How can a society without a government pay for national defense? Many people, when first hearing the concept of a stateless society, cannot imagine how collective defense could possibly be paid for the absence of taxation. This is an important question to ask, but there is a way of answering it that also answers many […]
What is Freedomain Radio? Freedomain Radio is a philosophical conversation based on empirical logic and the Socratic method, designed to help you bring the maximum freedom and happiness into your life. Philosophy? Really? Isn't philosophy kind of, well – useless? Post-modern philosophy, in general, yes. In terms of how you can make sense of your […]
One of the most horrendous aspects of the government is the degree to which it dilutes, undercuts and destroys moral responsibility within society. Old women who would never rob their grandchildren at gunpoint feel perfectly entitled to cash their Social Security check. Gentle mothers who would pale at the thought of spanking their children will […]
By Stefan Molyneux Host, Freedomain Radio http://www.freedomainradio.com/ Ah, my son, my son… He’s 40 years old, and really needs to change careers. When he was 20, he joined the Ku Klux Klan, because he was concerned that the Klan was getting too big, too aggressive. In those days, they were lynching some poor man every […]
About a year and a half ago, I started recording libertarian podcasts in my car during my drive to and from work. It seemed like a fun way to kill the time in traffic, and it also gave me a chance to help clarify my thoughts with regards to various issues that people had written […]
Stefan Molyneux Host, Freedomain Radio www.freedomainradio.com As we saw with the Virginia Tech shootings, whenever guns are pointed at the wrong people, by the wrong people, the knee-jerk reaction is to want to ban guns. There are two important aspects to the question of gun control, however, which have not been discussed in the recent […]
Now that my wife has started taking political science courses, things are getting really confusing at my house. Just this morning there was a knock at our front door. Opening it, I saw an enormous man, who asked for my wife. “Actually, I think she’s just heading out to go shopping,” I said, my eyes […]
In the world of philosophy, those who make the active claim that God does not exist are often viewed as extremists. Taking a positive stand about the nonexistence of God is considered akin to claiming that all forms of matter, energy and consciousness have already been discovered, and that there is nothing new to be […]
Sometimes the greatest plans can be derailed by a single word. One of my earliest articles was entitled “Proving Libertarian Morality,” which was my attempt to provide a rational and universal justification for a theory of ethics, and which has proved thoroughly confusing for some people, all because of one single word. I wrote this […]
According to an apocryphal story, a well-known scientist was describing to an audience how the Earth orbits the sun and how the sun, in turn, orbits the centre of a vast collection of stars called our galaxy. At the end of his lecture, a little old lady got up and said: “This is all nonsense. […]
Statist DatingBy Stefan Molyneux So this afternoon, when my son comes home from school, he’s carrying a cat-cage. He throws his books on the kitchen table and flashes me a smile, heading to the fridge. “Hey son,” I ask, “Where’d you get the cat?” “Oh” he says, opening the fridge door, “it’s my date’s.” “Your […]
In my role as a business consultant, I am often asked to provide solutions to highly complex problems. Recently, a large, politically well-connected agricultural business paid me a fortune to provide them with a five-year plan on how to best allocate their assets, capital and human resources in order to maximize profitability. The complexity of […]
Compliance is not Freedom First of all, thanks to everyone who shared their thoughts with me about my last article – “The Gun in the Room.” In general, responses tended to fall into two rough categories: Great article! - and You’re insane! Naturally, I do not wish to take issue with the first assessment, so […]
“Put down the gun, then we’ll talk.” One of the most difficult – and essential – challenges faced by libertarians is the constant need to point out “the gun in the room.” In political debates, it can be very hard to cut through the endless windy abstractions that are used to cover up the basic […]
My journey towards personal, political and philosophical freedom has been a complete and total circle. When I first began to explore philosophy in my mid-teens, I started with the usual suspects – Ayn Rand, Aristotle, Plato and so on. I fully accepted all of the theoretical principles inherent in a rational and empirical approach to […]
Perspectives on the Question of Immigration - By Stefan Molyneux and Wilton D. Alston One of the truly “hot button” libertarian issues is immigration. While most libertarians would reject the argument “we must have taxation to pay for the welfare state,” many do support the position that “we must control immigration because of the welfare […]
Loving Non-Libertarians As If They Never Hurt You…One of the greatest challenges in the libertarian movement is reaching out to non-libertarians. Some people within the libertarian movement – due to frustration no doubt – have developed a rather scornful attitude towards non-libertarians. I believe that this is the greatest inhibitor to our eventual success as […]
I get scads of emails about two positions I hold. The principle of self-defense is relatively unimportant, and You live a peaceful life, so you are proof that a stateless society can work. A communicator must always take responsibility for misunderstandings, so, as a clarification, here is a more detailed description of what I mean. […]
Once more, bombs rain down in the Middle East, Arabs and Jews hurl fire and murder children, the world turns pale with horror and empty words pour from televised heads – and as usual, the obvious and effective solution can never be discussed! It’s the same with immigration, the national debt, welfare, the war on […]
If the Declaration of Independence were written today… In June of 1776, when Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence, he took great pains to detail the abuses heaped upon the Colonists by George III, then King of England. Now we have another ‘George III’, the third President to bear that name. How do the abuses […]
So one morning your daughter comes to you and says that she is engaged to Bobby, a boy she has been dating. “That’s great,” you say, giving her a hug, “but you have to marry Dave instead.” She wriggles out of your embrace. “Excuse me?” “You can’t marry Bobby, pumpkin. You have to marry Dave.” […]
It is the worst day of your young life. Your doctor has just told you that you have terminal cancer. You have a few months to live, maybe six. Your skin crawls, your mouth is bone-dry. Lists of everything you have to do scroll by endlessly in your mind’s eye… Finances, my will, a long […]
After twenty years as a ‘small government’ libertarian, I have spent the last 18 months or so strenuously – and unsuccessfully – resisting the implacable logic of ‘market anarchy’. I started out thinking it was a rather odd theory, but I have come to appreciate some of its finer points, and thought it might be […]
Has this ever happened to you? You’re discussing liberty with someone, and you say something like: “The government shouldn’t take care of the poor.” The response you get is: “Oh yeah? Well then who would take care of the poor?” Ah, you reply, there will be more charities and job opportunities and everyone cares about […]
I am always astounded when someone rejects even the possibility of a stateless society by demanding that I supply proof such a society has ever existed, or could ever work. “But I can give you an example of a perfectly functioning non-violent society right this minute!” I reply. “Oh yeah?” my interrogator will demand skeptically. […]
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