I have to report that I think my advancing age is not preventing me from gathering facts and exercising criticality. (Sorry, Joe; I don’t mean to put you down. – Joe Biden and I are the same age. But, I know what I am talking about.) The year 2020 was rough, of course, not so … Continue reading Next
Reparations To my mind, the inheritance of slavery, segregation, and other forms of discrimination against African-Americans means that something is owed to the descendants of slaves irrespective of the current reality or existence of “systemic racism.” All emotions carefully kept aside, refusing to subscribe to present-day irrationality, I am persuaded that if I looked into … Continue reading Systemic Racism: a Rationalist Take (Part 8 of 9)
by Jacques Delacroix jdelacroixliberty@gmail.com Foreword This is a freewheeling and personal essay on the term “systemic racism.” It’s not an empirical study but it’s mindful of facts. It blends my observations as a rationalist with my frankly conservative leanings. I am a religiously indifferent conservative of the constitutionalist, small government breed. I judge representative government … Continue reading Systemic Racism: a Rationalist Take
The two Democratic presidential debates were performed against a broad background of consecrated untruths and the debates gave them new life. Mostly, I don’t use the word “lies” because pseudo-facts eventually become facts in the mind of those who hear them repeated many times. And, to lie, you have to know that what you are … Continue reading The 2020 Dems
A good op-ed in the March 24 issue of the Wall Street Journal by Mark Krikorian forces me to go back to one of my recent postings on immigration: “Immigration and Jobs.” Krikorian is executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington D.C. Mr Krikorian accuses everyone in America of “not facing the facts” about … Continue reading Immigration and Jobs – Reprise
I think Donald Trump has the attention span of a two year-old and the potty mouth of a six year-old reared by an indulgent grandmother who is also hard of hearing. I also think he is deeply ignorant on a very important issue (international trade) and I disagree forcefully with him on another (illegal immigration … Continue reading Voting For Potty-Mouth Trump
I have lived for many years the People’s Socialist Green Republic of Santa Cruz in California, right in the Belly of the Beast. That’s not its real name actually, just the name it deserves. It’s a university town of about 50,000. A large campus of the University of California sits on the hills overlooking the … Continue reading Irrationality, Self-indulgence, Childishness, Bizarre Beliefs, and Innovation: From the Belly of the Beast
The most basic rule of schoolyard behavior is this: Don’t challenge the school bully if your knees are buckling under you. Mr Obama keeps ignoring the rule, with predictable results: One tyrant, one despot after another receives his confirmation that the USA is no dangerous, no matter what you do. Thinking the US in not … Continue reading Secession and libertarianism – Ukraine Edition
Like nearly everyone in the world, I don’t have the training to judge directly the pronouncements of organizations that affirm that there is: a) Serious temperature rise on a global scale (“global warming”). b) That it is caused by human activity (such as burning fossil fuels or keeping too many belching cattle). c) That human … Continue reading Climate Change and the First Amendment
As I said in a response you may have missed, our discussion is probably useful. At its heart lie the issues of credibility and criticality. Congressman Paul volunteered in a debate that the armed forces spent “30″ billions on air conditioning in Iraq and in Afghanistan. Mr Paul as a congressman and as a presidential … Continue reading Libertarian Foreign Policy: A Dialogue on Imperialism
There is an upsurge of hostility to the war in Afghanistan in conservative circles. Thus, the Independent Institute, an organization I have been supporting modestly but faithfully for years has a spate of statements against our anti-Taliban operations there. It’s understandable but disappointing. Part of the reason for some conservative reserve is simply childish tit-for-tat: … Continue reading Afghanistan, Conservatives and Libertarians. Telling off the King.
Everyday life requires me to make decisions about many topics. In most cases, I have either a superficial understanding of the issue or no understanding at all. Yet, I manage and I have always managed, somehow. The problem of my ignorance becomes even more acute when it comes to making the simplest of political decisions … Continue reading How I Know What I Know. How Do You Know What You Know?
Note: This is a replay. It’s been an unusually cold and rainy month of May in northern California. Thousands of miles to the east and north, in Paris, France, a May cold record held for sixteen years was beaten recently according to Le Figaro of 5/11/10. I don’t know if any of this means anything … Continue reading The Cold in California, in Europe, and in Liberal Hearts (Updated)
Whenever I despair, or more likely, when I become annoyed, because of the lack of criticality our mass media exhibit, I watch something in French or in Spanish. Then, I come out feeling better about criticality and attentiveness in America. In brief, others routinely do worse. I have written before about this French documentary series … Continue reading Media Idiocy Elsewhere: Some Encouraging Observations
Below is a fairly long essay. You may want to read it in installments. [Update: There is also a Part 2 posted on this blog.] The aim of fascism as a political movement is to substitute for individual self-confidence based on skills and achievements uncritical trust in a leader or in an organization. Fascism as … Continue reading Fascism Explained
Notes On Liberty 