September 2006 Archives

Arnold Kling's TCS article, From Far Left To Libertarian, is one of the more interesting things I've read lately:

The question of how I became a libertarian ultimately is a question about how I changed my mental model of the political system from one of "good guys vs. villains" to one of the importance of limited government, individual liberty, and personal responsibility. I travelled the route from Far Left to libertarian. I think that quite a few libertarians have travelled that route, and yet I cannot think of anyone who has gone the other direction. This leads me to suspect that:

1. Far Leftists and libertarianism have much in common.
2. Libertarians know something that Far Leftists do not.

I think Kling's ideas apply equally for those who move from conservative to libertarian.

What I believe that Libertarians have learned is what social psychologists call the Fundamental Attribution Error. The error is to attribute behavior to a person's character when this behavior is in fact based on context. In one classic experiment, the subject is asked to watch a person read a speech that the subject knows that the speaker did not write. Subjects attribute to the person the beliefs contained in the speech.

The Far Left believes that bad policies come from evil motives. In this view, villains, such as powerful corporations, oppose good policies, and political incumbents lack the strength and courage to overcome the villains.

Libertarians believe that context is more important. We believe that government power is inherently corrupting, regardless of who holds leadership positions or how they are influenced. We believe that the market does a relatively good job of channelling self-interest toward socially desirable ends.

Notice that Kling's point is entirely utilitarian, that libertarianism produces better outcomes, and ignores the ethical point, that coercively managing society is inherently immoral.

A couple of points I should add - Kling's move from 'Far Left' to libertarian is more about the move from elitist societal management to a governmental model emphasizing freedom than anything to do with the more familiar left vs right political model, which is why it also applies to people who move from rightist to libertarian.

Also, if Kling's article gains traction, I'm sure we'll see a number of leftists claiming to be 'former libertarians' in order to discredit him.

In 1992 the band Madness played a reunion concert at an outdoor venue in London in front of 75,000 fans. When the band launched into One Step Beyond the crowd began to dance in unison, and the resulting earth tremors prompted the evacuation of high rise buildings in the area. Reports said the shaking registered 4.5 on the Richter scale.

I wish I'd been there. Love that tune.

Was fabulous, as every year. One bonus this year, though. I met and briefly chatted with Jolyon Ralph, proprietor of Mindat.org. He'd flown in from the UK for the show. Mindat is, no exaggeration, one of the best websites on the net. It's a wiki style compendium of mineral information from around the globe, pretty much every location and mineral known to man. Tens of thousands of entries, I'd guess.

Oh, and photos from many private collections. If you have even the faintest interest in rocks and such you'll love the photo galleries. Check out the Mount Antero, Colorado specimens. Then browse the many thousands more from everywhere else.

Johnathan Pearce at Samizdata:

"...I hear of affluent Western travellers go on about how they dream of going to Cuba before it "gets spoiled by U.S.-led development". Yes, I am sure all those crumbling houses in Hanava, all those ancient 1950s cars and cute old guys with no teeth look so, you know, authentic in contrast to the frightfully ghastly prosperity of Miami or for that matter, Hong Kong.

Like a good friend of mine, I am only going to Cuba when or if it becomes a shameless hotbed of capitalist vigour and not one minute before."

I would like to visit now, and I know some people who have. Of course, I slow down while passing traffic accidents, too.

The Denver Gem & Mineral Show starts today and runs through Sunday. I'll be spending as much time there as possible. (It's one of the biggest such shows in the world.) Anyone who wants to go can contact me, walter (atwalterind...) or leave a comment.

Problem: Two year old twins enjoy watching movies on DVD. They also enjoy playing with the DVD player, pushing every button, stopping, starting, ejecting, and reinserting the movie. For hours.

DVD player gives up the ghost.

Solution: Buy new DVD player. Hide it behind old player. Movies play, twins continue to beat up on old player, movies continue to play.

Everyone is happy.

The next time someone tells you there's not one single scientific study showing the benefits of medical marijuana you can point them to these fifteen different ailments and the scientific studies showing the ways marijuana combats them.

As Jacob Sullum notes, those fifteen don't even include the two most established medical uses of the drug.

Our friend Haile Asfaw's restaurant, Arada, received a glowing review in Friday's News.

Adrian Monk, the hyper-phobic TV sleuth, would freak out if he ever had to work on a case while dining at Arada Ethiopian Cuisine.

For one thing, customers are given no utensils: no forks or knives, and spoons are just for serving. Entrees such as the sloppy joe-like minchetabush ($9.50) - finely chopped beef butter-sautéed with ginger, onion, cardamom and pepper - are eaten by pinching up a taste with a piece of sponge-y, sourdough injera flatbread.

That's right, Mr. Monk, you eat with your hands. More precisely, your right hand only, even if you are left-handed. All I can say is that there's a very good reason for this tradition.

By the way, at Arada you don't get a plate, at least not an individual one for each guest. All the entrees for a table are served on one round platter lined with a large, single round of house-made injera. As much as you might like to, finger licking is considered poor form.

You deduce correctly that all the different foods touch each other, including a choice of sides such as tomato fit-fit, a sort of bread salad; fresh tomato salad; slow-simmered green beans; cooked greens; and velvety mild split yellow pea puree.

Food critic John Lehndorff continues to describe several dishes. I recommend the Kitfo.

After the singularly positive review Lehndorff concludes by rating Arada with a 'B-,' which deosn't jive with the text of the review. Arada is a solid 'A' if I'm doing the rating.