harrystottle's favorite libertarianism pages, page 1

Last login: 13 hours agoHarrystottle: Harry is a guy from Bristol, England, UK.; Likes 3,770 pages, 126 videos, 20 photos • 95 fans • Received 13 reviews; Member since Oct 03, 2005

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The Smallest Minority: Aug 13, 4:35pm 3 reviews activism, education, politics, libertarianism
http://smallestminority.blogspot.com/2008/06/george-orwell-daycare-center.html; One of the more intelligent Right Wing Libertarians. The kind the more intelligent Left Wing Libertarians and us middle of the road anarchists might just be able to connect with. After all, who can argue with: "It's tough to motivate the proletariat toward social justice when that will prevent them from watching Lost, Tivo or no Tivo."

As usual, he doesn't understand socialism, but then most socialists don't understand libertarianism.

MotherJones Blog: Ron Paul Loses His Luster: May 5, 4:08pm 2 reviews politics, democracy, liberty, libertarianism
http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2008/01/6820_ron_paul_loses_his_...; if true, these are sad revelations. I was never a "supporter" of Ron Paul (he opposes my main aim - Democracy) but I did harbour hopes for his candidacy simply because he was, I thought, an honest libertarian. And that - in the absence of democracy - is the best compromise...

http://home.att.net/~bob.wallace/secret-teachings.html: Jan 24, 2:52am 5 reviews liberties, philosophy, libertarianism, ayn-rand, objectivism
http://home.att.net/~bob.wallace/secret-teachings.html; Magnificent. And I found this at exactly the right time (Thanks to Rumplemigskin who pointed me at this other piece by the same author).

I'm struggling, as we speak, with a chapter trying to get to the bottom of the profound flaws with Ayn Rand's attempt at "philosophy" and I bump into this which lays most of them out on a plate ready to digest.

The main thing I would add to this analysis is that all the flaws described in this excellent article arise from one principal flaw in her epistemology which he hasn't recognised (or - at least - hasn't mentioned). You will find versions of it repeated like a religious mantra by her followers around the globe, but here is the Wiki version:

"Sensory perception is considered axiomatically "valid" on the grounds that it is self-contradictory to deny the efficacy of the senses as sources of genuine knowledge."

If it isn't immediately obvious why that is a colossal error and an embarrassing basis for something which calls itself a philosophy, then please read this.

The Lost Art of Cooperation: Jan 10, 2:06pm 2 reviews anarchism, liberal-politics, philosophy, libertarianism, objectivism
http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=wq.essay&essay_id=358763; I am sympathetic to his aims. He is, after all, trying to do exactly the same as I am: reconcile the warring factions of co-operators and competitors. But I don't think he's got to the heart of the problem with the competitors.

The root of their problem is the fallacy which begins with their fear of Tocqueville's "Tyranny of the Majority" (which is rational and needs to be addressed) but then moves on through Hayek's "Road To Serfdom" which convinces them that all attempts at collectivism and central planning must lead to totalitarianism. (Irrational and needs to be debunked)

This is then reinforced by a psychotic conclusion from John Nash's game theory which persuades them that only if everyone pursues their own "Self Interest" can stable society be achieved. And, finally, it is topped off with a childish attempt at philosophy by Ayn Rand which persuades a whole generation of non philosophers that the most important conclusions of philosophy can just be ignored to allow them to make up their own rules. This is no more rational than a religion and renders them impervious to most forms of intelligent reasoning.

In short, the scale of the problem is enormous. No less than trying to persuade theists to abandon their belief in a giant universe-creating fairy. I don't have solutions. I'm not even sure there are any. But if there are to be any, the starting position must be a full grasp of the problem and I don't think he's expressed that in this article.

New Hampshire results at a glance | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited: Jan 9, 11:12am 1 review politics, democracy, libertarianism
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uselections08/story/0,,2237783,00.html; Sorry chaps, Ron Paul is now officially a no hoper. If he can't get more than 8% in the home of the "Free State Project", he's obviously got no serious prospect anywhere else. This pisses me off. He's the only candidate who might have made a serious difference to American Politics. All the others are just more of the same...

Libertarian Reluctantly Calls Fire Department | The Onion - Americas Finest News…: Jan 5, 9:19am 17 reviews politics, libertarianism
http://www.theonion.com/content/node/32825; Satire making an excellent point.

PublicEye.org - The Libertarian Theocrats: The Long, Strange History of R.J. Rus…: Dec 8, 2007 5:15pm 1 review religion, libertarianism
http://www.publiceye.org/magazine/v22n3/libertarian.html; Had anybody else heard about this particular flavour of nuts? They were news to me. Described as "libertarian" but intending to re-introduce the death penalty for homosexuality.

[shakes head in disbelief and wanders off stage-right muttering...]

Omnipotent Government: The Delusions of World Planning: Aug 26, 2007 11:53am 1 review politics, socialism, capitalism, democracy, libertarianism
http://www.mises.org/resources/65854d5b-cbb7-47bd-a1b5-54deb5d682e9; This is the kind of naivete which undermines the Libertarian Right (Von Mises, Ayn Rand etc)

"Where there is no discrimination against foreigners, when everyone is free to live and to work where he likes, there are no longer causes for war."

Really? Tell that to the Taliban (Christian or Islamic)

School and State: Jul 25, 2007 3:57pm 7 reviews libertarianism, objectivism, state-education
http://www.schoolandstate.org/; This is a first for me. I've never bothered to review a site that I haven't "liked". But this movement is yet another spin off from the Objectivist right wing American Libertarian camp and it is so far off beam it's like reading something from the nutters at the Westboro Baptist Church. At least they're entertaining.

In a nutshell - anyone who reads my stuff will know that there is no human on the planet more hostile to the State than me. But to deny its achievements because they arose from a political paradigm of which you disapprove reveals a narrow minded, bigoted and historically ignorant understanding of what's been happening in human history.

What the State did for education - which the free market had very soundly failed to do - was to make it universally available. True, their motives were not mine. They weren't intent on improving the lives of the masses, they were primarily concerned to improve the skills of the workforce for the benefit of the capitalist class; but nevertheless, they made universal education freely available and in doing so, profited mankind.

The bias in the page is typically and unconsciously American. They have no idea of the value and quality of State schooling outside their own country; and, if they did, they might start asking the right questions. Like why US State schools ARE so bad and so clearly used (albeit inefficiently) as social indoctrination centres, despite, for instance the constitutional separation of Church and State.

European children are much more routinely State schooled, yet much better educated than their American counterparts and subject to much less indoctrination. Why is that? And what are you going to do about it?