Joakim Book
More or Less Democratic
“Jones’ discussions are interesting and many of his proposals should definitely be introduced, but they don’t go far enough. Instead, we could do with much less democracy and much more individual liberty.” ~ Joakim Book
Bitcoin’s Impressive Year in Perspective
“No matter what your opinion is on bitcoin, its financial returns are no longer astronomical. Plenty of upstarts, small caps, established companies and even other cryptocurrencies posted that kind of return in the strange financial year that was 2020. Welcome back to the lower troposphere, bitcoiners ‒ or as the rest of us call it:…
Feelings Over Facts Is Dangerous to Human Liberty
“If we redefine “harm” to mean whatever we want it to mean, we can rule over others. If your speech causes me discomfort, that’s harm. If your clothes offend me, that’s harm. If your moral or political opinions are different from mine, you’re harming both me and everyone else that I am angelically trying to…
Oxford’s Stringency Index is Falling Apart
“In the spring, when the ranking roughly seemed to reflect what was happening in various countries, nobody objected to it ‒ or even looked under its hood. Now, after its strange rewriting of history and poor use of the Nordic countries show very misleading stories, nobody should trust it without looking at the details.” ~…
The Year Populism Was Right and the Experts Weren’t
“Deep down 2020 has taught us that officials don’t have a clue, that they don’t control what they pretend to control, and that their measures aren’t targeted to or calibrated for stopping the spread of a virus.” ~ Joakim Book
The Rescue From Madness
“With governments around the Covid world suspending everything that people value, we suddenly warped society. Truth-speakers are only listened to if they are politically expedient. We impaired the workings of a free society, voluntarily, for a promise that someone, somewhere might not catch the flu.” ~ Joakim Book
You’re Not Underpaid ‒ But LeBron Is
“The value of your work isn’t what you say it is; it’s what others say it is, and more so what they’re willing to part with to get that. Even without the particular NBA rules LeBron couldn’t stand up and say his basketball skills are worth a trillion dollars a year. That’s for others to…
Value Is What I Say It Is
“The disdain for private commerce pours through the pages of The Deficit Myth, but never so much so as when Kelton imagines the transition for a newly unemployed worker. Rather than ‘sort boxes at a private retailer,’ she says, the worker in her scheme will ‘perform a useful job in public service.’ Everything that’s wrong…
How Bad is Our Social Dilemma?
“What critics refer to when they say ‘This time is the same’ isn’t that television, newspapers, or cars revolutionized our societies in the exact same way that social media are doing, but that we found ways to deal with them. Live with them. Constrain them. Even if Harris doesn’t seem to think so, we can…
Covid Governments and Social Harmony
“In a free society, trading, perusing wares, socializing and enjoying the company of others are mutually beneficial, innocent and harmonious actions. In a government-mandated Covid society, these wants are now antagonistic.”~ Joakim Book
