I decided to move some discussion from this post up to the top level here. Specifically, Watoosh wrote: "Well, if violence is defined as initiation of force (which, of course, presupposes certain property rights), then I think Rockwell is correct..." Well, if we define cats as elephants, then many people keep elephants in their house. More seriously, firstly, violence is not usually defined that way. It's defined as, you know, violence, so that, say, someone may respond violently or non-violently to someone who aggresses against them. Otherwise, it would make no sense to say, for instance, "He punched me, but I did not stoop to violence in response." And, secondly, the libertarian usage of "initiation of force" is very offbeat. If I wander onto someone's meadow, most people would not say I had "initiated force" -- I mean, sure, I used "force" against the earth to push off walking, but that's not force directed against...
It's possible that someone who has you in their contact list got the Backdoor-IW virus, which sends a blank email to all of their contacts.
ReplyDeletehttp://vil.nai.com/vil/content/v_98897.htm
Thanks for posting about this, Gene, and the helpful answer, Elvis. I've been getting these also and wondering what was up.
ReplyDeleteThough it is hard to feel threatened by a completely blank e-mail. Feels like someone coming up to you with a realistic-looking gun and then a flag pops out with the word "Bang" on it.
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ReplyDeleteHmm Anonymous took my first joke. OK go-go Gadget dumb joke #2:
ReplyDeleteI like to send you emails listing all of your virtues, Gene.