An ancient myth tells of a poor young man who found a magical ring. The young man’s name was Gyges. He was a shepherd, responsible for tending his village’s sheep as they grazed in the summer meadows away in the hills. His job was lonely, poorly paid, and most of the time he smelled like […]
Are We Too Wicked for Freedom? [Good Life series] Read More »
Honestly now: Do you have what it takes? We all like to think we’re smarter than average, but the math is cruel. Half of us are below median intelligence, and some of us are considerably lower. So why should we think that freedom is a good policy for everyone? I believe freedom is the best
Are You Smart Enough to Live in a Free Society? [Good Life series] Read More »
I’m reminded today of an earlier post on Marx and Engels’s The Communist Manifesto, in which I offered two explanations for why the 1848 Marx held that communism could only come about by violent revolution. In response to that post, philosopher Tibor Machan then pointed me to this passage from an 1872 speech Marx gave
Is Marxism necessarily violent? Read More »
Let me give you some examples of monopolies and ask: Which are good and which are bad? 1. Megan and Ramon begin dating and become enraptured of each other. Soon they are monopolizing each other’s time and decide to form a lifetime, exclusive relationship. 2. A town in a remote area has a few stores
Good Monopoly, Bad Monopoly: When Are Monopolies Actually a Problem? [Good Life series] Read More »
Last month I linked to the 2015 edition of “INSTITUTIONAL QUALITY 2015” [pdf], which ranks 193 countries in three categories: Institutional Quality, Political Institutions, Market Institutions. Here is the new 2016 edition, in Spanish and English. Martín Krause is Professor of Economics and the University of Buenos Aires and a specialist in law and economics
Krause’s 2016 index of institutional quality Read More »
schiz•o•phren•ic, adjective: Of, relating to, or characterized by the coexistence of disparate or antagonistic elements. Let’s talk about one reason why politics makes us all a little crazy — its incoherent mix of laws and regulations. (Warning: overcharged metaphor ahead.) Not only does the left hand of government often not know what the right hand
“Weary of liberty, he suffered himself to be saddled and bridled, and was ridden to death for his pains.” Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther.
The Fable of the Horse Read More »
[Posted here as an example of nineteenth-century nihilism integrated with violence and destruction as a means to a revolutionary end.] The Revolutionary Catechism By Sergey Nechayev (1869) The Duties of the Revolutionary toward Himself 1. The revolutionary is a doomed man. He has no personal interests, no business affairs, no emotions, no attachments, no property,
Nechayev’s “The Revolutionary Catechism” Read More »