Austro-Athenian Empire

Trip Pics IV: La Isla Bonita

Roderick — Tue, 15 May 2012 08:10:09 +0000

And now some photos (8 pages’ worth) from my April 2011 trip to Roatán, Honduras (for the Future of Free Cities Conference).

As you’ll see, Roatán is kinda purty.

Trip Pics III: Two Libertopias

Roderick — Mon, 14 May 2012 02:41:25 +0000

I’ve just posted photos from both the first Libertopia conference (Hollywood, 2010 – 2 pages) and the second Libertopia conference (San Diego, 2011 – 5 pages). You may recognise some familiar faces.

Isn’t Humphrey’s Half Moon Inn cool? I used to pass by there as a kid and wonder what it was like inside.

The Good Son

Roderick — Mon, 14 May 2012 02:27:09 +0000

Rand Paul being a jerk.

But Some Think Our Attitude Should Be One Of Gratitude

Roderick — Sun, 13 May 2012 19:06:13 +0000

Here’s what I wrote in the comments section of this article:

If one prison guard beats you twenty times a day while the other guards beat you fifty times a day, then you’ll certainly prefer the first guard to the others – but should you be grateful to him? Or should you jump at the chance to switch to a guard who beats you only ten times a day? All the examples of things for which Saverin “owes” the u.s. are respects in which u.s. laws are less oppressive than the laws of many other countries. Being less oppressed is like being beaten less often.

Gratitude is an appropriate response to receiving a favour or a privilege. Freedom is a right, not a privilege; demanding that people be “grateful” for not having their freedom violated so much is morally obscene. In any case, the freedom that Saverin enjoyed in this country was the result not of the government (which would happily expand to totalitarian dimensions if it could) or of the ruling class (ditto), but of many generations of citizens working to restrain both. So asking Saverin to feel grateful to the government, and surrender his money to it, is like asking a patient to be grateful to a virus because, thanks to inoculations, he doesn’t suffer too badly from it.

Jingoistic, hyper-nationalist rants like Manjoo’s are incompatible with the principles of the Declaration of Independence. Governments owe allegiance to their citizens, not vice versa.

Judas Was Gay! Beware the Gay!

Roderick — Sat, 12 May 2012 22:24:12 +0000

Don’t miss this thoughtful meditation on sexual orientation. (CHT Tennyson.)

What saves it is watching the reactions of the guy behind her.

Support the S’mash NDAA Amendment

Roderick — Sat, 12 May 2012 22:21:48 +0000

The Smith-Amash NDAA Amendment is far too small a step, but it’s better than nothing.

Cordial and Sanguine, Part 33: A Choice, Not an Ecch

Roderick — Fri, 11 May 2012 00:55:39 +0000

At BHL I linked to Kevin C.’s response to the Obama campaign’s Life of Julia sleme.*

(*Sleme = slimy meme.)

Separated At Birth?

Roderick — Thu, 10 May 2012 17:41:23 +0000

And in a parallel universe, Hans Hoppe is Chinese:

Cordial and Sanguine, Part 32: Remembering Traditional Marriage

Roderick — Thu, 10 May 2012 05:43:34 +0000

Longtime readers of this blog will recognise my latest BHL post, on same-sex marriage, as a shameless mashup of several of my previous AAE posts on the same topic.

My people believe in using every part of the blog.

The Atrocity of Hope, Part 20: The Dear Leader Deigns to Authorise Your Marriage

Roderick — Thu, 10 May 2012 02:57:09 +0000

I think it’s sweet that our mass-murdering, civil-liberties-shredding President has finally (for the second time) “evolved” all the way to the Dick Cheney level of enlightenment on gay marriage. I’m sure that’ll be a great comfort to Bradley Manning.