This is the archive of all of the original posts on The Progress of Liberty, a blog that Mr. Stolyarov published from June 8, 2008, to October 27, 2010. The blog was hosted by Today.com, which changed its name to the ill-advised BlogDog.com in May 2010, thereby automatically altering the URLs of all blog posts and pages on its network and causing great inconvenience to contributors. BlogDog.com went out of existence in November 2010 without forewarning its contributors or bothering to archive its blogs. Mr. Stolyarov had hoped that The Progress of Liberty could become a method of promoting a more rational and freer world, but Today.com/BlogDog.com repeatedly violated its promises to its contributors, along with neglecting common courtesy. In order to preserve the quality content of The Progress of Liberty, Mr. Stolyarov's posts from that blog have been archived here in a quasi-blog format. Use the index of links below to navigate to each individual post.

The purpose of The Progress of Liberty is to provide you with the tools and principles to contribute to a freer, more prosperous world – where individuals can thrive in peace and work, think, write, and engage in leisure activities as they see fit. The Progress of Liberty is about celebrating and contributing to the advancement of technology, education, culture, and human potential – the emergence of a New Renaissance, during which the problems that had plagued humanity since its beginnings will fall – one by one – to the ingenuity and perseverance of the best among us.

The Internet’s potential as an agent of change has thus far been underappreciated, although recent stirrings of online activism show that this might not be the case for much longer. The 2007-2008 Ron Paul Campaign was enabled in large part by grassroots online activism and donations. With his famous money bombs, Dr. Paul broke fundraising records and enabled his message of liberty to spread to millions, despite being virtually blocked out by the mainstream media.

The Progress of Liberty will give you access to some of the most compelling, interesting, and entertaining content on the Internet. This content will illustrate sound economic principles, the political ideas of liberty and free enterprise, and the philosophy of rational individualism.

This is not a conventional blog – and many of the fixed pages on the blog are just as important as the periodic posts, if not more so. These pages will give you access to educational resources, works of art and music, audio essays, and other illuminating or entertaining features. The ideas featured here are also not conventional – and not simply in that they depart from “mainstream” thought, however defined. They do not fit any stereotypes – be they of libertarian, conservative, liberal, or moderate thinking. Above all, this blog extols the virtue of thinking for oneself and reaching for truth through civil intellectual exchange. The Progress of Liberty does not shy away from controversy and does not fear airing or even featuring opposing viewpoints. Every contributor here is unique in his or her worldview and style of expression, and we welcome any activity that is consistent with our civilized, tolerant atmosphere.

* WikiLeaks Exposes Barbarity of Iraq Occupation - October 27, 2010

* Let Us Hope That ACTA Negotiations Fail - September 12, 2010

* Limitations on Miranda Rights and the Gallop Toward a Police State - August 3, 2010

* The First Flying Car: A Major Victory for Human Progress - July 1, 2010

* Creation of Artificial Cell Deals Fatal Blow to Vitalism - May 25, 2010

* Always Think! - February 21, 2010

* Progress in Life Expectancy for 2008 - August 19, 2009

* The Beneficial Act of Holding Money - August 16, 2009

* The Morality of Honest Profit - But It Must Be Honest! - August 11, 2009

* Abolish the Minimum Wage First - and Only Then Abolish Welfare - August 7, 2009

* Libertarianism in a "Messy Reality" - August 6, 2009

* If Highways Were Privatized, Would There Be Collusion? - July 27, 2009

* Preconditions for Success: Departure from Orthodoxy - July 16, 2009

* Patri Friedman Outlines New Approaches to Libertarian Activism - April 18, 2009

* United States Persecution of Illegal Immigrants Leads to Deportation of Citizens - April 17, 2009

* The Taiping Rebellion: A Religiously Motivated Slaughter of 25 Million - April 16, 2009

* The American Conservative Movement as Scam - April 15, 2009

* The Irrationality of the View That Life is Sometimes Not Worth Living - April 14, 2009

* Could Religions Come to Adopt a Naturalistic Perspective on Resurrection and Judgment? - April 13, 2009

* Famous Atheist Composers -- Who Says One Needs God to Appreciate Beauty? - April 12, 2009

* What is the Best Way to Enjoy Life? The Permanent Enjoyment Hypothesis - April 11, 2009

* There is No Experience Worth Dying For - April 10, 2009

* Can Consciousness Survive Physical Discontinuities? - April 9, 2009

* No Guarantees of Liberty in Life -- Make the Most of What You Have - April 8, 2009

* Life and Liberty: Which is More Important? - April 7, 2009

* Avoid Conceding to Theists That Your Premises are Arbitrary - April 6, 2009

* Mr. Stolyarov's Essay on the Benefits of Globalization in The Freeman - April 3, 2009

* How to Reduce Perverse Incentives from Fines - March 21, 2009

* Beware of Disdain for the Particular! - March 20, 2009

* Most Problems are Technical, Not Ethical - March 19, 2009

* Burton Folsom Discusses the Failure of the National Road - March 18, 2009

* A New Argument for Repealing Capital Punishment: The Cost Argument - March 17, 2009

