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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I just received an SMS message from our Samizdatista at large, Michael Jennings, who is currently in Shanghai, China, expressing his relief at arriving in a Starbucks coffee house.
It should be no surprise that Starbucks, that monolith of globalisation and spearhead of Western Imperialism, decadence and coffee beans, should be found in Shanghai, fast becoming one of the key cities of the 21st century.
The ambience of a coffee house generates rational discussion. Many of the key figures of the 18th Century Enlightenment honed their ideas around Java beans. Naturally, with coffee providing a stimulus, it is the natural clearinghouse of ideas for clever people, as sociable as a pub, but without the side-effects of a pint of ale.The culture of coffee beans was gradually displaced by tea in the tastes of English people in the 19th century, and coffee only gradually emerged as the favourite beverage of Americans.
Of course, it may or may not be a coincidence that since Starbucks was founded in 1971, technological change and artistic innovation based on the sort of ‘grass-root’ initative that Glenn Reynolds talks about in his new book has skyrocketed. And it continues to grow at an ever expanding rate. This has done a great deal to enrich our current post-industrial civillization, and the humble coffee bean has proven itself to be a great support for all manners of high culture.
The rally in Trafalgar Square today was attended by about 1,000 (at most by my estimate) very disparate people and was a worthy effort for a poorly funded ad-hoc team of folks.
My main criticism would be that most of the speakers seemed to have little concept of speaking to a wide coalition of people united by a single issue: If an Iranian communist or anyone else, wants to talk about freedom of expression at a rally in London, then I am happy to listen, but the moment they start talking about Guantanamo Bay, US foreign policy or ‘just’ economic systems, which are NOTHING to do with the issue at hand, I will quite bluntly thank them to stick their views where the sun does not shine. They would do well to talk about what we have in common and not remind me that we are in fact profound ideological enemies.
Peter Tatchell and Evan Harris were well received and made compelling points. However in my opinion Sean Gabb was without doubt the best speaker as he was direct, clear and uncompromising, and most importantly confined his remarks entirely to the subject of freedom of expression. He also spoke for about half as long as most as the others, eschewing off-topic rambling and partisan digressions, which also endeared him to many in the crowd. If an unreconstructed free market capitalist like Gabb can resist advocating capitalism at a pro-freedom of expression rally, I will thank communists, socialists, greens and anyone else to kindly show the same focus on why we came to listen to what they have to say.
The stout fellows of the Infidel Bloggers Alliance were well
represented and took the piss most artfully
In the Trafalgar Square cafe, they were serving Danish Pastries, which seemed appropriate
 
Police photographers were very much in evidence and
seemed inordinately interested in the back of Sean Gabb’s head
 
The police did not like this sign at all
According to a warden, there is allegedly a by-law against flying national flags in Trafalgar Square, which I find hard to believe as I always see Palestinian flags and (burning) US or Israeli flags when ever folks from the Middle East protest in Trafalgar Square… so the Danish Flags here became ‘Danish Shawls’… I find such lack of compliance with regulations quite heartening.
On two occasions, The Plod tried to prevent certain signs being shown (one featured the Mohammed Cartoons on a placard from the Iranian Communist Party and another showed a mask of Tony Blair over a Nazi symbol). These incidents at a ‘pro-freedom of expression’ rally, and the presence of the police taking pictures of the crowd, were a useful reminder of the deadening hand of the state and just how precarious the state of civil liberties in Britain are.
The new film, V for Vendetta, based on the British comic strip (like so many movies are these days), is an absolute crackerjack of a production, in my view. I watched it last night, having already acquired an outline of what the plot is about from scanning comics over the years, but unlike some transfers from comic to the screen, this film works very well.
It is set in a Britain about 20 or so years from now, a Britain governed by a regime obsessed by managing the citizenry for their own good (sounds familiar), hooked on propoganda and the management of expectations (ditto), scornful of history and traditions (see above), deeply corrupt (recognise anything?) and also quick to resort to violence. Against this is a masked character modelling himself on Guy Fawkes, a character who, in the early 17th Century, attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament.
And that is what exactly is the aim of the character “V” in this film. Now, in an age of justifiable fears about terrorism, my first instinct was to recoil at the plot, but in fact if you read this film on a certain level, it is great propoganda against overmighty, corrupt authority, and a celebration of freedom, rather than the sort of totalitarian agenda espoused by the likes of radical Islamists in our own day. It may not be an explicitly libertarian film, but it is unquestionably an anti-authortarian one.
