fractional slacker

Another ditto. It's pretty awesome being in the company of others who at least either get it, or who won't be offended by whatever topic or "radical" ideas come up during conversation. I know I'm not alone when I say its challenge having to constantly keep your guard up around civilians AKA volatile non-thinkers and those without much empathy. From my limited experience, the folks you meet from here are quality people.

In the new Stefan Molyneux Show video (and podcast), Stef addressed the issue at hand starting at the 39:00 mark. Why Stef starts out mentioning Garner was reputed to have been involved with a cigarette smuggling ring seems immaterial, but whatever. I would suggest the libertarian/anarchist community takes exception with Stef's main, and most controversial point: Garner's crime was not victimless. Stef states a victimless crime is that in which there is no complainant. Therefore because the store owner complained, Garner was committing a crime with a victim (the store owner). Stef then uses gambling as an example of a victimless crime. He states if two folks voluntarily gamble, it's a victimless crime because no one is going to call the cops. I don't think casino owners (in Nevada or any other state) would see it that way. They would call the cops in a second if they got wind of their customers going to an unlicensed place to gamble. For example, offshore sports betting has been having this fight for years all because Nevada and licensed casinos didn't want competition. Stef then reiterates his point (@ 40:30) that store owners are victims because Garner is taking away their cigs business. But is that true? Garner was selling cigs 1 or two 2 maybe 5 at time for less than they could be purchased at the store in which a pack of cigs is around $13. Is it possible Garner's customers either didn't have enough money to buy a pack, or they had enough money but didn't want a whole pack? There are at least two scenarios I believe worth mentioning in regards to this situation. If customers didn't have enough money for a pack, they wouldn't be a customer of the store, at least as far as cigs go. If they had enough money for a pack but didn't want that many cigs, they wouldn't be a customer of the store. Either way, the store owner could not rightfully be considered a victim. Furthermore, would Stef argue Indian reservations and other unlicensed/agorist outlets, on the internet or otherwise, are victimizing store owners? Stef has stated the trick with economics is to see what's not obvious. I think that makes a lot of sense. In fact, Garner's presence may have added revenue to the stores. People who had only had say $8 may have spent $4 with Garner and the other $4 on a forbidden sugary drink. They may have walked by two other stores in anticipation of buying some loosies from Garner.

jpahmadIt sounds like your argument starts with the premise the black market is the same as the state. Is that correct?

If you say Garner committed a crime by depriving the store of customers/revenue and therefore the store owners had just cause to call the police, I have a question. Was it only a crime because he was within say 10 feet of the store? How many feet away would he not be committing a crime?

If Jeff Tucker a left libertarian?

The sidewalk seller is not undercutting anyone. He is competing for customers in the market. The sidewalk seller paid a lower extortion fee and is thus able to charge less for the product. He is NOT initiating force and therefore he is not victimizing the store owner. Your claim that the store owner is a victim of the sidewalk seller is specious at best. The market is sending signals to store owner to get out of that business.

powder - Very few in the liberty movement, from what I know which ain't much, seem to take the deflation side. Japan, although different demographics than US, has been mired with stagnant economy or deflation for decades. Just not sure why Schiff and the other inflationistas believe that can't happen here. In theory The inflation theory, while plausible, has not yet played out. I suppose it could start tomorrow, but at some point it becomes a faith based platform detached from reality IE religion, global warming.

Can one make any sense of a market built on cloud castles of smoke and mirrors? Schiff is one trick inflation pony, but at what point does he lose credibility? Oil is down, gold and silver have fallen and now sideways.

MMX2010, that is a great production. Unfortunately it exceeds my pop culture knowledge.

Holy crap. That was an incredibly brave thing to do. Thank you for taking the time to do that and setting a high standard. Stories like yours, while the outcome not meeting expectations, are a great lesson to myself and I suspect others, as well.

No. It's not initiation of force by definition. Would you care to answer the specific question I asked?

Not sure slavery has an objective definition without some context. What would abstract slavery look like? Now you have to define coercion and force. That's a slippery slope. Not saying those things don't exist, I am just saying they are very difficult to give an absolute definition of. It's hard to imagine any person having absolute freedom or being an absolute slave. Sorry, I am pretty sure this was not very helpful. It was the first thing that came to mind.

