If, like me, you look at the world every day and think “Damn; that’s messed up” then a good place to start is to figure out what political philosophies appeal to you. Because that gives you standards by which to…
Freedom & Consent: There Are No Legitimate States
Countries like to claim that they are constituted “with the consent of” their populations. This is generally nonsense. While many countries today have constitutions that were adopted by referendum within living memory, few of them were adopted recently enough that…
Utilitarianism: The End Justifying The Means
Utilitarianism is the dominant philosophy in public discourse in the United States. And it’s nonsense. Utilitarianism claims that the morally correct action is the one which results in the greatest good. All this does, from a decision-making perspective, is kick…
Background: You Don’t Owe Past Generations Anything
The past has no rights that the future is bound to respect. They had their time, and now it’s gone. Every year, new people are born and old people die. And when you die, your rights die with you. And…
Background: Privilege Discourse Is Incoherent
“Privilege” could be a useful concept, but with the way it’s used in modern discourse it’s just not. At its base, “privilege” is a really simple concept. It just means “stuff that one group has which another group doesn’t”. Simple.…
Background: “Systemic Racism” Is A Distraction
This post follows Background: You Are Responsible For Your Own Actions. They’re part of a series trying to set down some background philosophical stances that come into play when I think about America’s culture war issues. First let’s define a…
Background: You Are Responsible For Your Own Actions
I want to write about a few things like the slavery reparations movement, “critical race theory”, and USDA grants being prioritized for racial minority farmers all of which I think are wrong, but it can get complicated and there are…