jacob news

I am going to have a couple of posts about the fallout from the election coming up. After that, we will return to our regularly scheduled philosophic hair-splitting.

An economist defends the electoral college  and he finally convinces me that it's a good idea to abolish it It turns out that it's much easier than the opposite to list the countries that Britain has not invaded   If California voters approve new taxes "for schools" they will pay for union benefits  - not a penny will go to classrooms. Surprise surprise The real reason Romney will lose is the big Ohio St. football win on Saturday

I have a hankering to write for another libertarian group blog. If you run a blog and have enjoyed my writings, or if you write and are interested in joining forces, then I encourage you to contact me or leave a comment here. To get a feeling for what I like to write, check out the popular posts section in the right  sidebar or the articles by me listed on my "favorites" page. The blog doesn't have to be explicitly libertarian, but all authors should have a basic understanding of libertarian ideas even if they reject them. I call myself a "post-libertarian", so I am no stranger to heterodoxy. And it doesn't have to be entirely political. I am interested in all the forces that shape the future of society - culture, technology, politics, and art among them.

I have an enduring affection for the TV show "Rome", made by HBO. The Romans in "Rome" are real Romans. Many writers lack the imagination to pull off such a feat. Too often distant aliens and ancient tribal chieftains are presented as 21st century Americans disguised in period costume. They may look exotic but their opinions on love, freedom, and democracy would not sound out of place in 2012 New York City. But "Rome" lets the Roman era speak for itself without interpreting it through a modern lens. We are confronted by the strange minds of the pre-christian ancient world. Life is cheap. Slavery is ubiquitous, normal, and not worth commenting on. Suicide is preferable to the dishonor of defeat. Pragmatism rules in place of morality. The bad guys are obvious, but the good guys are hard to recognize. When a writer succeeds in capturing the minds of a different time period he offers the gift of perspective. It allows us to escape our modern cultural marinade ...