Month: May 2003
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The Anti-Conceptual Mentality
I’ve been engaged in some heated debate with some commies over the last few days, and would like to share my last response, which is basically a rehashing and application of an essay from Philosophy: Who Needs It, which I didn’t read, and don’t have on me, but found an excerpt from here. Incidentally, I…
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Listserv: The Anti-Conceptual Mentality
The Anti-Conceptual Mentality May 3, 2003 (This is a reply in an ongoing debate on capitalism.) You accuse me of seeing the political and economic landscape of the world as two stark opposites: capitalism vs. socialism. According to you, my mindset does not allow me to see the “benefits and harms” of each system,…
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Check out today's Cox and
Check out today’s Cox and Forkum. In other news, would conservatives object to this 7-year-old "abortion"?
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More on Crime and Punishment
Judging by the number of comments left, my last post left a bit of confusion. I believe I made my point clear enough the first time, but let me reiterate: no, I do not think that the police should spy on anyone unless they have reason to believe that their suspect is guilty of a…
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The Fallacy of "Liberty vs. Security"
One more thing I’d like to address is the fallacy of "security vs. liberty" — the notion that our choice is between having a Nazi-like police state and a wild, free-for-all, hedonistic orgy/looting spree. The truth of the matter is that there is no dichotomy between liberty and security, and we cannot have one without…
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What happened to all the terrorists?
Thanks to Hootinan for this story on the State Department’s report that deaths due to terrorism are down from 3,300 in 2001 to "only" 725 in 2002, the lowest in more than 30 years. I can already imagine the spin conservatives and liberals are going to give to this story. Conservative: "This shows the effectiveness…