tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post4261248502150673428..comments2024-03-28T09:59:13.754-07:00Comments on bionic mosquito: News of the World bionic mosquitohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-42633653197940846852022-10-12T19:43:32.585-07:002022-10-12T19:43:32.585-07:00"Perhaps it is decided by those who can defen..."Perhaps it is decided by those who can defend same."<br /><br />More likely, it is decided by those who can overrun same. <br />Rogernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-29960161253193743582022-10-12T19:09:13.916-07:002022-10-12T19:09:13.916-07:00It's not something that Austrian School econom...It's not something that Austrian School economists or libertarians in general talk about, and understandably so because it's one of the favorite excuses of interventionists, but there's a concept called "transaction costs" referring to all the difficulties involved in dealing with others - from the energy required to get off one's arse, to language barriers, to the risk of trusting someone.<br /><br />My Marxist history teachers, in their eagerness to explain the decadence of feudalism as a function of the rise of the bourgeoisie, said that the centralization process came about because merchants were being held back by the different customs, taxes, measures, etc. among the many polities of medieval Europe.<br /><br />Using that as the major explanation for centralization of political power in the late medieval and early modern periods is, of course, contrived BS by someone desperately clinging to "historic materialism"... but there's no denying that it's easier to live among those whose customs you understand. When individuals in a society can trust someone they don't personally know, that is a monumental advantage for that society, in every way - economic, political, military.<br /><br />(Of course, it also breeds weakness by eventually teaching people to be *too* trusting and making it easier for criminals to have their way, but that's a whole other topic.)<br /><br />That sounds like a good criterion for the establishment of a polity. It has the added advantage of being inherently individualistic. Only you can tell who you trust...cosmic dwarfhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16562864681773374828noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-74213569293923997572022-10-11T07:25:16.150-07:002022-10-11T07:25:16.150-07:00In one lecture about the private law society, Hans...In one lecture about the private law society, Hans Hoppe mentioned that criminality was a technical issue to solve. I would imagine that Mises meant something similar in regards to technical considerations - something like the nuts and bolts of keeping a society together: having all the necessary institutions to mitigate internal conflicts and fend-off external aggressors and invadersA Texas Libertarianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02980539931923054404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-36244978400582377602022-10-11T05:52:35.311-07:002022-10-11T05:52:35.311-07:00"What, after all, makes a region "govern..."What, after all, makes a region "governable" or a territory capable of "administration"? And, who decides those questions? "<br /><br />Perhaps it is decided by those who can defend same.<br /><br />I do not know what Mises meant by "technical considerations, but this would certainly be one of these.bionic mosquitohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-41421420334982197612022-10-07T05:35:46.412-07:002022-10-07T05:35:46.412-07:00"However, the right of self-determination of ..."However, the right of self-determination of which we speak is not the right of self-determination of nations, but rather the right of self-determination of the inhabitants of every territory large enough to form an independent administrative unit. If it were in any way possible to grant this right of self-determination to every individual person, it would have to be done. This is impracticable only because of compelling technical considerations, which make it necessary that a region be governed as a single administrative unit and that the right of self-determination be restricted to the will of the majority of the inhabitants of areas large enough to count as territorial units in the administration of the country." -- Ludwig von Mises, from the article cited. <br /><br />Why did von Mises stop where he did? <br /><br />If a small village is large enough to count as an independent administrative unit, then why could not a single block in that village be considered the same? Or a single street within that block? Or a single household on that street? Or, Government forbid, a single individual living in that household? <br /><br />What, after all, makes a region "governable" or a territory capable of "administration"? And, who decides those questions? Rogernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-69023339421295354402022-09-30T19:54:29.585-07:002022-09-30T19:54:29.585-07:00Ukraine admitted into NATO today? I think? Seeme...Ukraine admitted into NATO today? I think? Seemed like it. We are literally at a razor's edge to direct war with Russia.RMBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13603112499567064214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-42560914742304498342022-09-30T13:52:48.372-07:002022-09-30T13:52:48.372-07:00Black pilled in the short term; white pilled in th...Black pilled in the short term; white pilled in the long term, especially when the day comes for each of us when "the grey-rain curtain turns all to silver glass and is rolled back, and we behold white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise.”<br /><br />As for now? Yes, bread and wine is more than sufficient and much more than we deserve.A Texas Libertarianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02980539931923054404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-78867727895764911812022-09-30T12:48:10.904-07:002022-09-30T12:48:10.904-07:00No pill. Bread and wine. Allows us the peace of ...No pill. Bread and wine. Allows us the peace of knowing we live in a black-pill world yet hold to a white-pill outlook!<br /><br />But, in the meantime, I think we are black pilled!bionic mosquitohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-77918722252403991832022-09-30T12:46:00.056-07:002022-09-30T12:46:00.056-07:00The trustworthiness of the elections is secondary,...The trustworthiness of the elections is secondary, as you note. For example, US elections need not be trustworthy in order to have consequences in the real world!<br /><br />In any case, yes - tensions will increase...perhaps exponentially.bionic mosquitohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12002548958078731031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-57522363446477827062022-09-30T08:07:26.140-07:002022-09-30T08:07:26.140-07:00Black Pill: Lavrov offers a very reasonable point ...Black Pill: Lavrov offers a very reasonable point of view, but I don't see a reasonable outcome of this conflict. I see a protracted war where many lives are lost and NATO and Russian tax payers keep getting milked to prolong the misery. I live in San Antonio, Texas where we have Lackland Air Force Base, Randolph Air Force Base, Kelly Field Annex, and Fort Sam Houston, all of which comprise the Joint Base San Antonio, the largest base organization in the DoD. Surely we'd be a nuclear target if things escalated to that point. I don't think that will happen, because Putin is not a madman. But who knows how far nuclear brinksmanship will go by the Western powers? All it would take is for NATO to give Ukraine some long range missiles that could hit targets in Russia, and the whole modern world could self-destruct.<br /><br />White Pill: Italy's new prime minister Giorgia Meloni, is a Catholic who appreciates Tolkien and Chesterton, Archbishop Vigano supports her, and the Leftist media is shrieking at her for being a fascist. What's not to like? (I'm sure we'll discover something, but I'll take what I can get at this point!)A Texas Libertarianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02980539931923054404noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-648884752216444797.post-43579973854646165792022-09-30T06:54:48.411-07:002022-09-30T06:54:48.411-07:00Russian annexing parts of Ukraine will simply esca...Russian annexing parts of Ukraine will simply escalate the situation when Ukraine attacks those regions again. That is my fear. They then have excuse to use more force against the West since Russian land was attacked this time. <br /><br />I also don't know how trustworthy elections in any Russian controlled areas are. Before this war I had read/listened to reports of Russian elections that were corrupt out in the open. Garbage cans full of ballots for Putin. Prizes given for votes. Threats for those that didn't vote Putin.<br /><br />That doesn't mean these plebiscites are corrupted, but it is questionable to me. Ukraine and the West will use the past to doubt the results too and continue with their attackes.<br /><br />This train isn't headed in the right direction.<br /><br />https://thecrosssectionrmb.blogspot.com/RMBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13603112499567064214noreply@blogger.com