Recently, I was listening to some liberty-minded conservatives discuss the question of whether it should be legal for an employer to discipline or fire an employee for what that employee says on his own time, away from the workplace. They agreed that this would violate the employee’s ‘First Amendment right to free speech’. Say what?
Ian Underwood
The Reparator™ reparation calculator
As people start to discuss more cases where reparations may be owed by the descendants of one group to descendants of another group, it’s time to put things on a solid quantitative basis. So later this year, the Reparator™ reparation calculator will be made available, for free, on both the Apple and Android mobile platforms.
Do we still believe this?
One of our oldest and most cherished principles is that ‘it is better that a hundred guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer’. At least, it used to be. But do we still believe it? We certainly act as if we don’t.
Not red flags. Purple flags.
Constitutional issues aside, the two main practical problems with red flag laws are (1) once the guns are taken, it can be difficult and expensive to get them back (and sometimes impossible to get them back undamaged), and (2) there’s no accountability for the people who ‘warn’ the authorities about problems that don’t actually exist. … Read more
What’s wrong with rights
I’m starting to think that maybe we should just stop talking about rights altogether.
What NH can learn from CA
Strange as it is to say that New Hampshire can learn something from California, the people of Santa Cruz recently put on a clinic regarding a lesson that we desperately need to learn here.
The Cardinal Choice
There are two ways of looking at the relationship between the rights of individuals, and the powers of government. The first, which based on the ideas of the Declaration of Independence, is that people have the right to do pretty much anything, except when they delegate specific powers to government for the purpose of protecting those rights:
Let’s move forward, not in circles
Driving home from PorcFest this evening, I noticed that on I-91, Vermont has combined traditional exit numbers with the new distance-based exit numbers mandated by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). For example, one of the exits is marked Exit 18/Milepoint Exit 120. This seemed like a nice way to combine the old and the new.
Unfit for liberty (Part 2, Education)
Previously, I quoted General John McAuley Palmer, who said that professional armies threaten government by the people, not because they consciously seek to pervert liberty, but because they relieve the people themselves of the duty of self-defense. A people accustomed to let a special class defend them must sooner or later become unfit for liberty. … Read more
Clothes make the law
About a year ago, I suggested that elected officials should dress down (chambray shirts or polo shirts; jeans or khakis) instead of dressing up (suits and ties). Dressing up misrepresents the nature of their jobs, allowing them to obscure what they’re doing — which is acting like our bosses instead of like our employees. Now I’m going to suggest that the same is true of the police.
What makes something ‘constitutional’?
Here’s a little thought experiment. Let’s say the New Hampshire constitution says something. Call it x. But the legislature passes a statute saying the opposite of that, ~x. The governor signs it. And when challenged in court, the Supreme Court approves it. Two questions:
Karen vs. Karen
Imagine that two people are doing something that is voluntary, consensual, and peaceful. Now imagine that a third person — let’s call her Karen — objects to what they’re doing, not because it directly affects her, but because she disapproves.
Punishing the innocent
One of our oldest and most cherished principles is that punishing innocent people is to be avoided at all costs. (Blackstone said that ‘it is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer’. Benjamin Franklin raised that from ten to a hundred.) And yet, in the last few months, punishing the innocent has become one of the main activities of government at all levels.
Defund policing, not the police
Suddenly there is growing support for the idea that Americans ought to reclaim responsibility for protecting themselves and their property. This would be an important step towards becoming fit for liberty once again.
Unfit for liberty
In 1927, General John McAuley Palmer said that professional armies threaten government by the people, not because they consciously seek to pervert liberty, but because they relieve the people themselves of the duty of self-defense. A people accustomed to let a special class defend them must sooner or later become unfit for liberty. I believe … Read more
‘Remote’ doesn’t mean ‘online’
Why do so many people assume that ‘remote learning’ is ‘online learning’, and that it has to involve lots of screen time? What ever happened to learning from reading, writing, conversation, activities (like building or fixing things, or practicing an instrument or a sport or an art), and so on? Remote learning just means doing … Read more
How to re-open public schools
About the only thing we can say for sure about the next school year is that it will be very different from previous ones. How can we make the best use of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to change the bathwater, while keeping a firm grip on the baby?
Tax, or commission?
How does a tax rate get set? For example, what makes the top federal income tax rate 37 percent, instead of 70 percent (as it was when I graduated high school), or 91 percent (as it was when I was born), or any other percentage? The basic idea is that the government wants to set a rate that maximizes revenues.
The time-and-effort loophole
If you’re a female, you’re not allowed to sell your eggs to someone else. However, you can donate them, while receiving ‘compensation for your time and effort’.