No Treason by Lysander Spooner

Two years after the American Civil War Lysander Spooner published an outrageous tract titled "No Treason" which argues that a social contract agreed to by some people isn't binding on all people.

It has implications for arguments depending on the authority of the U.S. Constitution, or any country's founding documents that claim to depend on the consent of the governed.

Eerily, it turns out that Spooner makes his case persuasively.

He makes outrageous claims, many of which he backs up with reasoning I can't refute.

Among such claims are:
S-That two men have no more natural right to exercise any kind of authority over one, than one has to exercise the same authority over two.
[Essentially, in that sentence, Spooner denies that democracies are more just than monarchies!]
S-Majorities, as such, afford no guarantees for justice.
S-It is not improbable that many or most of the worst of governments --- although established by force, and by a few, in the first place --- come, in time, to be supported by a majority.

Spooner's arguments have startling implications, but can we dismiss his arguments on the grounds of their implications? I think it is better to reject arguments because they are wrong in themselves. Dismissing arguments because they have unpleasant implications is sometimes wrong.

Spooner's language is a bit archaic, and he refers to events better known in his time than in ours, but can anyone make a good argument against his arugments?

David

Monopoly, the game, is propaganda

Over the years, the strongest challenge to my minimize-the-government libertarian ideas has been anarcho-capitalism. This blog post isn't about that. The second strongest challenge to my libertarian ideas has been Georgism. Ultimately I rejected Georgism, but I don't have good arguments against it, and the arguments Georgists raise are fairly persuasive. This blog post isn't exactly about that, either.

It turns out that the famous game, Monopoly, has it roots in Georgism. One of the ideas of Georgism is that outright ownership of land is wrong. Folks ought to be taxed on the land and the tax money ought to be distributed to the landless. Unfairness of real estate is close to the heart of Georgism. And the game vividly depicts a nightmare world in which the whole human race (with a lone exception) will end up in Jail or the poorhouse--all due to the supposed evil of land ownership. So the game Monopoly is good introductory propoganda for Georgism. In real life, one can move away from excessive rents, which puts a downward pressure on rents--this is left out of Monopoly, and as a result, rents in Monopoly can get quite high.

Now to the main reason for this blog post: the history of Monopoly, and its predecessor, the Landlord's Game is worth reading.

The link mentions Georgism in passing, and discusses copyright and patent issues as well.

David Oakey

Price Gouging is both the consumer's friend and enemy

...but mostly a friend.

After a disaster, price gouging gets a pretty bad rap. Someone gets hit by an earthquake or a snowstorm, and they have it rough. When prices go up, it seems like a slap in the face on top of the disaster. But rapid price jumps are likely to help the healing process speed up and get more goods where they are needed. On the other hand, folks feel deeply that there is an honest and just and fair price for a thing, and when you add that feeling to the pain of high prices right when you need a break the most, it is not surprising that folks call it gouging instead of inflation.

Why Price Gouging Is Good--even for the buyer

More on why price gouging Is good

In some cases, Price Gouging Saves Lives

It Doesn't Matter That Price Gouging Is Truly Good, Because It Feels Evil

Alas, in that last article, I pick up an objectivist undertone from the scornful use of the word
"altruist."

Why not put the issue in terms "the other side" uses? For instance, why
not ask the anti-gougers why they want people to suffer more and suffer
longer? Put them on the defensive, if they are wrong.

David Oakey