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Friday
November 8, 2013
Commentary
Monopoly Money's End: Distributed Digital Currencies
by Dean Michael Gores
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Discover the source of the US dollar's value, how its monopoly enforcement is used to steal wealth, and how its monopoly status is coming to an end. (Read more...)
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Sunday
November 3, 2013
Commentary
Moral Introspection
by Joseph Rowlands
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One of the common ways of exploring the subject of morality is to posit a scenario that has fixed available options, and asking which of the options is morally preferable. Usually the scenarios include some horrific choice. One popular one is if you could kill one person and harvest his organs to save the lives of 5 ... (Read more...)
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Tuesday
October 29, 2013
Commentary
A Precis on Public Finance
by Tibor R. Machan
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In a free country public finance pertains to how the proper tasks of government must be funded. (Read more...)
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Thursday
October 24, 2013
Commentary
Liberty's Tipping Points
by Steve Wolfer
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Shouldn't we be asking about the tipping points involved in going from a semi-free nation to a mostly dictatorial nation? Are there cultural or political traits we can keep an eye on? What are the mechanisms involved in this change? I think this is an area needing more attention. (Read more...)
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Saturday
October 19, 2013
Commentary
Metaethical Foibles at Work
by Tibor R. Machan
Sanctions: 18Sanctions: 18Sanctions: 18 Sanction this ArticleEditMark as your favorite article
The quality of political discourse has indeed been deteriorating big time. Ad hominems are now the rule, not the exception. It is distressing that substantive criticism of the ideas and policy recommendations of the two major parties has nearly vanished. Even though put downs and quips are often clever, it would be so ... (Read more...)
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Tuesday
October 15, 2013
Commentary
The Common Core Controversry
by Michael E. Marotta
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Common Core is not a Federal mandate to make children stupid against the desires of their parents.  Common Core was designed according to best practices to provide the best opportunities for all children in school to acquire the basic learning they will need in life.  (Read more...)
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Saturday
October 12, 2013
Praxes
Move Over Government, Here Comes Google!
by Teresa Summerlee Isanhart
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At the risk of alerting our Federal and State governments to what I'm sure they'd consider a huge oversight on their end, Google has pretty much rendered, or at least proven, the absurdity of a few antiquated labor and copyright laws. (Read more...)
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Tuesday
October 8, 2013
Commentary
Disembodied Justice
by Joseph Rowlands
Sanctions: 18Sanctions: 18Sanctions: 18 Sanction this ArticleEditMark as your favorite article
A number of years ago I participated in a debate on the morality of the death penalty. The topic is complex and I don't intend to address it here, but there was one idea that came up repeatedly. It was the idea that punishment should be based on what a person deserves, and not in any way modified by what we know or h... (Read more...)
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Monday
September 30, 2013
Commentary
Once Again, Freedom is at Fault
by Tibor R. Machan
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"The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance." (Read more...)
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Wednesday
September 25, 2013
Commentary
Confusing Terms: Rights
by Joseph Rowlands
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In politics, one of the most important ideas is the concept of 'rights'. And yet, it is also a source of enormous confusion. There are a number of reasons why it can get in the way of clarity. I'll start with the one I think is most significant. The concept of rights is used in the form of something you posse... (Read more...)
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Friday
September 20, 2013
Commentary
Some Pros and Cons of a Syrian Attack
by Tibor R. Machan
Sanctions: 6Sanctions: 6 Sanction this ArticleEditMark as your favorite article
Why should one powerful nation attack another that is following intolerable policies -- e.g., gas its own citizens? Some argue that this is because when others act violently toward innocent people, those who can prevent this from happening have an obligation to step in and help out. We are, as Mr. Obama put it not long ago, “all in the same boat!” (Read more...)
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Friday
September 13, 2013
Praxes
Lessons from Planned Economies
by Mary Poppendieck
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The difference between a planned and a market economy is rooted in two different management philosophies: management-as-planning/adhering and management-as-organizing/learning. Management-as-planning/adhering focuses on creating a plan that becomes a blueprint for action, then managing implementation by measuring adherence to the plan. Management-as-organizing/learning focuses on organizing work so that intelligent agents know what to do by looking at the work itself, and improve upon their implementation through a learning process. (Read more...)
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Friday
September 13, 2013
Commentary
Involuntary Servitude
by Tibor R. Machan
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It is especially difficult to suppress my outrage at the fact that some of my colleagues in political philosophy hold views that literally consign my grandchildren into involuntary servitude without paying any heed to their own choices in the matter. (Read more...)
