Libertarians, Part 2

Part 2 – Dogmatism vs. Ideology as it relates to Libertarians

• Teemu also pointed out that too many people stop thinking after they’ve read one book or two and then base all their thoughts on that.  It would be as if he and I had read Ludwig von Mises' Human Action back in 2002 and then blogged about everything in the world we think that is inconsistent with it for the next 10 years.
  • I agreed with him up to a point but I tried to make a distinction between dogmatism and ideology.  It is possible to have strongly held beliefs that certain things are true, as long as those beliefs are backed up by evidence and you are in principle able to change those views.  To argue that you must always maintain a neutral agnosticism about everything out of fear of becoming ideological is more than unnecessary – you would sacrifice the concept of truth at the altar of agnosticism.
  • Just like the economists I referenced in part 1, as long as you maintain a methodological openness, you can be as ideological as you want without being dogmatic.
  • I also remarked that it is better to be certain of your ideas one by one rather than accept a whole overarching philosophy like Libertarianism at once, accepting even the more untested bits along with the clearly true parts.
    • Then we got on a bit of a tangent about how the only way for society to become libertarian is through a grassroots change in people’s attitudes towards helping themselves and each other – Teemu paraphrased the quote “Have a revolution only once you could win an election”
      • I pointed out how libertarianism can indeed arise from populist, grassroots sentiments – look at the reaction to the bailouts and stimulus packages in the US.  It’s simply the political incentive structure that prevents this populist sentiment from manifesting in real political action.

At this point our discusson changed to Teemu trying to raise some issues with Libertarianism I had never heard him raise before.  It would appear in the past few months, perhaps influenced by his reading of Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers, his previously radical libertarianism has moderated significantly.  This will be discussed in Parts 3 and 4.

Libertarians, Part 1

I had a 2.5-hour conversation on 10 August 2009 with my friend, Teemu Pihlajamäki.  We hadn’t spoken in a couple of weeks and therefore had many thoughts that were ready to harvest. Part 1 – Blogs

• He asked me why I wanted to start a blog.  I’ve had several abortive attempts to start blogs in the past, but they all failed, because I was too ambitious – I wanted to express my complete, finished, perfect worldview on all subjects.  I now realize that I can contribute to the world of ideas without having decided everything.  I can be comfortable with a high level of agnosticism on many subjects, while still sharing some small perspectives or insights on issues, and not having them simply die in my head or in my notes.  I can put them out there to participate in the world of ideas.  I want to be a branch, not just a leaf in the tree of knowledge.
• Teemu worried that by publishing anything you get identified with a set of views, which makes it difficult to take your views back in the face of contradicting evidence.  Publishing, therefore, is dangerous because it crystallizes your ideas and arrests your intellectual development.
  • For example, even if he encountered good evidence contradicting climate change Al Gore would have a hard time taking back what he’s said, changing his views, without losing all credibility.
  • I pointed out this occurs more often with public figures, whereas academics can change their minds about things more easily – take the example in Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion of an old British professor who passionately believed one thing and then when presented with contradictory evidence in a lecture by an American, he came up and said “I’ve been wrong these 15 years”, and everyone in the lecture hall applauded.
  • I also pointed out a recent economist article alleging that it’s more acceptable to flip-flop on issues of public policy if you’re an economist:
  • “Today’s economists tend to be open-minded about content, but doctrinaire about form. They are more wedded to their techniques than to their theories.”
  • Outside of academia, however, we both agreed that it helps to be declarative and certain if you want to be heard, as The Onion once lampooned.

The Reader

I read the unabridged English audio version of Bernhard Schlink’s The Reader while travelling to Saskatchewan.  It was very well-produced and I found the book’s insights on relationships and human nature very insightful.  The complex portrayal of how Germans can come to terms with their actions during the Holocaust was riveting – I was touched especially by the following passage describing the protagonist’s feelings toward a former Nazi concentration camp guard:

“I wanted simultaneously to understand Hanna’s crime and to condemn it.  But it was too terrible for that.  When I tried to understand it, I had the feeling I was failing to condemn it as it must be condemned.  When I condemned it as it must be condemned, there was no room for understanding.  … I could not resolve this.  I wanted to pose myself both tasks – understanding and condemnation.”

