tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8959556.post4912026427378551605..comments2024-02-21T17:30:40.448-05:00Comments on An Objectivist Individualist: The Right to Life and SlaveryCharles R. Anderson, Ph.D.http://www.blogger.com/profile/09610765984333672076noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8959556.post-46416509886653589232008-06-26T22:04:00.000-05:002008-06-26T22:04:00.000-05:00Dear Mr. Anderson:Thank you so much for the kind w...Dear Mr. Anderson:<BR/><BR/>Thank you so much for the kind words. <BR/><BR/>Essay? You flatter me! :) I only meant it to be a rant. :D If it had been an essay, I'd have scoured the Web for articles and news stories. Which I'm too lazy to do. :D<BR/><BR/>Your points about Hospers simplifying the issue in order to clarify it are very good ones. That's actually what I thought as well when I was proclaiming the merits of the article to all and sundry. :) Still, my friend's negative reaction caused me to question my own positive one. We often have trouble detecting bad writing if it agrees with our own viewpoints. This is true whether you're liberal, conservative or libertarian. <BR/><BR/>For the record, said friend has worked in AmeriCorps and as a teacher for years, and she has experience with the poorer segments of society. Well, teaching experience anyway. She herself is an upper middle class white highly educated person. The sort most likely to hold liberal politics...<BR/><BR/>I guess what John Hospers was saying was that 2+2=4, and what my friend is saying is that in real life, you often need to do more complicated equations than that. However, this doesn't mean that 2+2=4 isn't true. <BR/><BR/>Thank you for visiting my website again.<BR/><BR/>P.S. Sorry about that Email. I thought that maybe you would feel this matter inappropriate to discuss on the blog, and might prefer to do it over Email instead. (You can cut this PS out.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8959556.post-7950043064220649952008-06-26T21:31:00.000-05:002008-06-26T21:31:00.000-05:00miss breeziness,I found the John Hosper's Freeman ...miss breeziness,<BR/><BR/>I found the John Hosper's Freeman article to be well-written and useful. He is thinking in terms of principles to tackle complex and abstract problems. To make it easier for people to understand, he is trying to create specific cases for them to think about. He is doing this because he understands that the abstract problem of justice is very complex and has to be considered in many of its particulars as well as in terms of unifying principles.<BR/><BR/>When he was talking specifically about the moral issues relating to affirmative action programs for racial groups as relates to social justice, it seems to me that he was dealing with the crux of the issues. I fail to see your friend's basis for objecting that he was creating a straw man. Perhaps she has a problem with developing and utilizing principles as an aid to thinking. Without them, it is very hard to make sense of complex issues such as justice.<BR/><BR/>When he considered some causes for poverty or some having less wealth than others, it was clear that he was not trying to address the most common reasons for some people having low incomes. He was picking cases most people would find it easy to understand the principle of justice involved. This was then to be suggestive of ways to analyze whether other reasons for poverty placed an obligation on people to tax themselves for redistribution of income in the name of justice.<BR/><BR/>We start thinking about justice at a very early age. Children start telling their parents that this or that is not fair at a very early age. Children think about these issues with respect to how other children treat them and how their teachers treat them. We think about justice when we read "To Kill a Mockingbird," "Les Miserables," and "Atlas Shrugged." We think about it when we read history. And of course, when we talk about politics, though it is surprising how poorly most people think about it in this case. One has to draw on a huge volume of personal experiences, a wealth of knowledge of history, and a lot of thinking about life and the moral principles for living it.<BR/><BR/>I read and liked your essay "Xenophobia, Racism, and Bad Economics." It was well-written and showed mature judgment. I tried to leave a comment but my LiveJournal password was not accepted, though it is when I go to the sign-in page for my long unused journal there.Charles R. Anderson, Ph.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/09610765984333672076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8959556.post-15526303028119859752008-06-26T18:36:00.000-05:002008-06-26T18:36:00.000-05:00Just as you reconsidered the idea of taxes from a ...Just as you reconsidered the idea of taxes from a fundamental viewpoint that they take a part of a person's life away from them, I am trying to get others to realize that there is a conflict between a minimum of taxation and the principle that most Americans believe that the individual has a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. They think they agree with that individual right, yet they contradict it in many ways with taxation and many government mandates. The trick here is to encourage people to think this through.