Of all the Micah Tillmans in the world — and there are at least three — … I am this one.
Posted in Theory (Politics) on Jul 10th, 2010
Politician: “Hey Paul, have some money” Paul: “Thanks, man! Where’d you get it?” Politician: “Oh, I printed some. Got the rest from Peter.” Paul: “You mean Peter bought something from you?” Politician: “Yeah, he bought another year of not having to go to jail for tax evasion.” Paul: “Oh. That’s good. Sounds like you both [...]
Posted in Culture, Philosophy, Politics on Jun 9th, 2010
Immediate Background In America, our most-beloved law is the First Amendment to our Constitution. It reads: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the [...]
Posted in Life, Philosophy, Politics on Jun 8th, 2010
I’ve learned the following four principles the hard way: ____ First: When you can’t come up with a good reason for why your opponent thinks or does what he or she thinks or does, that is usually evidence of an intellectual failing on your part, not a moral or intellectual failing on his or hers. [...]
Posted in Ethics (Philosophy), Theory (Politics) on May 27th, 2010
Yesterday I argued that there are three possible grounds for freedom: doubt, universalism, and the lex talionis. There is, however, also a fourth (primarily popular amongst libertarians), namely, rights — especially property rights — especially the property rights one has over oneself. To have property is to have the right to decide how to use [...]
Posted in Culture, Ethics (Philosophy), Theory (Politics) on May 26th, 2010
Whiny Introduction As a libertarian type, I worry a lot about people using the government (and thus, ultimately, the police force) to tell other people what to do, say, write, buy, watch, etc. (or not do, not say, not write, not buy, not watch, etc.). In fact, the number of people who want to control [...]
Posted in Ethics (Philosophy), Religion, Theory (Politics) on May 21st, 2010
Aristotle and Plato and Aquinas and every other political philosopher in the West before the modern era said it was the job of government to make people good. The function of laws were to teach you to live the virtuous life. This is what I shall call the “Goodness at Gunpoint” (or “Sweetness at Swordpoint”) [...]
Posted in Culture, Life, Philosophy, Politics on Apr 20th, 2010
I’ve been working on this one for a long time. I’ve provided a table of contents, so you don’t have to read the whole thing at once. But, then again, you don’t have to read the whole thing at all. Or any of it at all. So, you know. No pressure. ____ Table of Contents [...]
Being married to–and attending church with–”the enemy,” as I do, I’ve discovered two things. Thing Number One First, I know I’m wrong about my opponent when the best explanations I can come up with for why she or he does what she or he does (or thinks what she or he thinks, or feels what [...]
Posted in Ethics (Philosophy), Politics on Mar 26th, 2010
In that post about Republicans and compassion, I referred to someone who had decided that accusing Republicans of lacking compassion was going to be said person’s new line of attack. The person in question was particularly disturbed that some Republican had responded to a supporter of “Obamacare” by asking: Why should I pay for your [...]
Posted in Ethics (Philosophy), Politics on Mar 25th, 2010
Mark Krikorian, over on The Corner, wrote: Libertarians like [Dick Armey] might hold any number of outlandish, anti-conservative views — not just open borders but legalizing prostitution, for instance, or privatizing the Air Force — but so long as they keep those views to themselves, they can be useful allies for actual conservatives. First, I [...]
