Around the World Wide Web 27

1. Right Wing Nation has the quote of the century. It is a brilliant insight.

2. How is an establishment established? Through government funding of the arts. In Finland right-wing artists keep their ideas to themselves in order to get grants.

...coming out as a right-winger on Finland’s left-dominated art scene would mean an end to grants, leading to economic problems. Boards and panels would not look kindly on such a move.

3. Ergo has an interesting post on an argument between the world famous philosopher Colin McGinn and some Objectivists on McGinn's blog. I haven't read McGinn's blog; Ergo's report is enough for me. McGinn attempted to argue from intimidation with ad hominem attacks that did not work. What might work in an Oxford classroom does not fly in the blogosphere.

4. Mike's Eyes look at the ravages of inflation, comparing prices between 1942 and today. Remember, inflation only happens by the government printing paper money. In the last quarter of the 19th century, when America was on the gold standard, prices actually fell through the normal working of the free market. I believe that the price differential between 1942 and today does not tell the whole story of how much the government has destroyed the dollar because the market, competition and technological progress (most especially the computer) have worked to bring down prices and thus help disguise the extent of inflation.

5. Combine the premise of the nanny state, in which the state can force individuals to do what the state considers healthy, with the premise of multiculturalism, in which non-western cultures must be appeased as much as western culture is reviled, and what do you get? Infidels can't smoke, but Muslims can.

6. The folks at Democratic Underground are excited because Daniel Ellsberg of Pentagon Papers fame has written a piece declaring that A Coup Has Occurred. That's right, President Bush has already overthrown the US Constitution, most of us are just unaware of it. When I read the piece on DU I was struck by how unsupported and floating Ellsberg's argument is; he provides no examples, no evidence, nothing to support his extraordinary claim. I followed the link and read the original to make sure the evidence was not cut out by the poster at DU, but still could find none.

This piece offers a fascinating look at leftist epistemology. Ellsberg can assert without evidence that Bush has overthrown the US Constitution and the people at DU think it is true because they want it to be true. And these are the people who boast they are the reality-based community.