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Liberty and Power

  • Jan 6, 2004

    THE PRODUCT OF MAN'S MIND

    by Liberty and Power

    A interesting quirk in Ayn Rand's theory of property creation seems to have major implications for the concept of intellectual property and may explain why libertarians are somewhat divided on the issue.

    Rand seems to go to great lengths to distance her theory from John Locke's, trying to avoid the idea that mixing one's labor with an unowned resource transforms that resource into owned property. Instead, Rand always speaks of property as the"product of man's mind," not his physical labor.

  • Jan 6, 2004

    ARTISTS AND ECONOMICS

    by Liberty and Power

    Over at my blog, Franklin's Findings, I have linked to a debate which has arisen between a few comic-book writers and the fans who buy their comics. Long story short, a couple of writers are complaining that those fans who prefer to wait for publishers like Marvel Comics and DC Comics to issue trade-paperback collections are destroying the market for 22-page monthly comic books.

    Now, wh

  • Jan 6, 2004

    DO AS I SAY, NOT AS I DO

    by Liberty and Power

    Listening to the radio news as I drove into work, I heard Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge admit that when asked by the president if he would want a member of his family to fly he answered,"no." Yet Ridge and the rest of the Bush Administration urge all of us to go about our business, lest our inaction cause the economy to tank in the middle of an election year.
  • Jan 5, 2004

    Hello all!

    by Liberty and Power

    My apologies if my html is bad in this first post.


    I just wanted to post a quick hello and to thank you all for inviting me on board. I've been a reasonably regular reader for the last few months and have enjoyed your contributions. It's particularly nice to be here with several folks I know (Dave, Don, Chris, Sheldon) and others (such as Rod, Gene, and King) who I've met briefly over the years. King may not remember when we met - I interviewed for a job at SCSU back in 89 and didn'

  • Jan 5, 2004

    WELCOME TO STEVE HORWITZ

    by Liberty and Power

    I just wanted to take this opportunity to welcome to the Liberty and Power Group Blog our newest participant: Steven Horwitz. Steven is Associate Dean of the First Year, and Interim Director at the Center for Teaching and Learning, and Professor of Economics, at St. Lawrence University. You can find out more about Steve here. Speaking personally, I'd like to say that he is one of my favorite hot-s

  • Jan 5, 2004

    NICKY ARNSTEIN, NICKY ARNSTEIN...

    by Liberty and Power

    ... what a beautiful, beautiful name. Okay, so maybe I don't like Barbra Streisand's politics, but I really liked the movie"Funny Girl." So sue me. Omar Sharif, the"Hello Gorgeous" Egyptian-Lebanese actor who played Fanny Brice's husband in the film, has shown that he's also pretty astute on Middle Eastern affairs. (Perhaps he learned a thing or two when he played Sherif Ali ibn el Kharish in"Lawrence of Arabia"...)

    At the Capri-Hollywood Film & Music Festival, Sharif criticized the

  • Jan 5, 2004

    WHY IS LIBYA DIFFERENT FROM IRAQ?

    by Liberty and Power

    The announcement that Libyan dictator Muammar Gadaffi has agreed to give up his quest for biological, chemical, and nuclear weapons and submit to inspections raises two questions. First, has Gadaffi promised to turn Libya into a democracy? If so, I missed that part of the news release. The Bush doctrine isn’t supposed to be simply about “weapons of mass destruction.” It’s also purportedly about bringing democracy to the Middle East. Second, in Libya’s case President Bush is content to forgo regi
  • Jan 4, 2004

    NEOCONSPIRACY THEORY

    by Liberty and Power

    I sure wish we could get beyond this dishonest, debate-squelching notion that"neocon" is a code-word for"Jew." Folks on the political Right, veterans all of campus affirmative action debates where ideological opposition automatically prompts charges of racism, ought to know better than to engage in this sort of well-poisoning tactic. Yet it's increasingly becoming a favorite trick of conservatives, as witnessed by Joel M
  • Jan 4, 2004

    ANARCHY IS ORDER

    by Liberty and Power

    I've been having a running online debate over anarchism with Robert Bidinotto; he maintains that the rule of law depends on the existence of a"final arbiter" in society, whereas I maintain that the rule of law not only does not require, but is actually incompatible with, such a final arbiter. For those who are interested, here are the relevant links:

    Bidinotto's original article:
  • Jan 3, 2004

    THE LORD OF THE CA-CHINGS

    by Liberty and Power

    Director Peter Jackson's"The Lord of the Rings" trilogy has put New Zealand on the moviemaking map, resulting in millions of dollars being pumped into the Kiwi economy, with Jackson still set to film his"King Kong" remake there. But the obvious economic benefit to the country isn't enough for one of the nation's politicians, who still complains about the size of tax breaks New Zealand gives filmmakers. And Deputy Prime Minister
  • Jan 3, 2004

    CROCODILE HUNTER OR THE HUNTED?

    by Liberty and Power

    First of all, let me thank David Beito for the invitation to be a guest blogger here at Liberty and Power. If you read my blog (linked at right), you already know that I spend most of my time writing about popular culture. So, for the next week, I'll probably confine my observations to that murky realm where politics and culture meet, marry and have a long and bitter divorce. Think of politics as an abusive spouse.

    Fortunately, the morning news was kind to me. It seems that Steve"Crocodile

  • Jan 3, 2004

    ANGELS IN AMERICA: A HYMN TO LIFE

    by Liberty and Power

    I hope that Part IIA of my discussion about Angels in America provided enough details to give a sense of what the experience of watching the film is like -- and to give an indication of the variety and complexity of themes that run through it.

    Kushner's thematic material is endlessly rich and provocative. At the beginning of the second half of Angels, the Angel who has appeared to Prior Walter transmits

  • Jan 3, 2004

    SOME INITIAL REFLECTIONS ON LIBERTY AND POWER

    by Liberty and Power

    David Beito’s invitation to join the Liberty and Power project Blog has offered me once again the opportunity to reflect upon these two concepts, and to clarify in my own mind the fundamental issues which face us today both as Americans and as historians.

    Consider, for example, Lord Acton’s oft repeated quote, “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts, absolutely.” What is the difference between the two; power and absolute power? And how do either of those rela