We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. From the very serious to the extremely frivolous... lets see what is on the mind of the Samizdata people.
Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]
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Samizdata slogan of the day Good theories are sticky, but they still need advocating. Slowly, slowly the low-fat mantra is being replaced by acknowledgement in public places that constant blood-sugar swings mightn’t be very good for us. Slowly, slowly, free-market capitalism and libertarianism will stop being the standard butt of establishment sneers.
– Emma, in a comment on a posting by Alice Bachini
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Who Are We? The Samizdata people are a bunch of sinister and heavily armed globalist illuminati who seek to infect the entire world with the values of personal liberty and several property. Amongst our many crimes is a sense of humour and the intermittent use of British spelling.
We are also a varied group made up of social individualists, classical liberals, whigs, libertarians, extropians, futurists, ‘Porcupines’, Karl Popper fetishists, recovering neo-conservatives, crazed Ayn Rand worshipers, over-caffeinated Virginia Postrel devotees, witty Frédéric Bastiat wannabes, cypherpunks, minarchists, kritarchists and wild-eyed anarcho-capitalists from Britain, North America, Australia and Europe.
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I am disappointed in the complacency of some US libertarians and conservatives who ought to remember that wartime is the time when most encroachments on freedom can be justified
It is important to remember that we have been at war before, and there have been severe restrictions on civil liberties, all of which were terminated at the end of the emergency.
Ultimately the freedom of the country depends on the society, not the various mechanisms temporarily put in place.
I predict that we will find martial law imposed on at least parts of the US sometime in the coming years, as a result of the release of a contagious biological agent. And I also predict that when the emergency passes, so will the martial law.
Oops… I am writing too much… I will have to address in my blog (when I get the time) why we will need significant reductions of personal freedoms in the future, why these will *not* be repealed and why they will *not* lead to a dictatorship.
John,
It is important to remember that we have been at war before, and there have been severe restrictions on civil liberties, all of which were terminated at the end of the emergency.
Historical evidence points to the contrary. The biggest permanent growth of govt has occurred during wars.
Government growth isn’t the issue here – restrictions on civil liberties are. By that standard, my statement holds.
The areas where government spends the most and does the functions least needed by a government are in social welfare programs – programs which are not affected by a war on terror.
We need the government to get back to its first duty, which is protecting its citizens. I am all for some measures that many dislike – such as good national ID cards and the Total Awareness system.
Heck, if we see a release of smallpox, the last thing on anyone’s mind is going to be civil liberties. We need to get used to thinking about what happens when it gets really bad. It is better to have well thought out measures in place ahead of time. Believe me… if we have smallpox outbreaks… violations of civil liberties will consist of machine-gunning of roadblock runners, forced warehousing of the infected, and food rationing. And these will be required. In light of this, little things like TIA and ID cards are trivial.
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