Free Talk Live

The temptation to submit to authority examined by "Compliance" bolsters an authoritarian culture by transforming its leading institutions into servants of power rather than checks on it. But worse, it conceals the presence of oppression by ensuring that most citizens, choosing to follow and obey authority, do not personally experience oppression and thus do not believe – refuse to believe – that it really exists.

That's another big problem. People can't separate the authority and the people who have the authority vested in them. I think you see that a lot in the demonstrations. Cause actually the people are demonstrating not against Vietnam -- they're demonstrating against the police department. Actually, against policemen. Because they have that concept -- that the law and the law enforcement are one.

"You've heard the phrase "power corrupts," but have you looked at the evidence that suggests this is actually supported by a variety of studies? Julian Sanchez points us to a report that looks at some of the studies of people in power (which actually builds off of a Wall Street Journal article on the same topic -- beware the paywall), which notes, first, that getting into a position of power is best done by being kind and empathetic (rather than nasty and backstabbing), but once you get there, study after study suggests that people lose some aspect of critical thinking skills"

In every instance, I side with the People on the street, even when unpopular, against the seemingly obvious shared enemy: any and all authority backed by force.

But when an enemy goes unidentified or more authority is offered as an answer, I'm out. And at this point, I have a few thoughts to share.

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. government's biosecurity advisers said Friday they support publishing research studies showing how scientists made new easy-to-spread forms of bird flu because the studies, now revised, don't reveal details bioterrorists could use.

I will never understand this guy Eric Holder and his desire to control people. First he wants to take away guns, now he wants Obama to sue the state. He says if CA legalizes pot, it would "challenge federal authority". To hell with federal authority!

A French TV documentary features people in a spoof game show administering what they are told are near lethal electric shocks to rival contestants. Those taking part are told to pull levers to inflict shocks - increasing in voltage - upon their opponents. Although unaware that the contestants were actors and there was no electrical current, 82% of participants in the Game of Death agreed to pull the lever.

The use of aggression to compel obedience is the essence of the modern state. If an individual may not use aggressive violence against his neighbor, then neither can he delegate the right to such violence to another.

Bitcoin is a ludicrously bad idea. It is a scam. A Scam. It is not a currency. The economic assumptions underpinning the Bitcoin ecosystem are laughable, and ignore hundreds of years of accumulated understanding of how currencies work with each other.

Fortunately, it's such an obviously flawed system that it will probably never grow to a point where it causes any ill-effects,or even impact, to world economies.