AllMenAreIslands

Galt's Gulch did have a system of government in the sense that it had an overarching law in accordance with which everyone agreed to live, being of course that "No one has the right to initiate the use of force." It simply did not need to have a large number of persons employed in applying the law to actual disputes, transgressions, or confrontational situations. You may recall that Dagny's arrival by plane crash did warrant a decision being made on how to deal with her and her "trespass." Rational objective law is the essential ingredient for harmonious co-existence. Judges (and court staf

The correct interpretation of the Welfare Clause is that it is completely immoral in principle and, as proven by the imminent bankruptcy of the U.S. government, completely unworkable in practice. The system of taxation represents a form of coercion. Express permission by the founding documents of the United States to engage in it "legally" does not somehow magically alter its nature. It doesn't matter which political party is elected; both are committed to the proposition that some coercion is unavoidable. In fact, that's why I don't foresee becoming a country that has done away with t

Greed can be good - I would define it as "intense hunger." Just as with selfishness, it is not necessary to load the term with negativity. One can be greedy for knowledge, for wealth and remain rational and respectful of individual rights in one's pursuit of those goals. Greed should not automatically imply immoral or irrational or evil.

You used exactly the right word there. "Inherent" means "inborn." The whole discussion is about rights and when they begin. It is not about when life begins or when conceptualization begins. Rights begin at birth. [edit because it wasn't Bob I was replying to.]

Taxation is the initiation of force by government against its own citizens. As such, it is an improper method to pay for rational government. The alternative is not just "donations," which means gifts, hand-outs, bequests and the like, where the link between payment and goods/services received is tenuous, idealistic, or vague. Of course, donations are acceptable, but I do not advocate that one rely primarily on them to run rational government. First of all, understand what the purpose of government is - the means by which to uphold and enforce the law. So, you have to have a rational obj

If there is really no fighting the IRS, then things are beyond bad. Sounds like your freedom and rights are gone.

I love this idea, Zip! Are you going to organize it? I'd love to give a short talk.

I would make them track me down. Ignore the 1099. The government is broke. How are they going to afford to chase after every $600 transaction? It's intended to break the system. "Unintended consequences"? Rubbish.

So, BP will soon be bankrupt, right, after paying up to settle the claims of all & sundry. Lots of people out of work, an important producer of oil no longer producing, and likely few people understanding the real causes of the catastrophe: the environmental movement. How fair is it to lay ALL the blame on this occasion at BP's door? Given the insane hysteria of the environmentalists, who lobbied against oil drilling on land or closer to shore, shouldn't a good deal of blame be laid at their door too?

Rights are not created by men in order to live in society. Rather it is only when rights are correctly identified by men (and codified into law) that they are able live successfully in a group ("society"). The job of government is to recognize rights, codify the principles in sound law and uphold that law. Essentially the government's job is to protect the rights of individuals against the initiation of force. That is why the government cannot be permitted to initiate force and cannot be successfully funded by a coercive method such as taxation. That is why the countries in the world today are

I may be interested to meet up at some point.

I would definitely throw out the term "tax" when speaking about the voluntary funding of government services. Tax, whether strictly or not by definition, does in practice involve the intiation of force. I advocate that you eschew the use of that term completely when discussing methods, proposals & ideas for voluntary funding. I think that at its highest, voluntary methods of funding achieve at least two aims simultaneously: raising funds to pay for government services and providing a tangible benefit to the individual. For instance, contract insurance puts money into the government cof

Ok, ok, I'm convinced. Let's start looking at the logistics and getting elements on paper. Where do you suggest we start, Zip? Has anyone worked out the following: How much space is needed? How many people are needed at start-up? How many people are going to be able to join in later? What kinds & amounts of provisions are needed at start-up? What is the safest way to obtain interim provisions? What kind of product/good/service can be produced/offered to earn money and to whom shall it be offered? All this you understand while construction continues ... Being in the middle o

There's always some kid whose parents happen to know and then the whispering starts. If the kid in question knows it's not as bad as when she ends up learning the truth at school in an embarrassing way, because having been in the dark, the poor kid starts out denying the truth of the comments, and learns later that it's all true. Trying to hide this kind of thing works out worse than just telling the kid so she can deal with it.

Does anyone here play WarHawk online?