thelizardking52

Chris That was definately a well reasoned and sagacious arrangement of thoughts. I find it highly useful and look forward to more of your ideas being shared with us. It also motivates me to finish my current readings so I can jump to Stefan's UPB which I want to read. I will go back and reread this to absorb it better and see if I can add any thoughtful criticism but you didn't make that easy.

If the person was doing something that takes concentration before you initiate the conversation then I'd say no big deal as long as they can follow the conversation. On the other hand if they are looking the other way at things they weren't concerned with until you brought up a certain subject it may be a sign of disinterest, or possibly a topic they'd rather avoid. Some people are just jerks though and lack manners.

Your question, to get a better answer, shouldn't be based off the premise of all Africans are poor. Africa has many nations with different economic/ government systems. It's also wrong because there are Africans that are rich too. Warlords, drugsmugglers, poachers, businessmen, government tycoons,dictators, etc. They probably have more money than most rich people you know, but again, I dont know who you know so….. Rich is a subjective adjective and not limited to finance. Let's say it is limited to finance though,since your question is regarding wealth. Then, as your requisite to the conversation be best case scenario, I say it is possible for us to all be rich financially in a relative way but not in an objective way. For us to all be rich objectively and in a best case scenario then there will have to be a truly free market for ideas and entreupenrship to dominate and flourish the economic environment. There will always be winners and losers in this environment and we cannot have any complete equilibrium meaning there must be a discrepancy from one individual to another. That's the nature of a truly free market. So in best case scenario, objectively, we cannot all be rich. Relatively speaking though, in the best case scenario, the poor would still be better off than people not in the best case scenario. The example here being a capitalist society vs. a communist society. Relatvely speaking the poor capitalist ought to be better off than the well to do communist ( unless the well to do communist is the dictator or direct family of the dictator). I found it helpful…. only a bit too late, after i tried to answer the question

He lived free and didn't care what society told him he should be. His rebellion to authority was in defiance of others attempts to control him and wasn't an act to be cool or make money.It was genuine. He was still a crazy guy and all but that's one of the greatest things he showed us. Cool info on Cyrillic. I speak spanish and english but to learn another alphabet must be tough. You can use it when the moment's right and I'm sure it'll impress.

Sunglasses at night by Corey Hart I wear my sunglasses at night So I can, so I can Watch you weave Then breathe your story lines And I wear my sunglasses at night So I can, so I can Keep track of the visions in my eyes While she's deceiving me It cuts my security Has she got control of me I turn to her and say Don't switch the blade On the guy in shades, oh-no Don't masquerade With the guy in shades, oh-no I can't believe it 'Cause you got it made With the guy in shades, oh-no And I wear my sunglasses at night So I can, so I can Forget my name while you collect your claim And I wear my sunglasses at night So I can, so I can See the light that's right before my eyes While she's deceiving me She cuts my security Has she got control of me I turn to her and say Don't switch the blade On the guy in shades, oh-no Don't masquerade With the guy in shades, oh-no I can't believe it Don't be afraid Of the guy in shades, oh-no It kinda scared you 'Cause you got it made With the guy in shades, oh-no Oh, I say I wear my sunglasses at night I wear my sunglasses at night I wear my sunglasses at night I say it to you now I wear my sunglasses at night I wear my sunglasses at night I wear my sunglasses at night I cry to you I wear my sunglasses at night I wear my sunglasses at night This song at first glance of the lyrics would be about a guy being cheated on by his girlfriend. That's the easy take on the lyrics. The video with lyrics paint a whole different story. The video shows the song is about a police state and everyone is wearing sunglasses (at night). The glasses represent conformity. This shows the absurd demands the state places on us and that we'll conform to ridiculous expectations under the state's threat of force. This is reinforced throughout the video as the artist is a prisoner when not wearing glasses, and safe and free when wearing them. He wears the glasses only to evade the wrath of the state. As the lyrics point out " don't switch the blade on the guy in shades". I particularly like the beginning scene in the phone booth. He begins on the phone reporting the state's tyranny "While she's deceiving me,It cuts my security .Has she got control of me?" all the while it's a government agent listening in the whole time ( NSA esque). In this part he isn't wearing sunglasses but when the police approach he puts them on and yells " don't switch the blade on the guy in shades", again to evade imprisonment. Then as the police walk off so does he, and he removes the sunglasses he never wanted to wear. Later the lyrics state " And I wear my sunglasses at night,So I can, so I can,Forget my name, while you collect your claim" He forgets his name as he is just a number, no longer an individual. And the claim can represent taxes, as well as his freedom. It continues on " So I can, so I can, See the light that's right before my eyes" , he wears the glasses to be free to see the light of day and not be imprisoned. ​The irony here is that if he must do as the state demands he is never truly free and must conform. He does this only when forced to though. The end of the video brings hope as an officer of the state removes her glasses, looks at him, then frees him. In other words, the officer too, recognizes the enslavement and the states very own tyranny,control, and power will ultimately be it's undoing. Any thoughts or other viewpoints as to this song's meaning are highly welcome.

