Category Archives: Philosophy

Child Labor

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Child Labor: A look at a statist scare story and how to show it baseless

We free marketists argue that there should be no government whatsoever. No arbitrary laws restricting trade. One such law, present in all industrialized countries, involves “child labor”. The term “labor” usually conjures up the thought of hard work, sweat, and toil. Statists argue that it is necessary to forbid such a possibility so that young, vulnerable children are not threatened or abused by it. We argue that there should be no such restrictions and statists think we are mad. However, like most statist arguments, this is completely ignorant of reality and the needs of society.

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The Importance of Alternative Currencies

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751px-American_CashThere has been a growing movement among the powers that be to get us ready for a cashless society. It has started off with opinion pieces, like one by apostate and Keynesian sociopath Ken Rogoff. They want to see all cash eliminated or hampered with fees. It infuriates them so much that they cant monitor cash transactions and cant steal our money to pay for their failed stimulus programs, bailouts, and inflationing. They also say it would be easy to impose taxes to pay for whatever programs if the government could simply have direct access to your account. How this obviously communist proposal can get mainstream coverage is astounding. The banks are already effectively part of the government, now they want to basically hand over complete control. Why not outright nationalize the entire banking industry and make it a government monopoly? Thats effectively what these terrorists and tyrants are advocating. Now, the Financial Times has come out with a piece arguing for banning the “barbarous relic”, as Keynes referred to gold.

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Jewish Tinder Sued by JDate

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Recently, a Jewish dating app called JSwipe has come under fire from dating site JDate for “stealing” (heh) its idea of using J* for the purposes of bringing Jews together for romance. JDate is owned by Spark Networks, which also runs ChristianMingle, BlackSingles, and other specialized sites. They are trying to claim ownership of an idea, which while technically a debated concept among libertarians, is usually opposed. I should note that my older half-brother is a JDate success story.

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Libertarians are Absolutely Insane when it comes to Immigration

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I have wanted to jump into this for awhile with it being in the news (Bless your heart, Mr Trump) and all, but in my typical procrastinatory fashion, I put it off. No more! First, a brief history of my views on immigration. I have been on both sides and I have said truthful things both ways. There are some uncomfortable truths on both sides.

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Legalized Poaching makes as much sense as Legalized Murder

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Cecil the Lion and hunter Walter Palmer

Cecil the Lion and hunter Walter Palmer

With the whole controversy about a lion being killed by an American for sport, many libertarians have noted that licensed hunting (suddenly they support that!) brings great benefits to the species and the locals. A hunter can pay a hefty fee for the privilege to hunt an animal and the money goes to raise more animals and conservation efforts. Some of the money can also go to locals, and the meat is often given or sold to them as well. This does have the potential for a sustainable business. An entrepreneur could breed lions and give out a handful of permits every year. However, there is a question if any of this is even justified.

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Is libertarianism too pure?

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Whatever principle guides you as a libertarian, whether the non-aggression, the silver rule, or some other general pronouncement, its pretty much always an absolutist position. Exceptions are not allowed. Thinking about immigration and open borders (something I only began to support, not after becoming a libertarian, but after also having a horrifying experience while reentering the United States), Ive wondered if libertarianism is so pure it could lead to its own demise.

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The Silver Rule: An Alternative to the Non-Aggression Principle

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The Non-Aggression Principle, or NAP, is one of the key phrases in libertarianism. It is “an ethical stance which asserts that aggression is inherently illegitimate.” Most libertarians in the general movement are aware of the principle and either explicitly abide by it, or implicitly do. The principle has been criticized from various angles over the years. For example, does it apply to a fetus? to a nonhuman animal? And what if you see someone tipping over a train platform, can you grab them and pull them back? You have aggressed against them, but it was to prevent harm from coming to them.

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