READINGS: “Private Security” in Bob Murphy’s Chaos Theory. 1 What is anarcho-capitalism? The most thorough possible endorsement of private property rights and free markets. Anarcho-capitalists believe that infrastructure, healthcare, police, armies, and everything else should be provided by the private sector. 2 Are all Austrians anarcho-capitalists? Today, it definitely seems that way, but historically many […]
Polyprofundis: May, 2018
“Polyprofundis” is a made-up word meaning roughly “a series of profundae”. It’s just a fancy way of briefly summarizing books I’ve read. –“Economic Calculation in the Socialist Commonwealth”, Ludwig Von Mises. This book-length essay, published in the beginning of the 20th century, was and is among the strongest critiques of socialism ever written. Mises forcefully […]
WorldSys: Austrian Home Study Course, Week 25
READINGS: “Education: Free and Compulsory” by Murray Rothbard 1 How does Rothbard describe a person’s education, starting from infancy? As a process of maturing into the full stature of a human being, which means developing the powers of reason which are our uniquely human endowment. Especially in infancy and early childhood this happens ceaselessly, every […]
WorldSys: Austrian Home Study Course, week 24
READINGS: Walter Block’s “Free Market Transportation: Denationalizing the Roads”. 1 What is the lethal menace that Block describes in the beginning of his article? The nationalized roadway system. 2 Describe the record of government road management in terms of fatalities? Abysmal. Block walks through some statistics: 46,700 killed on public roads annually, over half a […]
WorldSys: Austrian Home Study Course, Week 23
The World Systems Project is going to begin with a thorough examination of Austrian economics, starting with Robert P. Murphy’s outstanding “Austrian Economics Home Study Course”. The plan is to blog my answers to the weekly questions, with posts and book reviews tossed in as I go along. It should go without saying that the […]
Is Mathematics a Young (Wo)man’s Game?
I began giving the titular question a great deal of thought when, 8 years ago, I took my first stab at learning new mathematical concepts since high school. I was 22, and because I had become interested in issues lying at the foundation of artificial intelligence I decided to pick up a textbook on discrete […]
WorldSys: Austrian Home Study Course, Week 22
READINGS: “The Environmentalist Threat” in Lew Rockwell’s The Economics of Liberty 1 How is the environmentalist movement similar to Marxism? It’s a utopian, absolutist constellation of ideas nestled firmly within Leftism and perfectly comfortable with outrageous violations of basic civil liberties. 2 Whom does Rockwell consider the father of environmentalism? Jean-Jacques Rosseau. 3 Aren’t extreme […]
