Lesson #097 - Spock Got It All Wrong
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Do you remember that famous line “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one”? It sounds impressive, righteous, definitive and worthy. Too bad it is garbage. Spock got it all wrong.
This line is a classic example of communist / socialist thinking and people seeking martyrdom. The supposedly good of the many justifies the sacrifice of the worthless one. The worthy end justifies the…
Lesson #096 - The Absolute Austro-Libertarian Social Contract - Part 2
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THE MASTER CONTRACT
We explained in several lessons what is the Master Contract and how it operates. However, from this lesson’s point of view, the Master Contract is as close as one can get to a Social Contract without actually having one.
The whole purpose of a Social Contract is to establish the basic rules by which a government will be legitimized. However, since as Absolute Austro-Libertarians we do not condone governments,…
Lesson #095 - The Absolute Austro-Libertarian Social Contract - Part 1
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Why do we need to justify theoretically our view of a Social Contract? Because it minimizes our chances of being wrong. Besides, the introduction of common sense in arcane subjects is always a welcomed addition. Of course, the risk we are taking is that we may be oversimplifying and trivializing issues. This is certainly a possibility, but then again, there must be something left for those tireless academics that must…
Lesson #094 - Social Contracts Are A Scam - Part 4
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THEORIES - CONT'D
DAVID GAUTHIER (1986) – Social Contract by Rational Self-Interest
His point of view is that cooperation between self-interested parties is possible when it comes to morality and politics. Based in game theory, it is possible to reach the conclusion that cooperation between two rational people will yield maximum benefits by self-interest alone. Therefore, a social contract can be constructed based on trust, rationality and self-interest. These very…
Lesson #093 - Social Contracts Are A Scam - Part 3
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THEORIES - CONT'D
JEAN-JACQUES ROUSSEAU (1762) – Social Contract by Popular Sovereignty
He believed that people were neither good or bad and that in the beginning there simply were insufficient people and they knew each other insufficiently to come into serious conflict. Also, he assumed that these people had normal values. In his view, liberty was only possible if people determined the laws directly, not through a representative. He believed…
Lesson #092 - Social Contracts Are A Scam - Part 2
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THEORIES - CONT'D
THOMAS HOBBES (1651) – Social Contracts
He believed that originally humans all had equal faculties of body and mind and from this equality and other causes in human nature, all these people were all confronted one against the other. In these conditions, people had the natural right or liberty to do whatever it takes for self-defense. In this state, there were no laws, except for the “law…
Lesson #091 - Social Contracts Are A Scam - Part 1
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Today we touch on a topic a little bit on the obscure side. This is one of those topics that people don’t talk about any more. However, this topic or idea is at the very core of Democracy (or Monarchy or Communism). If we really want to understand why any government is obsolete and unworkable, we need to take a look at Social Contracts or Social Mortgages. By now, we…
Lesson #090 - Intellectual Property Rights Are Dumb - Part 5
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ETHICAL OPPOSITIONS TO IPR – CONT’D
Oppositions to Utilitarian – Pragmatic arguments
Utilitarian’s point of view is that the end justifies the means. Or more precisely, that the end of increasing public welfare justifies the means of restricting individual freedom. There are four fundamental problems with this point of view.
The Robin Hood problem
Assuming that societal welfare could be maximised by IPRs, this does not justify their existence.…
Lesson #089 - Intellectual Property Rights Are Dumb - Part 4
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ETHICAL VIEWS ON IP AND IPR
This section is the most important and interesting one. It deals with concepts of right and wrong that have broad support. These concepts eventually influence IPR Laws and even IPR Moral positions.
ETHICAL JUSTIFICATIONS FOR IPR
There are three main justifications for the existence of IPRs. They are:
Natural Rights / Justice Argument
It is based on Locke’s idea that a person…
