tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post183275326718275742..comments2023-12-28T06:30:48.808-05:00Comments on The Rule of Reason: A Singular AmbitionUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post-23420072971231243432009-01-15T13:35:00.000-05:002009-01-15T13:35:00.000-05:00Jeff, Burgess,Another addition to the list of roll...Jeff, Burgess,<BR/>Another addition to the list of rolling back the state would be the Anti-Corn-Law League. Whose tract work eventually evolved into "The Economist."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post-75053538934128301882009-01-09T11:49:00.000-05:002009-01-09T11:49:00.000-05:00Ed,Thanks for another informative and intereting a...Ed,<BR/>Thanks for another informative and intereting article. Will pass it along.<BR/><BR/>Cheers,<BR/>JoeJoehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02283312915111581912noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post-63744039007755967382009-01-09T11:41:00.000-05:002009-01-09T11:41:00.000-05:00An Addendum concering Thatcher and Hong Kong:I thi...An Addendum concering Thatcher and Hong Kong:<BR/><BR/>I think another contributing factor concerning her "lapse" on Hong Kong was that she probably told by Kissinger or someone else in the State Dept. that she couldn't count on U.S. backing if she remained firm on the colony being a British possession and that the Communist regime, being anti-freedom and responsible for the murder of millions, didn't have a moral or legal claim to the colony. I suppose she was stricken with a bout of Nockist fatalism then. That's just my conjecture without having read Blundell's other recommended reading. <BR/><BR/>Personally, I think Peking would have backed down in any kind of face-down over Hong Kong, and that might have caused such a loss of "face" to the Communist leaders that it might have ignited the eventual collapse of the regime. But, we have Callaghan to thank for initiating talks with Peking before Thatcher won office in 1979. <BR/><BR/>EdAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post-61079012533140008352009-01-08T19:39:00.000-05:002009-01-08T19:39:00.000-05:00It appears the history and economics of the cargo ...It appears the history and economics of the cargo container has already been unlocked.<BR/><BR/>http://press.princeton.edu/titles/8131.htmlMichael Labeithttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12076114734209306458noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post-46716145943678611242009-01-08T14:21:00.000-05:002009-01-08T14:21:00.000-05:00Jeff's suggestion is excellent. Here are winners f...Jeff's suggestion is excellent. Here are winners for which I would love to see an explanation of how they won:<BR/>- The Industrial Revolution--who were the advocates of laissez-faire (or at least a more open economy) and <I>how</I> did they win (and then lose)?<BR/>- The theory of evolution--how did it (slowly) overcome so much opposition?<BR/>- The introduction of plastic pipes into the USA. (For those not old enough to remember, pipe-fitter unions violently opposed plastic pipes.)<BR/>- The introduction of cargo containers. (Again, violently opposed by dock-worker unions and their leftist supporters.)<BR/><BR/>Happy research!Burgess Laughlinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13865479709475171678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post-90310974863451955122009-01-08T14:10:00.000-05:002009-01-08T14:10:00.000-05:00Presenting those instances in history where negati...Presenting those instances in history where negative trends were reversed, partially or otherwise, would, I think, be a very effective morale booster for those fighting for a better world.<BR/><BR/>Some examples... <BR/><BR/>(1)The age of the Antonines in Rome<BR/>(2)The Rennaissance<BR/>(3)The Fall of Oliver Cromwell<BR/>(4)The Failure of the Calvinists and Puritans<BR/><BR/>And in those cases where it has been transient, as in the case of the Antonines, it would be fruitful to examine both why it occurred and why it was not lasting.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post-45286984357538179592009-01-08T12:52:00.000-05:002009-01-08T12:52:00.000-05:00First, what a wonderful read. Even if I disagreed...First, what a wonderful read. Even if I disagreed with everything you wrote (which I do not), I'd still enjoy the reading. <BR/>As to the UK and the EU, I haven't taken the time to view all four of the following videos, but it seems there is at least some vocal and motivated opposition in the UK. <BR/><BR/>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6H5eFyapB4 <BR/><BR/>Give it a look.