Reason and Capitalism » Archive
Philosophy of Liberty
This is a short explanation of the idea of liberty. I’m currently writing a much longer and more comprehensive version — it should be posted in the next few weeks. Look down at your body. Who … Read entire article »
Filed under: Capitalism, Philosophy, Politics
It’s Not Complicated
It’s the rallying thought, the theme behind every oppressed people in the history of man. It’s incredibly simple, yet political theorists have seemingly glossed this basic human desire for other agendas. The desire to be left alone. Moses, the deliverer of the Israelite people in the Old Testament, in the most famous of all deliverance stories, said over and over — “Let my people go.” Let us be — the rallying cry of the oppressed. This basic human desire for exclusive control over their lives has been called many things. Nietzsche called it a “will to power”. It’s pretty simple. We want our person to be left alone. We own us, and no one else has a right to use or misuse us without our permission. All of the political theories in … Read entire article »
Filed under: Capitalism, Philosophy, Politics, Religion
Rational Christianity
I’ve not been posting much in the past few days for a reason. I’m at it again. I’ve started another website, and I’m more excited about this one than the others that I’ve put together. It’s an apologetics website. To put it simply, I can’t find a single website that explains Christianity in a comprehensive and rational manner. Most of the Christian explanations of the faith are absolutely foolish, and poorly argued. To fill that void, I’ve founded The Institute for Rational Christianity. Rational Christianity will be focusing on the more abstract side of the apologetics discussion, providing arguments on metaphysics, philosophical arguments for God, ethics, and the logical implications of atheism. The website will not be discussing evolution to any significant extent — that’s a dead horse. The site … Read entire article »
Filed under: Philosophy, Religion
Wealth and Poverty
Perhaps the most fundamental misunderstanding of economics is how wealth is viewed. Wealth is seen as natural. It is thought that wealth should be given — redistributed among people. Wealth is seen as something that already exists, rather than what is really true — the exact opposite. Wealth is not natural. Take a man and place him in the wild, and you will see that He has no fire — until he sparks the flame. He has no shelter — until he builds it. He has nothing. Nature gives him nothing — he is naturally poor. Wealth, then, is unnatural. It must be created — not just redistributed. This fact seems forgotten or utterly missed, even by populist economists who support heavily restrictive economic policies rather than capitalism. So how do we … Read entire article »
Filed under: Uncategorized
Making a Profit
There is a frightening movement that has existed since man first bartered. The movement views profit (or “greed”) as evil. Self-interest is seen as wrong. The root of the movement is that “greedy” people are evil, that they don’t care about the poor. Because we do. My family owns a business, and we have dozens of similar friends. We donate to the poor constantly. We donate out of love. Not because the man with the badge has a gun to our heads, but because we are moral. I hate to be over dramatic, but the idea of capitalists seeking profit so they don’t care about the poor is simply dehumanizing. Desiring the comforts of life and hence working to achieve those comforts doesn’t mean we are evil. Wanting to have success … Read entire article »
Filed under: Uncategorized
Introduction to Capitalism
Capitalism, both morally and pragmatically, is not just justified — it’s dramatically needed. The economic and moral benefit of resorting to the system of financial freedom is absurdly necessary. I will not pretend to be unbiased here. Though I used to support economic restriction, years of research and contemplation have brought me to the conclusion that anything less than capitalism is not only destined to failure — it’s wrong. Capitalism helps the poor by raising the average standard of living — this is why the poor in the US would be considered rich in other countries. This is, of course, not to say that the standard of living could be hire — hence the need to stop the economic prohibitive laws. Capitalism helps the middle class by allowing them to invest to a … Read entire article »
Filed under: Uncategorized
Feeling, Emotion and Reason
I’m known by friends and family as being brutally trusting of my mind. Logic is essential to my decision making process. Unfortunately, people tend to think that this means that I despise emotion. That to feel is my enemy. This … could not be further from the truth. I do not despise emotion — I embrace justified emotion. Emotion should not be seen as a reason to conclude something true. It should not be seen as the foundation of our thought — it must be seen for what it is — the end result of thought. The reaction to a process, not the decision-making process itself. Emotion is not concrete. Emotion can be caused by anything. Emotion is not trustworthy. Emotion and feeling tells people to blow up towers. Emotion as a … Read entire article »
Filed under: Philosophy