Darwin gave us hope, not God. We have an inbuilt Pandora's box that enables us to deceive not only others but ourselves. Deception is clearly linked to neural complexity and a positive perception of our environs is a deep-rooted drive. Without this, we cannot accomplish what we set out to do. Moreover, we have a tendency to deceive ourselves and deny the truth, since the alternative is depression and despair. Evolutionary Psychiatrist Randolph Nesse of…

From Samizdata.net

Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom

The UK Culture Gauleiter, Andy Burnham, gives an interview in the Telegraph today in which he says: If you look back at the people who created the internet they talked very deliberately about creating a space that Governments couldn’t reach. I think we are having to revisit that stuff seriously now. It’s true across the board in terms of content, harmful content, and copyright. Libel is [also] an emerging issue. Actually the people who 'created'…

From Samizdata.net

Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom

In a follow-up on Tarran’s excellent Primer on Money, I’d like to take the opportunity to bring the lessons to bear on our current financial situation.
Tarran correctly points out what has happened with the US Government and its ability to control the money supply:
Today, the United States government has engaged in massive amounts of spending. […]

From The Liberty Papers

Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom

Wired magazine has a neat item about ten species of creature that were discovered in 2008. Alas, as the comments in the article suggest, some people remain far more interested in the species varieties that have gone extinct this year. What perhaps needs to be stated is that in a constantly changing world, species are evolving and others are dying out, even without the allegedly malign influence of Man. What the deep Greens often do…

From Samizdata.net

Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom

Blogger and soldier Andrew Olmsted was mentioned on a Fox News report I listened to on the net tonight. His posthumous last post from January of this year seems worthy of Christmas Eve. If I (and apparently he) are wrong and there is an after… I sincerely hope it is populated by souls such as his….

From Samizdata.net

Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom

Christmas… I am gorged with all the bounty that western civilisation has to offer and rejoicing as I ponder the gifts bestowed by my friends. But I must say my favourite gift today was learning that a loathsome apologist for oh so many of the most vile mass murderers of modern times has finally dropped dead. Good riddance and a pox on anyone who mourns his passing. For me Christmas just got even merrier….

From Samizdata.net

Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom

Here are some superb photos of those symbols of human civilisation, libraries. As ever, the British Library blows me away. (Hat tip: Stephen Hicks). I am spending Christmas in a part of the world boasting some pretty fabulous architecture of its own. In the meantime, I want to wish readers a Happy Christmas and hopefully not too stressful 2009, whatever the economic situation brings….

From Samizdata.net

Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom

I’ve come out with criticisms of democracy at many times in the past. I believe simple “majority rule”, which is what democracy is, is not a very good form of government. When most westerners think of “democracy”, they actually think of a western liberal form of government similar to that we have in […]

From The Liberty Papers

Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom

Evidence is only of use to the mind that is prepared for it. Every time I see the government of Japan (or some other government) spending yet more money, in spite of the failure of all their previous government spending orgies, I am reminded of this. Because, of course, to them there is no such thing as evidence that expanding government spending is not a "good thing", just as there is no such thing as…

From Samizdata.net

Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom

So writes Michael Portillo. Well, you can certainly tell that he does not intend to stand for election again. This blog is not generally a fan club for politicians, but even here one must admit that when a former Secretary of State for Defence and Shadow Chancellor writes - It raises questions about the stamina of our nation and the resolve of our political class. It is an uncomfortable conclusion that Britain, with nuclear weapons,…

From Samizdata.net

Tags: Libertarian, Politics, Liberty, Freedom