If you're sympathetic to libertarian ideas, I'm surprised you're not interested in furthering discussion about libertarian approaches to spectrum allocation and land use and transportation policy. What mainstream websites/blogs/pundits do you know of who give anything more than a passing mention of these issues? I find that these issues in particular (IP not so much) are woefully neglected by...just about everyone. Even libertarian organizations (Reason magazine and foundation come to mind) often have very statist stances when it comes to land use and spectrum regulation.
If you're sympathetic to libertarian ideas, I'm surprised you're not interested in furthering discussion about libertarian
"A fanatic is someone who can't change his mind and won't change the subject." Not every conversation on the Internet has to be about libertarianism. Anyone who can't accept that about any of their pet topics is a commenter we can't afford to have.
I think bisexuality is present (but not ubiquitous) in women, and extremely rare in men.
So he's been out as bisexual for twenty years, slept with dozens of women and dozens of men in that time, is currently sleeping with four different women and showing every sign of enjoying it lots, and you think he's 100% gay? Are you sure your beliefs about this are paying rent?
I wouldn't want to be so absolute and say there is no such thing as the tragedy of the commons, but I am saying that I think it's vastly overblown, and that in most cases when it's invoked, it isn't actually present.
As is all too common, though, with eminent domain, often the government is (surprise!) not very good at playing real estate developer, and the land that is seized is not put to very good use. A great example of this is with the property that was taken in the Kelo case, which to this day remains undeveloped.
The purported reason for each of these government interventions is to enforce property rights where they don't exist.
No doubt. I'm not ignoring the tragedy of the commons, though – I'm just saying that I have yet to see compelling evidence that it actually exists.
A free-for-all spectrum might have some interference, but then again, the concept of "interference" is a bit dated anyway, as modern technology can much more effectively filter it out than it could when the Titanic sunk (which was when we got a lot of these spectrum regulations in the f...
Covenants can only exist if there's a party to enforce them. And that party has to be paid, since preventing people from doing something costs money. Unfortunately, often the government takes that job upon itself (as in Houston).
A more realistic and free market-oriented approach would be to force people who want access to their neighbor's property to...buy it! Sure, it would encourage people to own larger plots of land, but given the inherent perils of homeownership, I'm not entirely sure that converting a nation of homeowners to a nation of renters would be such a bad idea.
Something interesting about the tragedy of the anticommons is that it is created entirely by government. Intellectual property, spectrum allocation, and zoning/land use regulations would not exist in an anarchic world. I've heard incredibly cogent and compelling arguments against each type of government-created "market," and it's a damn shame that people look at you like you're a crazed lunatic when you suggest that either a) people shouldn't be granted monopolies on ideas and mathematical equations (i.e., computer code); b) the government shou...
I don't believe in male bisexuality, though I do believe in it for women.
She sounds like someone who has never seen a monkey.
But more seriously, given that she's never met a creationist, it's unlikely that she's ever actually read anything at all about it, or heard a cogent argument. On the contrary, you (and probably a lot of other atheists in the world) are comparatively very knowledgeable about religions, have probably read about as much of the Bible/Koran/Torah/etc. as most believers, and likely even have parents who believe in a god. Being an atheist in many societies requires a sort of active choice – one that most children of believers don't take.
If there were books on the science (or even theology) of talking snakes, I'd be glad to read them.
My favorite example of this kind of phenomenon is water quality. Everyone and their mother claims they can taste the difference between tap water, tap water filtered through a Brita, and bottled water (and some people are even dumb enough to say that they prefer one brand of bottled water over another). But give them a blind taste test (very easy to perform at home – I encourage you all to do it), and nobody even tries to discern the difference – they usually admit immediately that they taste no difference between the waters.
I just performed this experiment, agreeing with the general point but still moderatly confident I'd be able to tell the difference.
I couldn't.