Author: smartistone

Bryan Caplan and Dave Rubin: Anarcho-Capitalism, Economics, and Immigration (Full Interview)

I wanted to like this video more, but there is too much hand waving. It’s all based on assumptions. He doesn’t cite any studies/data except for a “1930’s charity”. Maybe he is right, maybe he is wrong. Who knows. Free markets produce improvements, but other times not. Yahoo Finance is still awful and has gotten… Continue reading Bryan Caplan and Dave Rubin: Anarcho-Capitalism, Economics, and Immigration (Full Interview)

The Inescapable Pull of Biology

This story is going hugely viral: In ‘Enormous Success,’ Scientists Tie 52 Genes to Human Intelligence This comment stood out: Ive known people who were related to certain very famous physicists and their intelligence was obviously much higher than most people. As in very conspicuous. There is no doubt thay intelligence is purely genetic. The… Continue reading The Inescapable Pull of Biology

How much should a philosopher be blamed for the consequences of his beliefs

Marxist Origins of Communism, I Communism is, he explains, “the positive transcendence of private property, or human self-estrangement, and therefore the real appropriation of the human essence by and for man… the complete return of man to himself as a social being…” (Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844) Innumerable social thinkers disagree with much of… Continue reading How much should a philosopher be blamed for the consequences of his beliefs

Collapse

Over the past few years, there has been considerable interest in the subject of ‘collapse’, whether it be the collapse of America as a superpower, economic collapse, or the collapse of civilization, in general. Reddit even has a popular sub devoted to discussing collapse, appropriately named /r/collapse, which has become a sub-culture in its own… Continue reading Collapse

Bitcoin is an asset class first and a currency second

With Bitcoin blasting past the $2,000 barrier, the doubters are at it again> Bitcoin is a Speculative Asset, Not a Currency, Says Economics Professor Bitcoin does not make a good currency for two key reasons: its unstable value and its slow transaction time. Dorfman claims the most important feature a currency has is being a… Continue reading Bitcoin is an asset class first and a currency second

Anti-democracy, part 4

This BS is not going to go away though, impeachment or not. Clinton has Saudis and emails; for Trump it’s Russians and memos. One problem with politics is that it attracts people who seek power and status, so they will do anything to attain and keep it, because power and status in democracies is fleeting.… Continue reading Anti-democracy, part 4

Mole in the White House

Trump Told Russians That Firing ‘Nut Job’ Comey Eased Pressure From Investigation The conversation, during a May 10 meeting — the day after he fired Mr. Comey — reinforces the notion that Mr. Trump dismissed him primarily because of the bureau’s investigation into possible collusion between his campaign and Russian operatives. Mr. Trump said as… Continue reading Mole in the White House

Not Worried About Comey Memo

As everyone knows, Trump’s impeachment odds have surged due to recent revelations of possible ‘obstruction of justice’ following Comey’s disclosure to the NYT, and consequently the S&P 500 fell nearly 2%. Here are some reasons why I’m not worried and why the market will rebound soon: None of Trump’s action constitute an impeachable offense. Trump… Continue reading Not Worried About Comey Memo

Accelerationism

Accelerationism: how a fringe philosophy predicted the future we live in Between 2005-2007, I wrote (although not here) about an ‘acceleration phase’, as part of other ‘-isms’ I had coined (smartism, spendism, paymentism) to describe rapid changes in society, although it never occurred to me that one could create an entire philosophy around it. Over… Continue reading Accelerationism