Oh my god there's no downvote button! Must lash out at something! Kill droning video man!

You all make excellent points.

Hopey's farts smell like sandalwood.

5:23. That was all I could take.

For now, I'm claiming the record...

i got to 0:42 and started masturbating

I didn't know it was a contest! 00:18. Same as last time. I'll try harder tomorrow. I promise.

Do you have to watch this to enter the contest?

^ I know, there's always a catch.

And I pick the winner, so pay attention!

Found it pretty easy to watch. I like this approach, because it really kind of is a personal problem, like alcoholism or drug addiction.

^ Good for you, stellar. I am so proud of you! It's important that you admit you have a problem. That's the first step, you know...

28:12, which I am guessing is going to be a record in this thread; shame because the posters here could probably learn something from it.

As an intellectual curiosity, how do you react to new or contradictory information - not just about this topic (statism) but other topics? Even though I have heard the concepts mentioned in this video, it piqued my curiosity enough to go to his website and download the free books and watch some more videos by him. So this one video will perhaps turn into a couple book reads or several video watches. I have done the same thing with just about every new idea I have ever encountered (darwinism, rationalism, and nutritional science are three recent examples). Is this the case for you, if only in different intellectual pursuits; or is it more that you travel across the top rather than to the bottom?

Here is an instructive little experiment:

Rape: The Unknown Ideal

"Rape is an integral and necessary expression of human nature. Sexual assaults have been present in every society since the dawn of time. It is the drive of man to reproduce, to compete successfully for advantage on the battlefield of life and evolution. In fact, it is this very competition to reproduce that motivates man to do anything productive and worthwhile in the first place. It is this competition that motivates man to aspire to greatness. Can you imagine men striving for greatness were they not motivated by their drive to reproduce by any means? Of course not, because the drive to reproduce is at the very core of mankind's essence! As long as we disregard silly 'god' superstitions and recognize that a man is ultimately responsible to and for himself, we therefore recognize that any measures that attempt to stifle this natural and inherent drive to reproduce by any means are inherently wrong. To stifle sexual assaults is the perverse anti-human dream of the superstitious or a bloated priestly class, or the self-promoted intelligentsia, which of course is both of these at the same time. In fact, no human society has successfully eliminated rape, despite myriad measures designed to curb sexual assaults. If man were only truly free to pursue this integral part of his nature we would walk as the masters of the Earth that we are!"

Now, anyone will see that this is a glaringly faulty and dangerous chain of reasoning. Just because the drive to reproduce is inherent in humans, and because sexual assault and rape stem from that drive and are a part of human nature and an expression of that nature, and because every society has had sexual assault and none has successfully eliminated rape, that doesn't necessarily mean that sexual assault and rape are good things that should be encouraged, or that there wouldn't be disastrous and apocalyptic consequences were people given carte blanche to rape.

Now, reread the paragraph and replace every occurrence of the words 'sexual assault' with the words 'free markets', replace every occurrence of 'rape' with 'capitalism,' and every occurrence of the word 'reproduce' with 'acquire wealth.'"

Culinary experimentation is an integral and necessary expression of human nature. Deviant foods have been present in every society since the dawn of time. It is the drive of man to eat fried pickle sandwiches, to compete successfully for advantage on the battlefield of life and evolution. In fact, it is this very competition to eat fried pickle sandwiches that motivates man to do anything productive and worthwhile in the first place. It is this competition that motivates man to aspire to greatness. Can you imagine men striving for greatness were they not motivated by their drive to eat fried pickle sandwiches by any means? Of course not, because the drive to eat fried pickle sandwiches is at the very core of mankind's essence! As long as we disregard silly 'god' superstitions and recognize that a man is ultimately responsible to and for himself, we therefore recognize that any measures that attempt to stifle this natural and inherent drive to eat fried pickle sandwiches by any means are inherently wrong. To stifle deviant foods is the perverse anti-human dream of the superstitious or a bloated priestly class, or the self-promoted intelligentsia, which of course is both of these at the same time. In fact, no human society has successfully eliminated culinary experimentation, despite myriad measures designed to curb deviant foods. If man were only truly free to pursue this integral part of his nature we would walk as the masters of the Earth that we are!

>> ^imstellar28:
As an intellectual curiosity, how do you react to new or contradictory information - not just about this topic (statism) but other topics?

It depends on whether it piques my interest. Hearing someone equate statism to violence elicits a roll of my eyes; it's certainly not new information to realize there are people who believe this.

I don't particularly know how you guys deal with the contradictory information all around you. I'm trying to figure it out as I go, but you people are as deeply wrong as you think we are.

If it seemed like a legitimate source of information that contradicted my existing view, I'd investigate further, and try to reassess my conclusions.

This reinforces my view that libertarians are usually sanctimonious narcissists, so nothing particularly contradictory here.

It's not like you guys are absolute pacifists; that right to self-defense he mentions extends to defending property, don't it?

Sounds like you have a great way to examine your moral philosophy in the courts -- shoot the IRS tax collector when he comes knocking.

I'm sure the people will rally around you for your moral superiority.

^ "Hearing someone equate statism to violence elicits a roll of my eye"

can you please explain your line of reasoning?

>> ^imstellar28:
^ "Hearing someone equate statism to violence elicits a roll of my eye"
can you please explain your line of reasoning?


Ha! You're not serious right?! Obviously you are a fan of watching liberals tap dancing around serious questions.