* How a Government Job Helped Ludwig von Mises - March 16, 2009

* The Proper Rational Attitude Toward Traditions - March 9, 2009

* Why Are Happy Endings Popular? - March 8, 2009

* Major Underestimation of Arctic Sea Ice Sheds Further Doubt on Manmade Global Warming Theory - March 7, 2009

* New Bullet-Stopping d30 Gel May Reduce the Casualties of War - March 6, 2009

* Internet Has Beneficial Effects for Poetry - March 5, 2009

* Productivity Maximization Skills: Parallel Use of Faculties - March 1, 2009

* Microlending Site Enables Charity with Actual Beneficial Results - February 19, 2009

* New Tattoo Developed to Help Diabetics Monitor Blood Sugar - February 18, 2009

* Jonathan Swift's Struldbrugs, Immortality, and Negligible Senescence - February 16, 2009

* Mathematician Bob Palais Challenges the Sanctity of Pi - February 15, 2009

* Dubious "Stimulus" Passes Despite Unanimous House Republican Opposition - February 14, 2009

* The Ocean Quahog: A Clam That Can Live for Over 400 Years - February 13, 2009

* Deutsche Bank Admirably Rejects German Government's Bailout - February 11, 2009

* "Liberation by Internet" Translated into Chinese - February 8, 2009

* The Genius of Archimedes and the Appalling Backwardness of a Medieval Monk - February 7, 2009

* Singularity University: An Institution Devoted to Progress - February 6, 2009

* Teleportation Between Two Atoms Achieved: Milestone for Quantum Computing - February 5, 2009

* Cloning Enables Brief Resurrection of Extinct Pyrenean Ibex - February 4, 2009

* Turritopsis nutricula Proliferation Illustrates the Advantages of Immortality - February 3, 2009

* Sir David Attenborough Harassed by Religious Fanatics - February 2, 2009

* Denying Medical Care to Children is Not Part of Religious Freedom - February 1, 2009

* February 2, 2009, Ayn Rand Book Bomb Aims to Increase Awareness of Atlas Shrugged - January 31, 2009

* Refuting the "Lord, Liar, or Lunatic" Argument - January 28, 2009

* Obama Misunderstands the Cause of Economic Crises - January 27, 2009

* The Vagueness of Obama's Inaugural Address: "Ambitions", "Big Plans", "Common Purpose", and "Cynics" - January 26, 2009

* Question for Barack Obama: Who is "We"? - January 25, 2009

* Barack Obama, Free Markets, and Recovery from the Present Economic Crisis - January 24, 2009

* All Are Created Equal but Do Not Remain So: Remarks on Obama's Inaugural Address - January 23, 2009

* Praise for Obama's Tolerance for Nonbelievers - January 22, 2009

* Evil as a Failure of the Intellect - January 21, 2009

* Rudi Boa was Murdered for Beliving in Evolution. His Killer Goes Free This Month. - January 20, 2009

* "Defeating Death" Site Highlights the Evil of Human Mortality - January 19, 2009

* Charles Murray Rightly Criticizes the Expectation That Everyone Go to College - January 18, 2009

* Reintroduction of Cinema into Saudi Arabia Indicates Progress in the Middle East - January 17, 2009

* Major Victory for Freedom: RIAA Drops Lawsuits Against File Sharers - January 16, 2009

* Help Contribute to Human Life Extension: Download Rosetta@home - January 15, 2009

* An Atheist's View of Christmas - December 24, 2008

* Progress for Physics: New Model of Loop Quantum Cosmology Rejects Singularities and Affirms Insights in A Rational Cosmology - December 19, 2008

* Decoupling Activities: A Worthy Goal for the Future - December 18, 2008

* Commercial Space Stations: A Step Forward for Private Space Exploration - December 17, 2008

* Crashless Cars: A Moral Imperative - December 16, 2008

* Editorial by Robert Poole Exposes Egregious Government Infrastructure Mismanagement - December 15, 2008

* Physical Immortality is Possible: Ask Turritopsis nutricula! - December 13, 2008

* Refuting an Extremely Silly Argument Against Gay Marriage - December 11, 2008

* Obama Abandons Effort to Impose "Windfall Profits" Tax on Oil Companies - December 10, 2008

* More Individuals Choose Energy Autonomy - Good News for Liberty - December 9, 2008

* Conserve Resources -- Out of Self-Interest - December 8, 2008

* Is China Economically Sounder Than the United States? - December 7, 2008

* Please Extend Individualism to Include Anti-Terrorist Muslims! - December 6, 2008

* Dr. David Sinclair Makes Progress in the War on Biological Aging - December 5, 2008

* New Model Skyscrapers Available in Antideath - December 4, 2008

* Cancer is Going Down! - November 29, 2008

* Excellent News from Turkey Regarding the Possibility of a More Humane Islam - November 28, 2008

* Ban on Gay Adoptions Overturned in Florida: Good News for Liberty and for Checks and Balances - November 27, 2008

