Celebrate Judge Me According to My Genetics Day!

Rise up, ugly people. You are not a group of individually judged entities (sometimes quaintly called “human beings”). You are but cells comprising the ugly people entity. Whether you’re a saint or a sinner, a winner or a loser, a producer or a vampire…none of that is relevant to the issue of how you should be judged. None of that should determine what you deserve or get. You are a single ugly people entity, and you should be judged as such. What you deserve depends upon the worthiness of the collective entity of which you are but a cell. Read more

Terrorism is not an enemy

Terrorism is not an enemy. It is an activity carried out by enemies.

Terrorism serves a purpose: the purpose of the enemy who uses it.

If one merely targets terrorism and terrorists – as Western leaders are now (weakly or strongly) promising to do in response to the November 13, 2015 murders by proponents of Sharia in France – one is not fighting a war. One is merely cleaning up after a battle. Read more

On Brock University’s Hallowe’en ‘Fun Rules’™

According to Brock University, the last thing you would want to do is break Hallowe’en’s “FUN RULES”™. Brock University’s Student Union has put out a poster telling Brock students what they are prohibited from wearing on Hallowe’en. A number of officially verboten examples are given. ‘Oddly’ though, whereas a bindi or Arabic or Native headware is prohibited, you will find no mention of kilts, lederhosen, or wooden shoes. No mention of prohibitions on Pope hats, or anything else Christian or Jewish. Some cultural stuff deserves more protection than other cultural stuff, apparently. That is hardly an important point though.

To the contrary, here is the point: Read more

The “Soldier Card”, and Voting

In the coming days, the newspapers and others will start publishing the standard editorials about how if you don’t exercise your right to vote, you’re disrespecting the soldiers who fought for this country. Here’s my advice to you. Read more

Punching the other cheek: An open letter to a thief

A friend of mine, who has a popular radio show, reports that somebody smashed the door window of his parked car and stole a number of items, including his passport and a Tim Horton’s pre-paid card. Worse though, the thief stole my friend’s sense of security. He wrote an open letter to the thief, expressing his hurt. He told the thief that the thief could never steal his faith in Christ, that he would pray for the thief, and that the thief should try the Nutella doughnut at Tim Hortons. I have a different message for the thief: Read more

What is the Lowest Form of Humour?

A friend of mine asked “What is the lowest form of humour?”. I replied as follows:

The lowest form is any alleged humour that begs a laugh founded not upon humour, but upon loyalty to the pack. Such is the most common kind of “humour” on late night political comedy shows these days. A joke the punchline of which is based upon the idea that capitalists enjoy eating babies is the prototype. It’s not funny, but commies will laugh out of duty to the proletariat, believing that it serves the cause…of stealing from the alleged baby-eater with impunity.

Against School Vouchers: Choice Can Be the Enemy of Freedom

Proponents of freedom in education beware: choice can be the enemy of freedom. On June 1, 2015, Investor’s Business Daily reported that:

“Nevada has enacted what might be the most sweeping school-choice program yet — a path-breaking win for educational freedom that has left teachers unions wondering what hit them.

The law, signed Friday, gives 450,000 public school kids the option of using taxpayer funds — through what are called “education savings accounts” or ESAs — to help pay the tuition for private schools. Families can use funds in these accounts to also pay for textbooks and tutoring.

Students from families with incomes under 185% of the federal poverty level may receive tuition aid of 100% of the statewide average of public school per-pupil costs. Kids in families with incomes above 185% of the poverty level, roughly $45,000 for a family of four, will qualify for up to 90% of the public school per-student cost.”

The news has been well-received by many people, including parents frustrated with the consequences of being forced to pay for government owned-and-operated schools that are in one way or another thought to be failing or abusing their children. Forced to pay for the government system, many parents find it hard to afford or to justify the additional cost of sending their children to a private school. And, precisely because of those frustrations, advocates of voucher systems have long found a receptive audience.

A receptive audience is a rare and precious thing that an advocate of freedom should never squander. Yet, the advocacy of a voucher system is just such a squandering. Read more

Ontario’s Teacher Strike Blame Game Masks Real Problem: Funding Education with Taxes

{A letter I sent to Toronto Sun columnist Christina Blizzard on May 20, 2015 in response to one of her columns about a teacher strike in Ontario that – where I live – is now in its fifth week.}

Christina:

Re: Vulnerable students hurt most in teacher-government struggle (Toronto Sun online, May 20, 2015)

You write “While it’s easy to wrangle over who’s to blame in this strike — teachers or government…”

I invite you to consider that that’s a distinction without a difference. Read more

Against Cannabis Prohibition?: Why You Should Oppose Minimum Wage Laws Too

Recently, on facebook.com, I quipped that “Behind every minimum wage increase, there’s an overpaid, uncompetitive (probably government-funded) venture looking to eliminate (private sector) price competitors.” One of my acquaintances, who I know to be an active opponent of cannabis prohibition, replied by posting an article titled “The 3 Biggest Myths About Raising the Minimum Wage“. The three alleged myths were that:

1. Minimum wage jobs are primarily for teenagers or part-time workers who are just trying to score some extra cash.

2. Raising the minimum wage will raise prices.

3. Raising the wage kills jobs.

The reader will notice that each of these arguments is an argument about economic effects, not about ethics (i.e., not about right and wrong). Yet, as with every question about the use of government force, one cannot judge minimum wages simply by the facts – whatever the facts might be. One also has to take the next step: determining whether minimum wage laws are politically right or wrong (i.e., whether they are consistent with the goal of ensuring that no person takes your life, liberty, or property without your consent). Accordingly, I replied to my fellow anti-prohibitionist as follows: Read more

"Left-wing" versus "Right-wing" versus Me

Each political “wing” (left and right) grants freedom with respect to things they do not value.

The left doesn’t value morality, it values material goods, so it claims to be a civil libertarian with respect to people who, for example, believe they are a fork trapped in a human body. The right doesn’t value material goods, it values morality, so it doesn’t care who is rich or poor, and it doesn’t particularly want anyone’s money.

The left wants to live well in this life. The right wants to live well in an after life. Thus, the left’s god is government, and the right’s god is God, or Allah, or what have you.

Each values, most of all, to get something for nothing. The left wants to live on the fruits of their neighbour’s labours. The right wants an eternity of effortless bliss.

Me: I want to live on this earth, pursuing the material and spiritual values that are here, in this life, on my own steam, and without any other man hitching his wagon to my horse. Neither the left nor the right will let me do it.

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