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...
You're being a little generous. The two man race is pushing the parameters of the bet.
ReplyDeleteAh, I see you are no Krugman. And actually you might have gotten away with it for a while; I very well may have forgotten. BTW the original formulation didn't include caucuses (like Maine); were you doing that intentionally? (I'm genuinely curious.)
ReplyDeleteGabe how so? In fact the two-man race perfectly isolates the different interpretations Gene and I gave to the Iowa outcome. (But I'm not claiming victory, since I was just saying at the time that Gene's theory was only one possible explanation; I wasn't confident that my interpretation was the right one.)
ReplyDeleteI guess you're right. I am pretty confident Gene's take was right, though. When he says Paul would have done worse if Gingerich and Santorum (I caught a few lines of his speech yesterday, which would have been hilarious if it were in a movie) had already dropped out, I think he's also right, even though it's extremely hard for me to understand the mind of a person who vehemently opposes Romney but hates Paul even more. I suppose these are people who will make up the American Catholic Church when the prophecies of "Love In the Ruins" are finally fulfilled.
ReplyDelete