Category Archives: Philosophy

Yes, you really do own yourself

Posted on July 8, 2011 by Mike P (the emptiness pro)

The concept of self-ownership is central to libertarian and individualist philosophy. It is often assumed to be true a-priori by libertarians when making their arguments. Most consider it an irrefutable axiom from which all other libertarian ideas about rights, property … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Statism | Tagged argumentation ethics, ethics, hans-hermann hoppe, property rights, self-ownership, Wendy McElroy | 22 Comments

Socialism: A love story – Star Trek

Posted on March 30, 2011 by Mike P (the emptiness pro)

Star Trek, in all its spin-offs and manifestations, has always been one of my favorite entertainment franchises. But lets face it, the world of Star Trek is a Utopian socialist fantasy. Realizing this fact actually makes watching Star Trek more … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Economics, Philosophy, Socialism, Statism | Tagged socialism, star trek | 68 Comments

Marxism and Left-Libertarianism

Posted on January 4, 2011 by Mike P (the emptiness pro)

It seems that we will never be free of Marxism. Despite the violent history of the 20th century and all the blood and barbed wire that have resulted from this ideology, it keeps cropping up again and again in different … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Philosophy, Socialism, Statism | Tagged communism, communist manifesto, karl marx, kevin carson, marx, marxism, mutualism, socialism, walter block | 40 Comments

Socialism: A love story – “Anarcho-Socialism”

Posted on November 23, 2010 by Mike P (the emptiness pro)

Anarcho-socialism, like socialism in general, is hard to define. In writing this I will likely get opposition from self-styled anarchists, socialists and communists that will claim that what I am writing about is not the system that they advocate. This … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Philosophy, Socialism, Statism | Tagged anarchism, anarcho socialism, anarcho syndicalism, communism, noam chomsky, socialism | 20 Comments

The “middle ground” is empty

Posted on November 10, 2010 by Mike P (the emptiness pro)

People often tell me that I”m too extreme. They tell me that I need to look at the other side of the issue. Often times people tell me that I ought to find some “middle ground” from which I can … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Philosophy, Statism | 13 Comments

Tales of the Bizarro World: Confusing violence and voluntarism

Posted on September 2, 2010 by Mike P (the emptiness pro)

One of the things that has consistently come up in the discussions I have been commenting on in my recent podcasts is the problem many people have in confusing violence and voluntarism. This came up in both the discussions on … Continue reading →

Posted in Audio, Philosophy, Statism | 14 Comments

Responding to reader arguments: The “social contract”

Posted on September 1, 2010 by Mike P (the emptiness pro)

This is my audio response to arguments I’ve received in response to my social contract article and the audio clip I posted from my guest appearance on Marc Stevens’ show. [Audio clip: view full post to listen] Download the audio … Continue reading →

Posted in Audio, Philosophy, Statism | 19 Comments

The “social contract” destroyed in 4 minutes

Posted on August 30, 2010 by Mike P (the emptiness pro)

Here is an audio clip from my guest appearance on “The No State Project” with Marc Stevens. In this clip I present my argument on the so-called “social contract”. I define and destroy this concept in a little under 4 … Continue reading →

Posted in Audio, Philosophy, Statism | 11 Comments

Bad arguments make the world worse

Posted on August 19, 2010 by Mike P (the emptiness pro)

Ordinarily I would not do a post on current events, but there are a couple of controversies brewing in the media right now that provide good empirical examples of a general principle. The principle is that bad arguments make the … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Statism | 20 Comments

“Society” is empty

Posted on August 13, 2010 by Mike P (the emptiness pro)

Whenever I talk to people about the state, the social contract, taxation, the free market or just ideas about the way that people should relate and interact with each other in general, something weird starts to happen. It happens particularly … Continue reading →

Posted in Philosophy, Statism | 9 Comments