Stef has recently argued animals do not have rights because they have no capacity to exercise free will. They only operate by instinct and through incentives. Therefore they are not moral agents. Mr. E. also has an interesting go at this topic.

As an atheist, my take is slightly different. The Christmas package if you will, to me, has value even if it is primarily based on superstition. Christmas is about connection. The trappings of shopping, gift exchange, etc, can be embraced or avoided and yet one can still enjoy the Christmas season, IMO. I know Christmas is based on superstition. I know it's based on tradition. Those are two things atheism and philosophy oppose, yet recognizing this (a certain) time of year to increase the spread of joy and strive to be kinder and more considerate is worth having to endure silliness and superstition that comes along with the whole package. Merry Christmas

I was frustrated Stef decided to make a podcast on this trivial story, but now I see the value. The more one thinks about it, the idea the hack job was primarily from N. Korea based solely on being offended by the subject matter, the crazier and less likely that story holds any water. Furthermore, N. Korea is a fiction no less able to hack computer system than to prove its existence. Figuring out intentions and motivations is a fools errand. This whole story stinks.

Privilege, as far as I can tell, is a subjective term. It's another excuse for hierarchy. It appears to suggest that by merely being born, you have done something wrong for which you now must correct. The peddlers of privilege theory look forward to your unending appeals for daring to have privilege. For a fee of time, money, or energy, they can temporarily relieve you of this great burden. But then you must agree to come back for more relief. This silly game has plagued humanity from the beginning, at least for the non philosophical.

Right. He's selling an idea, much like a politician. That some of those ideas have some degree of truth and or good outcomes, does not absolve him from deception, yes?

Would you hold that viewpoint had Charles Manson published (hand written) notes expressing his opinion it would be good for the Tates to be murdered?

Cenk, the Jon Stewart wannabe, wouldn't know a "fact" from propaganda if it punched him in his ever expanding gut. The fact is govt. education is so lousy he and his comrades have to resort to 3rd grade cartoons to explain the difference between the terms national debt and national deficit. The idea this cartoon is non-partisan, or any relation to reality and truth, has about as much credibility as a squared circle.

Two things: first off check out this quote. "These questions have hammered Oz for months. In June, he was hauled in front of Congress, where Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) told him he gave people false hope and criticized his segments as a “recipe for disaster.” (1)Can you imagine getting the chance to hammer Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) with a few questions regarding statism AKA “recipe for disaster," and false hope. (2)This Oz guy, from what I know which isn't much, seems like Kevin Trudeau 2.0. He is more sophisticated hiding any conflict of interest when it comes to medicine, truth, and personal gain. http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/12/19/half-of-dr-ozs-medical-advice-is-baseless-or-wrong-study-says/

Here is Portland FB meetup page for anyone interested. https://www.facebook.com/groups/685864344817986/

Sorry you had to witness that. Thank you for protecting the defenseless. Thank you for sharing. Your courage is admirable, even inspirational.

You asked why this now deceased 20 year old was taking drugs. It's safe to assume no young adult would be taking life threatening drugs if they had a relationship with good parents. They would not experiment with dangerous drugs nor have the desire to take a large dose. The thing that gets me is how the parents, who by default had a role in this tragedy, will not be scorned or criticized for bad parenting but will be treated as the victims and shown copious amounts of sympathy.

Good topic to bring up. Please excuse me for a mini rant. BTW, this is in no way directed at the OP, Baylor. The article starts off with "Our lives are filled with distractions -- email, Twitter, texting we're constantly connected to technology, rarely alone with just our thoughts." Utter BS with zero truth value. Far be it from CBS to say anything of substance, let alone Anderson Cooper. Our lives aren't bothered by distractions, they are bothered by: a continuing death threat known as statism, intellectual rubbish, mysticism, culture, collectivism, public schooling, bad parenting, and falsehood. Email, twitter, and texting are SYMPTOMS of avoiding truth. Technology has become a relief valve for anxiety. If CBS, and Anderson Cooper thinks people are suffering by distractions, they can do something about that. They could start with telling the truth instead of peddling constant mainstream BS propaganda! EOR

Pepin - the creativity is astounding. Funny how dated that vid is just by the debt figure $14 trillion vs today of $18 trillion. eek Oblio - short and sweet. And a bit on the creepy side. WTH?