Once upon a time, the nation-state and the joint-stock corporation were new and small. The Church, the family, the tribe, the town, the land (kept by farmers), the wilds, and even small businesses (craftsmen) – in short, the things of […]
Good scientists know that good experiments limit their variables. They also limit the number of experiments running on a human population at the same given time. So what if human society was a grand experiment? How would our various cultural […]
The ability to do (morally aligned) violence independently is kind of essential to adventure. Fighting pirates, beating up bullies, dueling your mortal enemy, even shooting dangerous animals – you get the picture. It’s violent and dangerous stuff. And these used […]
“Mayor ____ welcomes you to Atlanta.” This sign greeted me as I left the airport for home. I kind of liked it. Now as an anarchist, I don’t want any city governments, and I don’t give a damn about Mayor […]
There are not many possible outcomes in which humans become freer after the COVID-19 pandemic. Already Western governments (see: United States) are taking unprecedented powers and violating civil liberties on a mass scale, despite farcical mismanagement of the crisis. Countries […]
What is the right way to respond to pandemics? What is the right way to educate children? What about healthcare? What’s the right relationship between the sexes? What is the right relationship with family? With tradition? With the past? With […]
I recently finished Ross Douthat’s The Decadent Society, a compelling argument that we live in a world that has become incapable of fundamental change. From arts and culture (endless reboots – think Star Wars and Marvel) to political gridlock to […]
Local, state, and federal governments are using the COVID-2019 coronavirus crisis to assert more and more direct control over the lives of individuals. The president has “banned” travel to Europe and travel from China, though control over individuals’ movements has […]
Have you ever gotten sick because an obviously-ill person (“OIP” for short) showed up to work and coughed on everybody? Have you *been* that obviously-ill person? What I find really strange is how common this scenario is – and how […]
I’m a pretty cynical guy when it comes to nation-states. So it might be surprising to hear that I sort of love in the vision of America most of us learned in school. It’s a place where people generally tell […]
It’s a dangerous thing to have too many convictions and too few actions to support those convictions. It’s dangerous for all the obvious reasons: you tend to become a hypocrite, you tend not to actually help, etc. But it’s also […]
In the 20th century, the story of European imperial holdings was a story (mostly) of communism. Do you think Winston Churchill anticipated this? Rudyard Kipling? Any of the other enthusiastic imperialists of the 19th century? They may have seen themselves […]
“You’re not a Nazi, Jojo. You’re a ten year-old kid who likes dressing up in a funny uniform and wants to be part of a club.” – Jojo Rabbit You know it’s a good movie when you clap spontaneously, laugh […]
In Forty Autumns, author Nina Willner tells a beautiful family history of life in a family divided by the wall between East and West Germany. Particularly interesting were the coping tactics of her family in the totalitarian socialist East Germany. […]
Have you ever tried to use finely instrumented computer? Fly a plane? Manage the sound mix of 20 microphones at a live concert? What about hitting a nail with a hammer? All of these activities involve the use of tools, […]
Today I was fascinated by one woman’s biography of 40 years of a German family’s life under East German rule. Forty Autumns is mostly about the small (heartwarming as well as heartbreaking) stories of family members trying to stay connected […]
When I was younger, I used to enjoy riding Pharaoh’s Fury at the Coastal Carolina fair. This big sphinx-headed boat swung back and forth on a mechanical arm, terrifying and thrilling the riders, and (in our imaginations) we thought about […]
Somehow near mile 2 of a trail run today, political philosophy entered the picture, and I spent the rest of my run (including the most difficult uphill portion) exchanging ideas on the state, liberty, and culture with my trail-running partner. […]
Is the 21st century a time of great moral progress? Or is it a time of decadence? Ask different people and you’ll get different answers. In my view, the answer is “both.” On one hand, humans are progressing. The internet […]
*SPOILER ALERT FOR GAME OF THRONES, OBVIOUSLY. Don’t listen to this if you haven’t watched the show!* What is the right way to respond to the deaths of others? Should you be more loyal to your family or to your […]
When I walk in Atlanta’s Piedmont Park these days, I get a few moments where I see at a deeper level. I see hundreds of smiling people. I see couples in love, parents with children, and happy dogs trotting ahead of them. […]
Do you believe you’re free? Ask yourself how hard it would be for someone to enslave you – politically, emotionally, financially, physically, relationally, mentally. Do you have debt? We may no longer have debtor’s prisons, but for all intents and purposes, […]
Over 16 million humans died in the war that ended this day 100 year ago – on November 11, 1918. This is Armistice Day a hundred years later, and it should not go unremembered. Death like that deserves mourning, and peace […]
I was talking with some church friends last night about the frustrating cycle of history found in the Biblical stories. People turn to violence and injustice and fall to violence and injustice again and again, cycle after cycle. It’s really […]
WARNING: Major spoilers for Seasons 1, 2, and 3 in this post. I just finished watching the third season of Amazon’s amazing alternative history/sci-fi drama The Man in the High Castle, which is loosely based on Philip K. Dick’s novel […]
Circular reasoning. Strawmen. Appeals to nature. The “No True Scotsman.” Fallacies like these are easy for the casually-trained logician to spot in others, and they’re easy to pull out and critique in others. But what should you do if you make a […]
I’m undertaking a new writing challenge: write one post a day for as many days as possible based on things at my desk. This is day 7 of that challenge. One of my favorite things about my company is the […]
In the past year or so I’ve started to notice a new feature on my phone: with simple artificial intelligence the text messaging app is able to auto-generate simple, relevant replies to text. So if someone says “hi”, you can say […]
Was Abraham Lincoln really a moral leader who saved the United States and ended slavery? Did George Washington really save the Continental Army and win the American revolution? Was Thomas Jefferson really a forward-thinking liberalizer? Alluring Myth vs. Disappointing Fact The stories […]
Today I learned (or was reminded) that whale sharks regularly migrate thousands of miles across their oceans to feed and give birth They will travel incredible distances for food – far further by natural means than most humans who have ever […]