<BR/><BR/>In much earlier essays, I tried to encourage people to think more about popular attitudes with respect to toleration, benevolence, the individuality and complexity of a thinking human being, and human sexuality. These are all complex issues and I would love to hear what you think about them.<BR/><BR/>I will take some time later this evening to read the dialog on John Hosper's article at your website. I am looking forward to visiting it. Your comments here have been refreshing and intelligent. Yours is a fresh breeze! Thanks.Charles R. Anderson, Ph.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/09610765984333672076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8959556.post-17913204969358327872008-06-26T17:36:00.000-05:002008-06-26T17:36:00.000-05:00Oh, when you figure out how to say that to a liber...Oh, when you figure out how to say that to a liberal, please tell me as well. :)<BR/><BR/>Not long ago, I had a slight bit of trouble with one liberal friend who's self-describedly passionate about social justice. I'd made a post on my journal about how great a certain article by John Hospers on "Justice vs. Social Justice" was, and recommended that everyone read it. She replied to me saying that Hospers set up straw men. The whole fiasco is <A HREF="http://miss-breeziness.livejournal.com/27991.html" REL="nofollow">here</A>. <BR/><BR/>The question is - was Hospers really "unrealistic" about affirmative action and poverty? Did my friend have some good points? (Personally, I actually think she did, but...)<BR/><BR/>(Please don't say anything to her about this. :) )<BR/><BR/>As for how I came to realize that taxation is slavery myself - I've read Ayn Rand, and plenty of articles by libertarians arguing just this point. It just plain old made sense to me after hearing the way they put it. <BR/><BR/>Mind you, it took some pretty heavy operation from first principles, the very basics, such as the idea that you've taken time to earn your money, so if someone takes your money, they've pretty much stolen your time, which is part of your life.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8959556.post-48495948260005006332008-06-26T16:01:00.000-05:002008-06-26T16:01:00.000-05:00Miss Breeziness,Thanks again for your comments. I...Miss Breeziness,<BR/><BR/>Thanks again for your comments. I agree with you that many liberals do not conceive of redistributive taxes as a source of slavery. I agree that those who elevate "social justice" to the pinnacle principle of their understanding of politics have a difficult time understanding how anyone could question that principle. What I am trying very hard to do is to formulate the problem of government and its purposes in such a way that some thinking liberals will find that they must radically alter their concept of government, its purposes, and what would constitute a desirable society. I and Walter Williams know that this idea that heavy and redistributive taxes constitute a form of slavery is shocking. Is it shocking enough to get some people who would rather not do harm to others to serious rethink what they are doing. Apparently, you commendably did this yourself.<BR/><BR/>It is very hard to convince people to change their worldview. You throw their inconsistencies before them over and over as applied to case after case, and some liberals of goodwill do respond, either radically or at least by stages of evolution, to develop an improved understanding of how a society should function. This process is partly about thinking, but there is also a great reluctance to separate oneself from the friends you share a worldview with. People both on the left and on the right often belong to a kind of club it is hard to leave.Charles R. Anderson, Ph.D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/09610765984333672076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8959556.post-69315765503626286872008-06-26T01:37:00.000-05:002008-06-26T01:37:00.000-05:00Another wonderful post, Mr. Anderson. (Why do I fe...Another wonderful post, Mr. Anderson. (Why do I feel like Agent Smith from The Matrix when I say that? :D)<BR/><BR/>Your points are absolutely true, but I must say that most of the people advocating things like higher taxes don't know that what they're basically arguing for is slavery. As far as they're concerned, for the government to take some of people's earnings is like the fact that the sun rises in the East. It just is. <BR/><BR/>Them, and some generally very nice liberals I know who genuinely believe in "social justice". They are operating literally from a completely different set of principles. <BR/><BR/>Mind you, none of this means that I <I>agree</I> with what they say. However, to convince a dedicated social activist that "social justice" is wrong is a very hard thing indeed. Especially if said social activist feels that it's a part of their identity. It may be equally difficult to convince a regular guy that all taxation is basically theft. Well, depends on the person.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com