(Originally published November, 2014)
As many of you must know, the US government (and I’m not certain of all the agencies involved) has charged a young man named Ross Ulbricht with being “Dread Pirate Roberts” (DPR), the “drug kingpin” behind the Silk Road online bazaar. You probably do not know, however, that he goes on trial in two months. Continue reading “Druglord, Genius, or Saint? What Kind of Man, Really, Is Silk Road’s Dread Pirate Roberts?”
Humanity has a problem of clinging to extremes, as I’m quite sure you’ve noticed. They love the Reds and hate the Blues, or they love the Blues and hate the Reds. They believe deeply in God, or they consider belief to be insane. And once they’re on one side or the other, they instinctively repel any modification of their opinion. Their polarization jumps to defend itself. Facts for its defense are assembled afterward, as a second step. Continue reading “In Praise of Traditional Family Values… Mostly”
The problem with most humans is not that they think too highly of themselves: it’s that they think too little of themselves. They exhibit what G.K. Chesterton called a “weird and horrible humility.” To put it bluntly, we’ve been trained to perpetually self-accuse. Continue reading “We’re Better Than We Think We Are”
(Originally published in 2014)
I was recently involved in a day of meetings with small business owners in the American Midwest. It was both encouraging and sad at the same time. Continue reading “A Report from Middle America”
The Armenian Genocide was a systematic extermination that occurred during World War One, mostly in 1915. The killers were Ottoman Turks: agents and soldiers of that government, as well as eager civilians. Continue reading “The Forgotten Holocaust”
Many small farmers, however, attached themselves to people controlling good land or remained where they had been living. Historian Regine Pernoud described the process this way: Continue reading “Earned Knowledge, L8, P6”
Humanity stands about halfway between gorillas and gods. The great question that looms over us, is this: “Which will we incorporate into our lives? Primate things or God things?” Continue reading “Are You a Gorilla or a God?”
(Originally published October, 2013)
You may have heard that Silk Road – the truly free online market – was taken down today, by the FBI. In response, the price of Bitcoin crashed 24%.
Yet here I am – just a few hours later, feeling very optimistic. Why? Because the philosophy of freedom just showed itself to be massively stronger than statism and its “don’t think, just obey” philosophy. Continue reading “Silk Road Died, Bitcoin Crashed. So why am I so happy?”
A few years ago I received a jury summons. And while I detest the barbaric “show up or else” aspect of it, I do appreciate juries as a last ditch measure against tyranny. (Years ago I spent some time with Larry Dodge, the founder of the Fully Informed Jury Association, and I’ve been a fan ever since.) Continue reading “The Forces that Work Against You in a Jury Trial”
The word democracy is held in awe these days. Mention it almost anywhere and you’ll get instant nods of approval.
People actually believe that democracy gives us harmony and peace, not to mention wealth. They are sure that it is the ultimate and inevitable end of human development, created by the wise and noble Greeks and given to us, the enlightened society that took it to the ends of the Earth! Continue reading “If The Founders of Democracy Could See This…”
