Comments by "" (@freesk8) on "Liberty Vault" channel.

  1. Civilized people don't force others to get vaccinated. But they did.
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  2. I'm a Massie fan.
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  3. Yay, Milei!
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  4.  @exiled_londoner  Civilized people don't violate the bodily autonomy of other people they hope to be civil with. Instead of force, they prefer to use peaceful persuasion.
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  5.  @davidelliott2485  I believe that good ideas don't require force. Persuading people to get vaccinated is good. But the government forcing employers to fire employees who don't get vaccinated is morally wrong. Same with motorcycle helmets and seatbelts. I wear my seatbelt. But there should be no law requiring them.
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  6. It's just not fair for a male to compete head-to-head against females in almost all sports.
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  7. Whitney is simultaneously gorgeous and brilliant. Rare combination! :)
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  8. Yes, all government DEI programs should be abolished. They are discriminatory. Private ones must not be outlawed. They have a right to do stupid things. But shareholders should oppose them, and customers should boycott companies with DEI programs.
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  9. Both left wing socialism, like that practiced in Cuba, the USSR, Venezuela and China under Mao and fascism, as practiced by Hitler and Mussolini are forms of socialism. Under socialism, the means of production is controlled by the government. Under left wing socialism, the business enterprises are run directly by government functionaries. Under fascism, the ownership of the factories is left nominally in the hands of the private business owners, but the owners are forced, under threat of violence, to produce what the fascist leaders require. But they amount to the same socialist thing: government control of the means of production. Left wing socialism is publicly atheist, and fascism is publicly racist. Both are expansionist. As a first rough cut, Fascism = socialism + racism.
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  10. Afuero! Afuero! Afuero! We hope Milei inspires Vivek, Musk and the DOGE! Cut spending 50%, then delete the IRS! Delete the FDA, CDC, NIH, Federal Reserve, ATF, Dept of Ed, etc!
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  11. Currency competition! Excellent! BTC, Gold, Silver, Ethereum... Let the currency competition begin! But Gresham's law means the bad currencies will be used until they blow up. People will save the good money like Gold and BTC, and spend the bad money. And the US dollar is the best looking horse in the glue factory. It will tend to last longer than we imagine it can.
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  12. From where we are now, the size of government should be dramatically reduced. I'm pulling for Vivek and Musk to have great success with DOGE!
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  13. Privatize the ocean. Sell fishing rights to each square mile. Funds should go to private resource management agencies that would have an incentive to maintain the fishing resource because they get to charge the fees.
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  14. In 1991 I was getting an MBA, and the professors told us about Stakeholder economics. I recognized it as the thin point of a wedge that would bring Marxism to our society. Instead of the business owners running a business in order to make a profit for themselves in an ethical fashion, we were supposed to consider the employees, the neighbors, the customers and the rest of the people as "having a stake" in the business. It was a form of ownership. But this "ownership" is illegitimate. It was a way to achieve government ownership of the means of production.
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  15. Don't Lie. That's very different from "always tell the truth." There are times NOT to say the truth. "Does this dress make my butt look fat?" The ends don't justify the means. There is no noble lie. But no, you don't always have to say true things that might cause problems if said.
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  16. Well said. Thanks. It's about power.
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  17. Rand is my favorite author.
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  18. Ayn Rand is the greatest defender of the morality of free markets. Milton Friedman is one of the greatest defenders of the practical efficacy of free markets. Both perspectives are correct and critical.
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  19. Wonderful! Afuero! Afuero! Afuero!
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  20. I also like both Dawkins and Peterson. I've read a book or two by each of them. I'm an atheist, but I've long called religion "enabling false belief." It's not literally true, but those who believe it have advantages here and there in their lives. We atheists are wise to study that.
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  21. There are few more rational thinkers than Rand. You would know that if you had read a single book of hers. Why don't you give us just one example of an irrational idea Rand has and why it is irrational? Bet ya can't come up with even one.
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  22. Milei is my hero. He is needed in the US! Have him help Musk and Vivek in the DOGE! Afuero! Afuero! Afuero!
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  23. Russians, culturally and historically have wanted strong leaders. This is why they have been so often oppressed. But Americans are more skeptical about strong leaders.
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  24. My IQ is only 135, but at least I know that having an attitude like yours would be bad for my school and career success. But I agree with you that taxation is theft.
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  25. I've been a big-L Libertarian since the early '90's. Over time, Brett will become more and more libertarian. Soon he will see the wisdom and practicality of privatizing the roads. :)
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  26. Exactly. It's not about the poor and the women and the racial minorities. It's about tearing down capitalism so the can offer their socialist utopia.
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  27. Afuero!
