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...
"A human Rorschach test?" You're really going places then ... in the past, I've heard it debated whether or not you're human at all ;-)
ReplyDeleteThe virtuous man is is seen as vicious by both the excessive and defective.
ReplyDeleteDid you simply misunderstand? On which side of this individual were you seated?
ReplyDeleteAmusing, rocksauce, but he wasn't talking about the seating arrangements.
ReplyDelete