 Who is Near Socialism Now?
by Tibor R. Machan
But there is a good test for telling if an American statist is in fact nearly a socialist, even a socialist of the Marxist variety. This is to see if he or she holds that people’s labor belongs to the society or to them--is one’s labor private or public property? (Read more...)
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 Israel & Obama: What’s Up With That?
by Tibor R. Machan
Whatever one’s view is of Israel it cannot be sensible to demand that the country voluntarily abolish itself. So then what is this all about? Is it just some kind of geopolitical gambit to the effect that Israel can be given up, even after decades of “investment” in the country made at the expense of the American taxpayer? (Not that this could be justified morally but perhaps given the statist nature of most diplomacy it could make some sense.)
(Read more...)
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Some Serious Flaws of Egalitarianism
by Tibor R. Machan
These flaws of egalitarianism ought to be evident to all, especially to those who are familiar with George Orwell’s little story, Animal Farm, or Kurt Vonnegut’s novella, Harrison Bergeron, both of which are excellent depictions of the dystopian nature of any egalitarian political-economic system. But if that isn’t enough or has escaped the attention of egalitarianism’s champions, there are the zillions of examples from real life.
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Why Can’t I see Bin Laden’s Dead Body?
by Tibor R. Machan
I recall being told by Mr. Obama during his campaign for the presidency and thereafter that he favors transparency on the part of the federal government. This instance belies that declaration point blank. (Read more...)
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My journey toward Ayn Rand and Objectivism
by Ed Thompson
A somewhat-unconventional journey. (Read more...)
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Why Evidence is Not Enough
by Michael E. Marotta
Confirmation bias and the attribution fallacy suggest what this scientific study verified: people make up their minds first, and choose their experts later. (Read more...)
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Pitfalls of Shared Responsibility
by Tibor R. Machan
There is a different ancient principle that President Obama ought to consider before he imposes responsibilities on those who didn’t consent to assuming them. It is “the tragedy of the commons.” (Read more...)
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 Unity and Integrity in Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged
by Edward W. Younkins
Atlas Shrugged concretizes through hierarchical, progressive, and inductive demonstration Rand’s systematic philosophy of Objectivism. (Read more...)
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Atlas Shrugged Part I, the Movie
by Tibor R. Machan
I saw Part I of the movie a few weeks ago and although it didn’t grab me as did the book when I first read it--how could it have?--it is a very good picture; it’s modern, serious, chuck full of poignant anti-statist and pro-capitalist dialogue (unlike most Hollywood products these days). (Read more...)
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The Distraction of Anarcho-Libertarianism
by Tibor R. Machan
The debate between anarchist and minarchist libertarians is largely pointless, a damaging distraction. (Read more...)
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 Libertarianism without Individual (Natural) Rights: An outcome of anarcho-capitalism
by Ed Thompson
A tragic-comedy story describing a negative outcome of competing, private defense agencies. (Read more...)
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Revisiting Public Service Labor Unions
by Tibor R. Machan
So if the controversy were about whether Wisconsin’s and other states’ public union workers should have their right to be members of a labor union legally protected, they would be supported by most Americans. The fact is, however, that public service union members aren’t at all like private sector union members. They enjoy a legally protected monopoly. And that is a violation of the rights of their customers who have nowhere else to go to obtain the service that the public service unions provide.
(Read more...)
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Tunisia’s Free Trade Revolt
by Tibor R. Machan
In many circles it is a prominent mantra that property rights are not human rights. The rights to private property and to trade it are treated by many political thinkers and jurists as far from binding on us. (Read more...)
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The Sleep of Reason
by Tibor R. Machan
In basic reasoning courses one learns that certain ways of thinking are fallacious, others are sound. Sadly, most students don’t actually remember much of what they learn here because these courses are taught too early in their college years, just at the time they are still celebrating no longer being in high school. (Read more...)
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Making versus Owning
by Tibor R. Machan
Those who spread the ruse that we cannot own what we haven’t produced hope to persuade us that they, on the other hand, can. (Read more...)
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Saturday
February 12, 2011 |
Democracy Wont Help Egypt
by Tibor R. Machan
When the mobs in Egypt, who have been treated as a bunch of unruly children by Mubarek’s regime, finally couldn’t take it any more and stood up to the dictator, there is little reason to think they would become a civilized citizenry that renounces the temptation to rule others once they gain power. Their call for democracy appears to have little to do with the kind of constitutional system that America’s founders favored. Even their call for freedom seems mostly to be about being free to rule instead of being ruled.
(Read more...)
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Are our actions mostly motivated unconsciously?
by Tibor R. Machan
The notion that unconscious thoughts thoroughly “permeate our everyday lives” is unjustified. (Read more...)
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Obama is a Socialist--A Crazy Thought?
by Tibor R. Machan
It is not easy to tell what is in someone’s mind, especially not if that someone is convinced that the only way to advance his or her position is to keep its true nature obscure. (Read more...)
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Krugman’s Incoherent Moral Stance
by Tibor R. Machan
Finally Paul Krugman, Princeton University Nobel Laureate in economic science and columnist for The New York Times, has come clean about his “moral” position (TNYT, January 14, 2011). He has admitted that he doesn’t believe that when you earn something, you own it. (Read more...)
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How to Use the Constitution
by Tibor R. Machan
The plain fact of the matter is that while the U. S. Constitution--specifically the Bill of Rights--contains some very laudable provisions, all of them require a fairly nuanced interpretation and application to contemporary issues (such as government coercing people buy health insurance). While for some citizens this is all a piece of cake, no problem at all, for others it isn’t a slam dunk by a long shot. That’s because these folks focus on the fact that the principles incorporated in the Bill of Rights are stated in terms that had a slightly different meaning back when the Constitution was ratified from how we understand them today.
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Krugman’s Trashy Debating Style
by Tibor R. Machan
Princeton economics professor and columnist for The New York Times Paul Krugman has always been discourteous to those with whom he disagrees but his latest exhibition of his way of going about debating issues takes the cake. (Read more...)
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The Case for Ebeneezer
by Butler Shaffer
The defense of Ebeneezer Scrooge... (Read more...)
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Thursday
December 16, 2010 |
Disgusting Rich Bashing
by Tibor R. Machan
The unabashed demagoguery forthcoming from the likes of Pelosi, Bernie Sanders and their cheerleaders of envy in the media and academy is for me very difficult to stomach. As is the way many in the media cover their blather as if it was just a tad different in content from, say, that of Bill Clinton’s when in fact it is out and out advocacy of tyrannical socialism. (Read more...)
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Wednesday
December 8, 2010 |
The Road to Fascism
by Tibor R. Machan
Now what fascism has but socialism lacks is flexibility. A fascist ruler need not adhere to any system, nor some economic blueprint. Such rulers do whatever they prefer. Their rule is entirely arbitrary. They have no restraints that require of them adherents to certain public policies. They rule by virtue of being, at least temporarily, loved by a substantial percentage of the people. (Read more...)
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The Problem of Induction
by Merlin Jetton
Some comments on the problem of induction. (Read more...)
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