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  28. I'm pretty happy with my Libertarianism! :)
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  29. The dark secret deal was that the government would not impede high-tech's ability to make money by defending free market practices, but you had to be a woke liberal on social issues. Also, big tech had to do a lot of philanthropy. But this deal fell apart in the '90's. Capitalists were all evil to the newer Democrats, who wanted bigger government programs and creeping socialism.
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  30. I think he looks snappy.
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  31.  @briangarrett2427  Why don't you address his ideas instead of superficial stuff like his suit style?
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  32. I tried to persuade my dad that Lincoln was bad. Didn't get anywhere.
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  33. All false. Every capitalized word.
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  34.  @kennethmeeker6369  Objected in class and said that the purpose of a business was to make money for shareholders in an ethical fashion. Then the debate started about ethics...
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  35. Well said.
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  36. Yay, DOGE! Yay, Ron Paul! Yay, Havier Milei! Afuero! Afuero! :)
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  37. Ayn Rand helped me distinguish selfishness from "long-term rational self-interest." Selfishness is short-sighted. But LTRSI includes caring for those you care about, and recognizing the rights of others. It also includes taking on responsibility.
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  38.  @JamesOGant  Actually, that's not true. They want to significantly decrease the power of the government, which some people co-opt in their attempts to rule. Both Rand and Friedman want corporations to be limited in power to compete with other corporations to serve willing customers, not to influence government policy. If government policy is limited, then corps have no power or advantage they can buy through corrupting politicians with campaign contributions. Limit the power of the politicians, and the campaign contributions will dry up.
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  39.  @tauIrrydah  HA HA is not an argument.
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  40. Marxism gets human nature wrong. Individuals are fundamentally self-interested. You can get them to work together if you can persuade them that cooperation is in their own interest. The free market does that automatically. But "To each according to his need, from each according to his ability" can never work if people are expected to be brainwashed in to working for the interest of distant strangers. That will never happen.
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  41.  @rafalrocks  I respectfully disagree. I think the concentration of wealth is more likely a result of people buying special influence from a government that has too much power. I think that private orgs and charities do a much better job of helping the poor than do government welfare programs. If it were up to me, I would abolish all of them, and replace them with voluntary charity. I think that if taxation were eliminated, the economy would grow dramatically, wages and job opportunities would increase for the poor and middle class, and much more money would be available to those private charities than is now available under welfare programs.
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  42. The memecoins are indeed 99% scams. Bitcoin and Ethereum are good. They are like digital Gold and Silver. A few of the next larger coins are probably not scams, but are incredibly risky, and probably won't appreciate as much as BTC and ETH. I'm talking here about stuff like Solana, Cardano and Litecoin. But the tiny market cap coins and the memecoins like DOGE are so risky, and will probably go to zero. XRP/Ripple might be run by governments. I'm suspicious of XRP. Monero is kinda cool. Government is trying to prohibit it because it has strong cryptological privacy. You can't buy it from the big exchanges like Coinbase. I'd say we should all buy a little BTC and ETH. It's a diversification strategy. If you are a serious Libertarian who wants serious privacy, and are comfortably with technology, figure out how to get some Monero. Bitcoin is easy to get. Just get a Coinbase account and send them some money. Buy some BTC right now! It is having a dip down to $89K from a high of $104K. There is some risk it will fall to as low as $75K before bouncing back up to $150K. So there is a buying opportunity right now. I just got some more today. And you can buy as little as you want. You can buy $10 worth of Bitcoin if you want.
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  43. I'm a Libertarian and a Ramaswamy fan. I think Trump will win, and I hope that Ramaswamy has a large influence on the decisions that get made in his administration. But I voted Libertarian.
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  44.  @Al-ou3so  I generally agree, but if the Nazis were at my door asking if I had any Jews in my attic, I would lie to them.
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  45.  @dcktater7847  Actually, I do. Anyone with a Y chromosome has an unfair advantage over anyone with two X chromosomes. Athletic statistics and world records prove this. It's just obvious. That's why we have Title IX. That's why for over a hundred years there have been separate women's divisions in sports. To deny this difference is to attempt to believe an absurdity.
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  46.  @ShelleySorenson  Would you like me to type louder? All caps, perhaps?
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  47. I will not comply with government laws that violate the Bill of Rights. I was arrested on 6/14/24 in Edmonds, WA for collecting petition signatures at a public event in a public park. The police violated my First Amendment Rights. I made them arrest me, because I knew I had to stand up for my right to freedom of speech and liberty. I spent 6 hours in jail and was strip-searched. I did not resist arrest. My lawyer got my criminal trespass 2 charges dropped quickly. Now we are suing. I have pledged to give everything beyond my legal fees to liberty-oriented organizations. We have to stand up for the First Amendment! We have to resist. We must not comply!
