopoly grants and monopoly prices when these are obtained.
“The...
July 2012
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British teenager arrested for "malicious" tweets →
Kid tells failed olympic swimmer through twitter: “You let your dad down i hope you know that.” Olympic swimmer’s dad, who was his inspiration, died of cancer last year.
So apparently being a jerk online is punishable by up to six months in prison or a £5,000 fine if convicted.
Under the terms of [the Malicious Communications Act 1988], it is an offence to send messages to...
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Own Guns, So that Jeffrey Tucker Doesn't Have To →
While attending the Agora Financial Symposium in Vancouver, I became aware that Americans enjoy some rights that Canadians do not: among them, the limited ability to carry weapons. Even private security guards seem unable to be armed in Canada. This does not make me feel safer. Quite the reverse.
Private people who carry guns make me feel safer.
So I would like to make a plea to my fellow...
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“[When government issues grants of monopoly:] even where no monopolist or quasi...”
– Murray Rothbard, Power & Market
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FBI Agents Raid Homes in Search of “Anarchist... →
When FBI and Joint Terrorism Task Force agents raided multiple activist homes in the Northwest last week, they were in search of “anti-government or anarchist literature.”
The raids were part of a multi-state operation that targeted activists in Portland, Olympia, and Seattle. Five people were served subpoenas to appear before a federal grand jury on August 2nd in Seattle.
In addition to...
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“The protracted and pointless tormenting of [Scientist Nancy Black] illustrates...”
– George Will, discussing the on-going litigation involving Nancy Black, a marine biologist who became the target of a federal investigation after somebody on her boat whistled at a whale.
An investigation ensued to determine whether the whistling constituted “harassment of a marine mammal,” an...
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“The theory of monopoly price is illusory when applied to the free market, but it...”
– Murray Rothbard, Power & Market
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Privatization Ruffles Feathers (or, rather,...
At the farmer’s market today, LAPD had a large booth and trailer to - I guess - show that they’re a part of the community too. (They proved how they’re just like us by parking their squad cruisers along the red-curbed street where anyone else would get ticketed).
Anyway, I wore my Hoppe “Privatize Everything” t-shirt today.
Once the cops clocked it and, after a...
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Paleo/primal on a budget
Here are some quick tips.
If you buy a packaged product, inspect the ingredient list. If there is any mention of corn, grain, soy, sugar (fructose, glucose, etc.), starch, or anything unfamiliar or unpronounceable - think twice. If you opt for something that saves you a few cents but compromises your health, what’s the point?
Eggs. What’s not to love? Can be used in nigh-limitless...
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“In many instances of product prohibition, of course, inevitable pressure...”
– Murray Rothbard, Power & Market
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In Praise of Government Gridlock →
In California, a law that promised to control politicians is now being used to control the public.
California’s Proposition 25 promised to rein in runaway spending and “end budget gridlock” by hitting politicians’ pocketbooks. Every day on which lawmakers failed to pass a balanced budget after their June 15 deadline each year would be a day of pay they lost.
This was an...
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““I can describe an axe entering a human skull in great explicit detail and no...”
– George R.R. Martin
In my years in this industry, easily 80% of the notes I’ve gotten from BS&P have been with regards to nudity and sexuality. The rest were mainly profanity and logos. I can’t even remember one note ever having to do with gore or violence.
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“Directly, the utility of at least one set of exchangers will be impaired by...”
– Murray Rothbard, Power & Market
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Probably The Worst Part About Dinosaurs Being...
Is never being able to taste Triceratops bacon.
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The Tolerance of Hollywood
I’ve discussed before how those of us who work in the tv/film industry and are not proponents of a big and meddlesome government tend to be marginalized by those others who are. This is why I call it Leftywood: the non-leftists are a very tiny minority.
A few years ago (2008, before the election), some producers were in my office and had spent a fair amount of time discussing the messianic...
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The Myth of Wartime Prosperity →
When pressed for a “success story” of their policies, Keynesians point with pride to World War II. They claim that it is the perfect illustration of the ability of massive government spending to lift an economy out of the doldrums.
In the effort to battle this myth, Steve Horwitz and Michael J. McPhillips offer an interesting new article that analyzes diaries, newspapers, and other primary...
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Democracy, the Will of the People, and Sanctions
(Note: these are responses to this post.)
magneticmastermind:
To the good gentleman representing the Libertarian community of Los Angeles:
I very much appreciate the niceties, but I don’t represent any community; I only speak for myself. If others agree, I welcome them - but that is their choice (and they are not limited by geography).
In reference to hipsterlibertarian’s use of...
“Entrepreneurs operate on the basis of certain criteria: prices, interest rates,...”
– Murray Rothbard, Power & Market
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Millions of Iranians are struggling to afford... →
hipsterlibertarian:
In short, these sanctions:
Hurt average Iranians,
Have increased Iranian unemployment,
Do not hurt Iran’s leaders,
Punish a nonexistent wrong,
Are not effective, and
Could be construed as an act of war
And yet, we’re still sanctioning.
