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Ten Observations on the Brett Kavanaugh Smear Campaign Oct 13, 2018

On September 4–7, the United States Senate held hearings on the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court to replace outgoing Justice Anthony Kennedy. After the hearings, Kavanaugh was accused of sexually assaulting Christine Blasey Ford, a professor in clinical psychology at Palo Alto University, while they were both in high school. An additional hearing on this matter occurred on September 27. Other accusations were made by Deborah Ramirez and Julie Swetnick. The FBI investigated Kavanaugh again, finding no corroboration of these accusations. Kavanaugh was then confirmed to the Supreme Court on October 6. Ten observations on these...

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Henry Olson Misunderstands Libertarianism Oct 9, 2018

On September 25, Social Matter published an article by Henry Olson titled “The Death and Tragic Rebirth of Libertarianism”. While this article raises several important issues for libertarians and gets some points correct, it also has major theoretical problems. Whereas Olson's misunderstandings are more commonly distributed and believed than correct libertarian theory, and this is a primary reason for many rejections of libertarianism, let us explore them and offer corrections while also noting where his essay is accurate. Abstract Olson begins, “Whatever their partisans claim, political ideologies rarely succeed in describing some timeless truth about the world. More often, their...

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The Case For Executing Pedophile Priests Oct 2, 2018

Since the reports made by Fr. Gerald Fitzgerald in the 1950s[1], it has been known that the Catholic Church has a problem with pedophilia in its clergy. Media publicity of the problem began in the late 1980s[2], and it has been in the news periodically ever since. The majority of the abused children were between the ages of 11 and 14, but some have been as young as three years old.[3,4] The United States has the highest number of reported cases[5], followed by Ireland[6], but is a problem in many countries with a significant Catholic presence.[7] A 2004 study by...

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Book Review: One Nation Under Gold Sep 20, 2018

One Nation Under Gold is a book about the role of gold in American economic history by James Ledbetter. The book details how gold has shaped the American psyche and played a role in many debates and power struggles from the founding of the United States until the current age. At the beginning of the book, there is a helpful timeline of many of the most important events that Ledbetter discusses. A short preface states the case to be made: that monetary gold has many qualities that good money should have, but cannot fulfill the ultimate hopes of its advocates....

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Song Lyrics: Bitcoiner Blues Sep 17, 2018

The chord progression is the same for all parts: C, Amsus4, G7, C7, C, Dm, Em, C. The acoustic guitar solo also follows these chords. The tempo is such that performing the entire song takes 3:45–4:00. Verse 1: Sometimes buy high Sometimes sell low Never quite know Where the market winds blow But one man's loss Is another man's gain Here in cyberspace Liberty shall reign Verse 2: The mining is hard And it takes lots of juice But that's to make sure That the spending's no deuce Once it's in hand They can't steal away The wealth is all...

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Eleven Observations on the Brett Kavanaugh Hearings Sep 13, 2018

On September 4–7, the United States Senate held hearings on the confirmation of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court to replace outgoing Justice Anthony Kennedy. The hearings were more raucous than usual, with several delays and attempted delays by protesters and grandstanding politicians. Eleven observations on the hearings follow. 1. The entire spectacle was unnecessary. As per Article II, Section 2, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution and the Senate's current procedural rules, confirming the appointment of a new Justice to the Supreme Court requires a simple majority vote in the Senate. The Republicans currently have 51 Senators,...

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An Overview Of Autistic Conservatism Sep 10, 2018

There is a certain species of political theory and public policy analysis which is marked by an inability to understand context and/or a denial of it, difficulty with using abstract thinking and concrete thinking in the correct situations, deep knowledge in very narrow topics, difficulty in understanding other perspectives, repetitive use of set phrases, and an inability to identify or think about groups or shared interests. People who routinely produce such content tend to have a troubling need for routines, a lack of empathy, and difficulty in processing social cues. Analysis that suffers from some (or even all) of these...

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The State Is Negan, Part III Aug 31, 2018

The Walking Dead comic series and the television show based on it contain many themes which are of interest to the student of both libertarian philosophy and reactionary thought. The character Negan, who appears in the Season 6 finale and is the primary antagonist in Seasons 7 and 8, is one of the most obvious allegories in recent memory for the nature of the state. Let us examine the third part of his character arc to see how he and his underlings deal with a developing hostile challenge to their rule. As we will see, there are many lessons to...

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The Rise and Fall of the Sturmabteilung Aug 25, 2018

By Benjamin Welton Editor's note: There is a faction of the contemporary left which denounces anyone who disagrees with them as fascists, Nazis, or “literally Hitler”. I figure that if we will be called such names anyway, then we have nothing to lose by studying real Nazis to see what lessons can be learned from their example. One of the problems that has long deviled the Western Right is that of creating alternatives to the Leviathan state. For the Left, there is no such problem. West German communist Rudi Dutschke told his followers that, in order to win, the Left...

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Agreeing With Statists For The Wrong Reasons: Impeach Donald Trump Aug 17, 2018

Ever since Donald Trump became the Republican presidential nominee in 2016, there has been a concerted effort by the establishment to do whatever they can to stop him. Publicizing scandalous materials, weaponizing intelligence agencies, voting, marching, protesting, and political violence were all tried, and none managed to keep him from gaining the Presidency. As such, the focus of the leftist vanguard has shifted to impeachment as a means to remove Trump from office, regardless of the facts of the case. Though the Democratic Party leadership has sought to distance itself from such efforts thus far,[1,2] more ardent leftist activists are...

