Consider reading some of the articles over at The Voluntaryist on this election day.
Category: Ideas (Page 4 of 5)
On the eve of another general election, it is difficult for a principled non-voter to summon the will to care. It’s not an issue of “your vote doesn’t count” or general apathy. For 25 years I’ve ignored elections from the belief that if government has no moral legitimacy, participating in any political election is akin to violence. Those who view democracy as the ultimate goal, thinking it superior to non-democratic models, still fail to see its just a different mask hiding the same coercive statist model.
The choice between one or the other candidate will not eliminate wars, taxation, burdensome and crazy regulations. Free speech will remain threatened, the courts and bureaucrats will continue to insinuate the state into our daily lives.
The long parade of so-called libertarians who cast their votes for Republicans, who campaign ceaselessly for a statist candidate under the mistaken belief that he won’t be as bad as the other guy, I find disheartening. Elections are the only time when principles suddenly become a liability.
If you decide to vote, cast it for a smaller party, either one, rather than one of the status juggernauts.
Perhaps Mr. Adelson should look up the libertarian position?
Does a company that patents a concept yet does nothing to bring it to reality really have a case when a company decades later creates something real, yet similar? SurfCast appears to think so, in it suit against Microsoft and Windows 8’s tile interface. I tend to think a patent means you actually do something about that you “invent” not sit on it and then sue, since no one decided the needed to license a dormant idea.
It seems that low-lying Staten island took the brunt of hurricane Sandy, and now is slow to get attention after the storm. Cleanup, assistance, just any attention seems to be lacking, according to many residents. Hopefully efforts to restore power and get Staten Islanders back to their homes will pick up soon. While not as famous as the Jersey Shore, the devastation there appears vast.
A Chinese Internet cafe worker received an eight-year jail sentence for posting pro-democracy articles online. No surprise that China remains cozy with Assad’s Syrian regime, where tens of thousands have died for daring to seek freedom.
Not sure where I stand on the Singularity. The idea has been mocked (Rapture of the Nerds), embraced (Ray Kurtzweil) and treated with great debate. The 7th Annual Singularity Summit recently took place in San Francisco. Featuring people like Temple Grandin, Peter Thiel, and others, I can see why libertarians are drawn to the futuristic aspects of the Singularity, which seems to promise greater liberty, along with immortality and opportunities for peace and prosperity.
Financial analyst and libertarian Doug Casey with his five reasons for non-voting, from ethics to practicality.
How will design innovator Ive shape Apple’s software design? I just hope his minimalism does go all Windows 8 and make desktop computers pretend to be tablets.
Significant shakeup in upper management at Apple. Will be interesting to see who takes over, as Ive now handles software and hardware design, a seemingly risky consolidation.
