Long time since we had an open thread. This is an “Ask me anything” post. What’s on your mind? Apropos nothing, let’s read Mencken. Mencken was insightful. For instance, he noted the “basic delusion that men may be governed and… Read More ›
Quotes
PJ O’Rourke: Every government is a parliament of whores
From PJ O’Rourke’s Parliament of Whores: “Authority has always attracted the lowest elements in the human race. All through history, mankind has been bullied by scum. Those who lord it over their fellows and toss commands in every direction and… Read More ›
Herbert Simon — Information consumes attention
Herbert Simon (1971) “Designing Organizations for an Information-Rich World” In an information-rich world, the wealth of information means a dearth of something else: a scarcity of whatever it is that information consumes. What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes… Read More ›
Hayek on “The Mirage of Social Justice”
Such is the current state of public debate and understanding that anyone who is against or even questions the presumed desirability of what is known as “social justice” is axiomatically equated with being a monster lacking basic human morality and… Read More ›
Man versus the State
English philosopher, biologist, anthropologist, sociologist, and prominent classical liberal political theorist of the Victorian era, Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) wrote this in “The Man versus the State” (1884).
John Stuart Mill on the Liberty of Thought and Discussion
Free speech has always been under attack. Throughout history, there have always been people who claim to know the truth and to possess the right to silence others who hold contrary views. So also throughout history, there have been defenders… Read More ›
The most dangerous man to any government
The most dangerous man, to any government, is the man who is able to think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost invariably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under… Read More ›
Hayek on Valuing Individuals
“A society that does not recognise that each individual has values of his own which he is entitled to follow can have no respect for the dignity of the individual and cannot really know freedom.” Friedrich August von Hayek (1899… Read More ›
Mises on Bureaucracy
“The characteristic feature of present-day policies is the trend toward a substitution of government control for free enterprise. Powerful political parties and pressure groups are fervently asking for public control of all economic activities, for thorough government planning, and for… Read More ›
Oscar Wilde on Selfishness
“Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live. And unselfishness is letting other people’s lives alone, not interfering with them. Selfishness always aims at creating around it an… Read More ›