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The Myth of Tremendous Government: A Reply to Mark Christensen Aug 11, 2018

By Darien Sumner On July 23, Social Matter published an article by Mark Christensen titled “We Need Tremendous Government: Why Conservative Mythology Must Be Disrupted”. His contention is that modern conservatism has long been dominated by libertarians who want to shrink government purely for its own sake, with no attention paid to the costs or consequences. Conservatives, therefore, should rebel against this negative influence and get back to what he contends is the root of conservative thought: Making America Great Again. To do so, it is necessary to embrace the power of the state as a tool for advancing conservative...

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Book Review: The New Wealth of Nations Aug 8, 2018

The New Wealth of Nations is a book about the decline of world poverty by Indian economist Surjit S. Bhalla. The book explores the role of education in bringing this about, the failures of current measures of inequality, and possible changes to government welfare programs to accommodate changing conditions. The opening chapter considers the accelerated growth of the third world relative to advanced economies in recent decades. Bhalla posits greater equality in education as the cause, making the case through much of the rest of the book. His near-obsession with equality between the sexes and belief in its unalloyed goodness...

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The Producerist Theory of Society and Civilization Aug 3, 2018

By Insula Qui Producerism is a unique view of political and social philosophy. To completely understand this theory, we first have to establish how ideologies are constructed. For any ideology, it is important that there is a base value. There must be some value-judgment above all other value-judgments. (There are two other key requirements for a set of ideas to be an ideology, but we will deal with them later.) For libertarianism I have identified the base value as efficiency. When presented with a choice between the value of liberty and the value of efficiency, most libertarians will choose efficiency....

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The Case Against Corporations Jul 28, 2018

Libertarianism within a leviathan state functions not as a governing philosophy, but as a critique of excesses, i.e. the cases in which state power is used in an unusually pernicious manner. These efforts have had varying degrees of success, depending on how well libertarians can convince major party operatives and wealthy financiers of the wisdom of restraining the state on one issue or another. Unfortunately, mainstream libertarians seem to have a blind spot, if not an outright case of political autism, when it comes to corporate power. Free-market conservatives, reactionaries, and traditionalists also view corporations far too positively. Let us...

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Against the Magna Carta Jul 20, 2018

By Benjamin Welton As some American eggheads say, there could not have been 1787 without 1215. The legacy of Philadelphia starts at Runnymede. Put more bluntly, the U.S. Constitution would not exist without the Magna Carta that was signed by King John of England. America's political culture, ideals, and most of its founding stock come from the British Isles. As such, arguing that American documents have an English lineage is entirely sensible. America's Bill of Rights is based on and not much different from the Bill of Rights that English Protestants ratified in 1689 following the Glorious Revolution. There a...

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How Much Force is Best for Civilization? Jul 12, 2018

The fundamental concern of libertarianism is the question of what constitutes the acceptable use of force. The primary objective of reactionaries is to correct bad decisions and undo the damage done by them in order to establish, secure, and advance a healthy and stable social order. Adherents of these political ideologies thus share an interest in determining the optimal level of force needed to maintain civilization. Finding the correct balance is the overarching question of proper statecraft as applied to domestic policy. Let us attempt to do this by defining scales of force usage, considering the role of a sovereign...

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Womp For Victory Jun 29, 2018

On the June 19 episode of Fox News Channel's “The Story with Martha MacCallum”, substitute host Sandra Smith had former Donald Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and Democratic Party strategist Zac Petkanas on for a segment about Trump's zero-tolerance immigration policy, which at that time included separating children from adults when they cross the border illegally. Petkanas began with a story he read about a 10-year-old girl with Down syndrome who was separated from her mother. He neglected to mention that the mother was suspected of involvement with a child trafficking ring and was detained for that reason. Lewandowski responded...

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Introducing Agnostic History Jun 22, 2018

Since the beginning of recorded history, a teleological element has been present in historical narratives. The precise form of this element has varied through places and times, but historians have always offered some sense of where we are going and what the future may hold. This is an understandable impulse; humans are the only extant species with the ability to conceive of the future in a meaningful way and make long-term plans beyond the horizon of gathering food for the winter. Making plans of worth requires having some idea of future conditions. In pre-modern times when social and technological progress...

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Dealing With Doxxing Jun 10, 2018

The revelation of clandestine personal information has occurred for as long as clandestine personal information has existed. This has been practiced throughout human history as intelligence gathering by states and private firms, investigation of crimes, security testing, harassment, social shaming, blackmail, and vigilantism.[1] In the age of the Internet, the researching and broadcasting of private, personally identifiable information about individuals and organizations has become easier than ever, and thus a more serious problem. Let us consider the nature of the practice known as doxxing, the possible effects on victims, and potential countermeasures. The Nature and Effects of Doxxing By using...

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How Leftism Killed the Boy Scouts Jun 4, 2018

By Benjamin Welton On May 2, it was reported that the Boy Scouts will no longer be the “boy” scouts. Now and forever, the Boy Scouts will be a co-ed club called the Scouts BSA. The name change will be effective in February 2019, according to the Washington Post. Effie Delimarkos, the spokeswoman for the Scouts, said “Scouts BSA perfectly represents the new, inclusive program for older Scouts that the Boy Scouts of America is proud to offer.” Chief Scout Executive Michael Surbaugh invoked the social-justice buzzword inclusive again while talking to the Associated Press, parroting that the new Scouts...

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