Also, any film that contains the following line has to be a must-see for Samizdata regulars:
“People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.”
Not bad, not bad at all.
UPDATE: Objectivist writer Bob Bidinotto, a man who is a fine judge of films, dissents from my positive take on the movie, at least as far as this comment suggests. I agree that this is a flawed film – some of its points are a bit silly – but its overall message is about the need to keep vigilant against the abuse of power, something that a citizen living in a country framed by Jefferson, Madison and Adams would surely understand. Remember, the Founding Fathers were all thought of as subversive pains in the ass in their day. → Continue reading: A fine film
Should money be as free as speech? After all, it is also a form of communication.
In the past year, the internet has spawned a few companies aimed at helping individuals borrow and lend without bothering to involve a bank or credit agency. Zopa, based in the UK, aggregates individuals into groups for the purpose of making small loans, with a socially conscious slant. In the US, Prosper just launched a sleek, well-designed person-to-person lending site. Borrowers can also form groups on Prosper, for the sake of leveraging better interest rates. I also know of at least one nascent project, Bruce Boston’s Quid St., which aims to aggregate individuals for the purpose of making capital investments (as opposed to loans). I met Bruce recently, and he mentioned what an influence gaming had on his view of how to build an online marketplace. Which put me in mind of the Park Paradigm, a blog about digital markets whose authors think future finacial markets may evolve out of sports book and gambling sites. And not entirely unrelated note, Paypal made it possible just this week for people to send each other money anywhere, via cell phone.
What we are witnessing here, I think, is the creation of a new international capital market.
But we already have an international capital market, you say. Well, yes and no. When it comes to lending and investing and otherwise redistributing capital, we make do with a rudimentary, feudal system that has never really caught up with our momentum toward the free flow of other types of currency–cash, ideas, information, energy, goods and services, even political will. We have developed extremely liberal mechanisms for exchanging these forms of dynamic and stored energy, but capital remains over-managed, its governance, distribution and oversight resting in the hands of a select few.
The invention of a truly open and free capital market will be as significant a development as the invention of the printing press, affecting the free flow of wealth and opportunity much the way that invention affected the free flow of intellectual capital. 500 years after Gutenberg, it’s hard to imagine a world without cheap, plentiful and ungovernable words. One hundred years from today, it will be just as hard to remember a world where capital flowed through banks and currencies were government-issued.
Capital, and as a consequence personal wealth, will exist in a much more fluid and dynamic state than it now does, and all our discussions about wealth, wages and income will take place in an entirely new financial language. We may not end up solving poverty, so much as rendering it obsolete, all because of the technology-driven privatization of capital that is just now beginning.
LOX tanking has just started on SpaceX’s Falcon 1 launch vehicle on the pad at Kwajalein Island. Once you tank up with LOX you are either launching or scrubbing.
Addendum: Now T-18 and all reported good so far…
Addendum: She’s off the pad!!!
Addendum: Video cut out, they may have lost it. Damn! Reports say it was rolling.
Addendum: “Gwynn: I have heard word that we did lose the vehicle. We did have successful liftoff until a minute or two into the flight. As soon as we have information we will post informaiton onto the site. We did lose the feed from Kwajalein; that happens pretty often here. We did have a successful liftoff, but the vehicle did not succeed after that. Clearly this is a setback, but we are here for the long haul.”
Addendum: Here is one of the last photos from the rocket.
Jacques Chirac is, in typically sophisticated French fashion, subtly inferring that French culture reigns supreme amongst the illuminati of high civilisation:
When M Seillière, who is an English-educated steel baron, started a presentation to all 25 EU leaders, President Chirac interrupted to ask why he was speaking in English. M Seillière explained: “I’m going to speak in English because that is the language of business”.
Without saying another word, President Chirac, who lived in the US as a student and speaks fluent English, walked out, followed by his Foreign, Finance and Europe ministers, leaving the 24 other European leaders stunned. They returned only after M Seilière had finished speaking.
I suppose it is always a positive when the children leave the room. Then the grown-ups can talk.