* Gennady Stolyarov II Wins Foundation for Economic Education's Eugene S. Thorpe Award - November 8, 2008

* Abraham Lincoln as a Third-Party Candidate - November 2, 2008

* Response to Mr. Merlin Jetton's Critique of My Essays on Road Privatization - September 30 - November 25, 2008

* Changes That Happen Without Majority Approval - September 29, 2008

* Why Universal Surveillance Will Fail - September 28, 2008

* Mr. Stolyarov's Essay, "Liberation by Internet", Published by the Ludwig von Mises Institute - September 27, 2008

* What Brought About the Soviet Union's Downfall? Bankruptcy or Information? - September 26, 2008

* Argumentative Tacticts Never to Use: Argument by Threat - September 16, 2008

* Free-Market Activism Suggestion: Write a Critical Analysis of a Favorite Work - September 15, 2008

* Grammatically Correct But Meaningless Questions - September 14, 2008

* The Republican National Convention and the Dangers of Crowds - September 13, 2008

* Argumentative Tacticts Never to Use: The Lack-of-Precedent Argument for Impossibility - September 12, 2008

* Getting Over September 11, 2001 - September 11, 2008

* Argumentative Tacticts Never to Use: Argument by Consensus - September 10, 2008

* The Ambiguity of the Russia-Georgia Conflict - August 30, 2008

* The Internet and Massive Long-Term Cultural Change - August 29, 2008

* Keys to Free-Market Activism: An Online Presence - August 28, 2008

* Antideath: Promoting Life Through Model Skyscrapers - August 27, 2008

* Argumentative Tacticts Never to Use: The "Yes or No" Push - August 22, 2008

* How to Break the American Two-Party System - August 21, 2008

* Why I Will Proudly Vote for a Third-Party Presidential Candidate - August 20, 2008

* Musharraf's Resignation Should Inspire a Rethinking of US Foreign Policy - August 19, 2008

* Questioning the Consumption/Production and Consumption/Investment Dichotomies - August 13, 2008

* A Majority is Not Required for an Idea to Succeed - August 8, 2008

* How to Become a Public Intellectual: Publish Your Papers Online! - August 7, 2008

* How to Spread Ideas Effectively: Becoming a Public Intellectual - August 6, 2008

* Gennady Stolyarov II Wins Third Prize at 2008 Mises University Oral Examination - August 5, 2008

* Get a Good Laugh from Edward Current's Videos on Atheism and Religion - July 26, 2008

* YouTube Reinstates Extant Dodo Productions: A Victory for Free Speech - July 25, 2008

* The Index of Prohibited Books: The Historical Catholic Church's Opposition to Freedom and Progress - July 21, 2008

* Hopeful News from Dr. Tibor Machan on Promoting Liberty - July 20, 2008

* Carl Menger Was Wrong: Bad Ideas Should Be Countered - July 19, 2008

* Brazil's Semco Illustrates the Power of Decentralized Firm Structures - July 18, 2008

* Articles and Interviews by Gennady Stolyarov II in Heartland Infotech and Telecom News - July 17, 2008

* How Free-Market Activists Should Approach Money - July 16, 2008

* Seeing Both Positive and Negative Aspects of the Status Quo - July 9, 2008

* Four Questions for All Free-Market Activists to Consider - July 8, 2008

* The Progress of Liberty Wins Today.com June 2008 Blog Award - July 7, 2008

* My Critique of the Firm "WALL-E" on Mises.org - July 6, 2008

* Why Free-Market Activists Should Always Use Secular Arguments - July 5, 2008

* Casual Free-Market Activism on the Fourth of July - July 4, 2008

* Tibor Machan's Distinctions Regarding Public Television: The Content May Be Good, But the Funding Methods are Not - July 3, 2008

* The Totalist Mentality: The Activist's Worst Enemy - July 2, 2008

* Stuart K. Hayashi's "The Invisible Gun": An Excellent Example of Free-Market Activism - July 1, 2008

* Do You Want World Peace? Watch a Video That Explains the Causes of Most Conflicts in the World Today. - June 27, 2008

* The Free-Market Movement Needs Young People! - June 26, 2008

* Lessons for Free-Market Activists from the Ron Paul Campaign - June 25, 2008

* The Possibility of Decentralized Organization for the Free-Market Movement - June 23, 2008

* The Importance of Political Organization for Free-Market Activists - June 22, 2008

* Help Stop the Infighting Among Free-Market Advocates! - June 21, 2008

* Canada's "Human Rights" Show Trials Do Not Recognize Freedom of Speech - June 20, 2008

* Tell YouTube to Stop Banning Users Without Due Process - June 19, 2008

* "Mind Over Matter" Quackery from the Early 19th Century - June 18, 2008

* Sign a Petition to Permit the Construction of a New York Skyscraper - June 17, 2008

* Cultural Activism Idea: Create Free Audio Recordings of Intelligent Literature - June 16, 2008

* Ray Kurzweil's Predictions on Supercomputer Speed Likely Off by 3 Years - June 15, 2008