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  48. Exactly. It's Marxist. The Marxists know that we will never accept their utopian schemes as long as free markets keep producing such excellent results. They need to break down society, and they can't break down free markets, so they break down the family, and race relations, and create a war between the sexes and create transgenderism, etc. It's Marxist. That's where it all comes from.
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  49.  @dennisbragg8648  Interesting. In what ways humble, and in what ways arrogant?
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  50. I'm a huge fan of Ayn Rand. But these criticisms of her are good ones. And I think they don't detract from the heart of her ideas.
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  51. No, it doesn't. Might tends to make victory, but History is full of immoral conquest.
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  52. King Arthur is said to have advocated might FOR right.
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  53. I got a Masters in Teaching degree in 2008. Nearly useless. Just propaganda. Did not make me a better teacher. Attempted indoctrination. They failed at every level.
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  54. So sorry that happened to you. Totally NOT your fault...
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  55. Communism is technically an anarchy. A hippy commune or a family are communist. The government is supposed to whither away. It is supposed to be voluntary. The USSR was supposed to evolve into communism, but it never did, and never would have. It was the Union of Soviet SOCIALIST Republics. Communism does not last long in a group of over about 40 citizens. It doesn't scale. But socialism is evil. It denies self ownership. It's basic assumption is that the individual is owned by the collective, as represented by the government. It has resulted in death, poverty and misery everywhere it has been tried. True communism is no real threat. Let the hippies live on their farms. Doesn't hurt anyone.
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  56.  @alwaysfourfun1671  Reduced taxation on both the poor and the rich are moving in the direction of free market capitalism. The flow of money and power to the elite is enhanced by socialism. The more socialism the LESS is the movement from decade to decade of the poor in to the rich class, and also the more socialism the fewer elites move down to the poor end. Greater government power allows the elite to maintain their positions. Greater free market allows more poor people to become rich, and more rich people to go bankrupt if they allow their businesses to fail.
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  57. I wish I could go back in time and help Engels' father to raise him properly. I mean, he was clearly a rich boy, with no understanding of how his father created his wealth. The Starnes family heirs from Atlas Shrugged come to mind. I'll bet Engels dad was too busy to spend any time with him.
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  58.  @kimobrien.  And yet, capitalism has never developed in to feudalism as Marx predicts. Also, Socialism has never developed in to full anarcho-communism as Marx predicts, either. Seems like he was wrong all around. And then just compare the nations that are relatively free market, like Switzerland, Singapore, Canada, England and the Scandinavian nations on the one hand, to the nations that aspire to Marxist values on the other: China, Cuba, Venezuela, N. Korea, etc. Which set of nations would you rather be in? In which set of nations would you prefer to be poor? The free market nations, of course. Socialism has failed everywhere it has been tried, and to the greater extent that socialism is implemented, the sooner the economy collapses and the greater the poverty and hardship for the poor. Most people learned something from the collapse of the USSR in 1991: socialism doesn't work. As Deng mentioned, it's a dog that won't hunt. And the only way that Socialism continues to gain followers is that the History of the failure of socialism is censored.
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  59.  @kimobrien.  How do you solve the problem of information? In a command economy, prices are set by bureaucrats. But these functionaries lack the important information needed to set prices: demand, supply, scarcity, resource availability, labor... The free market is an automatic system to set prices, and each price is set hyper-locally, in reaction to the local conditions that exist on the ground in every place. No central authority will ever have this data. You can not set prices without a free market. They will always be wrong. Too high or too low. This means gluts and shortages all across the nation of a planned economy. How do you solve that problem? von Mises proves that Communism can never work.
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  60.  @kimobrien.  I've read Das Kapital. It includes some good criticism of free markets. I will never argue that free markets are perfect. But Kapital also misunderstands free markets. And it does not present an alternative that is any better. In fact, the alternatives to a free market are all worse, especially for the poor.
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  61.  @kimobrien.  And the labor theory of value has been completely discredited. It ignores the costs of the means of production, the value differences between different kinds of labor, and the value of the organizer of labor, among many things. Do you charge the same for an hour of labor from a brain surgeon as you do from a ditch-digger? It's just a crazy theory.
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  62.  @briangarrett2427  Francis...
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  63. Socialism has failed everywhere it has been tried. And the more completely socialism is implemented, the sooner and harder is the collapse of the economy. It is an evil idea, that has killed a hundred million people and more.
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  64. Government schooling is a failed social experiment. All government schools should be privatized. And delete the Federal Department of Education. It's a waste of money, and it's unconstitutional under the 10th Amendment.