This concept is further explored here.

Questioning Sweatshops

I’ve always been against well-meaning western agitations against sweat-shops, in the belief that the sweat-shop workers are agreeing to work in bad working conditions only because the alternative for them is even worse – prostitution, or picking through garbage, for example. It is not right for me to want to deny the poor their best alternative simply because that alternative offends our western sensibilities about working conditions. However - I was watching a report on CTV news last night describing the plight of poor children in New Delhi kidnapped by gangs and made to beg on the street or work in sweat-shops. The report spoke of children, many as young as 8 years old, being kidnapped on their way home from school and being forced to work for years for no money. Their parents sometimes never find out what happened to them. The report claims 3000 children are reported missing each year.

Clearly this is unacceptable, and police should step up their efforts to find the children and apprehend their captors.

But this also makes me wonder about the vulnerability of the concept of consent to workers who are very poor and especially who are very young. If someone is so poor and/or young that they have no way of asserting their legal rights, they will not be able to enforce their side of their employment contract. I’ve heard of employers holding wages from workers for months.

Perhaps there is a role for western donors to help empower poor workers to assert their legal rights. This would be a much more constructive direction to take than trying to shut down all sweat-shops, good and bad.

Corner Gas in Rouleau: An Opportunity Lost - Michael Currie

Last weekend my friend Chris, Kawal and I had a chance to visit Rouleau, Saskatchewan (pronounced by locals like the candy bar “Rolo”, ignoring the French origin of the town’s name). About 45 minutes south of Regina, this village of 500 has about a dozen short roads, and is best known as the shooting location for the popular CTV series “Corner Gas”.  The proximate cause of our visit was my rabid fandom.  I wanted to have my picture taken there!  I wanted to visit a place that so many of us consider as quintessentially Canadian as Anne of Green Gables.

Upon our arrival, I was disappointed to find the Corner Gas store and Ruby’s Diner to be in a derelict state.  Windows were boarded up and no trespassing signs were affixed to the doors.  Tall metal spikes prevented entry into the parking lot in front.  Instead of the cheerful Corner Gas of the show, we were confronted with a depressing, horror-movie version of the set.  It gave the impression of a businesses hastily abandoned by its fictional owners, for unexplained reasons, like some kind of prairie Mary Celeste.

Now I understand the location was constructed by CTV stagehands for the filming of a show that ended almost a year ago.  But it’s clear that this show had a special place in the hearts of many Canadians.  The security guard on duty (pictured below) told us she sees 200 cars stop to visit and have their picture their picture taken at the derelict sets every day.

Why can’t this location be rebuilt to look just like the stores in the show, to accommodate tourists and visitors, now that the show is over?  The villagers of Rouleau clearly want this.  The mayor has been pushing for it for a long time, as you can see from this article posted on the wall of a local ice-cream shop.

The obstacle to the creation of a Corner Gas tourist trap

The land is owned by CTV, and they don’t want to sell it.  They are treating like any other movie set, attempting to keep it in filmable condition should there be a Corner Gas movie.  They seem to be unfazed by the tremendous business opportunity they are allowing to lay fallow like so many fields of arid wheat.

Doesn’t CTV recognize the revenues that could be generated?  If 200 car-fulls of people visit each day of the summer months, 100 days a year, and this is without any advertising or prospect of an actual open location to visit, imagine how many would come if it was set up explicitly as a tourist trap.  Imagine 300 visitors each spend an average of $5 at Ruby’s Diner or buying a T-shirt at the Corner Gas store.  That’s $1500 per day, or $150,000 a year!  That revenue stream could easily justify the construction of buildings at the location capable of accommodating tourists.

I think the next step should be a forward-thinking businessperson in the Rouleau area willing to commit a couple hundred thousand dollars to finance the construction of the new buildings.  He could then propose to CTV to share revenues, and license the Corner Gas name from them.

At that point it would be up to CTV to say yes!  I hope such a businessperson with the necessary capital comes forward, and I hope CTV says yes.  I look forward to returning to a friendlier Corner Gas set in the future!