The Trump administration’s executive order halting immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries was trumpeted as protecting Americans from the threat of terrorism. However it is more likely to end up fueling the narratives of extremist groups fighting the United States. There are reports of Daesh (ISIS) celebrating the Muslim bans. Banning heavily vetted visitors is unlikely… Continue reading The Common Goal of Team Trump and Daesh (ISIS)
This is my presentation at a Melbourne Argument debate at the Royal Oak Hotel North Fitzroy on February 8. My opponent was Ted Lapkin a former adviser in the Abbott government. (Video of debate) When looking at economic prosperity and political liberty, the private property rights we are concerned about are the ownership rights of… Continue reading Private Property Rights are Essential not only to Economic Prosperity but to Political Liberty – The No Case
Paper to be presented at Historical Materialism Sydney Conference 2016, November 25 I don’t think anyone would contradict me if I said that the subjective conditions for communist revolution are totally absent at the moment. In other words, there is no support for any sort of move in the direction of a classless society where… Continue reading In Defence of Vulgar Materialism
Judith Sloan has a piece in the Weekend Australian that aims to convince us that immigration levels should be cut back. The annual intake of permanent migrants, excluding humanitarian entrants, is 190,000. She argues that current levels are a burden on current inhabitants through congestion, environmental pressures or housing affordability. She also says that some of… Continue reading The case for high immigration
Bjorn Lomborg has a great piece in The Australian tearing organic food to shreds. It is not healthier. It is not better for animal welfare. And it is not better for the environment. Here is a copy outside the paywall.
This is the text of a talk I am giving at the Monthly Argument on Wednesday October 19, The Royal Oak Hotel, Fitzroy. Is capitalism the best system on offer? As you are well aware we presently live under the capitalist system where the means of production are owned primarily by a small ruling class.… Continue reading Is capitalism the best system on offer?
This is a talk I gave at a Monthly Argument debate back in June at the Royal Oak Hotel in Fitzroy. There is a widespread view among greenies that continued economic growth is impossible because of ecological and resource limits. If this were true, it would be a very sorry state of affairs given the generally… Continue reading Debunking Limits to Growth
As a radical loon, I will need to have something whacky to propose when the world economy collapses sometime in the not too distant future. The only thing I have heard that gets me at all excited is the idea that we should run around calling for a 100 per cent wealth tax on the… Continue reading 100% Wealth Tax
In the last 50 years or so, agriculture’s share of the labor force in developing countries has shrunk from 76 per cent to 37 per cent. This is where the USA was in 1900 and France in 1940. It varies a lot from one country to then next. China has gone from 83 to 37… Continue reading Peasants are a vanishing breed
There seems to be a lot of young Arab men in Europe who need to be induced to join an army to fight Daesh. Once some sort of ceasefire is organized in Syria, such an army should be part of the picture. Recruitment can start now. Many already have military training, so they can train… Continue reading Let’s not get too excited about Islam
Different Wavelength 