Free-Man's Perspective

“The mark of an educated mind,” taught Aristotle, is “to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” And that’s what I’ll be asking of you today. Because as certain as I am that I’m substantially right on this, I’m also sure that its acceptance will take time. But I do want to plant its seeds as best I can. Continue reading “The Cult of Rules”

“Righteousness” is a seldom heard word in modern life, but the concept is still very much with us. In fact, political arguments all through the West focus on shows of righteousness.

So, how does someone show themself to be righteous without ever coming near the word? It’s done with a simple trick that you’ll recognize immediately: Continue reading “The Separation of Righteousness and Politics”

The Bible has been loudly and publicly criticized for centuries now. At the same time, it’s most vocal defenders have been those who demand that it be treated as a mandatory oracle. As a result, the public has been given a binary choice:

Either the Bible is horrible, or else it’s divine and you’ll go to hell if you don’t think so.

I think that’s a false choice, but it’s the one most people see. Continue reading “Good Things in the Bible”

A few people remember President Dwight Eisenhower’s Farewell Address, where he warned Americans about the rise of a military-industrial complex… a warning that was stunningly accurate and almost fully ignored.

What almost no one remembers was Eisenhower’s speech in 1953, when he said that under the pressures of fear and war spending, humanity was “hanging from a cross of iron.” Continue reading “Humanity Crucified on a Cross of Iron”

Everyone who has children, or even nieces and nephews, understands that you have to warn a child before punishing them. If not, you teach the child a rash of bad lessons, like these: Continue reading “Why Does the Law Not Warn?”

Most people fail to appreciate the fresh opportunity that each day brings them. Their programming requires them to snort derisively at any positive description of humanity. After all, the systems of this world are built upon the assumption that mankind is weak, stupid, and generally inadequate to a moral existence. As a result, most people have become addicted to bad news. Continue reading “Just For One Day”

I’ve been an advocate of science for a long time, but I also recognize that science proper has become Science^TM… an idolized science that Francis Bacon would have condemned… did condemn. More than that, this science has become a tool for the application of social pain.

And so I’m going to explain, briefly, how this happened. But before I do, I want you to understand what this idolatry I speak of really is. So, please consider this slowly: Continue reading “How Science Became an Idol”

(Originally published in May of 2018.) 

Few things repulse me more than someone born with a genius brain who then uses it to befuddle others and turn them into tools. Continue reading “Google’s Mendacity: The Selfish Ledger Decyphered”

(Originally published in May of 2018.) 

I’ve been in and around the US justice system for most of my life. I’ve always had relatives and friends who were lawyers, and I worked as an expert witness for more than 30 years. And however much I may disregard the state as an institution, I hold great regard for the common law, upon which the US justice system was based.

So, when I tell you that Ross Ulbricht’s prosecution shocked me, please understand that this is not the judgment of an antagonist or a neophyte. Continue reading “Justice Condemned: The Ross Ulbricht Case”

Fifteen years ago the cypherpunks were almost entirely forgotten. But now – and quite shockingly to those of us who were involved – cypherpunks are cool again. More than that, the discoveries of the cypherpunks are changing the world in a serious way.

That being so, I’d like to briefly recap what the cypherpunks discovered, because what these people found was a new world… a terra nova. Continue reading “The Discovery of Terra Nova by the Cypherpunks”