NOS4A2

We probably have different conceptions of the state. I see any state system as an imposition, formed by conquest and confiscation, designed to enrich ...

Your obedience is apparent. But appeals to law and authority mean nothing when that authority is questionable, abused and leads to injustice. No thank...

It isn't possible. We have the cadaver farms to prove what happens to us after death, and as far as I know, exactly zero of those cadavers have been r...

Obviously I have no authority.

What if I came over and demanded you pay a fine for parking too long?

Should I meddle in your life because what you do affects others?

I don’t, though I tend in that direction.

Meddling or interfering. I feel I shouldn’t meddle in the lives of others.

I don’t want isolation. By “leave me alone” I mean I want them to quit meddling in my life. That’s what you fail to recognize.

You’re right, but I don’t want my governments to be efficient and effective—welding people in their apartments is efficient and effective. I just want...

I did not. It’s a nebulous term. Mostly I wanted to see what others thought it was. No one has cited any individualist argument but the criticisms all...

I do oppose mandatory state-clothing across the board, whether it is the burka or a mask, and I oppose such measures for the same reasons. That is to ...

How do you know? An agnostic necessarily believes in the possibility of god, or else he wouldn’t leave the question open. My question is, how can the ...

Equating individualism with avarice is a common argument. However avarice is a vice of individuals, not of individualism. Individualism encompasses th...

Then why would you yourself make such a remark, as if someone actually believed it? I’m not saying you’re wrong, I’m just curious where this notion co...

Exactly true. Except no individualist (as far as I’m aware) conceives of individuals as hermits or wild stallions, as if every single human was Robins...

I was discussing the recurring themes in anti-individualist argument, of which isolation is one. Blanc was just one example. We can find more if need ...

It has been used literally (and as a straw man) in Marx, for example. I’m not a fan of modern liberalism myself. But point taken. I’m not sure how ind...

I don’t deny the cost. I just think the cost is a small price to pay knowing the opposite.

That’s very true. Increasing the space of individual freedom gives opportunity to the irresponsible individual as much as to the responsible one. Pers...

That’s one of the frightening aspects of identity politics: the corresponding reactionary identity politics that is almost certainly to follow. Neithe...

Let's try it. Use your words and thoughts to set the power hierarchy between yourself and I.

A question that commonly arises around free-speech discussions is: "Who sets the grounds for what is permissible?" Personally I cannot think of any in...

Everyone is conservative about what he knows best. If you read the Saint-Simonians one could come away thinking socialism was entirely reactionary.

No power hierarchy exists in this scenario. It’s just two individuals in a community. The thoughts he has or expresses are unable to elevate him to an...

I would. Think of someone like Daryl Davis. Extending an olive branch is sometimes the antidote to hatred.

Yes, I can. The victims are those in the photos and videos. That's why such materials are considered contraband, I believe. So I do not think it is pe...

I don't see why you must not object. Just like the racist, such beliefs are worthy of suspicion, contempt and ridicule. The only point is we shouldn't...

In the scenario the racist also verbalizes that she would treat the person with common courtesy. Where exactly does the injury occur?

I don't think a person can become a victim of another's thoughts. Even if the racist imagined murdering the other, the so-called victim would be compl...

Governments are worse because they have the force of law and the monopoly on violence. It's no wonder, then, that private interests seek its favor and...

Blame the victim for what?

Hardly. You would only ossify the very beliefs you oppose. And someone could use the same argument to expel the minority. I wouldn’t ignore him. I jus...

The community ought to leave them alone and afford them the right to believe what they want. Expelling them is to rob the community, and the believer,...

That’s an important point. It’s the same with the modern welfare state. State welfare in imperial Germany and Austria, for example, were reactionary a...

I think it should. But manhood is a question of maturity as much as it is masculinity. In an infantilizing society one can get away without both.

If any harm is derived from seeing others smoke weed, or knowing that a dispensary exists in the neighborhood, it is entirely self-inflicted. The bell...

I can understand the reticence when it comes to doing the right thing in a corrupt system. Doing so can lead to adverse consequences, maybe some sort ...

If a man of newsworthy importance speaks, I would prefer the journalists inform me of what he said, and not withhold that information due to some fear...

It is often the case that people make arguments the journalist doesn’t like. They need not suppress those arguments. Period. I wouldn’t expect a serve...

Lester’s argument is, ironically, unsupported. The journalist’s role is to inform us, not to decide which arguments we can or cannot hear. He fails in...

The Questions of King Milinda is an interesting exchange between a Buddhist scholar and the Indo-Greek King Menander.

Imagine thinking you can pick and choose what pronouns you want to use but others are not allowed. But it’s more than just pronouns. There are a varie...

I think there are a few instances where insult is appropriate in debate. Insult can make debate enjoyable and accessible when it is used as a rhetoric...

There is something it is like to be a bat. That something is the bat. I could never understand the supposed profundity of Nagel’s arguments.

You should take sides on these matters. All out war is at stake. I don’t know more than you do. I just think it was bad intel, therefor walking back i...

Do you believe the intel about bounties was good?

I can read a paragraph of your piffle. But a paragraph full of links and appeals to ridicule is about all you’ve offered.

I never said that. But spin all you like. I don’t expect anything else.

I’m surprised you didn’t link to Jacobin mag.