For the no-one that reads my LJ, here is my Amazon Wish List.
It's at over $1400 now, heh.  I like my books.

It seems obvious to me that most human beings want to feel like the 'belong' to something - a group, a tradition - which is beyond their immediate, personal interests.  They want to feel that there is somewhere they can be comfortable and accepted, as well as that they are contributing to something which is 'greater' than themselves.  Most people ( Read more... )

Rolling Stone's #1079 (May 28, 2009) contained an article called 'The GOP's Jihad', in which they discussed the flight of moderates from the Republican party, allegedly due to the, "GOP's far-right radicalization".  Apparently the source of this radicalization is the party's 'embittered dregs'.  Now I don't wish to deny that the Republican party ( Read more... )

As a liberal pluralist hippy, I rarely have anything good to say for much of what passes under the name 'conservatism'.  But John Kekes has summarized a kind of conservative pluralism which I find attractive.  Though I do not agree entirely with his rejection of liberalism, nor his pessimism, I do find myself having similar thoughts on many ( Read more... )

I found this article by David Schmidtz a nice read.  I agree that, when deciding what sort of issues to address (especially with politics) we need to keep in mind what limitations of reality restrict the possibility or plausibility of our actions.  Developing equality should 'matter' in some sense, if done 'for its own sake' it simply becomes a ( Read more... )

I was reading CATO Unbound lately, and I found this little exchange.  It discusses whether limited government is possible or desireable:

Government (Bound or Unbound?) by Anthony de Jasay
This paper is a sequel of an article I wrote twenty years ago that I now think can be put more tightly and clearly.[1] That early paper was born of the irritation I ( Read more... )

So, in an earlier comment discussion with Agorist I mentioned that I had reservations about the Libertarian-Propertarian ideologies that one finds on the internet.  Agorist mentioned that he himself had some reservations, but though it had consequential benefits ( Read more... )

John Kekes, advocate of 'conservative pluralism' and a fine political philosopher, wrote the article "Why Robespierre Chose Terror".
While I don't agree with Kekes on everything (I am not a conservative, for one) I nonetheless think that he sees one of the dangerous darksides of Rationalist-Absolutist Republican-Liberalism that came out of the ( Read more... )

My Political Views
I am a right social libertarian
Right: 7.19, Libertarian: 8.34

( Read more... )

Well, the answer to this question is somewhat complicated.  As usual per annoying intellectuals, I will say yes and no.
Yes, in that I believe monogamy is a perfectly natural and normal institution, and that it is not fundamentally anyone else's business.  I myself like to have a monogamous relationships.  I think, between the right people, it can ( Read more... )