“[There is a] strong correlation between market freedom and lower government corruption -- not terribly surprising, since the effect of increasing regulatory power is to shift 'cheating' from the private to the public sphere.” GovernmentStrongEffectsCorruptionCheatingSpheresSurprisingCorrelationGovernment Corruption Author:Julian Sanchez
“It is the idea that all order must be explained by a functioning mind at the helm, not its denial, that has the closet affinity to the religious instinct.” MindIdeasOrderReligiousInstinctDenialClosetsAffinityHelmBashers Author:Julian Sanchez
“Why is it that any time government takes over something for a few years, its assumed that people are too incompetent to do it for themselves?” PeopleYearsGovernmentIncompetent Author:Julian Sanchez
“If it were really the case that terrorists "hate us for our freedoms," we'd be getting more popular with Al Qaeda every month.” IfsHateCasesDemocracyMonthsTerroristAlsAl Qaeda Author:Julian Sanchez
“Market bashers ... might understand the claim that in some particular field, markets required no intervention--though they'd be skeptical--but the notion that, on general principle, complex systems ran themselves just fine without benign intervention seemed like it could only be the product of a quasi-religious faith. ... Of course, this gets things almost precisely backwards. It is the idea that all order must be explained by a functioning mind at the helm, not its denial, that has the closet affinity to the religious instinct.” MindIdeasMightOrderCoursesReligiousPrinciplesFieldsParticularProductsFineClaimsInstinctComplexesNotionDenialRanClosetsBackwardsInterventionReligious FaithSkepticalAffinityBenignHelmComplex SystemsBashers Author:Julian Sanchez
“It is no response to assert that the Patriot Act has been useful; what you need to explain is how any particular safeguard would have so diluted investigative powers that it would have frustrated an investigation and created a security harm outweighing the benefit to civil liberties. If you'd rather trade scary stories, that's fine too - just let me know so I can buy a bag of marshmallows before our next round.” IfsKnowsNeedsHas BeensI CanStoriesNextLibertySecurityParticularFineBenefitsLet MeTradeResponseRoundsScaryHarmPrivacyBagsInvestigationFrustratedPatriotCivil LibertiesPatriot ActMarshmallowScary StoriesNo Response Author:Julian Sanchez
“But even if you thought they were adequate at the time, when you're collecting data in bulk-you've got it. The data lasts until you delete it; the rules only last until you decide to change them, and change them in secret.” IfsLastsSecretDataPrivacyAdequateCollecting Author:Julian Sanchez
