ὅπου γὰρ ἰσχὺς συζυγοῦσι καὶ δίκη
ποία ξυνωρὶς τῆσδε καρτερωτέρα
For where might and justice are yoke-fellows —
What pair is stronger than this?
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Townhall: Socialism’s Irony Law
Is capitalism old hat? Or is socialism’s new chapeau only just a tad trendier?
Be a hipster for once and click on over to Townhall . . . for the latest fashion critique.
Then come back here for the full inventory.
- The Great Escape: Health, Wealth, and the Origins of Inequality — Angus Deaton
- “Immiseration thesis” — Wikipedia
- The Soul of Man Under Socialism — Oscar Wilde
- “What We Talk About When We Talk About Socialism” — Nick Gillespie
- “. . . about socialism, Woodward’s book, Nike, airplane fear persuasion, and coffee” — Scott Adams
- “Everything not forbidden is compulsory” — T.H. White (see also: Totalitarian Principle)
Socialism, recently on Common Sense (with more links):
This column will be published on this site on Tuesday.
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Blasphemy? Independence?
Botswanans celebrate their independence from Great Britain with an official day on September 30.
Also, September 30 has served as Blasphemy Rights Day since 2009, when it was initiated by the Center for Inquiry.
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Thucydides
The secret of happiness is freedom and the secret of freedom is courage.
Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, Book II, 2.43.
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The Scrivener of the Patriot Act
So there is the Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination Senate hearings. The big news is about the charges of sexual assault. Of course. And it is not just about the Christine Blasey Ford accusation: there are even more bizarre charges against the judge.
But the biggest story probably should be not the circus of accusations and defenses about apparently unverifiable events long ago, but, instead, about the judicial philosophy of the nominee himself:
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Congress Adjourns
On September 29, 1789, the first Congress of the United States under the new Constitution adjourned.
On the same date in 1881, economist Ludwig von Mises was born in Lemberg, Galicia, of the Austria-Hungary Empire (now Lviv, Ukraine).
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Marcus Aurelius
Live as on a mountain. . . . Let men see, let them know a real man who lives according to nature. If they cannot endure him, let them kill him. For that is better than to live thus.
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Meditations, X, 15.
In Hawaii, those who would compel others to promote abortion have suffered a well-deserved setback.
A U.S. District Court tossed a law requiring pregnancy centers to post ads for abortion clinics. Among the centers that would have been affected was one run by a church opposed to abortion. Of course, whether we’re religious or non-religious, we have the same rights.
The president of National Institute of Family & Life Advocates (NIFLA), Thomas Glessner, hails the decision as a “major victory for free speech and freedom of religion.” For its reasoning, the district court relied on a Supreme Court decision, NIFLA v. Becerra.
“In NIFLA v. Becerra, the Supreme Court affirmed that we don’t force people to say things they don’t believe,” says Kevin Theriot, a lawyer with Alliance Defending Freedom who argued that case before the Supreme Court. Thus, “the district court was correct to permanently halt Hawaii’s enforcement of Act 200’s compelled speech requirement.”
You shouldn’t be forced in any way to abet any conduct that you regard as morally wrong — not if the rest of us respect your rights as a moral agent. And it is worth remembering that a lot of people have moral qualms about all sorts of issues, and that many of the people running Hawaii’s non-church-sponsored centers doubtless also oppose abortion.
Obvious? To you and me, maybe. But some people disagree. They appear eager to compel others to join their various causes.
The noble cause of leaving other people alone isn’t on the list.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
On September 28, 2008, SpaceX launched the Falcon 1, the first private spacecraft to go into orbit around planet Earth.
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Thucydides
For the true author of the subjugation of a people is not so much the immediate agent, as the power which permits it having the means to prevent it.
Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, Book I, 69.