I’d make two corrections.
1) These Unprovoked sanctions are an act of war.
2) “We” are not the ones sanctioning,...
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The State: The Enemy of Reason
Not just in this latest tragedy - panic, time and time again, triumphs easily over reason.
It is this sad truth that explains the persistence of the state itself. Emotion, fear, and unthinking are the leading sources of the state’s success. And indeed it is because of the state’s reliance on these human shortcomings that it strives to monger fear, provoke emotional responses, and...
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Consumers, in Markets and Democracies
“Consumers also take entrepreneurial risks on the market. Many critics of the market, while willing to concede the expertise of the capitalist-entrepreneurs, bewail the prevailing ignorance of consumers, which prevents them from gaining the utility ex post that they expected to have ex ante. Typically, Wesley C. Mitchell entitled one of his famous essays: “The Backward Art of Spending...
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Assault Rifle Stolen From Unlocked Vehicle →
kohenari:
Here is the news report to go along with the above headline … in its entirety:
Here’s one more reason to remember to keep your vehicle doors locked overnight. Lincoln Police Officer Katie Flood says someone stole an AR-15 assault rifle from a man’s blue Ford explorer.
Flood says the owner of the vehicle left the doors unlocked. She says it happened between 2:30 and 5:15 a.m. Monday...
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A different agenda →
pol102:
nature.com
A fundamental question for democracy is what should be submitted to the democratic process. The laws of physics are presumably immune. But should public opinion help to decide which areas of science are studied or funded?
An excellent essay (from the science journal, Nature) about the recent push by some legislators to cut funding for political...
“Error can always occur in the path from ante to post, but the free market is so...”
– Murray Rothbard, Power & Market
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“Anarchy refers to a society without a central political authority. But it is...”
– John Hasnas, Georgetown University
Imagine
eltigrechico:
An America where you wouldn’t have to fend for yourself to get three square meals a day.
An America where you wouldn’t have to worry about how you are going to get a roof over your head.
An America where every person would be provided with warm clothes to wear, instead of some people shivering in ratty clothes while others wear expensive ‘fashionable’ labels.
An America where...
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Tragedy Shouldn't Make Policy
In a post this morning, Brian Doherty offers sober perspective:
There is no consistent association between gun crimes and easy access to guns or the right to carry. [Mass shootings] are so bizarre and rare that there is no sense in trying to craft laws aimed at preventing them. [Of all homicides in the U.S., those with five or more victims account for 0.1%.] Despite constantly expanding gun...
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Democracy and the Voluntary
“In a democracy, the nonvoters can hardly be said to support the rulers, and neither can the voters for the losing side. But even those who voted for the winners may well have voted merely for the “lesser of the two evils.” The interesting question is: Why do they have to vote for any evil at all? Such terms are never used by people when they act freely for themselves, or when they...
“Need” now means wanting someone else’s money. “Greed” means wanting to keep your...”
– Joseph Sobran
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“[O]ne need not be a Rawlsian to think that, so long as the state is involved in...”
– Roderick Long
I removed laliberty’s point that the government should be removed from marriage altogether because 1) It’s obvious and 2) It’s completely unhelpful in the current political context. We don’t live in a market-anarchism society, and constantly providing the ideal solution, when it’s...
“When people are free to act, they will always act in a way that they believe...”
– Murray Rothbard, Power & Market
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“[There was] a proper way to have [responded to the financial crisis] and not...”
– Carlos Rodriguez Braun, Universidad Complutense de Madrid
From the documentary Fraud. Why The Great Recession.
And note: what he’s explaining isn’t something that a government would necessarily need to orchestrate. On the contrary, this is what a business - without the many protections...
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WatchFraud. Why the Great Recession
Excellent documentary exposing the policy mistakes that both led to the crisis and continued it. In other words, an exposé on Keyensianism.
Watch the entire film here (and in Spanish here).
“One of the most lucid analyses of the distinction between State and market was...”
– Murray Rothbard, Power & Market
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The Government’s Economic Impotency →
It should finally have dawned on the American people that the politicians who presume to guide the economy have no bloody idea what they’re doing. We’re long past the time when knowledge of economics was required to see that the government is impotent when it comes to creating economic recovery. If you want evidence of that impotence, just look around.
Governments are very good at creating...
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“To sum up Keynes: arrogant, sadistic, power-besotted bully, deliberate and...”
– Murray Rothbard on John Maynard Keynes
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“[T]he State is uniquely the agency engaged in regularized violence on a large...”
– Murray Rothbard, Power & Market
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On Imperfect Markets and Engineered Gardens
A column in the New York Times last week floored me with its collection of straw man assumptions and Keynesian apologetics. In writing my response, I realized that I was addressing every claim and expanding on every counter-point. I quoted Menger and Mises, along with some Hayek and Lachmann. I covered topics from price theory to regulatory capture - after all, there was a lot wrong with the...
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