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The most important precondition of any civilized society is the absolute barring of any and all uses of physical force in social relationships.
I've discussed the issue of censorship here before.
What I have not discussed is those actions which many (particularly on the left) deem to be censorship, but which actually are not.
I am not censoring you if I refuse to allow you to espouse your views on my platform.
I am not censoring you if I refuse to fund policies which you advocate.
I am not censoring you if I refuse to buy your products or services since I consider your policies harmful.
In none of these cases have I prevented you from...
Some people's reading of The Declaration of Independence indicates to their minds that happiness is an inalienable right. Nothing could be further from the truth.
What is a man's inalienable right is that of pursuing happiness, and this right should under no condition be impinged upon.
The only restriction is that he refrain from impinging on other's exercise of the same right.
Meritocracy, like so many other important principles, is under assault today. Actually, it has been for some time.
The reason is obvious. If we support and maintain a system of meritocracy, there will be winners and losers.
No one likes to lose, and especially not if it was because their performance was not as good as that of others.
Thus, it is the poor losers whose hue and cry is to deconstruct this system and in its place build one which will favor certain select groups.
The rationale for...
I do believe that laughter is good medicine.
I also believe that you can tell a good deal about a person's mental and emotional health by whether or not they have a well developed and functioning sense of humor.
People who are incapable of laughing at themselves, including their opinions and ideas, are not mentally and emotionally healthy.
The term 'Public' is one of those meaningless terms, but it is not without harmful implications.
There is no public, only a specific group of individuals.
Thus, when it is claimed that something is in the public interest, what that means is that it is in the interest of a certain group of individuals and probably not so much in the interest of a different group.
The word's existence only serves to confuse and manipulate people, much like the phrase the 'general welfare' which would more...
I believe it was Aristotle who observed that political systems begin as masculine republics, morph into feminine democracies and eventuate into despotism.
I believe the truth of that observation is on full display today in the west.
I believe it was the wonderful Longshoreman philosopher Eric Hoffer who called my attention to the most dangerous class of people in contemporary society.
It is the intellectual class and especially that segment of this class which is underemployed and considers itself woefully under appreciated.
They are envious of the 'Masters of Production' who make far more money and garner more in the way of adulation.
These childish imps are in positions of power across not only academia but also other...
Socialism has never been a movement of the mass of common men. It has always and everywhere been a movement driven by the elite.
The pretense of being a movement of the working classes was nothing but intellectual camouflage, a ruse to take in the unwary dumbed down masses.
Look at who is promoting Socialism in this country today. Do they look like Mr. Everyman to you?
They fly around in private jets while promoting Socialism while the ignorant masses (all liberal Democrats by the way) have...
If you're like me you've never stopped hearing about the immorality of 'Income Inequality."
If you observe who the constant squawkers are, you can't help but notice that these same people are the one's promoting the Socialist policies which explain why people in South Korea on average earn 50 times more than their North Korean brethren.
It was the same with West and East Berlin before the Soviet Union imploded.
I believe it was the American biologist E. O. Wilson who said: 'Socialism, great...
Jesus is purported to have admonished his followers: 'Judge not lest you also be judged'.
I've never considered that to be sage advice.
I prefer Ayn Rand's take on judgement. She said: 'Judge and prepare to be judged.'
That makes far more sense to me.
It has been said that it isn't enough to be good, you must be good for something.
Those who have nothing to be good for are as ships without rudders.
They tend to behave like tiny boats tossed about on a raging sea rather than mighty vessels plowing towards interesting ports of call.
You've no doubt heard the question: 'If a tree falls in the forest and there is no one there to hear it, does it make a sound?'
The answer is 'No'.
Sound requires not only a transmitter (something producing vibrations) but also a receiver (something which can convert those vibrations into sound).
A tree falling in the forest would indeed create vibrations.
For those vibrations to be sound however, something or someone capable of converting those vibrations into sound would need to be present.
This...
You can tell a great deal about a person's psychological makeup by observing what they derive enjoyment and pleasure from.
This is the surest way to determine their values.
Another quite useful method for discerning what a person truly values is their use of time and money.
If I know how you spend your time and money I will know precisely what you really value.
There are essentially three types of pleasure.
They can be divided into the earned and the unearned.
The first type of unearned pleasure is the kind derived from the use of narcotics. Unfortunately, it exchanges a short term and momentary pleasure for a long term and lasting harm.
The second form of unearned pleasure is that which one feels in the observance of something beautiful or entertaining. Experiencing a lovely sunset or sunrise are examples of this type of pleasure.
The earned pleasure,...
Sadly, a significant portion of the population, ignorant of economics (you can thank public schooling) consider life to be a zero sum affair.
That means that if I gain something someone else must lose the equivalent.
This is nonsense.
The only time that is the case is when someone robs or defrauds another.
In all other situations my gain simply indicates an enlarging of the sum, and causes no one else a loss.
In the west blacks are over represented in comparison to their percentage of the population in two very different ways.
Blacks are roughly 13% of the US population yet commit roughly 65% of all violent crimes.
In England blacks constitute approximately 4% of the population yet are represented in 50% of all TV ads.
What is one to make of this?
The welfare state has for all intents and purposes driven benevolence from the field.
Some yet remains but not nearly as much as there would be if the government would refrain from demanding that we care for others whether we wish to or not, and perhaps in a manner we do not approve of.
Voluntary aid to others costs double these days since you are taxed heavily to subsidize them, and then must dig deeper into your pocket to provide any aid voluntarily.
It is the same with schooling. If you wish...
It has been my experience that most people misunderstand the true meaning of sacrifice.
I'm not here referring to the sacrifices of religious rituals.
Instead, the meaning I'm concerned with is that of giving up something of value for something of a lesser value.
Thus, when a soldier falls on a grenade to save his fellows, he is not making a sacrifice.
This is because he values the lives of his friends more than his own.
This is noble and should not be mischaracterized as a sacrifice.