(Edited and Reposted) [T]he intention of the anglo enlightenment was to create an aristocracy of everyone, by granting aristocratic property rights and obligations to everyone. The program succeeded as long as there were members of the non-aristocratic classes, that observed aristocratic traditions. But with first the introduction of the catholic non-aristocratic classes, and then women, and then eastern european jews, and now members of third world socialistic cultures, this model could not survive. It could not survive because meritocracy is not to the advantage of cultures that depend upon systemic free riding both within the family, and between the family and the state. [A]ristocratic Egalitarianism of the Dark Enlightenment returns to the intention of the enlightenment with one exception: I seek to limit aristocracy to those that desire it, will act to obtain it, and will act to defend it. There is no reason whatsoever that a society needs an homogenous set of rules, rights and obligations for all members. If certain people want to maintain their socialistic policies between themselves, and others to maintain their aristocratic policies between themselves, then this is adequate as long as neither group makes a claim on the property of the other, and obtains the property of the other only in voluntary exchange. Aristocracy is a high risk way of life, that rewards that high risk, or punishes it. Not all people and all peoples are capable of this way of life. Collective insurance and collective risk is more appropriate to their wants and abilities. It is immoral to ask them to embrace aristocratic life and aristocracy’s requirement for self-insurance. Likewise many of us desire liberty and meritocracy, and the status and wealth that comes from it, even if we must carry the risk of self-insurance against the vicissitudes of life. For ‘the best’ our competitive ability, our wits, our will, our strength, is our insurance against the vicissitudes of life. It is immoral to ask us to pay collective insurance and to limit ourselves to collective risk. [W]e are unequal. We must make use of unequal strategies if each of us is to flourish to the best of his abilities, in the meager time we have on this earth. [A]ristocracy is a choice we make, and a burden we carry, in exchange for the freedom to flourish to the best of our abilities. Yet we cannot ask those whose flourishing depends on collective efforts to adopt individual risk and reward. Curt Doolittle The Philosophy of Aristocracy The Propertarian Institute Kiev, Ukraine
Source: Original Site Post
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Violence Represents A Conclusive Refutation
—“Violence represents both a conclusive refutation of argumentation ethics and — quite often — a cheaper means of accomplishing the same ends.”— Eli Harman (Eli seems to frequently manage to reduce what takes me 750 words into twenty.) Curt
COMMENTS Carolynn Smith, David Mondrus and 2 others like this. Tammey Grable-Newton “I didn’t have time to write you a short letter, so I wrote you a long one.” -Twain Shorter is harder. April 23 at 1:47pm Don Stacy How is violence “a conclusive refutation of argumentation ethics”? April 23 at 4:48pm Curt Doolittle I won’t speak for Eli Harman. But this might help. http://www.propertarianism.com/…/the-first-question-of…/The First Question Of Politics: Ternary Aristocratic Egalitarian Ethics Vs Binary Ghetto Ethics… You have made the error of Argumentation which is that because one must surrender violence to conduct a cooperative argument, that you assume the choice for participants is between cooperation and non cooperation, rather than to assume that the choice is between cooperation, non cooperation, and vio… April 23 at 4:51pm Eli Harman Arguments and ideas are not reality. They are useful to the extent that they help us navigate and make sense of reality. Objectively, AE does not do this, as evidenced by the fact that the use of violence — even aggressive violence — can be adaptive; as evidenced by its ubiquity. Kill the adherents of AE and the argument is refuted. Reality doesn’t care about your arguments. But your arguments should probably take note of reality. April 23 at 5:08pm
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Violence Represents A Conclusive Refutation
—“Violence represents both a conclusive refutation of argumentation ethics and — quite often — a cheaper means of accomplishing the same ends.”— Eli Harman (Eli seems to frequently manage to reduce what takes me 750 words into twenty.) Curt
COMMENTS Carolynn Smith, David Mondrus and 2 others like this. Tammey Grable-Newton “I didn’t have time to write you a short letter, so I wrote you a long one.” -Twain Shorter is harder. April 23 at 1:47pm Don Stacy How is violence “a conclusive refutation of argumentation ethics”? April 23 at 4:48pm Curt Doolittle I won’t speak for Eli Harman. But this might help. http://www.propertarianism.com/…/the-first-question-of…/The First Question Of Politics: Ternary Aristocratic Egalitarian Ethics Vs Binary Ghetto Ethics… You have made the error of Argumentation which is that because one must surrender violence to conduct a cooperative argument, that you assume the choice for participants is between cooperation and non cooperation, rather than to assume that the choice is between cooperation, non cooperation, and vio… April 23 at 4:51pm Eli Harman Arguments and ideas are not reality. They are useful to the extent that they help us navigate and make sense of reality. Objectively, AE does not do this, as evidenced by the fact that the use of violence — even aggressive violence — can be adaptive; as evidenced by its ubiquity. Kill the adherents of AE and the argument is refuted. Reality doesn’t care about your arguments. But your arguments should probably take note of reality. April 23 at 5:08pm
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"Aristocratic Egalitarianism Is The Kinship Of Property Rights"
–“Aristocratic Egalitarianism Is The Kinship Of Property Rights. He who shall exchange the defense of property with me, I shall treated as my kin.”– (I think that’s the most reductive statement that I can make.)
