Progressive Denmark
What strikes me as so absurd about the word progressive and its use when speaking of, say “progressive Denmark”, is the arrogant presumption that we know what events represent progress.
Democracy’s Failings Take 26355
There are two recurrent complaints about American democracy that have been on my mind lately: the inability of most Americans to name their representatives and the ever-increasingly central role of the president. Both of these strike me as the inevitable result of our government’s structure. There simply are too many representatives to keep track of. [...]
Usury Condemned
On Amateur Economists, I just read the following words: McCain chastises “speculators” and says he wishes interest rates could be 0%.1 Is this claim true? Has McCain really said something like this? I was aware that McCain likes to emphasize traditional Christian values, but this is a throwback to the most ancient sort of Christian [...]
The Moral Quality of Swingers
Whenever someone wonders why people are dubious about the moral quality of swingers, remember this. When lust is too readily indulged, evil follows.
Comedy’s Value
I think the secret to comedy’s didactic value is to be found in the speech of mothers to their infants. By exaggerating the inconsistencies of daily life to the point of absurdity, comedy teaches to focus on the salient features of argument.
Pennies and Sense
While walking to work this morning, it struck me that the questions being lumped together under the moniker of neuroeconomics should be a source of fascination to everyone who is amazed by the fact that the continued existence of the penny makes every single American factually poorer, but is continued because it makes a majority [...]
Two More Passages from Hayek
Two other passages from Hayek’s “The Counter-Revolution of Science” that seemed worth quoting, ironically because of their fundamental importance for psychology. It is that not only those mental entities, such as “concepts” or “ideas,” which are commonly recognized as “abstractions,” but all mental phenomena, sense perceptions and images as well as the more abstract “concepts” [...]
Self-Willed
Much that today is thought of as a sign of being a “liberated” person would once have rather been considered proof that one is merely “self-willed.” And so it is that Houellebecq’s books are worth something to our age: they are among the few that explore the ways in which we deceive and betray ourselves [...]
The Apotheosis of the Coquette
I think it is easy for most people to understand why I am usually so disheartened by the popularity of Sex and the City, but for those desiring an explanation I think just a few words suffice: Sex and the City is, far too often, the apotheosis of the coquette.
Tom Morello’s Idealism?
In the past twenty four hours, I have seen Tom Morello in Iron Man and Air Guitar Nation. I can only say that his radical ideals suddenly seem even more disingenuous than before.