Category Archives: Questions

Question 10: What is the DIM Hypothesis?

Posted on September 9, 2013 by Jim

I have been participating in a book group this year; we are reading Leonard Peikoff’s new book The DIM Hypothesis: Why the Lights of the West are Going Out. After having engaged is some rigorous chewing of the book with … Continue reading →

Posted in Questions | Tagged Ayn Rand, culture, DIM Hypothesis, disintegration, integration, Leonard Peikoff, misintegration, modal analysis, Objectivism, philosophy, society, western culture | 3 Comments

Thanks for the cheap train ride…Suckers!

Posted on June 18, 2013 by Jim

The other day a coworker asked me jokingly, “Soon you are going to have that shiny new public train running almost from your doorstep and straight to the office. Don’t you feel bad that drivers on the parallel public toll … Continue reading →

Posted in Questions | Tagged Fairfax County, Metro, privatization, Silver Line, Tyson's Corner, W&OD trail | 2 Comments

Is the Great Recession really over?

Posted on June 16, 2013 by Jim

I did not realize that we are many years into President Obama’s economic boom times. Reportedly, the Great Recession ended only a couple months after our President took office, but that must be former President Bush’s fault. Yet, to me, … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Questions | Tagged Barack Obama, Bureau of Economic Analysis, Commerce Department, debt, deficits, GDP, George W. Bush, Great Recession, John Allison, National Bureau of Economic Research, recession | Leave a comment

Should We Stop Letting Terrorist Attacks Scare Us?

Posted on April 17, 2013 by Jim

Related to the bombings at the Boston Marathon, I read a recommendation that we Americans and the media should stop overplaying the significance of the attack as its casualty count is small compared to the violence that criminals commit everyday … Continue reading →

Posted in Political Discussions, Questions | Tagged 9-11, al Qaeda, backlash, boston marathon, Boston Marathon bombing, kobar towers, Ted Robert Gurr, terrorism, USS Cole | Leave a comment

Question #7: If we ‘privatize’ Social Security, what would happen to people that recklessly invest their retirement and lose it?

Posted on February 17, 2013 by Jim

The following question comes from Reddit: If we ‘privatize’ Social Security, what would happen to people that recklessly invest their retirement and lose it? First, in the question, there is an unfounded premise about risk as in: government control of … Continue reading →

Posted in Questions | Tagged Baby boomers, civil society, Echo boomers, entitlement reform, GenX, retirement, Social Security, Social Security Trust Fund | Leave a comment

A Tale of Two Homeless Men

Posted on January 28, 2013 by Jim

I posit a hypothesis regarding two homeless men and how they would be commonly viewed by the typical man on the street, as expressed by current government policy. These two men are the same in all observed respects except as … Continue reading →

Posted in Questions | Tagged altruism, homeless, property rights | 4 Comments

Question #6: Why is altruism bad?

Posted on January 7, 2013 by Jim

Related to the post Thank LBJ and Altruism for Our Federal Deficit and Debt, the following question came via Reddit from a father raising his child to be an altruist: “Why is altruism bad?” Sacrifice, and in particular self-sacrifice. I … Continue reading →

Posted in Questions | Tagged altruism, Ayn Rand, How I Met Your Mother, orgy of sacrifice, satire, selfishness, slap bet | 4 Comments

Question #3: Why Write about Libertarians and Gary Johnson?

Posted on August 8, 2012 by Jim

So far, more than 40% of the posts to Selfish Citizenship have been tied to either Libertarians or Gary Johnson, so the following question is relevant: Why are you writing so much about Libertarians and Gary Johnson? There are two … Continue reading →

Posted in Questions, Quotes | Tagged anarchy, Ayn Rand, Gary Johnson, Harry Binswanger, lexicon, Libertarian, Peter Schwartz, Philosophy Who Needs It, The Objectivist, The Objectivist Forum, Voice of Reason | 1 Comment

Question #2: Flame wars, why has our political debate become so nasty?

Posted on August 2, 2012 by Jim

The following question has been popping up a lot recently, and it relates to the prior post on Angry Libertarians: Why has our political discourse become so uncivil? The idea that we should do something has been popularly replaced with … Continue reading →

Posted in Political Discussions, Questions, Quotes | Tagged America polarized, Ayn Rand, civil, civil society, coercion, free association, Individual Rights, initiation of force, majoritarianism, political correctness, political debate, political discourse, political discussion, privacy, problems in our government, proper government, retaliatory force, rhetoric, tyranny, uncivil, voluntary | 1 Comment

Question #1: Why haven’t Libertarians been electorally successful in face of growth in government?

Posted on July 28, 2012 by Jim

The following question was in response to the Selfish Citizenship post Open Letter to Gary Johnson: Going back to the Reagan Administration through today, why is it that the Republicans and Democrats have been able to grow government without an … Continue reading →

Posted in Election, Questions | Tagged Alan Greenspan, bonds, budget, Bull Moose Party, capital gains tax, cargo cult, Cold War, debt, defense spending cuts, deficit reduction, deficits, Democratic Party, Dick Cheney, Dick Gephardt, divided government, election, Gary Johnson, George H. W. Bush, Graham-Rudman-Hollings, Greenspan Commission, Kemp-Roth, Leon Penetta, Libertarian, Libertarian Pary, Occupy Wall Street, payroll taxes, Prop 12, read my lips no new taxes, Reagan tax cuts, Republican Party, revenue, Ronald Reagan, Ross Perot, Secretary of Defense, Social Security, Social Security Trust Fund, spending, spending cuts, surplus, taxes, Tea Party, Theodore Roosevelt, U.S. Treasuries | 3 Comments