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  65. Zuckerberg is just sucking up to Trump. There is a new power in town and Zuck knows Trump could hurt him or help him. He wants to be able to ask for favors. So he's kissing the ring. It's all about power.
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  66. I save a copy of the Encyclopedia Britanica from 1976 for this purpose. We can use it to rebuild society. And it was largely written before the left-wing political bias.
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  67.  @fn7.628  Not at all. To me, glamorous, stuck-up women are ugly, no matter how conventionally beautiful they appear. To me, a smart woman is sexy. I'm a sapio-sexual. When I was a kid in the '70's, I liked Mary Anne instead of Ginger on Gilligan's Island. I liked Velma and not Daphne on Scooby-Doo. Hermione is my favorite Harry Potter character. Whitney is like Velma, Hermione and Mary Anne all rolled in to one! :)
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  68. The biggest problem is that anarcho-capitalism is now outside the Overton Window. Advocating it explicitly labels you as an extremist. Instead, anarcho-capitalists and minarchists should work together to advocate LESS government from where we are right now. That is the way forward. Creeping libertarianism. Fabian Liberty.
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  69. Abolish the CIA. The solution to foreign misinformation is NOT to propagandize the American people. The solution is for the CIA to expose the foreign actors and what they are doing and why. But the CIA doesn't do that. Instead they lie to us to enhance their own power.
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  70. Yay, DOGE!
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  71. Marxism is largely about class struggle. Conflict. And where there isn't conflict, the have to create it. So long as free markets produce good jobs and great products and services, the Marxists know that there will be no revolution. So the Marxists create race war, war between the sexes, class war, and all sorts of division. If they can tear down free markets, then they hope to blame the collapse on capitalism, and then offer their socialist alternative.
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  72. We can not let stand the precedent that the government can coerce people to get vaxxed, or that the government can shut down businesses and churches for pandemic reasons. These are powers that should never be entrusted to government.
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  73.  @jochenehmen6108  People homesteaded land in the American West. That seems to have worked.
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  74.  @jochenehmen6108  Anyone is free to claim unclaimed land. If you homestead it, build a fence around it, or just register a claim publicly, and no one else owned it, then it is yours. I say the oceans could be dealt with this way. Instead of UN claims to own the oceans, individual fishermen and fishing corps should claim the ocean in parcels. GPS will tell us where the boundaries are. Satelite technology can be used to enforce it. Private associations can accept fees to manage it.
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  75. CPI is a lie.
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  76. Regarding Feminism, Rand did create Dagney Taggart. Taggart ran a railroad. Men reported to her. Seems pretty feminist to me, especially for 1957 when Atlas Shrugged was published.
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  77. It's much more complicated than that. John Locke, John Stewart Mill, individualism, the ideas of liberty, Adam Smith...
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  78. Great first step! :)
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  79. Absolutely. Merit is anti-egalitarian. It's Harrison Bergeron. They want everyone equal. They want to bring the intelligent and the handsome and the strong down to the average. It's Marxist.
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  80. I'm a huge fan of both Rand and Peterson. Rand seems to have trouble with children. None of her characters become parents, and she seems not to be able to integrate them in to her philosophy. And Peterson is too much of a Theist for me. But these are tiny quibbles compared to their agreement, and to my fandom of both thinkers. :)
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  81. So, he replaced the republic with an empire? Sic semper tyrannis est. He set the precedent for dictatorship from then on. He began the process that would result in the collapse of the Roman nation. He was horrible.
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  82.  @richardkammerer2814  Comments are full of crypto spam bots. "Grincepe" and "Magnetic Aura" by Takeshi Mizuki is what they are hyping. Wish there was a bot we could use to automatically hide or delete these.
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  83. Well sadi. Thanks.
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  84. And yet, their ideas live on. And thanks for that! They were both great people.
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  85.  @conscientiamngo  I tend to like Hitchens, but I disagree with him on this point. Her writing is FAR from a joke.
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  86.  @conscientiamngo  It's not selfish to defend the individual rights of others that you yourself don't even practice. For instance, lots of Libertarians are not LGBT, yet we defended marriage equality when it was unpopular. Most Libertarians don't do drugs, but we fight for legalization. Libertarians don't want to over-tax you as selfish R's and D's do for their own spending agendas. I could go on and on. If you think that selfishness is what defines Libertarianism, then you don't know what Libertarianism is.
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  87.  @conscientiamngo  I think they tend to empower humanity, and encourage us to be heroic.
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  88.  @conscientiamngo  No, I will not lie to you.
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  89.  @conscientiamngo  Please identify my "lie" in the comments above. Then show me why it is a lie.
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