* Ron Paul Initiates Campaign for Liberty - June 14, 2008

* Pro-Liberty Activism Program for June 13, 2008 - June 13, 2008

* Pro-Liberty Activism Program for June 11, 2008 - June 11, 2008

* Pro-Liberty Activism Agenda for June 10, 2008, and Introduction to YouTube - June 10, 2008

* Tools for Pro-Liberty Activism: Digg.com - June 9, 2008

* The Progress of Liberty: Statement of Purpose - June 8, 2008

***

WikiLeaks Exposes Barbarity of Iraq Occupation

October 27, 2010

Now that WikiLeaks has released nearly 400,000 documents about the Iraq occupation (see the news here), we can safely conclude that even the single possibly beneficial consequence of this war has been brought to naught. The removal of Saddam Hussein – a sadistic, murderous torturer – has brought about more sadistic, murderous torture in his place by the current government of Iraq, with the knowledge but the inaction of the U.S. armed forces. The occupation did not liberate the Iraqi people, but merely handed them over to a new set of masters – less objectionable from a U.S. foreign-policy perspective, perhaps, but no less odious in an objective moral sense.

I regret my initial support for this war, as I was unaware of its true death toll and the appalling behavior that it directly brought about. Thank you, WikiLeaks, for bringing the truth about this dark episode in history to light. Already, this war’s events have motivated me to rethink my position on war in general and reject this institutionalized slaughter as a solution to any situation. But this recent release has shown to a new extent just how ugly even today’s American wars can be.

***

Let Us Hope That ACTA Negotiations Fail

September 12, 2010

One can still hope that tensions between the United States and the European Union will derail the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) – a truly horrible treaty that would greatly curtail internet freedom in much of the “developed” world. As this article by Professor Michael Geist describes, the conflicts over the agreement’s scope and purpose, as well as particular provisions therein, may be creating a rift that might lead the EU to withdraw from negotiations. This is especially possible after the EU Parliament expressed concern about ACTA’s effects on Internet privacy and freedom, as well as the overwhelming secrecy of the negotiation process. Although the treaty might still be concluded without the EU, my hope is that the withdrawal of a major party will thwart the entire proceedings. As I wrote last month, if ACTA passes, the very progress of human civilization might be threatened as the Internet becomes a black market. If ACTA fails, then at least civilization will have a fighting chance.

***

Limitations on Miranda Rights and the Gallop Toward a Police State

August 3, 2010

For those who doubt that the United States is steadily moving toward a police state, this article from Associated Press, entitled “High court trims Miranda warning rights bit by bit” should lead them to reconsider. Apparently, now, one has to explicitly state one’s preference to remain silent in order for the right to remain silent to apply. Moreover, one is only allowed access to a lawyer if one secures a lawyer within 14 days after being released from custody, whereafter – if one failed to secure a lawyer – one could get taken back into custody without the right to see a lawyer. Imagine: just the suspect and the police – with no countervailing power allowed to check on what the police may and may not do in the course of questioning and detainment of the suspect. If this does not scream “police state” to you, what would?

***

The First Flying Car: A Major Victory for Human Progress

July 1, 2010

I was delighted to see this video of the first flight of the first flying car that will be available for mass production. The Terrafugia Transition, which has fortunately been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration, is a welcome development for multiple reasons. The era it inaugurates will feature improved mobility, reduced traffic congestion, increased safety both on the roads and in the air, and, of course, greater human freedom as a result of one more technological opportunity available to a wide market. Technology is the surest way to advance liberty, and the Terrafugia Transition should be celebrated as a step toward a more enlightened, comfortable, and prosperous future.

***

Creation of Artificial Cell Deals Fatal Blow to Vitalism

May 25, 2010

The theory of vitalism, the idea that life is incapable of emerging or being synthesized from non-living components, was completely and obviously invalidated by J. Craig Venter’s recent creation of an entirely artificially designed living organism, the Mycoplasma mycoides. This synthetic bacterium was designed entirely by humans, without emerging from a previous species.

Of course, vitalism was not viable for a long time, and, for intelligent students of the natural sciences, its patent falsehood was evident since Stanley Miller’s famous 1953 experiment, which showed that amino acids – the basic building blocks of proteins – could be generated from simple inorganic compounds in an artificial reducing atmosphere. But now the case against vitalism is so obvious that only the most dogmatic, evidence-averse individuals could still adhere to it. There it is – a cell that was not the offspring of another living organism, but was rather artificially synthesized in its every aspect, much as a building might be constructed by the deliberate arrangement of bricks and beams in accordance with a human-designed blueprint.

I welcome the emergence of artificial life and all of the impressive possibilities that it offers even in the near-term future – from improved and rapidly produced influenza vaccines to microorganisms that can clean up oil spills and synthesize new sources of energy. More important, of course, are the long-term implications of this discovery – which are too vast to be foreseen by any single individual. We humans have an amazing ability to discover and engineer the workings of life, and our own lives should become ever longer and better as a result.

***

Always Think!