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“Aristocratic Egalitarianism Is The Kinship Of Property Rights”
–“Aristocratic Egalitarianism Is The Kinship Of Property Rights. He who shall exchange the defense of property with me, I shall treated as my kin.”– (I think that’s the most reductive statement that I can make.)
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"Aristocratic Egalitarianism Is The Kinship Of Property Rights"
–“Aristocratic Egalitarianism Is The Kinship Of Property Rights. He who shall exchange the defense of property with me, I shall treated as my kin.”– (I think that’s the most reductive statement that I can make.)
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“Aristocratic Egalitarianism Is The Kinship Of Property Rights”
–“Aristocratic Egalitarianism Is The Kinship Of Property Rights. He who shall exchange the defense of property with me, I shall treated as my kin.”– (I think that’s the most reductive statement that I can make.)
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On My Use Of Terms
[I] don’t like to just ‘point’ to my glossary entries every time I use some term. I’d rather defend each term in context – it’s like physical fitness. I get better at my arguments with every ‘set of reps’. In a perfect world, every time a use a term, FB would link to it in my glossary. (Even on my web site I have to do it manually). But my Glossary is 50K words of definitions. I started it in 2009. I don’t really have to add to it all that often any longer. I periodically take a given letter (A-Z) and update it. But you know, it’s turned out to be pretty stable. Some terms are marked “undone” so that I go back and finish them. Some could use some clarification. My original intention was to emphasize those terms that I have modified or which I’ve created. But many many terms have been modified to abandon enlightenment errors and introduce propertarian corrections to those terms. http://www.propertarianism.com/glossary/
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On My Use Of Terms
[I] don’t like to just ‘point’ to my glossary entries every time I use some term. I’d rather defend each term in context – it’s like physical fitness. I get better at my arguments with every ‘set of reps’. In a perfect world, every time a use a term, FB would link to it in my glossary. (Even on my web site I have to do it manually). But my Glossary is 50K words of definitions. I started it in 2009. I don’t really have to add to it all that often any longer. I periodically take a given letter (A-Z) and update it. But you know, it’s turned out to be pretty stable. Some terms are marked “undone” so that I go back and finish them. Some could use some clarification. My original intention was to emphasize those terms that I have modified or which I’ve created. But many many terms have been modified to abandon enlightenment errors and introduce propertarian corrections to those terms. http://www.propertarianism.com/glossary/
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“All Religions Need A Book”
[A]ll religions need a ‘book’. I have been working under that premise for over a decade. Once you have a book, philosophy doesn’t float. You have an authoritarian position to refer to. Debate over that position creates invention in the minds of those who are interested. If the book is very good, then the results are self organizing. If you have a book and advocates, then you have political means. If you have a book, advocates and members, then you political power. If you have political power you can institute your ideas. If your book morally condones violence in the pursuit of your ideas, you have an eternal irrevocable advantage independent of current circumstance. The problem for the west is that we have never had a book. Plato failed. The monarchs ruled by tradition. The church spoke in allegory. Smith Hume and Jefferson wrote advice not rules, and they created the catastrophic error that the near universal aristocratization of the English could have the same breadth of application as the doctrine of the church.