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post-69878600366405982192009-01-08T12:48:00.000-05:002009-01-08T12:48:00.000-05:00I must say that, in times of deep aggravation, I o...I must say that, in times of deep aggravation, I often implicitly share Nock's fatalism. The incentive to denounce the naivete of the American people becomes irresistable whenever our president-elect chooses to discuss economics as if he has been teaching it as opposed to law for the past several years.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post-39141795785877120482009-01-08T12:04:00.000-05:002009-01-08T12:04:00.000-05:00Tenure: Brit Rail isn't covered in Blundell's boo...Tenure: Brit Rail isn't covered in Blundell's book. <BR/><BR/>Tenure: Also, I think her dealings with Kissinger and company vis a vis Hong Kong are probably covered in the other titles Blundell cites at the end of his book.<BR/><BR/>Also, I think the Brits are in a better position to gauge the effectiveness of any kind of activism concerning the EU. <BR/><BR/>Burgess: Thanks for the info re ARI.<BR/><BR/>EdAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post-59115418891636607802009-01-08T08:57:00.000-05:002009-01-08T08:57:00.000-05:00A footnote to Ed Cline's informative and inspi...A footnote to Ed Cline's informative and inspiring article: Yaron Brook and Onkar Ghate presented three lectures at last summer's Objectivist Conference. The title of the series is: "Cultural Movements: Creating Change."<BR/><BR/>The lecturers repeatedly mentioned Thatcher's temporary successes--as a partial model and a long-term warning.<BR/><BR/>It is available free under the ARCIR Participate and Activism tabs. Each lecture is about 30 minutes long and includes Q&A.<BR/><BR/>Ayn Rand Center for Individual Rights<BR/>http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=media_new<BR/><BR/>Study Groups for Objectivists covered the Brook/Ghate lectures last summer: <A HREF="http://www.studygroupsforobjectivists.com" REL="nofollow">(SGO)</A>Burgess Laughlinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13865479709475171678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post-27424067501016433802009-01-07T12:46:00.000-05:002009-01-07T12:46:00.000-05:00Anonymous: Re Lame Duck Callaghan:I sit corrected....Anonymous: Re Lame Duck Callaghan:<BR/><BR/>I sit corrected. Will correct, although as John describes the drama, there wasn't much difference between a Conservative and a Labourite.<BR/><BR/>EdAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post-73256777804065740202009-01-07T12:33:00.000-05:002009-01-07T12:33:00.000-05:00Hi Ed,"The “lame duck” Conservative Prime Minister...Hi Ed,<BR/><BR/>"The “lame duck” Conservative Prime Minister James Callaghan"<BR/><BR/>James Callaghan was a Labour Prime Minister, not Conservative.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post-2135593643177470892009-01-07T12:27:00.000-05:002009-01-07T12:27:00.000-05:00That was a great article. As a Londoner, it was mu...That was a great article. As a Londoner, it was much appreciated. Thatcher does not get the respect she deserves. People living with all the luxuries that here freeing up of the markets accomplished, openly criticise her, ignorant or unwilling to accept that she was a good force in their lives.<BR/><BR/>One thing I was wondering if the book deals with is the privatisation of the trains. I've always wanted to know more about the details of this, why it failed, and how much it was really 'privatised'.<BR/><BR/>Also, how much hope do you think there might be for someone to start an anti-EU group in the UK? I always wonder how effective activism is going to be here, because whilst we have the historical precedent in having invented the liberties the US possesses, we do not have that immediate sense-of-life, that deep feeling of entitlement to one's rights and ones privacy which the US posses. Perhaps I should be less concerned with appealing to people's sense of life and more to their common sense?Tenurehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05508697774184528482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200276.post-87471262904021076242009-01-07T12:21:00.000-05:002009-01-07T12:21:00.000-05:00Thank-you for yet another enlightening piece, Mr. ...Thank-you for yet another enlightening piece, Mr. Cline. I lived in London and East Anglia for a time in the late 1970s, and can testify to the general sense of "fatigue" and "collapse" that seemed to permeate nearly every aspect of British life at that time. Mrs. Thatcher said she would do it and she did truly reverse that trend. For this she was and continues to be reviled -- much in the manner of those suffering from "Bush Dementia Syndrome" -- by those who have a vested interest in maintaining the miserable condition of British citizens and, thereby, their power over them.<BR/><BR/>One question: do you think Mrs. Thatcher's blind spot with respect to Hong Kong and China could have been a consequence of or related to the Nixon/Kissinger "detente" with the Chinese Communists?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com