skylerjcollins.com - Latest Content

Utah to Force Idolatry?

2012-02-22T14:49:00.000-07:00

In public schools, by forcing kids to chant the American state's oath and covenant every day. As if kids didn't feel pressured to anyway, from their teachers, peers, and even worse, their parents and church leaders. My kids won't be learning this idolatrous practice from me, and they'll be counseled against it. (Along with saluting idolatrous banners or singing idolatrous hymnals.)

Utah's Walking the Interventionist Path

2012-02-22T10:16:00.000-07:00

Utah's walking the only path it seemingly knows, that of the interventionist. Mises explained this path well.

Ron Paul and The Judge

2012-02-21T14:19:00.000-07:00

For veep. That's what I've been saying!!

How to Bypass Border Guards?

2012-02-21T13:57:00.000-07:00

Give them a taste of their own medicine, apparently:

Israel's New Organ Donation Plan

2012-02-21T08:16:00.000-07:00

...misses the mark, but it is a better, fairer, approach I think. Why should someone not willing to donate be placed above someone who is? A question, does a last-minute change of willingness make a difference? It doesn't seem to, that is if patients are ordered as they're admitted, before it's even known if they'll need a transplant or not, and based on their registration of being an organ donor.

A Conversation with The LORD

2012-02-20T09:15:00.000-07:00

Steven Landsburg has an interesting conversation with the LORD.

Homesteading a River

2012-02-17T12:24:00.000-07:00

As a response to a thread on reddit, I offered the following to a question about someone homesteading part of a river, and someone else upstream dumping in pollutants, as in: What's happened here? Is there a crime? My answer:

What about this: Bill Murray doesn't appropriate the water, he appropriates the land, the riverbed, and simply allows the water to flow over it, and appropriates whatever water he can capture before it leaves his riverbed boundary. If David Spade upstream drops pollutants into the water, it will eventually trespass over Bill Murray's riverbed. This would justify retaliation by some level of aggression. Trespass is a violation of the NAP, and David Spade is causing pollutants to trespass Bill Murray's riverbed, is he not? It would be akin to air pollutants trespassing over your land, into your house, etc.

If David Spade drops pollutants into the river, but then takes them out again before they reach Bill Murray's boundary, then there's no harm, no foul. If he doesn't, then he's caused a trespass and must answer for that.

I think that's a good answer.

State Services and Monopoly

2012-02-15T13:38:00.000-07:00

I am a big fan of the many services a state provides (roads, police, safe drinking water, protection from other states), but I'm not a fan of monopolies and robbery. The state uses the latter to enforce the former. Just because I oppose the state, that doesn't mean I oppose the services the state provides. On the contrary, I'm such a big fan of them, that I want greedy entrepreneurs competing for my business with promises of quality and efficiency, and bankruptcy when they fail to deliver either. Monopolies lack both, and are rewarded after failure. Monopolies for greedy capitalists are as dangerous as monopolies for "benevolent" and "enlightened" statists.

Bravo to Illegal Immigrants

2012-02-15T11:29:00.000-07:00

Bravo to those who sacrifice everything to give themselves and their families a better life. That we would emulate their righteous example, if need be, I pray.

The Love of Money, and Politics

2012-02-15T10:16:00.000-07:00

The love of money is the root of all evil, so says the Joseph Smith translation of the Bible, but the love of money by one capable of violence is an even greater evil, so says Nic Hooton of the Utah Liberty Alliance.

A Proud Austrian, I Am

2012-02-15T10:08:00.000-07:00

Can we claim citizenship to a school of thought? If so, I'm a proud Austrian, so take that Andy Duncan!

What Bureaucracy Looks Like

2012-02-15T10:04:00.000-07:00

Bureaucracy needs to go. Legal monopolies need to go. They're wastes of resources. Here's why.

An Exchange with a Progressive Democrat

2012-02-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

I had a cordial exchange with a progressive Democrat, who shall remain nameless, read it here.

How to Get Fired from Fox News

2012-02-13T08:56:00.000-07:00

Speak the truth. Judge Napolitano is favorite of mine. I absolutely love his principles and his personality. They make for a terrifying combination, that is if you're the gunvernment. Here one reason of many why his show, FreedomWatch, got cancelled:

Man Ignores Rules, Saves Lives

2012-02-10T10:32:00.000-07:00

Bravo to this guy.

Like Obama? Then Vote Romney

2012-02-09T14:40:00.000-07:00

Thoughts on Punishment

2012-02-09T13:14:00.000-07:00

I was asked by a friend my thoughts on punishment. I haven't given punishment for punishment's sake too much thought. Justified punishment, as in "proportionality" I have. I like Kinsella's approach, the estoppel approach.

My gut reaction... restitution, of course... and for me personally, forgiveness after restitution. I think it should be up to the victim as far as whether or not to "punish" or to seek restitution. How far can punishment go? It can't exceed proportion, but I think it's justified, in theory. In practice, it's more difficult because although a victim may be 100% certain of his offender, those enforcing a punishment can't be, so I don't know if they would be justified in doing so. Maybe as an agent for the victim? I wouldn't want that job, for sure, because of the uncertainty, etc.

I like considering non-violent forms of punishment as well, such as social ostracism, blacklisting, reputation smearing, etc. I think in a free society reputation would be more important than it is now. Libel/slander wouldn't be illegal, ie. free speech, so people would be naturally more skeptical of wild claims, but true claims I think would filter through that and be enough of a deterrent.

Plus, there's less to be a criminal for in a free society. It'd be more prosperous, etc., less reasons to resort to crime, etc. That with non-violent forms of punishment, and restitution-based justice, I think it'd be mostly a non-issue in a free society.

