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Showing posts from April, 2014

Intolerance and Voluntaryism

There's a growing trend among libertarians to distance the movement from those whose intolerance of others are based on race, gender, sexuality, religion, et cetera. There seems to be two forks of this trend, 1) those championing "thick libertarianism" and arguing that intolerance is incompatible with the foundational principles of libertarianism, and 2) those calling for a "humanitarian" approach to spreading libertarianism by not focusing on the property rights of the intolerant, rather on how liberty helps us become better people. Here are my thoughts on the trend as they concern voluntaryism. Read the rest at EVC.

Secession and Voluntaryism

Secession can take many different forms and involve different quantities of people, but is secession always compatible with voluntaryism? And more, is secession ever really necessary? I'm skeptical toward an affirmative answer to either question, and here's why. Read the rest at EVC.

Remaining Unconvinced

In a January 2014 column titled "Down with Conviction!" I argued that if one is committed to the pursuit of truth, conviction should be avoided. At least one question remained, what if logic, observation, and experience overwhelmingly supports the truth of something, is it still necessary to avoid having a conviction of it? I think so, but to understand why, let's invert things. Read the rest at EVC.

Humility and Skepticism

It's easy to fall into the mental trap known as "confirmation bias." This trap is sprung when you put more weight on information that is confirming of your bias (a prejudice in favor of or against some thing) and/or less weight on information that is disconfirming, than either deserves. Avoiding conviction, as I wrote about previously, is one way to protect yourself against confirmation bias. Here are two more. Read the rest at EVC.

LPL - March 2014 Update

In March 2014, LPL sold 520 books across North America and Europe. Here are the top 5: 98 copies,  For a New Liberty  - Murray N. Rothbard 27 copies,  Fascism vs. Capitalism  - Lew Rockwell 26 copies,  Our Enemy, the State  - Albert Jay Nock 25 copies,  Principles of Economics  - Carl Menger 24 copies, The Mystery of Banking  - Murray N. Rothbard LPL's all time top 5 bestsellers are: 834 copies, For a New Liberty - Murray N. Rothbard 524 copies, Our Enemy, the State - Albert Jay Nock 402 copies, Principles of Economics - Carl Menger 364 copies,  Fascism vs. Capitalism  - Lew Rockwell 235 copies,  Economics for Real People  - Gene Callahan