I’m a lone gunman, and I kill someone because and only because he’s black, or Indian, or Jewish, or Palestinian. Have I committed genocide? Clearly not. Suppose there’s a number of us, and we kill a number of people because… Read More ›
Social and Political Philosophy
THERE SHOULD BE A LAW
It’s a well-known fact that Lee Harvey Oswald killed John Kennedy in Dallas on November 22nd, 1963. But it’s a little-known fact that he did so not because Kennedy was the President of the United States but because he had… Read More ›
POLITICAL ECONOMY MADE SIMPLE
Paying $3.99 for diapers instead of $4.19 gives Mom 20 cents more she can spend on lean ground beef instead of mostly filler. And that’s a good thing for kids. But governments need to fund themselves, and the ‘fairest’ way… Read More ›
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
By some accounts the war between Palestinians and Zionists has been going on since 1947, by others since ’67. But by all accounts it’s the war that’s never going to end. There’ve been battles: ’48, ’56, ’67, ’73. Coupled with… Read More ›
GIVING NEW MEANING TO SHIT OR GET OFF THE POT
The Bible isn’t a book. It’s a collection of several books. Wokeism isn’t one view. It’s a collection of several views. What unites them is what unites the collection of people who hold them. Something like a religion. First you… Read More ›
WHERE AM I GOING WITH THIS?
I suppose I could get someone to brush my teeth, but it’s actually easier if I do it myself. But there are things I can’t do for myself, like get at that damn knot in the middle of my back…. Read More ›
TAKING SIDES
It’s hard sometimes for students of history to remember they’re also living in history. That I’m no exception I find embarrassing. I’m embarrassed because I’m upset about Ukraine and Palestine. But why? National borders change with the alacrity of the… Read More ›
TRADE, TAXES, AND TARIFFS
Here’s another from the Words-No-Longer-Mean-What-They-Did file. In talking about free trade, what’s the contrast class? It can’t be compelled trade, since that would just be a synonym for expropriation. And yet by free trade we don’t just mean trade that… Read More ›
LEDICE
There’s a civil war, though not a very civil one, that’s been going on in the southern Levant at least since 1948. Let’s see if we can identify the combatants. But first a disclaimer. Any attempt to define the parties… Read More ›
A COMPLETE INTRODUCTION TO ECONOMICS IN ELEVEN MINUTES – TIME ME
Nothing about money or trading or buying or selling or competition or interest or inflation or taxes or … the list goes on and on. None of it makes any sense unless people own stuff. And people own stuff if… Read More ›
Paulosophical Vimplications 