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03 September 2009
On State Propagandists
One sub-set of the mandarin is the state propagandist. The earliest surviving instance of state propaganda also happens to be the earliest well-documented piece of history: the inscribed cylinders which document the border struggles between the rival Sumerian city-states Lagash and Umma between ca. 2450... Read More...
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02 September 2009
The Throne/Altar Principle
The Throne/Altar Principle is a sub-set of the Magistrate/Mandarin Principle. The latter principle states: The state is a maleficent symbiosis of enslaving brigands (magistrates) and corrupt intellectuals (mandarins). Throughout history magistrates have used mandarins to manufacture consent (through... Read More...
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30 August 2009
The God's Proxy Principle
States throughout history have covered their criminal acts with a veneer of false legitimacy by claiming to be divine agents. The earliest recorded incident of this is in perhaps the "war of nerves" conducted by Enmerkar, ruler of the Sumerian city-state of Erech (Uruk), against Aratta, an... Read More...
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29 August 2009
The Magistrate/Mandarin Principle
This is the first of a series of posts called "Principles of Man". I will continually return to each post in this series adding more evidence for its importance from history. The state is a maleficent symbiosis of enslaving brigands (magistrates) and corrupt intellectuals (mandarins). Throughout... Read More...
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22 June 2009
For a New Libertarian Ethics
In order to present the theory of ethics which underlies my libertarian political philosophy, I am going to first carefully discuss the theory of ethics currently dominant among other Austro-libertarians: that of Murray N. Rothbard. Note: In what follows, I'm going to come down pretty hard on Rothbard's... Read More...
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20 June 2009
Cradle of the State
The state was likely born out of a cult. The former would not have been supportable with the latter. Further, it is unlikely that the latter would last long without evolving into the former. Thus it is reasonable to believe that both would have originated in the same place. In my post “Between... Read More...
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20 June 2009
The Racket and the Cult
As I argued in my post The Sword and the Lie , the state is a symbiosis of violent criminals (the sword) and propagandizing intellectuals (the lie). The sword needs the lie. Rulers always outnumber the ruled, so a reign predicated on bald criminality (like a protection racket) would shortly be overthrown... Read More...
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20 June 2009
The Child, the Parent, and the State
A child is a potential man. Man is characterized by the fact that he acts and that he has morality. To act is to behave with purpose: using reason to willfully choose between alternative means toward ends. Morality is a set of feelings which constrain action. Newborn infants do not act; their behaviors... Read More...
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20 June 2009
The State as Inimical to Man
The state is inherently inimical to man. Human beings are characterized by the fact that they act. As Ludwig von Mises pointed out, we are just as much homo agens as homo sapiens . To act is to behave with purpose: that is, to deliberate upon and choose between means to achieve our ends. That part of... Read More...
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20 June 2009
Brigands as Hunters of Men; Magistrates as Farmers
Hunting and livestock farming are both ways of coercively exploiting animals. The fundamental difference is that farming is stationary and involves the "breaking in" of the animal. Aristotle thought of brigands as basically hunters. Others support themselves by hunting, which is of different... Read More...
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20 June 2009
Aristotle on the State as Association
Aristotle argued that the state is the form of society with the highest purpose: “Every state is an association of some kind, and every association is established with a view to some good; for mankind always act in order to obtain that which they think good. But, if all associations aim at some... Read More...
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20 June 2009
The Sword and the Lie
I normally wouldn’t quote another work at such length, but the following seven paragraphs are devastatingly true and important, and need to be disseminated as widely as possible. I couldn’t summarize or abbreviate it without losing something crucial. I can only hope to encapsulate its lesson... Read More...
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20 June 2009
The Relative Virtues of the Common Criminal
The only difference between the taxing state and a robber is that the former, through its apologists (ancient priests, modern experts, etc) makes you think its for your own good, and subjects you to a greater variety of injustice. In fact, the comparison makes the profession of robbery look downright... Read More...
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20 June 2009
The Role of the Libertarian Intellectual
On the Mises Institute boards , somebody asked the question, “Who is the founding father of libertarianism?” Board members responded with an nice mix of usual suspects and surprising ones. My first thought was John Locke. But then I reconsidered, and wrote (basically) the following: John... Read More...
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20 June 2009
The Lifeboat Lie
There is a moral code written in our nature. When we take up an unused piece of nature and begin to use it, we instinctively think of it as our property. We take instinctive affront when our person or our property is assaulted by others. We feel instinctive outrage when we see the person or property... Read More...
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