Currently viewing the tag: "Occupy Wall Street"

Occupy the Mind — Nozick Edition. It ain’t ideology, it’s institutional analysis

By On April 10, 2012 · 23 Comments · In Academic Philosophy

On p. 272 of Anarchy, State and Utopia, Nozick writes the following:

Economically well-off persons desire greater political power, in a nonminimal state, because they can sue this power to give themselves differential economic benefits.  Where a locus of such power exists, it is not surprising that people attempt to use it for their own [...]

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He Had Moves Like Jagger

By On February 23, 2012 · 13 Comments · In Current Events, Liberalism

While flying yesterday, I began a set of readings for a Liberty Fund conference on Bastiat (thanks Matt!).  I haven’t read Bastiat in a serious way since grad school.  My reaction to the first set of readings recalls the (perhaps apocryphal) story of when Eric Clapton first heard Jimi Hendrix play.  Supposedly Clapton said “that’s [...]

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The Morality of Occupying Private Property

By On December 21, 2011 · 25 Comments · In Current Events, Libertarianism

So as the Occupy movement switches tactics to occupy foreclosed homes, I pose the following questions for my colleagues here at BHL and the commentariat:

1. Given that many of those homes are the property of the very same banks who were bailed out with their/our tax dollars, is there any reason to object to [...]

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Ron Paul: “Read The Law, by Bastiat”

By On December 6, 2011 · 39 Comments · In Current Events, Libertarianism

This past weekend at the Huckabee Presidential Candidate Forum, Ron Paul was asked what one book he would suggest every American read.  His answer was that they should read The Law, by Frédéric Bastiat.  (Video here, at about 10:40)

This was a great answer, and I heartily second Paul’s endorsement.  If [...]

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Dear Left: Corporatism Is Your Fault

By On November 29, 2011 · 200 Comments · In Current Events, Democracy, Exploitation, Liberalism

I’m not usually one for polemics. But sometimes polemics is called for. Here goes.

Dear members of the moderate left,

America is suffering from rampant, run-away corporatism and crony capitalism. We are increasingly a plutocracy in which government serves the interests of elite financiers and CEOs at the expense of everyone else.

You know this [...]

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Does Inequality Matter?

By On October 31, 2011 · 97 Comments · In Current Events, Social Justice

A common theme among the Occupy Wall Street crowd and its supporters is that inequality in the United States has skyrocketed over the last thirty years.  Often, statistics about increasing inequality – and income inequality in particular - are put forward as examples of self-evident injustice.  In this post, I want to suggest that things [...]

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