Journal of Post-Ralphaelite Thought

In case you've been wondering, I've taken on a new hobby -- tweaking the local Libertarian crowd, mostly at the blog of my good friend, the Whited Sepulchre . While I don't always (or even often) agree, the debate is lively and intelligent. In fact, some of my best writing these days is at his site, not mine (irony of ironies). The other day, I accorded the distinct honor of being the token Democrat guest blogger while the Whited Sepulchre was on vacation. For the most part the local Libertarian crowd are an intelligent, thoughtful bunch, passionate about their cause and ready to talk, sort of like political Jehovah's Witnesses. While not agreeing with them, I admire their commitment to the cause. One thing I've noted on various occasions is their hang-up with my icon. "As your hero, Trotsky..." they'll begin, as they spin some long drawn-out rant property rights. (By the way, this is Trotsky . As I've pointed out numerous times, any resemblance i...

Lawrence Lessig , one of my heroes, has an essay at Newsweek.com on why we should shut down the Federal Communications Commision. While this sounds a lot like something some of my loopy Libertarian friends would preach, I have a lot of respect for Lessig so I'm willing to reserve judgment -- for now. His main contention is that the FCC enables monopolies (bad) which stifle innovation. In its place, he proposes: Congress should create something we could call the Innovation Environment Protection Agency (iEPA), charged with a simple founding mission: "minimal intervention to maximize innovation." The iEPA's core purpose would be to protect innovation from its two historical enemies—excessive government favors, and excessive private monopoly power. Lessig has been mentioned as a possible head of the FCC ; he's known Obama since the two of them taught together at the University of Chicago. In the past Lessig has been a big proponent of net neutrality and has also w...

This is a follow up to my previous post, To my Libertarian friends , in which I laid out some of my thoughts and criticisms of the Libertarian Party, which includes amongst its numbers several friends and associates. To sum up (so you don't have to be bored twice) I have a lot of respect for Libertarians (they tend to be extremely bright, intellectually curious people) but I don't necessarily agree with all of their positions. On economic issues, their faith in the Invisible Hand of the Free Market strikes me as a bit like believing in Intelligent Design. Their take on civil rights, workplace regulations, and some other areas strike me as naive at best. Where they have my full agreement is in the area of personal freedoms. God bless 'em. To pull a few quotes from the 2008 National Libertarian Party platform: We favor the repeal of all laws creating "crimes" without victims, such as the use of drugs for medicinal or recreational purposes. Recognizing that aborti...

Mike Huckabee (see earlier post with Jon Stewart) got me to thinking about the gay marriage thing again, and I think I see a way to accommodate all parties. It's very simple, really. Get government out of the business of marriage. If the state doesn't recognize gay marriage, it shouldn't recognize any marriage. Instead, let civil government only regulate civil unions , available to all, regardless of sexual orientation. Civil unions are currently legal arrangements that sets guidelines for the legal aspects of a registered relationship: controling inheritance rights, sharing of job and healthcare benefits and the like. Property rights: the purview of the government. Churches or other religious bodies would be the gatekeeper of the religious ceremony that celebrates the spiritual side of relationships. And any church could do it: First Baptist of Dallas or the Cathedral of Hope . Since it is not a civil ceremony, the government would have no interest in who and why, or for...

Having a hard time wrapping your head around the sub-prime mortgage crisis and how mortgage-backed securities work? Scott Adams explains in today's Dilbert.

As funny as he is, Jon Stewart of the Daily Show is often at his best when he stops being funny. Here he is, earlier this week, debating Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee on gay marriage. This was an amazing exchange. I don't think I have ever heard the case put forth for gay marriage rights any better. If I had it in my power, I would have given him an Emmy right there on the spot. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart M - Th 11p / 10c Mike Huckabee Pt. 2

There is an assault on the freedom of ideas these days. The weapons on this assault are copyright laws and the murky idea of "intellectual property," Rich powerful corporations hiding behind familiar and friendly names are leading this assault. It pains me to say, this unsavory alliance cuts across political lines: Democrats and Republicans are both guilty. A little history: " copyright " is the right of a creator of an original work to control distribution for a certain time period, after which it falls into the "public domain." The Copyright Clause of the United States Constitution (1787) authorized copyright legislation: "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries." The founding fathers set the term to be 27 years. The idea was that the author was protected during the period of the copyright against unauthorized co...