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Monthly Archives: June 2011
The Causes of Poverty (46): Poverty of Willpower and of Self-Control
(source) Conservatives often argue that the absence of certain mental goods such as self-control and willpower are to blame for the absence of material goods: poverty of the mind and of the will leads to material poverty. Now it seems … Continue reading
Posted in causes of poverty, economics, poverty
Tagged bee sting theory of poverty, causes of poverty, classism, free will, psychology, self-control, willpower, work
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Human Rights Maps (138): Pornography Laws
Pornography is often framed as a free speech issue. This map shows where adult consumption of pornography is legal or not: (source, click image to enlarge) More on pornography and free speech here and here, more on obscenity and free … Continue reading
Posted in data, freedom, human rights maps, law
Tagged crime, free speech, map, maps, obscenity, porn, pornography, Sexuality
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What is Democracy? (55): A System For Signaling Disapproval of the Economy
(source) “It’s the economy, stupid“. The famous phrase suggests that economic basics rather than social or cultural issues, politicians’ personal merit, foreign policy successes etc. determine democratic outcomes. People vote against incumbents when unemployment is high and GDP growth low, … Continue reading
Posted in democracy, economics, governance, what is democracy?
Tagged accountability, correlation, elections, incentives, It's the economy stupid, recession, signaling, statistics, unemployment
2 Comments
Political Graffiti (142): Meow/Mao
(source) More about Mao and China. More political graffiti.
The Freedom to Speak Implies the Freedom to Shut Up
(source) I argued before that there can’t be a duty to speak, except in certain very specific cases involving a moral urgency. Hence, if you’re free to speak you’re also free to shut up. The freedom to shut up, although … Continue reading
Human Rights Nonsense (26): Anti-White Bias Bigger Problem Than Anti-Black Bias?
White, it seems, is the new black: Both white Americans and black Americans perceive significant progress in the fight against anti-black bias, but white Americans believe the progress has come at their expense, a new survey finds. The researchers contacted … Continue reading
The Fable of An Randy’s Libertism
(source) Once upon a time, An Randy made her life. She wrote stories and became famous and wealthy. She attributed her success to her talent, effort and intelligence, and to the near total freedom she enjoyed in her beloved country … Continue reading
Posted in freedom, philosophy, work
Tagged ayn rand, cooperation, desert, division of labor, libertarianism, merit, objectivism, redistribution, Robinson Crusoe, socialism, talent, taxation
3 Comments
Human Rights Facts (62): US Public Opinion on a Number of Human Rights Issues
Here are some interesting numbers on the way Americans think about certain human rights issues: (source) Assisted suicide is, unfortunately, still condemned by a small majority. Official homicide, on the contrary, is believed to be a good thing according to … Continue reading
Posted in data, human rights facts
Tagged abortion, assisted suicide, death penalty, free speech, human rights, pornography, public opinion, right to life, United States
2 Comments
Annals of Heartlessness (3): Chopping Off Heads, Needs Some Getting Used To
(source) From an interview with the state-appointed executioner of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, Abdallah Al-Bishi. The interview aired on the Lebanese LBC TV on November 4, 2006: Reporter: “This is the most renowned executioner in Saudi Arabia, Abdallah Bin Sa’id … Continue reading
Posted in annals of heartlessness
Tagged death penalty, execution, mecca, middle east, saudi arabia
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Measuring Human Rights (20): What is More Important, the Number or Percentage of People Suffering Human Rights Violations?
(source, more Banksy here) Take just one human right, the right not to suffer poverty: if we want to measure progress for this human right, we get something like the following fact: [N]ever in the world have there been so … Continue reading
