I was once in conversation with a group of 70 year olds and I posed the question “What should you do when the right and the good are in conflict?” One of the men, white haired, took me seriously and answered “Choose the good… What's considered right are heuristics and...
“dictators die… and so long as men die liberty will never perish…” This is an abbreviated quote from Charlie Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator” which stuck with me ever since the clip was played for me in middle school. Political but prescient, these words describe a natural limiter on any man’s...
I was once in conversation with a group of 70 year olds and I posed the question “What should you do when the right and the good are in conflict?”
One of the men, white haired, took me seriously and answered “Choose the good… What's considered right are heuristics and conventions that efficiently expedite the good. They are important but secondary.”
I do not know his name.
Valueism starts with the premise that one of the greatest goods to pursue is value creation. As long as you are pursuing that goal, valueism has something to say.
Valueism is a philosophical compass that guides you towards value creation.
As actors in the world, as agents, we create value... (read 4701 more words →)
Dynasties still have the effective term limit of the ruler’s lifespan. Term limits add dynamism to a system, with new men and women bringing new ideas. Death does not guarantee liberty, but it does change. Change preserves the possibility of liberty and not the thing itself. A monarchy is one of the least optimized examples, but forever leaders would be worse, tailoring an entire political system around a single person's nature. Term limits do not guarantee good governance, but they prevent consolidation of power and stagnation. But term limits are just a law and can be overturned as they have been in some countries.
“dictators die… and so long as men die liberty will never perish…”
This is an abbreviated quote from Charlie Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator” which stuck with me ever since the clip was played for me in middle school. Political but prescient, these words describe a natural limiter on any man’s ambitions. A check and balance that has guaranteed the downfall of many a dark figure, from Genghis Khan to Stalin.
But, and here it is, technology advances.
Advances in medicine, genetics and nano technology may soon combine to make death no longer inevitable. By solving one problem we move up the chain to face new ones. So even though we still die today, we may,... (read more)
This article made me reflect on the two alternative definitions of poverty. One, relative poverty, and two, what I call lifestyle poverty. The latter being split into ascending levels starting from $2.15 a day (below which you eventually die), with the next level reached at roughly a factor of 4. The factor of 4 making a qualitative difference in lifestyle in a practical non theoretical way.
Relative poverty has a social element which we will probably never escape. But, level 0 poverty below $2.15, also known as absolute poverty is down from 90% before the industrial revolution to about 8% today. I believe we will eliminate it entirely.
The next step is to eliminate... (read more)