2009 February 25 | The Freedom Minute

Who Wants to Be a Master Debater?

On Sunday I was at a friend’s house for an Academy Awards viewing party. I generally don’t care much about who wins the Oscars, and this year in particular we all knew which film was going to take away the lion’s share of the awards. But I like visiting my friend and his wife and they were so very kind to include us, so we went.

During one of the commercial breaks, I happened to be talking to my friend about the state of the economy and mentioned in passing my libertarian leanings. One of the other couples there immediately took great umbrage at my statement. The wife pronounced that (I’m paraphrasing) “libertarianism can’t work because under such a system there’s no common property and you can’t have a functioning society without a commons such as roads etc.” I pointed out that I never claimed that I was in favor of a society in which there was no commons and that by attacking me on that point she was making a Straw Man argument (claiming I said something I didn’t say and then arguing against it). She apparently didn’t want to engage me further to explore what I did advocate because she simply walked away in a huff. As a result, I never got the chance to explain why she also happened to be wrong about her absolute assertion that a commons is necessary for a society to function.

Then her husband chimed in.
Continue reading “Who Wants to Be a Master Debater?”

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February 25th, 2009 Posted by freedomminute | Libertarian Philosophy | no comments

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Welcome to the Freedom Minute

The Freedom Minute is dedicated to a discussion of all things having to do with personal freedom and what I see as the steady encroachment by government on our personal rights. I take a decidedly libertarian point of view in my analysis of economics and personal freedoms. Note that I intentionally spell libertarian with a small "l" since I identify more with the overall philosophy than with any political party. If you're not familiar with libertarian philosophy or you think you know what it is, it might be useful to read the short primer which appears in the Philosophy section. In addition, you might want to grab a copy of Libertarianism: A Primer by David Boaz or Libertarianism in One Lesson by David Bergland, both excellent books on libertarian thought.

As for this site, I attempt to be as evenhanded in my approach as possible. There is no question that I have a point of view and an opinion. I state that up front. Many times I will give both sides to an argument before stating why I agree or disagree. Under most circumstances, it should be easy to distinguish between the facts and my personal opinion. If I think there might be some confusion between the two, I will try to specifically point out when I'm giving my opinion as opposed to relating facts that I have researched.

My goal, if there is one beyond my desire to create a public forum for my personal opinions, is to get people to think about things in a way they might not have thought about them before. I don't know if I will change many minds, but one can hope. The British philosopher Bertrand Russell once said, "If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence". I hope that even if you disagree, you read this site with an open mind. I can ask for nothing more.