Meta, I empathize with you. How I desire to have my wife understand the reality of our enslavement but she'd rather take the blue pill and be happy. That's her prerogative and a part of me admires that she won't let the evil in this world take away from her own life. It's hard to find someone I can relate to outside of these boards, but there is a coworker of mine who is getting into FDR and I'm lucky to not be left feeling alone on this. When you do find that person, treasure it.

His argument runs counter to the non-agression principle.

I really liked that, auspcc. Can you provide a link from where you got the quote. Reminds me of when Stef mocks jfk and says " do not ask if you can ride the horse, but ask if the horse can ride you!" We should make a montage of these type lines, pointing out the silliness (yet unfortunately dangerous too) of statist belief.

IMHO it's a waste of time to resort to violence to change the government, lest it be self defense and unavoidable. You'd inevitably end up with another government and the aggression would continue even if it were on a lesser scale and even then, given time, would naturally escalate to become the beast that it is. Civil disobedience is acceptable, but that means no force to be used. Feesible anarchy requires a peaceful society, not one that was created from violence. I've yet to see a better theory on how mankind reach the stateless society than the idea of peaceful parenting. Abolish the state by pointing out its evil and rejecting it in all its forms. The state can only exist as long as it commands respect and our minds. Society allows itself to be ruled thru acceptance of it's master.Practicing morality and virtue encourages more morality and virtue, likewise practicing violence begets more violence. I'm not pointing out anything new here, am I?

Hi everyone, I thought I'd start a new topic ( I'm assuming no one's done this before here. I'm rather new) on great books that you've read that helped shape or influence your views towards libertarianism or anarchism and why. Please, no spoilers though. I'd like to start with two great books- The Law - by Frederic Bastiat. Bastiat was in the French legislature in the 19th century. He championed private property rights and argued that the welfare state was plunder. This is a great book to convert statist over from the dark side. It uses morality rather than numbers as it's basis for it's arguments making the book hard for a statist to debate against and will actually open their eyes. This book was a foundation for all I believed in. That is, until I came to the conclusion that the state, or "The Law" would never stay true to what is written in this book and will always grow to carry out evil as it always has done historically. Realizing this is a big reason why I am an anarchist. Still, this is a great book and powerful tool to convert statist to the light. If you have the book, it's a short read and a good one, which you should lend to your statist friends. As the premise of the book is private property rights you can hound the person all day if they fail to return you the book. Another book I would add to this list is: A voyage from Yesteryear - By James P Hogan It's a science fiction book in the future, in which Earth is running out of resources and looking to colonize another planet. Earth sends a fleet of unborn children to a planet known as Chiron. The kids grow up in the spaceship with no adults from earth's culture to corrupt them. They build their own society on Chiron until one day the humans from earth (oh no, not humans from earth!) decide it's time they need to settle on Chiron as well. Conflict is yet to ensue. Great book and paints a picture of how a society would have to think and what their culture would be like in a stateless society. Highly recommended book if you are a libertarian and/or science fiction fan.