(Hat tip RWDB – J.F. Beck)
Just a reminder that there will be a rally in Trafalgar Square tomorrow between 2:00pm and 4:00pm, Saturday March 25th. The Samizdatistas will be well represented there and I hope to get the chance to meet a few more of our commentariat at the event. Time to hold the line.
This statement was released last night:
Falcon 1 Maiden Flight Update: Posted March 22, 2006
No major issues were discovered following the static fire, but, as a cautionary measure, we are going to take one more day to review data and verify system functionality. Launch is now scheduled for Friday at 1 p.m. California time.
Elon Musk
Ed: While you wait… Watch the engine test video.
The powers-that-be in the USA who are trying to pass various incumbency protection measures, have uncharacteristically decided that it is unwise for the Federal Election Commission to try and regulate private political speech on the internet.
Is this because they are good guys after all? Of course not, it is because they know it is completely unenforceable.
Sean Gabb has penned an obituary of Chris Tame in the Independent.
Congress is up to it again and it just gets worse and worse. This time they are, in a subtle way, outlawing parties other than the Republicrats. The quickest way for me to get this information out is to just give you the entire post from Jim Babka:
Please forward this to anyone you know who cares about competitive elections.
Campaign Update: DC Downsizers have sent 4,278 messages to Congress opposing this incumbent protection bill. More are needed. The link to click to send your message is provided below:
Dear friend,
If GM set the rules for Ford, Ford would soon be bankrupt. Sadly, Congressional incumbents can do to their competitors what GM cannot. If H.R. 4694 passes into law…
- You won’t be able to use your own money to support or oppose federal candidates
- Taxes will fund all federal campaigns, with winners getting more money in the next election, and losers less
- Third parties and independents will have to collect petition signatures equal to 20% of the votes cast in the last election to get full funding, but paid petitioners will be outlawed!
- It’s well-established that challengers must outspend incumbents to unseat them. This law would make it impossible for any challenger to outspend any incumbent
- Your tax money will be used to fund candidates you oppose
- Candidates unwilling to take government funds will be prohibited from spending any money at all
- It will be illegal for citizens groups to spend money discussing federal campaigns.
This bill would be the absolute end of free elections in America.
To send Congress a message opposing H.R. 4694
click here.
Jim Babka
This set of laws basically outlaws the Libertarian Party. We have for years joked it was easier to get on the ballot in Nicaragua under the Socialists than it was in the USA. Now it will be impossible. We have long used paid canvassers in States with the most onerous anti-democracy laws. On top of which, they set the bar for signatures impossibly high. We rely on individual donations because we are an individualist party. They wish to make that illegal. They will make the only allowable source of funding that which is sucked from the Statist teat. On moral grounds the Party refuses to take government funds for campaigns.
This should be a call to arms for any who love liberty. I would love for someone to prove me wrong, but everything I have heard indicates this law is the death knell for diversity of opinion in America. Although some measures seem tailored to kill the LP, they may also take out the Green Party and others as well.
The incumbents want a closed system. While they would probably prefer a one party state like the commies had, they are willing to settle for a two party party where they can get on with their graft and theft undisturbed.
Is there a difference between Republicans and Democrats in the long haul? In a world where they do not even have to worry about someone popping up and taking votes from them? I think not.
Closed systems are nice for those inside them for a time… but they ultimately lead to disaster and bloodshed.
One of my least favourite UK firms is Capita (unaffectionately known as Crapita in some parts), a firm that provides the systems that help run things like the BBC television licence (boo!) and the London Congestion charge (qualified hiss), and which may, perhaps, be involved in operating a proposed national ID card (that would qualify for hurricane force boos all round). Well, in the light of such observations, this is rather interesting, is it not?
The chairman of Capita Group, a services company with government contracts, resigned on Thursday following publicity over a 1-million-pound loan he made to the Labour Party
It is important to remember that businesses like Capita are hardly paragons of capitalist virtue, in my opinion. Capita makes money from things like the licence fee, which essentially extorts money from people who own a TV set, even if they do not watch BBC programmes. If I were an ethical investment fund manager, I would refuse to own its stock on principle.
By the way, the idea of naming and shaming businesses, politicians and individuals involved with intrusive businesses like Capita was mentioned on Samizdata last summer. It will be interesting to see what else happens in the loans-for-peerages affair.
No wonder Blair looked miserable on Budget day yesterday.
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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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