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Monday
September 9, 2013
Intellectual Ammunition
Confusing Terms: Moral and Immoral
by Joseph Rowlands
Sanctions: 12Sanctions: 12Sanctions: 12 Sanction this ArticleEditMark as your favorite article
I've noticed over the years that when discussing certain topics, some words don't help. They actually get in the way of a clear understanding. The use of "moral" and "immoral" are two examples that create massive confusion. One of the sources of this confusion is that "moral" and "immoral" are conclusions to a... (Read more...)
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Sunday
September 1, 2013
Commentary
Maternal Martyrs
by Joseph Rowlands
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There's been a number of times where a friend told me about a strained relationship with his or her parents. The similarities are interesting, and it points to a common philosophical perspective. What happens is the mothers talk to my friends as if they hate them. They talk about how much they had to sacrifice... (Read more...)
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Sunday
August 25, 2013
News
Governor Christie’s Demagoguery
by Tibor R. Machan
Sanctions: 23Sanctions: 23Sanctions: 23 Sanction this ArticleEditMark as your favorite article
In his put down of Senator Rand Paul for the latter’s defense of limited governmental powers in foreign policies, Governor Chris Christie has not produced arguments but engaged in demagoguery. Bringing up the grieving of relatives of 9/11 victims amounts to just that. (Read more...)
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Monday
August 19, 2013
Commentary
Minimizing Knowledge
by Joseph Rowlands
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A well-known question among children is when will they ever need to know algebra. Why study the subject unless they're going to do math for a living? One of the students in my school actually asked the teacher that question, and the teacher replied that you won't actually ever need algebra, but you have to learn it a... (Read more...)
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Wednesday
August 14, 2013
Commentary
Shopping in communism versus capitalism
by Tibor R. Machan
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In a narrative portion of his latest (and characteristically riveting) novel the author has written the following sentence that prompts me to wag my finger at him a bit. “Now it was a Western-style shopping mall stuffed with all the useless trinkets capitalism had to offer...” Daniel Silva, The English Girl (2013). (Read more...)
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Saturday
August 10, 2013
Commentary
Problems with Instrumentalism
by Joseph Rowlands
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Instrumentalism is a idea in the philosophy of science that says a scientific theory should be evaluated on how well it allows predictions. This is in contrast to other views, including that a theory should be judged based on how accurately it describes reality. As long as the theory provides a basis for making accur... (Read more...)
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Monday
August 5, 2013
Commentary
Too Many Un-American Americans
by Tibor R. Machan
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Let us remember a simple yet revolutionary idea associated with America, indeed one that has made the country exceptional among all major and minor political associations. This is the basic, natural right to individual liberty! (Read more...)

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Tuesday
July 30, 2013
Commentary
Accusations of Pragmatism
by Joseph Rowlands
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When someone brings up the costs and benefits of making a choice with moral implications, it is common to have some people make the accusation of pragmatism. The thought seems to be that the act of considering costs and benefit means that they are not being guided by moral principles and are just doing what's practica... (Read more...)
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Thursday
July 25, 2013
Commentary
Without a proper plan
by Tibor R. Machan
Sanctions: 24Sanctions: 24Sanctions: 24 Sanction this ArticleEditMark as your favorite article
The realm of the private is far broader in a free society than most people realize, so private choices and preferences have a greater scope. Which can be a very benign influence over the society as well as introduce some not very admirable ones. This, however, is the implication of taking the right to liberty really seriously instead of cherry picking liberties that one likes and are uncontroversial. (Read more...)
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Monday
July 22, 2013
Commentary
Cost-Benefit Analysis
by Joseph Rowlands
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When it comes to certain moral choices, the thought of someone doing a cost-benefit analysis is horrifying to many people. Take an example of the choice to murder someone or not. The conventional thinking is that this shouldn't even be an option, and morality is best when it demands that this be taken off the table. ... (Read more...)
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Tuesday
July 16, 2013
Commentary
Machan's Archives - Fourth of July Reflections
by Tibor R. Machan
Sanctions: 12Sanctions: 12Sanctions: 12 Sanction this ArticleEditMark as your favorite article
For some people the Fourth of July is the most important holiday in America. Sadly, not for all, especially not just now when most of the leadership of the country has made it clear that principles do not matter. What matters is what is expedient or practical, which is something very unstable. (Read more...)
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Friday
July 12, 2013
Methodology
Learning versus Formulating Concepts
by Joseph Rowlands
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Ayn Rand described the process of concept formation in her book Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology. The process focuses on how concepts are originally formed. It involves finding similarities between units, differentiating them from other things, integrating them through measurement omission, providing a name f... (Read more...)
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