The concept of human rights is a particularly appealing one for folks on the left. Invoking human rights in an argument is sort of like insinuating that your opponents don’t think human beings matter. It’s a neat rhetorical trick, and it’s tiring. If a progressive, for example argues for nationalized health care, and I push [...]
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Posted in Classical Liberalism on Nov 8th, 2011
I find it strange that social justice issues are tied into environmental issues. We’ll post a few times on the meaning of social justice in the coming months. Let’s assume that we know what the heck that means. Let’s inaugurate the series with a simple observation about just who many “green” programs are benefiting and [...]
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Posted in Classical Liberalism on Nov 4th, 2011
1. The ever insightful Meghan McArdle. 2. A somewhat whiny observation albeit one that I have to lean in favor of.
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Posted in Classical Liberalism on Oct 18th, 2011
In a recent survey of the OWS crowd: Our research shows clearly that the movement doesn’t represent unemployed America and is not ideologically diverse. Rather, it comprises an unrepresentative segment of the electorate that believes in radical redistribution of wealth, civil disobedience and, in some instances, violence. Half (52%) have participated in a political movement [...]
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The argument from intimidation is healthily employed in polite company. When people learn that I oppose FDA regulation of drugs, it is asserted that I want to see people get sick and die. When people learn that I oppose much of what the EPA does, they assume that I want the rivers to boil over [...]
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Abraham Gesner’s New York Kerosene company, in 1856, began to make kerosene for the purposes of illumination. When it brought that product to market, it did not advertise itself as, “having the potential to save the whales,” though indeed that was its effect. When it did the research on this fuel, it was not the [...]
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First: I have very noninterventionist tendencies, bordering on a position of pacifism. It is also well known that I am a staunch classical liberal. Our students here have managed to get several enterprises started to promote these ideas. So, there are over 50 students who in some form or another are studying classical liberal ideas and [...]
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Posted in Classical Liberalism, Taxation on Oct 7th, 2011
Continuing on with our short miniseries, let me ask a simple question for your reflection. First, recall the meme: the reason the rich should pay more in taxes is that they were only able to earn their income by hiring people that went to (taxpayer funded) public schools, employ people who drove on (taxpayer funded) [...]
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Let’s return to the original claim: the reason the rich should pay more in taxes is that they were only able to earn their income by hiring people that went to (taxpayer funded) public schools, employ people who drove on (taxpayer funded) public roads and otherwise could not do what they do were it not [...]
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Posted in Classical Liberalism, Taxation on Oct 5th, 2011
Continuing our slog through the minefield of the tax the rich meme – let us ask publicly: “dear class warriors, do you believe that the creation of jobs is a public good?” I suspect many will answer yes. Note that I ask this in the economic sense – meaning that when an employer hires a [...]
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