February 21, 2010

There is a dangerous mentality among many people that thinking – using one’s mind to fathom the world and solve problems – is optional or is only necessary for some people, such as intellectuals or individuals in high-paying professional occupations. In fact, thinking is essential and indispensable for everyone; that includes you. Our reason – our ability to accurately identify what exists and to determine how it may best be used to promote our lives and flourishing – is the only means we have of reliably surviving and improving our position. Blindly following orders, routines, or conventions may occasionally enable one to survive – if someone else did the thinking behind these external impositions correctly – but it just as often results in catastrophic failure. Every procedure, institution, and norm should be questioned using critical thinking – and every person should engage in such questioning. The result will be an improvement of societal institutions: their alignment with reason and good sense and a vast improvement in efficiency, innovation, and happiness in all areas of human life. Always think! No one is above or beneath using his mind!

***

Progress in Life Expectancy for 2008

August 19, 2009

This article by Mark Stobbe (“CDC Says Life Expectancy in US Up, Deaths Not”) discusses the slight increase in life expectancy in the United States observed by the Centers for Disease Control for the year 2008. This is excellent news, especially considering that the death rate from heart disease decreased by 5%, the death rate from cancer decreased by 2%, and the death rate from HIV/AIDS decreased by 10%. Praise is due to the scientists and doctors who have caused these perils to retreat – as well as perhaps healthier living habits in the population as a whole when it comes to the heart-disease declines.

We can beat back misery, decay, disease, and death – and the slight growth of U. S. life expectancy at birth to nearly 78 years testifies to this. Moreover, the death rate in 2008 was half of what it was in 1948 – truly a monumental development.

***

The Beneficial Act of Holding Money

August 16, 2009

I was recently asked whether the super-rich were economically useless because they merely “held onto” money instead of “using” it and allowing it to “circulate” in the economy. I think that the super-rich cannot be accused of this, however, and the basis of the accusation is itself groundless.

The money held by the super-rich is not “dead money” by any means. It is, in most cases, invested into banks that lend it out to entrepreneurs that use the money to purchase capital goods, make products, or provide services to consumers. But even if the money is not invested but kept under a mattress, this is still desirable — as it means that there is less overall money in the economy, chasing the same number of goods, which means lower prices for everyone.

It is important to keep in mind that the amount of wealth in the economy is not the same as the amount of money. Wealth is real stuff; money as it exists today is just a unit of account. If the money stock increases without a corresponding increase in real stuff, we get inflation — which is coming, by the way, because the Federal Reserve has dramatically increased the money supply over the past year. What matters for the health of an economy is not how much people spend, but rather how much stuff is available — which is a direct function of how much people produce. Capital goods, not consumption spending, are what enable us to be wealthier and more prosperous than hunter-gatherers of the Paleolithic. After all, those people could consume just as well as we could, given the chance! But the stuff was simply not available to them, because no one produced it!

***

The Morality of Honest Profit - But It Must Be Honest!

August 11, 2009

In response to my essay, “Profit is Moral,” I was recently asked whether my ethical praise of profit also applies to cases where the consumer has been in some manner deceived, deliberately under-informed, or invited into a transaction where the other party knew that the consumer would fail to fulfill his side of the bargain.

I believe that honesty is one of the foremost human virtues and a requirement for a workable system of commerce to exist. Thus, the morality of profit applies only to those profits which are made in the course of honest value-trades — that is, trades in which all parties knew what they were getting in advance and made at least an implicit benefit-cost comparison of having the thing they planned to obtain versus not having it.

Transactions that are made on the basis of deception, deliberate concealment of information, or the expectation that the other party would in some manner fail to deliver on its end of the bargain are in violation of the principle of honesty and therefore cannot be considered moral; in a free-market society, they would also be of dubious legality, to say the least.

A related situation is where a transaction is made under duress — for instance by a party that was threatened, intoxicated, or otherwise not in possession of a clear ability to give informed consent. It would not be moral for a seller to exploit these circumstances for profit.

***

Abolish the Minimum Wage First - and Only Then Abolish Welfare

August 7, 2009

I mentioned yesterday that I would not advocate abolishing the welfare system prior to the abolition of the minimum wage. My reasoning? The welfare system is not nearly so damaging as minimum-wage legislation. Indeed, welfare is likely to be acting as a band-aid on the harms of minimum -wage legislation, by preventing those who become unemployed due to the minimum wage from starving. Repealing welfare without abolishing the minimum wage first would be disastrous to many people who would be unable to find employment with the present wage floor in force. The minimum wage acts to keep those with skills insufficient to earn income at a certain rate out of the labor market. Welfare at least rectifies the injustice done to such individuals by preventing them from starving while they are legally prohibited from working. Of course, the welfare system has numerous undesirable side effects on individuals’ incentives to develop their skills and find work in the future. However, there are only certain stepwise procedures by which its abolition might be viable.

A doctor, seeking to cure a patient, must follow one of a limited set of options for doing so. Any individual medical procedure might be desirable in a proper context, but, if a multitude of desirable procedures were arranged in the wrong order, disaster might result.  The same applies to fixing problems in the sphere of politics. I happen to believe that the world would be better without both the minimum wage and welfare, but disaster might strike if they are abolished in the incorrect order.

