A guest post by Mark Vaughan
Whenever someone mentions porn or drugs I automatically think “liberty” and tradeoffs. Good article, thanks.
People will endure a lot of civil tyranny as long as they have the liberty to put bread on their kids table.
But there shouldn't be a dichotomy.
It's the old Orwell/Huxley dilemma. Is tyranny imposed on us against our will, or do we happily choose it?
A lotus eating society isn't really at liberty. They're tyrannized by their own appetites.
Some pursuits are inherently productive (barbering). Some are a drain on productivity (porn).
Societies are usually a mixture of rightly knowing what to penalize, but screwing up the rest. Porn? Sanction it. Magazine articles? Leave 'em alone.
Whenever someone mentions porn or drugs I automatically think “liberty” and tradeoffs. Good article, thanks.
People will endure a lot of civil tyranny as long as they have the liberty to put bread on their kids table.
But there shouldn't be a dichotomy.
It's the old Orwell/Huxley dilemma. Is tyranny imposed on us against our will, or do we happily choose it?
A lotus eating society isn't really at liberty. They're tyrannized by their own appetites.
Some pursuits are inherently productive (barbering). Some are a drain on productivity (porn).
Societies are usually a mixture of rightly knowing what to penalize, but screwing up the rest. Porn? Sanction it. Magazine articles? Leave 'em alone.