Anyone who reads this blog regularly knows that I never shrink away from controversial opinions and unusual ideas. Not least of which is my belief that we should conduct elections using randomly selected juries in a court of law, not mass voting. When I tell people of this idea, I’m usually met with blank faces … Continue reading Reasons to Replace the Popular Vote
Conventional opinion says that there are 2 main camps in American politics, when it comes to wealth redistribution. You have one camp that is opposed to wealth redistribution as a principle. They believe that economic policy should be designed to generate as much aggregate wealth as possible. And when it comes to distribution, let the … Continue reading Both Parties Support Wealth Redistribution – They Just Disagree On Who Should Get It
If you're a single-digit millionaire like Hulk Hogan, you have no effective access to our legal system.Peter Thiel If I didn't have some money, I would have no chance at all.OJ Simpson A patent troll is a company formed for only one purpose—to purchase patents and assert them broadly against real, productive companies. The point … Continue reading A Radical Proposal for Legal Reform – Equal Representation
I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.Martin Luther King Jr. One of the disappointing aspects of race discussions in the media today, is that they predominantly focus on anecdotes and sensational examples. Stories are wonderful at illustrating truths, … Continue reading Quantifying Racial Segregation by State and City
Pop quiz: Which country inflicted the most Nazi casualties in WW2? Would it surprise you to learn that the answer is the Soviet Union… and that USA is not even a close second? That even British historians considered the Red Army to be "the main engine of Nazism's destruction"? To quote an Irish historian and … Continue reading How You Can Use Stories to Hack the Human Brain
In the 1700s, when the British started selling Opium to China, it proved to be extremely lucrative. British ships were able to procure opium at extremely cheap prices, and sell them to China at vastly inflated markups. The primary market for this opium was Chinese laborers, who used it to get high and forget the … Continue reading Prosperity comes from Investments, not Consumption
For my friends everything, for my enemies the lawÓscar R. Benavides, President of Peru Not many know about this, but Hitler had a soft spot in his heart for at least one Jewish person. Eduard Bloch was an Austrian doctor practicing in Linz (Austria) and until 1907 the physician of Adolf Hitler’s family... Bloch was … Continue reading To Be Right, Live A Principled Life
I am a worrier. I worry constantly about things that other people seem to just take in stride. I worry about the things that could go very wrong in my life, and what I can do to pre-empt or mitigate them. At different times in my life, I have worried intensely about: Being unemployedDying aloneMy … Continue reading Be Very Afraid of Being Too Afraid
Source I read today a very thought-provoking piece by Yuval Harari, a historian and philosopher. “You can vote but you can’t choose what is true.” A paraphrased summary of his thesis: Elections are awful ways of determining what is true. For that, we need to turn to experts and institutions, not popularity contests. However, elections … Continue reading We Don’t Need Elections to Figure Out What People Want
Disclaimer: The intended audience for this article is someone who is reasonably savvy on financial planning. If you’re a novice, stop reading now and just do whatever your financial planner tells you to do. The conventional advice for financial planning in retirement has generally been the 4% rule. Ie, on the day of your retirement, … Continue reading The New Rules for Retirement Financial Planning
Stoic philosophy is often assumed to have originated entirely in Greece, through philosophers such as Zeno. However, such a characterization ignores vastly similar Eastern philosophies such as those found in Buddhism or the Bhagavad Gita - a text that was authored in a similar time period, transmitted orally for centuries prior, and is one of … Continue reading The First Stoics – Philosophical Themes In The Bhagavad Gita
Source Nov 19 2119, New York - There was a time when most people in the world were impoverished food renters. Ownership of food was concentrated in the hands of a tiny sliver of farmers and big corporations. Everyone else was at the mercy of this tiny sliver who wielded all the power. Until one … Continue reading People Used To Throw Their Money Away At The Grocery Store
With the rise of Xenophobia all over the world, from Trump to Brexit to the Freedom Party, it’s worth pausing for a second and asking ourselves why. Why are people so threatened by immigrant workers? Why are people so threatened by the growth and progress happening in foreign countries? Why are people so threatened by … Continue reading Humanity is not a Zero-Sum Game
There is a widespread perception that “political correctness” is characteristic of liberals. It certainly is true that liberals are quick to pounce on statements that stereotype or offend certain demographics. That said, here are some instances of conservatives showing they can be just as politically correct, about the people and issues they care about. Bud … Continue reading Conservatives for Political Correctness
I've heard no shortage of stereotypes in my life. I've heard stereotypes about Men, Women, Whites, Blacks, Mexicans, Indians, Chinese, Arabs, Italians, French, Israelis, Canadians, Brits, Americans, Engineers, Lawyers, Bankers, Cops and even Postal workers. You name it, I've heard it. Every now and then, I come across a positive stereotype. "Japanese people have so … Continue reading Is It Okay To Stereotype?
I recently came across an interesting article, discussing the evolution of the popular phrase “Better that 10 guilty men go free, than 1 innocent man go to prison.” More specifically, it discusses how the exact ratio has varied throughout all of human history. A perfect demonstration that as poetic as the phrase may sound, coming … Continue reading Better that 10 Innocent Men be Murdered
I'm a pragmatist when it comes to immigration, and I think it's hard to find politicians who are willing to publicly stake out pragmatic positions on this issue. Here's my blueprint for what I think immigration reform should look like. End Illegal Immigration We are all for immigration, but through the proper channels, and with … Continue reading A Centrist Blueprint for Immigration Reform
When Dave first heard about the basilisk from a believer, he scratched his head in confusion. “I have to give all my money to help build a super AI. And if I don't, it will one day resurrect me from the dead and torture me?” It sounded too comical to believe. And if he had … Continue reading Dave’s Basilisk
Virtually every election season, we’re treated to a chorus on job creation. Who has saved more jobs. How will they protect your job. And who is going to be the grinch that takes your job away. But perhaps our focus is misguided. Perhaps we should be focused not on creating jobs, but on eliminating them. … Continue reading Prosperity Comes From Eliminating Jobs, Not Saving Them
In recent weeks, we have seen much hand wringing over the role that Social Media, Special Interests, Fake news, and Foreign Governments have played, in determining the outcomes of our political processes. To be sure, there is great merit in all of these accusations. Lobbyists should not be able to veto bills that serve the … Continue reading We Need A Democracy That Cannot Be Hacked
Outlook Zen 