Update: Although I'd say punishment would be ethically justified as explored above... I don't know that it would be beneficial to society. It's sort of an unknown. If a murderer is truly remorseful, who knows what he could go on to become? Consider Paul of the New Testament. He was a murderer (martyred Stephen), and went on to become a great benefactor to society (if you consider his service as an Apostle a benefit, I happen to).

As a deterrent? Again, in a free society I think you'd have less crime and the crime you did have, you'd have non-violent deterrents. I don't know, honestly. If I were a free market judge and it was my call, and the victim wanted proportional punishment, I may do it, and see how it's received by the rest of society, if my reputation was hurt or helped by it, and whether or not that reputation would be a deterrent for future criminals. Can that even be measured? I don't know. I think it would be difficult to measure, really difficult.

SOPA Sponsor Has Another Horrible Internet Bill

2012-02-02T15:02:00.000-07:00

Senator Lamar Smith, lead sponsor of the currently dead SOPA bill you’ve heard so much about, has another bill in the works that uses Child Pornography as a screen to push through an amendment that’ll have your internet service provider tracking all of your financial dealings online. Each time you use a credit card, each time you read your bank statement, all of your IP information and your search history will be required by your ISP to be stored for 18 months at all times. This bill is H.R. 1981 and will have more dire consequences than SOPA or PIPA ever had the potential to have.

by Chris Burns, read the rest.

Intellectual property is theft

2012-02-01T08:18:00.000-07:00

This important message is spreading, especially among young people.

Recently, college students and others who visit Wikipedia on a daily basis were met with a 24-hour blackout. The blackout in question was in protest of two pieces of legislation related to the Internet, the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect Intellectual Property Act.

The bills had several draconian punishments that outraged many Americans (Wikipedia clearly included). Many of the bills’ opponents stated that, if passed, the laws would effectively kill the Internet as we know it, potentially prosecuting any companies or sites found to be “facilitating” in copyright infringement.

However, there’s a much more fundamental aspect of this entire issue that needs to be discussed more openly. Hopefully, public outrage over these particularly atrocious laws will provide a platform for the message that really needs to be heard.

The time has come to abolish intellectual property.

by Jason Byas, read the rest.

Am I Free?

2012-02-01T08:02:00.000-07:00

Write Jay Miles,

Me: Am I free to assemble a protest of peaceful peers?
Government: Only with a permit.
Me: Am I free to travel?
Government: Only with a passport.
Me: Am I free to pursue my own ideas of happiness?
Government: Only within these constraints.
Me: Am I free to start a business?
Government: Only with a license.
Me: Am I free to marry who I wish?
Government: Only with my consent.
Me: Am I free?
Government: I'm legally obligated to say that you are.
Government: Stop asking so many questions.

A Mormon People in Need of Reform

2012-01-31T13:27:00.000-07:00

Connor Boyack responds to a call by an ex-Mormon for church reform. He does so superbly and with emphasis on what's important.

Translucent Blue Spheres

2012-01-31T12:17:00.000-07:00

Are raining down in the UK.

Who Stole Your Tower?

2012-01-30T09:05:00.000-07:00

Writes Parrish Miller,

Miss Henderson was busy helping one of her kindergarten students fold a paper airplane when suddenly little Tommy's voice rang out above the gentle murmur of students at play. "She stole my tower!"

Miss Henderson quickly headed for the trouble, as neither shouting nor stealing were tolerated in her class. "Who stole your tower?" she asked him. "Susie!" replied Tommy loudly, pointing his finger at the girl working quietly at the next table.

Susie was the most advanced student in the kindergarten class, and could have easily placed in the first grade, but her parents didn't want her to be younger than all her other classmates, so they opted to put her in kindergarten instead. Today she was quietly building a tower out of blocks – it was actually one of the highest towers that Miss Henderson had ever seen a student build.

"Your tower is still in front of you," she observed to Timmy, "as is a basket of unused blocks. What exactly did Susie 'steal' from you?"

"My idea," pouted Timmy. "I started building a tower first."

"So continue building it," said Miss Henderson. "Nobody's stopping you."

"It's no fun if Susie builds one too!" Timmy whined. "Make her stop! Only I get to build a tower today."

"No, Timmy, you're wrong." Miss Henderson was very serious now. "Susie may build whatever she likes – as may you, but you accused her of stealing when she had not actually done so, and that is wrong." Miss Henderson stood up and pointed across the room. "Five minutes in the timeout chair for lying, Timmy, and don't ever let me catch you doing so again!"

Timmy jumped up angrily, knocked over his block tower, and headed for the corner.

Today Timmy works for the MPAA as an attorney in their copyright enforcement department...

What is ACTA?

2012-01-30T08:49:00.000-07:00

More criminal scheming, that's what.

The War on Drugs is a War on People

2012-01-30T08:37:00.000-07:00

"Most of the calls that we get on drug use, as police, are alcohol related. Alcohol is a serious drug that can be abused, but I just didn’t see the calls on other drugs like I had been led to believe. I didn’t see these drug-crazed people out there doing crazy things… Even growing up before entering law enforcement, I was always led to believe that the drug war was meant to stop all these people from doing crazy things. But on the street, that’s not what you see. That’s a lie."

"I was in training, on 'the other side of the tracks,' for lack of better words, and we pulled a vehicle over," he explained. "The guy, I think he had a defective taillight or something. He was sober, polite, respectful, no problems, and my training officer said, 'Oh yeah, he’s gonna have drugs.' So, I asked if we could search his vehicle and he gave me permission. Within no time, I found a small amount of (hard) drugs, so he was facing a serious charge. The whole time I was thinking, 'This is not right. This guy’s keeping to himself, not hurting nobody, he’s a peaceful person.' I instinctively knew this was wrong. I changed my perspective immediately. This was not the war on drugs that I thought it would be."

Read the rest.