If you were to ask the average citizen in most western countries about their perception of crime, most would tell you that they are concerned about its continual growth. Fortunately, this perception is actually untrue as both violent and property crime rates have been consistently declining for decades. Our perception, largely due to media embellishment, continues to trend farther away...
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One of the most troubling developments in the modern world has been a rise against liberty. There are many facets of our society that now have begun prioritizing security over liberty. To many, the statement: "You must not be allowed to do X because X makes me feel unsafe" is now considered a reasonable response in far too many situations. The great irony at play is that there is a strong...
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As time moves forward many have become convinced that the mere act of thinking something deemed taboo is sufficient to condemn. As a result, an increasing percentage of our society is quickly becoming fearful of expressing their beliefs out of a desperate desire not to have those beliefs obliterate their friendships, prospects, careers or even lives. Belief is fundamentally not a form of aggression....
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A near-ubiquitous prevailing opinion has formed throughout society based on the belief that a high morality is to dismiss all personal desire and craft an identity built around sacrifice for others. An inherent and inevitable byproduct of this belief system is the acceptance that when voluntary charity is not readily available the government has a reasonable mandate to leverage the use of force...
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If you listen to most everyone these days the cultural narrative seems to be that the wealthy have rigged the system in their favor to create increasing income inequality at the expense of everyone else. This narrative fails to take into account a very important reason why income inequality is increasing and why it is a very good thing for everyone.
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This morning happened to be pondering about the rise in socialist ideology that has given birth to the power that Bernie Sanders has hitched his wagon to and is using to gain support. I've always thought of socialist thinking as a circular pattern resembling a sine wave in that as income inequality grows desire for socialism expands. However, the growth of socialism within a society comes at the...
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Not all equality manifests identically. As a society we are often very focused on a concept of ubiquitous equality, however, first, we must understand that equality as a generic concept is impossible due to differentiation of egalitarian focus. There are several, often contradictory, types of equality. Understanding these categories of equality can be incredibly helpful in taking steps to adapt ideologies,...
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It boggles my mind a little bit that this is actually an issue. It boggles my mind further that it has grown to be such a big issue that it has become mainstream. My mind begins to explode thinking about it actually being used to not only censor but also as grounds to be criminalized. (Which as far as I know has yet to succeed anywhere, thankfully) Cultures form and evolve by intermingling and evolving...
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I don't think it is any sort of secret that I am about as libertarian as it comes. Beyond all the hyperbole, metaphor, and existentialist drivel my driving force has, and likely always will be, the pursuit of freedom. Recently, I have been re-reading Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand and a particularly interesting passage came up that triggered some good ole self-examination. I have included the...
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I've largely stopped searching for what society thinks of as "happiness." I made the shift when I was pondering life one day and realized I couldn't actually define what happiness was. We often think we know what will bring us happiness but generally are disappointed when we achieve that which we thought would be a source of joy quickly moving on to the next supposed source of joy....
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