I am a huge doors fan, so yea that's the reason for the username. IMHO Morrison was the greatest vocalist ever! So, what did you type in Russian? The lettering is cool! Can you elaborate on that alphabet's origins and how widely used it is in today's world?

I am no expert on this so correct me if I'm wrong but my wife is very much enamored with S.Korean culture and has told me a few things. She is planning a trip there later this year. From what she tells me the culture is very much strict conformist and going against the societal customs will bring with it rejection and backlash. It doesn't take much to become the black sheep. On the other hand she has told me that the younger generation has changed and loosened a bit in some regards, like traditional clothing in certain situations ( i.e. funerals/weddings etc.) I'd be interested to hear your insight to this Artist707…. Oh, do you speak Korean? I was gonna type you something simple like "hello" but my wife only knows the traditional writing and not how to write in western lettering.

welcome to the forum Sean! Looking forward to your addition to the conversation. If I were living in the states I'd go back to school and study philosophy. I have a 2 year degree in liberal arts. It's really just a degree to transfer for a 4 year college/university degree when you don't know what you want to study. Now at 31 it's pretty clear to me what my interests are. I wish you luck with that and I bet you learned lots of interesting things. It's good that you'll get to move out and live more independently. How's your russian?

Welcome Alexander. I'll have to check out your youtube channel sometime.

Welcome to the forum and thanks for sharing with us. I'd say it's a good thing if you can find a way out of an abusive environment. You mentioned your obesity or near obesity as a part of the problem and being stuck at home. You don't have to engage in a sport per se but maybe can find some other activity that will A) get you out of your house and into a more positive environment. B) help you to get in a more physically fit condition and lose weight. A lot of us have been in tough family or other situations before and it takes guts to confront the problems head on. You are not alone. Recognizing the issue is important and it looks like you've done that already. Without a diagnosis there is no cure to the affliction.

Hi Kevin! I stumbled upon Stefan's " Truth about the bundy ranch" youtube video and that was my first introduction to the program. I later watched a few other shows and quickly It became a light bulb turned on moment for me. There was no flip-flop to it once I heard the logic, it was solid. The light keeps getting brighter too! I use to be, politically, on the right, you could say, and shared many but not all libertarian views on social and economic issues. Now I realize there is no point to be left or right, politically, they are both wrong. It was as liberating to me as it was humbling. My negativity has turned to positivity and I am better for it. I want to help others more than ever before and be proactive. I'm getting coworkers involved and showing them the program and what it's all about (those with interest). Philosophy has definitely provided me with a moral foundation far stronger than what I had before. It's not good enough to just see bad things happen and complain about it. I am looking forward to contributing my time, energy, and money in charitable ways not just self interests and indulgence.

This really is terrible. It's worse than criminal forfeiture because they only have to "believe" you are committing a crime and can seize assets. It's police now stealing your assets and using the money for their own personal expenses with out any court order or due process. They only need to accuse you, and if you can't afford to fight it in court there's nothing you can do. Here's another story, on a Motel owner in Massachussets. They wanted to take his Motel based upon what the tenants were doing, even when he cooperated with police by allowing them to set up stings in adjacent rooms to entrap his customers. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/05/09/policing-for-profit-lawmakers-advocates-raise-alarm-at-growing-govt-power-to/

Hello all, I'm glad to be here and share with everyone on the boards. I'd like to introduce myself. I'm from the state of Virginia originally but found my special someone and got married. We moved to Panama City, Panama, where she is from. I'm quite happy here and I like it more than Arlington, Va. I, like many, grew up with no exposure to philosophy. That's changed now I'm thankful for it. I don't need "authority" to make me a good person. I want to be a good person so I will be. Ultimately no matter what the state does or doesn't do, that's my responsibility and I must live with myself. I can't wait to meet you guys. From what I've read on these boards so far, there seems to be some great minds and I expect to learn plenty. I hope it will be a mutual relationship. Charles