The importance of a good energy source

I’m convinced that the single best use of our resources at present would be energy research and infrastructure.  Imagine  how our world could be different right now if we had a plentiful, cheap, clean source of energy.  Oil rich countries would lose their sway over other nations. Energy can be used to obtain fresh water and make light. heat, and cold, thus making habitable and farmable nearly any place on the planet.  Those places currently struggling for survival would be able to live comfortably and focus on things like education  and society, rather than scrounging for food and making war. Educated people rend to have fewer children, further reducing the problems of overpopulaton and the problems that come with it.

Does freedom of speech work both ways?

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Traditionally the first amendment is thought of as the right to express yourself without being arrested for your viewpoint, but does it also protect you from being forced to express a viewpoint you don’t agree with? Some examples.

Could the government force you to:

1. Do a public service announcement telling kids not to smoke?
2. Take wedding photos for a gay marriage? Paint their portrait? Does it have to look good?
3. Decry the holocaust in your blog post about the SS?
4. Swear on a bible to tell the truth?
5. Pledge allegiance to the flag? Complete with Under God?
6. Photograph an equal number of women and men for your book on sumo wrestlers?

The constitution was drafted as a document to protect the few from the majority and the weak from the powerful. If the government can force you express yourself in one way, chances are good that they will claim the right to do so in the others. For speech to be truly free, it cannot be coerced, however it would make our legal system more difficult if no one could be forced into incriminating others. The problem with the grey area in between is that those in power inexorably pull the greyscale towards their own desired ends, and the will of the people to defend the rights of those they disagree with often falters, especially in light of the uphill battle fighting the powers that be always entails.

Guilty until you find out who really did it?

Perhaps the biggest place my libertarian ideals clash with my strong feeling that technology should be strongly encouraged to progress is the issue of surveillance. It seems like every year the number of ways technology keeps tabs on us doubles, and law enforcement inevitably finds a way to get their fingers on the data. Computers are getting better every day at sifting the data themselves. In a frighteningly near future it looks likely that you will be so thoroughly watched that every minor infraction committed outside of your home could be instantly noticed, tried, ticketed, and deducted from your bank account. In the video above we see another slide down the slippery slope and catch a glimpse of how fair the system likely will be. Apparently proving that you weren’t even in the state when the crime was committed isn’t good enough any more, you have to go track down the criminals yourself. Apparently your accuser can now be a not too bright machine, and your car can commit crimes you are responsible for, whether you were there or not. In the age of automated law enforcement, the burden of proof should be even more strongly on the accuser, not less, and allowing the system to be a source of revenue will be its downfall.

Mandated gambling

According to The Economic Times, the Islamic Fiqh Academy has decided that health insurance is a form of gambling, and thus is illegal under Islamic law. I find this to be a deplorable insult to gambling houses everywhere. Gambling generally has much better odds, and I think is likely a less corrupt industry. Let us compare and contrast:

1. Gambling preys on the hopes of the poor.  Insurance preys on the fears of the poor.
2. Gambling is fun. Insurance: not fun.
3. Money lost to insurance goes to corrupt old white guys, Money lost to gambling goes to corrupt old white guys, or Indians.
4. Gambling is optional. Insurance is sometimes optional, but getting less so every day.

A note on number four; the academy stated that if the insurer was under legal constraints, it might be ok  to purchase insurance. I find it interesting that an all powerful deity that will punish me in the afterlife would be nice enough to leave me a legal loophole. I guess Muslims can vote for Hillary after all.

Unnecessary Censorship

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