-
My economics teacher is a whole sale idiot. We've gotten into several little scuffles over the course of class and I think it's fair to say that there is a mutual hatred between the two of us. I knew I was in for a doozy when on the first day he said that he'd earned his masters in economics...
-
I seem to have gotten myself into a debate with another single-minded Randian who had the audacity to call Rothbard a charlatan: http://gusvanhorn.blogspot.com/2009/10/oath-fakers.html (see comments) I'll admit that I'm out of my league. Anybody who would like to write a follow-up comment to...
-
This is a crosspost with my history blog 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...
-
In applied ethics there is a dilemma known as The Trolley Problem ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolley_problem ). It runs like this: A trolley is running out of control down a track. In its path are 5 people who have been tied to the track by a mad philosopher. Fortunately, you can flip a switch which...
-
I'm not certain that I am entering into this intercourse properly, but here goes: Just joined the Forum. Have considered myself to be libertarian for years. I'm impressed at the level of knowledge that I see here. But, I fear that anything that I might post will be summarily dismissed because...
-
Nathyn , Rothbard was indeed an anarchist. His notion was, I believe, simply that private judges would have to take an oath to defend the non-aggression axiom, and that any judges who refused would have to be boycotted. I think he mentions this in For a New Liberty . Rothbard's problem is that he...
-
I'm curious to know what people think about the constitutionality of the 16th amendment. There have been a lot of arguments put forth by people like Bill Benson as to how the 16th amendment was never properly ratified. On the other hand, no court has ever upheld any of the 16th amendent as unconstitutional...
-
[quote user="Nathyn"]Can you admit Rothbard is wrong and still be an Austrian and\or a Libertarian? Or is Rothbard to actually be treated like a "Libertarian Lenin"?[/quote]Yes, Rothbard is wrong, but not about this. Most libertarians are not Rothbardians. Only a small fraction of...
-
[quote user="Nathyn"]You're putting words into Rothbard's mouth. He never argued from a consequentialist position, but from a natural rights position. The book was called, "The ETHICS of Liberty."[/quote]The words I'm using here are my own, but I'm not misrepresenting...
-
[quote user="Nathyn"]As I said, according to Dr. Evil, we can dump our kids out in the wilderness.[/quote]The benefits of abolishing all slavery, even looking at this from a utilitarian standpoint rather than the natural law standpoint I commonly employ, are far greater than the negative consequences...