Archive for May 24th, 2008
Why the State is different
Saturday, May 24th, 2008...there are two general means whereby human beings can satisfy their needs and desires. One is by work—i.e., by applying labor and capital to natural resources for the production of wealth, or to facilitating the exchange of labor-products. This is called the economic means. The other is by robbery—i.e., the ...
In which John violates Godwin’s Rule in the interest of history
Saturday, May 24th, 2008Those familiar with Godwin's Law might be able to guess why I usually refer to it as Godwin's Rule: the Rule is that you shouldn't break Godwin's Law by comparing any person, group, ideas, or practices to Hitler or the Nazis, lest your argument be delegitimized immediately. Well, when the ...
Child faces prosecution for calling the Cult of Scientology a cult
Saturday, May 24th, 2008Jacob Sullum reports at Reason's Hit and Run that a British teenager has been summoned to court and faces a fine (and, presumably, a mark on his criminal record) for holding a sign outside of the Cult of Scientology London headquarters with the word "cult" on it. I don't understand ...
Inflation in Zimbabwe
Saturday, May 24th, 2008Maybe you're familiar with Zimbabwe's brutal racist dictatorship commanded by Robert Mugabe, its runaway inflation, its millions of starved and murdered people, and its hotly contested recent elections. Well, at least there's some humor to be had in all this, at least from our perspective as comfortable Westerners. One Ian ...