Comments on: Cooperation, Not Communism

By: Robert Glisson

Robert Glisson — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 23:47:02 +0000

A good idea, leave the copyright debate for another time. After I saw what a movie company did with Robert Heinlein’s classic, “Starship Troopers” I don’t think I ever want to see a movie again.

Mises Economics Blog (Left side of page) has an article (about halfway down their page) that I think many readers might find enjoyable. Titled “Rothbardianism In Iraq?” which discusses a form of Libertarian (Not Socialist) system even in a Muslim area.

By: Myron Pauli

Myron Pauli — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 21:06:10 +0000

St. Ayn, in her zealous denunciation of compulsory altruism (which is theft at gunpoint), also wound up (mistakenly) skewering voluntary altruism. Ironically, the one tax “loophole” I like is the charity one and I would advocate that one take $2 deduction for every $3 donated to an “emergency aid” charity like the Salvation Army to which spends N% of its revenues on food/shelter/clothing/medicine for the needy. Private charities can deliver to the blind, sick, demented, poor… far better than the welfare state – and those who object to paying taxes for Hamid Karzai, agribusiness subsidies… – can instead provide chowder and flu shots to the poor. As an anti-Maoist, I’d say “let a 100 soup kitchens bloom”. There is enough wealth and voluntary charitable people in America to support the truly needy WITHOUT a welfare state and its assorted tax obscenities. Naturally, Obama, ever the statist, proposes eliminating voluntary altruism in favor of more compulsory altruism – e.g. trillions of counterfeit Bernanke Bucks in the name of preventing “starvation” etc.

I completely agree with you that the copyright/patent laws have been abused into tools of corrupt statist monopolists with no respect for privacy or private property.

By: robert II

robert II — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 19:55:25 +0000

“Glenn Beck seems to think that anything free is socialism.”

Excellent observation and correction. The State hasn’t entirely outlawed charity, yet!! But the State does a pretty good job these days of defining it for us.