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...
When my house collapsed it wasn't because I took down a supporting beam, it was because I replaced the old beam 10 years ago.
ReplyDeleteWhat a moronic comment, Ken. The US never replaced the beam, it just yanked out the old one. (Yes, it *tried* to replace it, but never did it establish a government that could rule the country.) Iraq's civil society collapsed as soon as Saddam was deposed, and has never recovered since. What is your solution: that we should not have withdrawn our troops ON THE TIMETABLE AGREED TO BY GEORGE BUSH and instead kept them there, against the wishes of our "allied" government... what, forever?
DeleteThe failure was OBVIOUSLY yanking the beam with no good plan about what to do afterwards. Other than making Iraq a colony and ruling it with an even more brutal regime than Saddam's, all of this was the inevitable consequence of BUSH's decision.
What a moronic comment, Ken.
DeleteDepends how we define "moronic."
I think that he might've been referring to Moros, the Greek spirit of impending doom. Or perhaps Moron, the Jaredite King from the Book of Ether.
DeleteExcellent!
DeleteMy house collapsed because when i fired a rocket launcher at my neighbours house it backfired
ReplyDelete