***

Libertarianism in a "Messy Reality"

August 6, 2009

Some criticize libertarianism being “too clean and clear” to accommodate a “messy reality,” I beg to differ. I think most thoughtful libertarians recognize the messiness of reality. Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich Hayek were particularly good about this. If you have not done so already, I recommend that you read Human Action by Mises (available for free here) and The Fatal Conceit by Hayek.

But there is a difference between recognizing a messy reality and allowing that recognition to make a mess in one’s theory. The theory can justifiably be clean and elegant, for that renders it graspable by human beings. It is in the application of the theory that the messiness is important and needs to be considered. Many libertarians have not gotten to this point yet, and all too many prefer spending virtually all of their time thinking about how an ideal libertarian society would work rather than considering how such a society can be attained or approximated when we must start with an imperfect and, indeed, quite messy, world. The messiness really comes in when we consider the sequence of desired transitions. I happen to believe that the minimum wage should be abolished before the welfare system is abolished, or else the consequences would be disastrous. Likewise, getting out of the Social Security and Medicare tangles will need to be an extremely delicate procedure, with care taken to ensure that no innocent dependents of these systems are harmed. But to think about these issues cogently does not require the abandonment of libertarianism; it simply requires taking libertarianism to the next, more sophisticated level.

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If Highways Were Privatized, Would There Be Collusion?

July 27, 2009

I was recently asked by an individual who was favorably inclined toward my position on road privatization about possible obstacles with regard to the privatization of large interstate highways. Would not this market be dominated by a few large firms, which would be able to easily collude with one another to the detriment of the consumer? I believe that this would not be a threat in a genuinely free market.

A historical parallel comes to mind: the railroads of the 19th century — which were competitively built by multiple companies. The railroads spanned up to the width of the American continent, and many railroads were built in parallel, ultimately getting passengers and cargo from the same initial city or town of departure to the same destination. With private competition in the construction of roads, I see no reason why interstate highways could not also be built in parallel by multiple companies, which would then bring about the well-known effects of competition on increasing product quality while lowering the price.

I would also like to note that a lack of capital would not be an issue, as railroads were just as capital-intensive in their time as today’s highways are — not to mention the cost of trains and the crew to operate them. And today, due to the economic growth of the past century, there is much more private capital available for constructing new highways. Moreover, any attempt at collusion by however many private road companies end up existing will be fraught by the well-known problems plaguing any cartel. Cartels that do not have a coercive backing behind them are inherently unstable, as each member has a financial incentive to defect and undercut the rest of the market in price or outdo fellow cartel members by offering a higher standard of quality than was agreed to. Moreover, a free-market cartel would not be able to keep out non-cartel newcomers, who, by charging lower prices or offering better goods, can undercut the entire cartel. Thus, our hypothetical private road companies would need to be worried not only about existing competition, but also about the potential competition that might arise if they were to offer unfavorable terms to the consumer.

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Preconditions for Success: Departure from Orthodoxy

July 16, 2009

How can one succeed in life? How can one become extraordinarily accomplished, prosperous, safe, and happy? Contrary to what most people might think, it is not by following the conventional understandings and definitions of what one ought to do.

The orthodox paths in life have already been tried millions of times. If you want to make something of your life, pursue an unorthodox path. This is not sufficient for success, but it is necessary – so you are doing something right if your approach is unorthodox. I attribute virtually all of my success to date to my numerous departures from orthodoxy.

Not all departures from orthodoxy are created equal, however; some will destroy the individual pursuing them. Any departure from conventional ways must be done for a reason, with a thoroughly considered understanding of why it is superior to what most other people do.

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Patri Friedman Outlines New Approaches to Libertarian Activism

April 18, 2009

An excellent new essay by Patri Friedman, “Beyond Folk Activism,” discusses some fundamental shortcomings of traditional pro-freedom activism and suggests less intuitive but more powerful ways to overcome these shortcomings. As creatures who evolved in small tribes where everyone had the ability to directly speak to and persuade everyone else, we humans still have the intuition that by talking about an issue sufficiently with the people around us, we can effect substantial change. In the highly complex, technological civilization of modernity – with billions of people to persuade rather than tens – this approach does not work. The best kinds of activism are the ones that do not require the participation or even the agreement of the vast majority of people, and Friedman’s Seasteading project attempts to do just that. Generally, a more sophisticated and effective activist needs to focus on creating new kinds of goods – including technologies and capital goods – that advance the cause of liberty in themselves, without requiring the assent of the general society to be brought into existence.

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United States Persecution of Illegal Immigrants Leads to Deportation of Citizens

April 17, 2009

If all the conventional economic and moral arguments against the crackdown on illegal immigration were not enough, then consider this: the recent wave of persecutions and deportations of alleged “illegals” has led to American citizens being indefinitely detained and deported – in direct contravention of U. S. law. This article by Suzanne Gamboa discusses the case of Pedro Guzman, a mentally ill American-born citizen who was deported to Mexico upon suspicion of illegal status. Hundreds of other U. S. citizens have also been deported in this manner.

