Monthly Archives: April 2007
Andrew Carnegie In Newham
Ham, over at London Daily Photo has an excellent post up about the Manor Park Library, created by Andrew Carnegie, one of more than 2,500 he set up world wide. Books. That word alone gives you warm thoughts. But imagine a world without Andrew Carnegie. His rags to riches story is the stuff from which fables are made. And having made his fortune, he set about to give it away. Which is why there were 2,500 free public libraries created worldwide. Read more at London Daily… Read more
The Latest From Manor Gardens Allotments
From Lifeisland: PRESS RELEASE SAT 28TH APRIL. IMMEDIATE Too little, too late! After almost two years of meeting with plot holders and repeatedly promising to carefully move this 100 year old community to a suitable site before eviction the London Development Agency (LDA) now say they haven’t made any ‘promises or commitments’. These much filmed and photographed picturesque garden allotments have been passed down from generation to generation over the decades. Founded by philanthropic aristocrat Major Arthur Villiers before WW1 they have been feeding over 150 local East End families ever since. The sensible solution would be to leave the plots where they are and make them into an uniquely British feature of the London Olympics. Yet relocation is all the Olympic Authorities have been prepared to negotiate on so far and even this they seem incapable of achieving. Manor Gardening Society have had enough of broken promises and delays. They issued Judicial Review proceedings against… Read more
Libertarianism Discussion: Initiation of Force
My second point was thus: 2.Non-Initiation of Force: Libertarians claim to believe that “No person should initiate the use of force against another person.” Fine and dandy, except that what they really mean is “No person should do something improper according to Libertarian ideology”. For instance, government collecting taxes is “initiation of force”, governments enforcing contracts is not… Mr Paul responds: This is an important distinction. The difference is the point of initiation: I have not agreed to pay taxes. Therefore, in the tax game, the first move goes to the government. They attempt to force me to pay them, and I resist. The first use of force is by the government. On the other hand, if I enter into a contract, and receive something of value, that item of value is owned by me contingent on my complying with the contract. If I am later unable or unwilling to comply with it, I no longer own the property. Were I to attempt to forcibly… Read more
Libertarianism Discussion: Axiomatics
In my first post on this subject, I stated that: 1. Libertarianism is highly axiomatic: There’s a set of rules to be applied to evaluate what is proper, and the outcome given is the answer which is correct in terms of the moral principle of the theory. This leads to quite a few tortured ‘terms of art’ in libertarian thought since, due to it’s axiomatic nature, the libertarian rhetoric cannot survive counter-factual arguments. To which Mr. Paul replied that: Yes, Libertarianism *IS* a simple system. This is important for several reasons. One of these reasons is that ordinary people in a just society must know, without question, whether they are breaking a law at nearly all times. Even when grey areas are unavoidable, they almost must know where the grey area is, so that they can seek legal advice. To imprison or kill a person for a crime they do not understand and could not define seems to me the height of injustice. Note that Libertarianism is a political… Read more
Libertarianism Discussion: Introduction
To stem the flood of emails pointing out (rightly) that what I have written here, and previously, concerning ‘libertarianism’ bears no resemblance to what they understand as ‘libertarianism’, let me say that I am discussing a particular brand of American individualist-capitalist thought that some people there call ‘libertarian’ or even more mind-bogglingly ‘anarcho-capitalism’… My post yesterday on Thirteen Things That Are Wrong With Libertarianism has been answered at length by one Rich Paul, a gentleman who calls himself a (the?) Radical Centrist. Responding to all of his post at once would become unwieldy, so I will be responding bit by bit. I stated in my introduction to the article that: Yes, right libertarianism (or more correctly, propertarianism) is becoming more popular with those in I.T. and the “new economy” types, but I, for one, am not impressed. To which Mr. Paul responds: There is nothing “Right Wing” about Libertarianism. Your confusion is… Read more
Thirteen Things That Are Wrong With Libertarianism
Yes, right libertarianism (or more correctly, propertarianism) is becoming more popular with those in I.T. and the “new economy” types, but I, for one, am not impressed. As J.K. Galbraith said, “… is engaged in one of man’s oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness”. Regardless of the morality of the thing, there are plenty of other reasons to dislike Libertarianism. Here are thirteen: Libertarianism is highly axiomatic: There’s a set of rules to be applied to evaluate what is proper, and the outcome given is the answer which is correct in terms of the moral principle of the theory. This leads to quite a few tortured ‘terms of art’ in libertarian thought since, due to it’s axiomatic nature, the libertarian rhetoric cannot survive counter-factual arguments. Non-Initiation of Force: Libertarians claim to believe that ” No person should initiate the use of force against another person.” Fine and… Read more
Scratch ‘n Sniff Gallery For All You Sticker… Read more
Anti-Terror Cops Raid The Wrong House, Again
You would think that after the Forest Gate debacle, the Met would have learned to be a little more sure of their “intelligence” before they went kicking in peoples doors again. You’d be wrong however. At dawn yesterday morning the Met anti-terror cops stormed a house in Shadwell and spent five hours tearing the place apart before realizing that they were in the wrong place. It seems that they were looking for a man in Manor Park, seven miles down the road. How it can take five hours of tramping about in a terrace occupied by a very scared couple and their cat to realize that the person that they (presumably) can recognize is not there is beyond me. Said Scotland Yard: “We apologize for the inconvenience, our actions were in good faith.” So, bad intelligence plus good faith equals what exactly? A trashed house and no disciplinary action, just like… Read more
The Booger… Read more