If you believe we all sleep a little better at night knowing our military is overseas defending our freedoms against evil terrorists, I hope this video upsets your slumber a bit:
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The price others pay for our “freedoms” Read Post »
“I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent.”
~ Mahatma Gandhi
“There are only two forces in the world, the sword and the spirit. In the long run the sword will always be conquered by the spirit.”
~ Napoleon Bonaparte
As is my recent and sometimes unfortunate habit, I’ve been actively involved in or passively listening to, debates between libertarians, statists, anarchists talking like statists, statists pretending to be anarchists, self-proclaimed pacifists, libertarian consequentialists, died-in-the-wool might-makes-right psychos and (seemingly) everyone in between. If they’ve had time to kill and a high-speed Internet link they’ve been involved, or so it seems. (Clearly, I’ve got too much time on my hands as well, but enough about me.)
One of the sharper and recurring disagreements I’ve witnessed has been around the justification for self-defense, and why such a justification is vital. This premise–the absolute necessity–and dare-I-say God-given right to defend oneself, has been offered as a proverbial nail in the coffin as to why an ultimate belief in non-violence, otherwise known as pacifism, is doomed. I guess it’s no surprise that gun lovers of every stripe find themselves drawn to libertarianism, and frankly, I cannot fault anyone who seeks to defend himself and his possessions.
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Can There Be Folly In the Justification of Self-Defense?Read More »
Can There Be Folly In the Justification of Self-Defense? Read Post »
President Dmitry Medvedev has pledged to be “more cruel” in fighting the Chechen rebels. While such talk no doubt is appealing to grieving Russians, actually implementing cruel measures will do nothing to prevent such attacks in the future. The attacks will get worse, and the long-suffering Russian people will find the recent freedoms they have enjoyed severely curtailed.
As has been mentioned many times before, terrorism is a tactic, not an enemy. In this case, why not look at why the terrorists are killing people in the first place? The Chechens who are blowing up trains and killing women and children want to secede from the Russian Federation. Considering the terrible things which the Soviet Union did to keep regions enslaved, escaping Russian control hardly seems an unreasonable desire, even if the tactics are horrible. A slave rebellion which engages in murder hardly justifies maintaining slavery, and independence movements which engage in criminal activities do not justify centralizing power.
Russians can and should pursue the individuals who are responsible for murdering innocents. They should not, however, use such a thirst for justice as cause to engage in crimes of their own. That way is the way of the terrorist.
Medvedev Promises Cruelty Read Post »