It is absolutely intolerable for even one American citizen to be denied the rights and privileges of citizenship due to overzealous and sloppy efforts to crack down on illegal immigration. And yet, if anyone is given the colossal power needed to keep track of and punish over 10 million people who have broken a rather silly law, then we can be sure that some mistakes will be made and some innocent people will suffer. The far more reasonable remedy to any of the negative effects of illegal immigration is to render the legal immigration process much easier, swifter, and more accepting – giving many of the currently illegal immigrants an incentive to take legitimate routes to residency in this country.

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The Taiping Rebellion: A Religiously Motivated Slaughter of 25 Million 

April 16, 2009

Alarmingly many theists argue that it was atheism that led to the genocides of Josef Stalin, Mao Zedong, and Pol Pot during the 20^th century – notwithstanding that atheism is not a positive doctrine and it was rather the dogma of communism that motivated these genocides. However, theists who argue this way often challenge non-believers to give instances where slaughters on such a grand scale were motivated by religious considerations. In fact, there happens to be such an instance, the Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864) in China, where about 25 million people – mostly civilians – were killed in the course of an uprising orchestrated by the Christian convert and religious fanatic Hong Xiuquan. Hong’s regime was not only Christian, it was communistic – abolishing private property and mandating communal living and strict separation of the sexes.

By contrast, estimates of the death toll inflicted by Pol Pot only go as high as 2.3 million. This is still horrific, of course, and inexcusable. However, it is for this reason that I advise theists not to play the death-toll card anymore. Rather, it is important to recognize the dangers of all sorts of fanaticism and dogma, irrespective of their underlying metaphysics. Any set of ideas which does not incorporate a considerable degree of tolerance for opposing views is highly dangerous and likely to lead to horrendous destruction of lives and property.

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The American Conservative Movement as Scam

April 15, 2009

I have no disrespect for many rank-and-file American conservatives – including serious academicians, middle-class professionals, and many college students who genuinely believe the ideas of today’s conservative “movement.” While I disagree with some of these ideas, I can admire those who adhere to them with sincere conviction and a genuine desire to do good in the world.

I have no comparable respect for most of the elites of today’s American conservative movement – who, in their personal lives, clearly do not practice what they preach. I do not simply refer to such religious figures as Ted Haggard or to such political figures as Larry Craig, who were exposed as practicing lifestyles they condemned. I point to much more routine indiscretions committed by the children of such elite conservatives as George W. Bush and Sarah Palin. I point to the routine personal vulgarity – which borders on and sometimes extends into the obscene – of such prominent conservative figures as Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, Michael Savage, and that artist widely considered to be a paragon of Christian virtue – Thomas Kinkade. This is, of course, not to mention the despicable spousal abandonment practiced by such men as John McCain and Newt Gingrich.

I have, over time, begun to see the American conservative movement as at least partially a scam perpetrated by ethically unscrupulous elites – who do not believe their own teachings – upon morally upright, conscientious, but credulous conservative petit-bourgeois and intellectuals. What the elites want is money and power; they do not actually wish to realize the principles they expound, but they need to expound the principles in order to receive the donations.

It is time for men of integrity among American conservatives to cease being the dupes of the Republican Party, megachurches, big talk show programs, and activist organizations whose real goal is to maintain a perpetual stream of funds from fairly ordinary and credulous people. Think for yourselves – and keep your money, too.

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The Irrationality of the View That Life is Sometimes Not Worth Living

April 14, 2009

In behavioral finance, there is a well-known tendency of many people to consider themselves worse off after a financial net gain that happens under certain circumstances. For instance, if person A wins $10 million but then loses $8 million, he might consider himself worse off than he would have seen himself as being if he had simply won $1 million. Even though in absolute terms A is twice as wealthy in the first case as he would have been in the second, A will see his current position mostly in relation to the $10 million he once had and will thus consider himself to be in dire straits. This is, of course, an entirely irrational mindset; $2 million is clearly better than $1 million, all other things equal.

I think many people are afflicted by a similar mentality with regard to life itself. It is likely that even a majority of people think that life is not worth living under certain conditions. These conditions are virtually always worse than the conditions of those people’s lives at present – and so a descent into such conditions would entail a diminution of the quality of life. However, people who think that life is sometimes not worth living do not venture to make the proper comparison of lower quality of life to no quality of life. Rather, they compare some hypothetical or actual lower quality of life to a former higher quality of life – even though both are better than an absence of life altogether. In despair over their losses of liberty, privilege, health, loved ones, or any other values, they are willing to abandon everything else of value that they have by choosing to succumb to death. This is as irrational as a person who lost $8 million out of $10 million burning the other $2 million out of the belief that wealth is just not worth having unless there is a certain amount of it.

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Could Religions Come to Adopt a Naturalistic Perspective on Resurrection and Judgment?

