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Topic: Walter Rothbard's thread (Read 1069 times)

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December 08, 2013, 10:47:50 PM
#15
Wonderful educational tool: The Philosophy of Liberty:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muHg86Mys7I
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November 27, 2013, 12:24:09 PM
#14
Thanks, Silver.  It's a pleasure to interact with such liberated minds here and get a glimpse into the future.
legendary
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central banking = outdated protocol
November 27, 2013, 09:38:42 AM
#13

Seriously, what if they gave a war and nobody came?

It would be complete anarchy. Oh noes!
Nice to have you around Walter. It's always great to read from polite, well informed individuals like yourself.
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November 27, 2013, 09:27:26 AM
#12
Worth watching and reading about: the Christmas Truce of WWI.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-MGfNsgB3A

Seriously, what if they gave a war and nobody came?
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November 27, 2013, 09:25:14 AM
#11
I take credit for the current Bitcoin rally - I sold a bit of my meager holdings yesterday.  I knew it was bound to go up.
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November 26, 2013, 01:14:38 PM
#10
Thanks, Walter; that's very illuminating.  Do you think the collapse of the dollar and the temporary breakage of the world economy will lead people closer to libertarianism, or closer to authority leading to totalitarianism?

I'm not sure there's any way to tell.  I would hope that Bitcoin means there is now a very great method for people to make a big dent in the level of control that the state can have.  It is true that crises before have led people to pick other tyrants - there are a number of people who even view the American Revolution in that light.  But maybe with the new protection afforded by Bitcoin, people can protect themselves from the next round of tyrants as well.  Maybe more of us will make that choice. Smiley

You're also right that there's now a much better dispersal of libertarian ideals - more people are informed about liberty than they have been in a long time.  Unfortunately a lot of times tyrants are able to capitalize on that with rhetoric about freedom.  I know I was duped this way by the Republican Party for years. Sad

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I fear that such a message hasn't spread far enough fast enough OTOH, and we'll have to fight through another 30-something year round of irrationality before the monetary system flops yet again and provides another opportunity for a critical shift in our methods of governance.

Maybe with Bitcoin, they will have a lot less wealth to bring into their new system. Smiley
legendary
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November 26, 2013, 02:48:34 AM
#9
Thanks, Walter; that's very illuminating.  Do you think the collapse of the dollar and the temporary breakage of the world economy will lead people closer to libertarianism, or closer to authority leading to totalitarianism?  It seems in the past, every time there's an economic crisis, people run to get protection from their political leaders, as opposed to pushing them away in disgust that they'd been working for the folks that done it to them.  They demand their leaders provide them with what they need to survive, as opposed to stepping outside of the box and just fixing the problem on their own.  However, with the advent of the Internet, it appears that people are far more informed about modern events and well versed in concepts of liberty and rationalism that such an event might provide an opportunity to escape such a system.  I fear that such a message hasn't spread far enough fast enough OTOH, and we'll have to fight through another 30-something year round of irrationality before the monetary system flops yet again and provides another opportunity for a critical shift in our methods of governance.
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November 21, 2013, 11:54:57 AM
#8
Hey Walter, what are your thoughts on all these anarcho-X titles?  Do you feel it complicates the theory?

My feeling is that most of those labels have a little bit of additional information to contribute.  Anarcho-capitalist is a very good title, IMO, as long as you don't think capitalism means business cooperating with government.  The other names help elucidate exactly what anarchy means, how it would work, or why the particular anarchist came to his convictions.

Of course a couple labels clue me in to the fact that the "anarchist" speaking to me isn't an anarchist at all and just wants some other form of control.  I'm all into voluntaryism and absolutely not about coerced communism/socialism.  The social order that emerges from pure voluntary cooperation is beautiful and productive - and it certainly includes a lot of pooled resources and people casting their fate together in various ways and partnerships.  But when people talk about stripping the government down and replacing it with all sorts of social controls, I know that really what they mean is, they just want to be in charge.

At some point I read an article by Murray Rothbard talking about the libertarian tendency to see common ground with various groups and how to evaluate whether you really have common ground or not.  His basic conclusion was that anyone who would "push the button" is a true ally.  I'm pretty sure this was the article:

http://archive.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/rothbard75.html

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There runs through For a New Liberty (and most of the rest of my work as well) a deep and pervasive hatred of the State and all of its works, based on the conviction that the State is the enemy of mankind. In contrast, it is evident that David does not hate the State at all; that he has merely arrived at the conviction that anarchism and competing private police forces are a better social and economic system than any other alternative. Or, more fully, that anarchism would be better than laissez-faire which in turn is better than the current system. Amidst the entire spectrum of political alternatives, David Friedman has decided that anarcho-capitalism is superior. But superior to an existing political structure which is pretty good too. In short, there is no sign that David Friedman in any sense hates the existing American State or the State per se, hates it deep in his belly as a predatory gang of robbers, enslavers, and murderers. No, there is simply the cool conviction that anarchism would be the best of all possible worlds, but that our current set-up is pretty far up with it in desirability. For there is no sense in Friedman that the State – any State – is a predatory gang of criminals.

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There is not a single abolitionist who would not grab a feasible method, or a gradual gain, if it came his way. The difference is that the abolitionist always holds high the banner of his ultimate goal, never hides his basic principles, and wishes to get to his goal as fast as humanly possible. Hence, while the abolitionist will accept a gradual step in the right direction if that is all that he can achieve, he always accepts it grudgingly, as merely a first step toward a goal which he always keeps blazingly clear. The abolitionist is a "button pusher" who would blister his thumb pushing a button that would abolish the State immediately, if such a button existed. But the abolitionist also knows that alas, such a button does not exist, and that he will take a bit of the loaf if necessary – while always preferring the whole loaf if he can achieve it.

I would push the button, in a heartbeat!  And I hope that cryptocurrency is that button, or a means to finding it.  That is why even though my Bitcoin holdings are meager, I get so happy when the price goes up - it's a measure of the adoption of something that may be the button. Smiley

I think the push the button reference exists in some of Rothbard's other writings as well.
legendary
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November 20, 2013, 03:12:51 PM
#7
Hey Walter, what are your thoughts on all these anarcho-X titles?  Do you feel it complicates the theory?
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November 19, 2013, 01:51:16 PM
#6
Cool, I see I can delete, but not edit...

Nope, you can't edit someone else's post. That would result in fun posts Tongue

That game would lend itself to certain abuses.... Cheesy
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November 19, 2013, 01:52:21 AM
#5
Cool, I see I can delete, but not edit...
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November 19, 2013, 01:51:38 AM
#4
Finally, a thread about one of my favorite Bitcoiners Grin

Thanks Mike - I like you, too!

Guess that thread title makes me look pretty pompous.  I was thinking I might turn this into something like a personal wiki page, extended profile, extended signature, something like that.
legendary
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November 19, 2013, 01:50:22 AM
#3
Finally, a thread about one of my favorite Bitcoiners Grin
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November 19, 2013, 01:48:28 AM
#2
Test.
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November 19, 2013, 01:48:11 AM
#1
Playing with the self-moderated option.

Walter L.J. Rothbard, anarchist and perpetual latecomer to all that is good in Bitcoin.  Freedom lover.  Altcoin enthusiast.  Dinosaur.

Some personal reading recommendations:
The Uncle Eric Books by Richard Maybury (especially Whatever Happened to Penny Candy? and Whatever Happened to Justice?)
What Has Government Done to Our Money? by Murray Rothbard
Time Will Run Back by Henry Hazlitt
For a New Liberty by Murray Rothbard

And a viewing recommendation:
The Philosophy of Liberty
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