This video may strike our international readers as being rather U.S.-centric. But it's for everyone, let me assure you. In Andrew Napolitano's goodbye address, he is speaking unashamedly in favor of the principles that helped found the United States. But he is also speaking in universals. You see, what Napolitano is saying above used to be our American secular religion.
The enemies of limited government have succeeded in suggesting people like Napolitano are on the fringe, that his ideas are quaint, and those who still espouse those ideas are crude troublemakers.
It's Friday. You may be saying "TGIF" to yourself because you don't like where you're sitting. If that's the case, watch this video. Even if you're pretty happy, it's worth a look. Then join me below the fold.
This parent's quote sums it up: "I saw the light in his eyes dimming. His flame was extinguishing." This animated video in support of Montessori education is also a powerful critique of public education.
Now that I have my own child, I'm starting to look more carefully at education. I am a customer. And despite my family's own rather meager income I can see that that the most costly form of education is that which is offered for "free." That's also why I believe there is currently an educational revolution in the making.
Jeffrey Miron discusses two basic types of libertarianism -- rights-based libertarianism and a more utilitarian form. As an economist who is good at using cost-benefit analysis, Miron seems to fall more into the latter camp.
But neither rights-based utilitarianism or the utilitarian form works well as a starting point. That is, there are problems starting with rights as a fundamental principle. And there are problems starting with the "greatest social good" as a fundamental principle.
Warning: we're going a little deep today, so hang on...
Christopher Hitchens has died. I know this readership is probably of mixed opinion on the man. I for one could never quite connect with his evangelical atheism. And yet I admired him deeply. He's a writer's writer. He had the power to make you reflect even when you know in your heart you don't agree with him. And if you like to read because you write, he makes you a better writer -- even though you know you'll never be as good.
I feel a strange mix of emotions when I watch this. The reptilian brain is thinking one thing. The higher order processes are thinking about something else. It's difficult to focus. But let me not digress. The emergence of new, self-styled, econ-minded voices like Praxgirl is evidence of really interesting currents of change. Consider:
I came across this great little presentation on Google+ The speaker, Lanny Goodman, discusses the basic idea of self-management, which has become more than a trend due to some proven successes.
But editor, you may be wondering, why do you sometimes put up these videos on organization theory?
A History of Libertarian Countries at Sea from Jason Sussberg is a brief profile of failed attempts to settle the sea. So the question that remains is: why do seasteaders think things will work now? Here are a few suggestions:
First, consider what Patri Friedman says at the end of the video. "You have to break things down into small steps." Incrementalism is preferable to utopianism in almost all respects. As any good Hayekian or former Soviet apparatchik will tell you, grand plans almost always fail.
