I finished Memoirs of a Superfluous Man by Albert Jay Nock, an intellectual autobiography of sorts written in 1943. I highly encourage reading as much of Nock as an individual can find: luckily, the Mises Institute has free e-books of Memoirs, along with a handful of others and various articles. I’ve selected some especially relevant …
Author Archives: anthony
The Westboro Baptist Church and the first amendment
The recent Supreme Court ruling upholding the right of Westboro Baptist Church members to protest at military funerals elicits two thoughts. 1) “Justice is always the same in the case of men and things you do not like, as in the case of those you do like.” -Albert Jay Nock, Memoirs of a Superfluous Man, …
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Omnipotent Government (preface)
For my final paper in sociology class, I’m analyzing the social problem of statism: the tendency to harness political power to achieve social change. I have not written the paper itself yet (or began it, for that matter), but I have borrowed Omnipotent Government by Mises (from the wonderful Alden Library at Ohio University) to …
Theory and behavior: a master-slave relationship
The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist. -John Maynard …
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The impossibility of utopia through polity
Politics can be accurately described as individuals with power attempting to bend law and reality to legislative will. Human behavior and the economic fact of scarcity is expected to conform and act in accordance with the social policy and political philosophy of whichever political party controls the government bureaucracy. Rather than attempt to construct a …
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The Wisconsin debacle
Oh, union drama and Wisconsin: how quickly you have caused conservatives to demonize unions, liberals to saint them, and libertarians to choose a side under threat of irrelevance and bi-partisan hatred. As a result of visiting D.C. Thursday-Sunday for the ISFLC and scrambling to balance classwork, I haven’t had time to follow the events, but …
Individualism through collectivism!
Democratic freedom came to be envisaged not as the preservation of immunity from the State but as full participation in the power of the State. Democracy popularized and in a significant sense sanctified the State relationship. The continuous expansion of political power and responsibility that has been inherent in the democratic state would be inexplicable …
The ISFLC, or why I haven’t slept since Wednesday yet feel fantastic
The International Students for Liberty Conference proved inspiring over the weekend. A quick recap will suffice, then an analysis. Over 500 students showed up from almost every state and I believe 13 countries (?), but that number may be slightly off. I cannot locate the source, so take that as you may. Speakers included Tyler …
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Sunday Update
Currently reading: The State by Franz Oppenheimer Tradition and Revolt by Robert Nisbet The Ethics of Redistribution by Bertrand de Jouvenel The Crack-Up by F. Scott Fitzgerald Currently listening to: Public Opinion for Libertarians, a lecture by Bryan Caplan EconTalk interview by Russ Roberts with Milton Friedman from September 2006 Currently watching: Learn Liberty videos …
Libertarian Audio
I’m not super-invested in audio shows. They usually feel drawn-out and a waste of time. However, the Harry Browne radio show has made libertarian radio shows, podcasts, etc., grow on me. In that spirit, I thought I’d link some of the better-known (or, in my opinion, at least credible) shows that entertain, even if they …