Against Politics

Toward a depoliticized society

The useless Constitution

Lysander Spooner expert and legal scholar Randy Barnett argues that Obamacare is unconstitutional. It does not seem likely that such an argument will prevail. Over the course of American history it has become clear that the Constitution presents little obstacle to a changing political climate. This makes the Constitution basically useless. When the prevailing political [...]

Health care as a right?

To understand the background of the recent debates on health care it is instructive to look at how this issue  is being approached in “progressive” states like Oregon. Last year a Constitutional Amendment was discussed  which would declare access to health care in Oregon to be a “fundamental right.” But what is so progressive [...]

Political classification and economic reductionism

At Taki’s Magazine E. Christian Kopf writes:

As conservatives and right-wingers like Oswald Spengler, Julius Evola, Whittaker Chambers and many others have pointed out for over a century, free marketeers (19th century liberals or modern libertarians) differ from Marxists and democratic socialists (20th century liberals) only superficially, while sharing fundamental traits that range from a commitment [...]

The positive external effects of stimulus

Some politicians have expressed great frustration over the fact that not all countries are doing their part in engaging in deficit spending and/or manipulating the money supply to stimulate “the economy.” It is not difficult to imagine how such a perspective will invariably culminate in complaints that countries that have not done enough to stimulate [...]

Cold analytical reasoning

In his remarks (PDF) introducing Liberale Vernunft, Sociale Verwirrung, a selection of  essays translated in German, Anthony de Jasay contrasts his approach of critical analysis of modern liberalism with futile attempts to justify a strict liberal alternative by appealing to arbitrary values and emotions.

On taking the counter-offensive, I should also like to see it use [...]

A conversation with Anthony de Jasay

Review of “Ordered Anarchy” in Libertarian Papers

The book Ordered Anarchy: Jasay and His Surroundings is a tribute to one of the most important social thinkers of our time, Anthony de Jasay. I wrote a review of this fine collection of essays for Libertarian Papers.

Murray Rothbard’s obscure case for the obvious

Libertarians are not doing themselves a favor by taking on the burden of proof to argue for something that most people take for granted. Bryan Caplan makes a similar point about Murray Rothbard’s defense of “libertarian rights:”

I object that anything that people do is ipso facto “natural,” so there’s no way you’re going to get [...]

Karl Popper’s authoritarian social technologies

Karl Popper is known for his influential contributions to the philosophy of science and critical rationalism.  Unfortunately, his attempt to apply critical rationalism to political philosophy produced writings of a more impatient and dubious nature. For example, in 1960 Popper wrote:

..the empiricist’s questions ‘How do you know? What is the source of your assertion?’ are [...]

The consequentialist consensus

Don Boudreaux writes:

It’s no ethical challenge to support something that works.  It is, however, a real ethical challenge to oppose something that you believe would work.  Someone opposed as a matter of principle to government intervention into the economy might be sensible or not; but if that person sticks by his or her principles — [...]

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