April 13, 2009

Religions and religious doctrines evolve all the time – and this is a fact that warrants hope. I have long speculated that some future strains of Christianity might come to view the promise of resurrection as one of renewed life in this world – not in some ethereal Platonic world of souls that many Christians today seem to consider Heaven to be.

Robert Ettinger, the founder of the cryonics movement, wrote an excellent short story, “The Penultimate Trump,” in 1948. In this story, the suspended animation of humans enables them to be restored to life and youthfulness hundreds of years later. At that time, they are judged on the basis of their past actions and, if they committed sufficient misdeeds, are flown to the penal colony on Mars, which has been renamed Hell. (I recommend everyone to read the full short story, so I will say no more on its contents.) Perhaps the promise of resurrection and judgment will be fulfilled through naturalistic means in this world – and cryonically preserved humans will indeed be judged by their more morally advanced future counterparts upon their revival.

An even more distant future possibility might be the revival of non-preserved humans from even a remoter past, if it ever becomes possible to reconstitute entire bodies and minds from the data included in whatever DNA samples from these persons might have remained. In this case, the “judgment” might consist of deciding whom to revive. We would want Leonardo da Vinci and Benjamin Franklin around, but not Hitler or Tamerlane.

I myself am an atheist, but I welcome any adjustments in the theological views of religious people that would render such persons more comfortable with and supporting of technological progress that will ultimately benefit us all.

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Famous Atheist Composers -- Who Says One Needs God to Appreciate Beauty?

April 12, 2009

One of the most ludicrous allegations made by some theists is that one needs to believe in God in order to appreciate beauty in the world and in art. Such a claim needs only one counterexample of an atheist artist, musician, or admirer of the arts to refute. Several such counterexamples are extremely well-known.

The French composer Hector Berlioz (1803-1869) repeatedly referred to himself as an atheist in his letters. The virtuoso Italian violinist Niccolo Paganini (1782-1840) was well-known as an atheist during his day. Franz Schubert (1797-1828) was documented to have said of all religious creeds and writings, "Not a word of it is true." French composer Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) was an atheist, as was Richard Wagner (1813-1883) during the time when he wrote his most monumental music.

An excellent article by Madalyn Murray O’Hair documents atheistic and freethinking tendencies among some of the most famous composers of human history. If these men could compose works of universally recognized beauty, then surely a belief in God is not required for esthetic appreciation!

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What is the Best Way to Enjoy Life? The Permanent Enjoyment Hypothesis

April 11, 2009

With regard to enjoying life, I am, of course, not opposed to it – and I, like all human beings, seek out enjoyment in a variety of circumstances. I do, however, try to follow a permanent enjoyment hypothesis, much akin to Milton Friedman’s permanent income hypothesis. That is, I try to sustainably spread my enjoyment throughout my life (and perhaps to increase its sustainable quantity per unit time whenever possible). However, I think it is also important to take care that present enjoyment does not undermine one’s future capacity for enjoyment – and this often requires one to endure a certain level of inconvenience and struggle in order to not suffer much more in the future. Those who maximize enjoyment now at the expense of future enjoyment – or even in a manner that causes great future suffering – are not acting prudently or with foresight as far as enjoying life is concerned.

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There is No Experience Worth Dying For

April 10, 2009

I was once asked whether some experiences were so worthwhile as to justify a willingness to sacrifice one’s life in order to have such experiences. The question was phrased as follows: “Is it possible that a finite life with experience A is preferred to an [indefinite] life without experience A?” I do not think so and, moreover, I think the dilemma is a bit artificial. A life of indefinite duration will always give one the possibility of pursuing experience A at some point in the future. If one missed having A now, one can always catch up on it thousands or millions of years in the future. No A is worth so much to me that I would be willing to cut off my future ability to exist or to experience anything for it.

I think that my argument is the one that better incorporates the idea that anything is better than nothing. If, without life, one has nothing, then anything that one has or experiences while alive is better than that nothing. Ceteris paribus, a longer life is better; that is, being able to live one’s life up to the present plus X years is always better than being able to live one’s life up to the present plus (X – Y) years, where Y > 0, no matter what happens during those extra Y years.

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Can Consciousness Survive Physical Discontinuities?

April 9, 2009

A curious dilemma accompanies proposals to keep people alive forever by “uploading” their memories and consciousness onto a computer or outfitting them with new bodies sometime after their deaths – bodies which are identical to the originals in physical structure and the makeup of memories.

Even if, hypothetically, after your death, it were possible to replicate the exact same physical structure and memories of the exact same life history as you have at present, I doubt that this individual would have the same state of awareness that you presently have of your existence and surroundings. Permit me to posit a hypothetical scenario. If a physically identical copy of you were created right now, with the same memories as yourself, you would not perceive the world from the vantage point of this person – although he, too, would consider himself to be you. Now separate this person in time from yourself at present, and you will see that it is unlikely that this person’s awareness would be a continuation of your own. He will be as apart from you, consciousness-wise, as any other person who is not you. Looking back from his vantage point, he will believe himself to have been you and to have experienced your life. However, looking forward, you cannot expect to be aware of what he experiences once his body has been constituted. I strongly suspect that only some