Stephen R.C. Hicks's Blog, page 72
May 26, 2023
La escasez significa que la libertad es perro-come-perro. [Liberalism: Pro & Con en Español]
Quince argumentos para el Capitalismo Liberal: Este post va a formar parte de una serie de argumentos del libro “Liberalism: Pro & Con” de Stephen Hicks en español. Pueden encontrar todos los argumentos que serán publicados en orden en el siguiente link: Liberalism: Pro & Con en español. EN CONTRA Argumento 11: La escasez significa …
May 25, 2023
Bertrand Russell’s pacifism in the face of Nazism
Reprising this anecdote about philosopher Bertrand Russell’s opinion that the world would be better off with a Nazi victory. As reported by Richard Jencks, who was one of Russell’s students at UCLA in 1940: “The British philosopher Bertrand Russell, who had been jailed in World War I for his pacifism by a government of which …
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May 23, 2023
On “giving back”
Like many other people, I am troubled by this phrase when I hear it. The usual scenario: A successful person makes a donation to a worthy cause but downplays any praise by saying “I’m only giving back.” The usual gentle rejoinder is to point out that the phrase assumes that the giver has taken something …
May 22, 2023
Werner Sombart on heroes versus merchants
Those of us in the democratic-republican West often find it impossible to understand how the world could go to war so often in the 20th century. We were raised in a culture that had internalized Locke, Jefferson, Mill, and others—for whom the goal of peace and respect for others’ rights to life, liberty, and property …
May 21, 2023
Roark’s failure and Keating’s success — *The Fountainhead* Part I [80th Anniversary series]
The Fountainhead‘s themes are independence and integrity. In Part One, novelist Ayn Rand’s primary purpose is to contrast the characters Howard Roark and Peter Keating. Here is a table summarizing the main events in each young man’s early career. Structurally, each plot event for Roark is matched by an opposite event for Keating. Roark’s career …
May 20, 2023
Socialists and the Berlin Wall — disturbing changing attitudes
Socialists in 1980: “We use walls, barbed wire, and men with guns to control our people. Deal with it.” Socialists in 2000: “We’re ashamed of the Wall, but now we’re democratic socialists. Trust us!” Socialists in 2020: “Just kidding. Bring back the Wall!” Source: Jacobin, the Marxist/neo-Marxist true-believer magazine. Related: Marx and Engels’ The Communist …
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May 19, 2023
A prodigious practical joke in music
Reprising this Dmitri Shostakovich story of Alexander Glazunov‘s astounding musical memory. Glazunov was one of Shostakovich’s teachers in St. Petersburg, and by all accounts his ability to retain and recapitulate music was perfect. Here’s the practical joke played upon a visiting composer, Sergei Taneyev: “Taneyev had come to Petersburg from Moscow to show his new …
May 18, 2023
Imperialism and Capitalism
Capitalism: All humans have the rights to life, liberty, and property. Imperialism: We have the right to control you, take your stuff, and kill you if you resist. Imperialism existed for millennia before the revolutionary modern world of the last few centuries. During the modern era, both capitalism’s liberalism and imperialism’s authoritarianism existed within modernizing …
May 17, 2023
Ulysses in the Land of the Laestrygonians [Newberry on Great Art series]
An Artist’s View: Michael Newberry on Key Works of Art in History Michael Newberry is a California-based artist who has exhibited across Europe and North America. He is the author of books on color theory, philosophy of art, modernism and postmodernism in art, and art history. We invited him into our studio for this series …
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May 16, 2023
Rimsky-Korsakov on the “hardship” of the composer’s life
According to Shostakovich: “Rimsky-Korsakov used to say that he refused to acknowledge any complaints from composers about their hard lot in life. He explained his position thus: Talk to a bookkeeper and he’ll start complaining about life and his work. Work has ruined him, it’s so dull and boring. You see, the bookkeeper had planned …
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