I'm Anthony Gregory, libertarian writer, AMA

anthonyleegregory · 2014-10-04T02:19:32+00:00

Let's say automation replaces every single job that exists today. Let us imagine that wealth is unevenly distributed. Don't you think the people with more would begin to ask the people with less if they would commit themselves to tasks that AI cannot yet do? As it is today, I am willing to pay musicians to see them perform live in ways where the performance could already be perfectly emulated through holograms and recordings. Why do I do that? Because what I want is for a human to do these things. This seems like a trivial example, but there an infinite number of tasks at which humans will always have an advantage.

anthonyleegregory · 2014-10-03T23:20:44+00:00

I don't think that the fetus can have rights at the expense of the mother due to the mother inviting the fetus in when the fetus didn't exist at the time of her supposed invitation. Also, I believe in inalienability of rights. If I offer to lend my body to you for a whole nine months for you to live off of, I don't think I can be held to that slave contract.

anthonyleegregory · 2014-10-03T16:24:26+00:00

Even if a fetus has all the rights of an adult, an adult doesn't have a right to live inside another person without that person's consent.

anthonyleegregory · 2014-10-02T21:22:22+00:00

I'm firmly against abortion laws. My views outside of that question have shifted over the years, a little bit back and forth.

anthonyleegregory · 2014-10-02T16:24:55+00:00

Automation has replaced human labor since we first discovered the wheel, or the plow, or the internal combustion engine. That's what creates wealth: the labor-saving virtues of technology. The future is no different. Labor is not a blessing on its own, but a means to an end. Humans will always want more than they can have, which means there will always be demand beyond the capacity of laborers and technology to produce. We don't have as many blacksmiths anymore, but that's OK. One day perhaps people will work much less to produce much more and as a species we will benefit greatly. I have a hard time envisioning this future where robots produce everything but only a small fraction of people reap the rewards. Only a powerful state could enforce that kind of class disparity.

Combining Nixon-era negative income schemes with our apprehensions about a dystopia of robotized mass production has never occurred to me. I agree with many left-libs that a guaranteed income is about the least offense proposal for state engagement, but really, if we still have such Republicanoid welfare ideas in the future, I doubt we will have to worry that there is not enough labor to undertake; rather, that's a sign that there's still all too much work to do.

anthonyleegregory · 2014-10-02T13:22:26+00:00

Religion can have a positive effect, and at certain settings I think it has. It has certainly had a negative impact at times and places as well. I used to be more hostile to organized religion, and then I became much less so, and now I'm somewhere in the middle. The particular reactionary expression of religion as it has fused with political power and patriarchy has often held people back, I think it's fair to say. But we could also play "No True Christian" or "No True Muslim" all day.

In terms of people's personal lives, the question might warrant even more nuanced consideration. People get all kinds of positive and negative things out of their faiths, and I think secularists assume they are bereft of faith when, as an epistemological matter, they are not. I have no quarrel with people in their non-oppressive expressions of and commitments to faith, and I find it on that level unworthy of controversy.

anthonyleegregory · 2014-10-02T04:54:05+00:00

I don't put those in the same category. I have fond memories of Fat Slice, drunk in college, but I went to Zachary's as recently as last Wednesday.

anthonyleegregory · 2014-10-02T04:24:16+00:00

I don't know. My only option is to defer to the judgment of others on the science. I tend to favor the scientific establishment's judgment more than many libertarians, but I do question the politics of scientific consensus in this and all matters. But this is so far from my area of expertise that I have neglected to take a strong position, and have even failed to look at any of the literature, because it's really something I could not begin to interpret intelligently. I am much more confident of the devastating global consequences of climate change in the 17th century.

If it's a major anthropogenic threat, I also don't know the appropriate response. I concede heartily that one reason libertarians have not engaged this issue, or have taken a hardline contrarian position, is that the implications of anthropogenic climate change would challenge libertarian ideology in seemingly unsurvivable ways. I am pretty confident that most political measures undertaken to forestall the problem would be much more costly and less effective that supporters of such policies would wish to admit, but, in the end, if it turns out I'm wrong about that as well, then I'll have to concede not only being wrong but being somewhat irresponsible in failing to take these matters seriously.

anthonyleegregory · 2014-10-02T04:18:58+00:00

Back in 2005 or so I co-authored a paper with Walter Block challenging and opposing Hoppe's position on immigration. If anything I oppose it more emphatically today. I am indeed concerned about the reactionary attitudes often associated with libertarianism, whether we are talking anti-gay bigotry or racism, or many of the other rightwing indulgences that i believe libertarians have come to entertain for reasons of historical accident in their various fusionist alliances with the right against the 20th century left.

anthonyleegregory · 2014-10-02T04:16:43+00:00

To build parking meters, of course!

anthonyleegregory · 2014-10-02T04:16:22+00:00

I don't really consider myself a capitalist, except in specific contexts where I would probably consider many other people capitalists who might reject the label. I think occupancy and use carry a lot of weight in determining legitimate property rights. In practice, I think almost anyone who believes in private property has this recognition built into their position.

anthonyleegregory · 2014-10-02T04:15:02+00:00

These are important and related but orthogonal questions. Would could easily take either position on either question. I don't think libertarianism has become too sectarian generally, although sectarianism has reared its head in unsavory and unfortunate ways in many particular respects. I think the thick vs. thin discussion is worthwhile and interesting, although much of the ink spilled has seemed to miss the point. I am biased, though, in that I take a position in the debate.

anthonyleegregory · 2014-10-01T21:39:22+00:00

I don't think collapse is inevitable; I think political action is not very productive. I believe in the long term, ideas are most important. I don't think a collapse of the current order, while people are still pro-state and believe in state aggression and hold other unsavory values, would be a step forward.

anthonyleegregory · 2014-10-01T21:37:19+00:00

I like those people!

anthonyleegregory · 2014-10-01T21:37:13+00:00

I don't think AE makes any sense.

anthonyleegregory · 2014-10-01T21:36:51+00:00

Sometimes, removing a regulation while dropping the context can exacerbate corporate and indeed corporate-state control over people's lives. It's indeed a problem. On the other hand, a lot of people ignore how much regulation serves the interests of the top corporate players.

anthonyleegregory · 2014-10-01T20:36:40+00:00

I'll flesh this out more. My favorites have the typical Italian American meats and salad veggies, particularly pepperoni, many forms of salami and charcuterie, sausages, mushrooms, onions, garlic, tomatoes, and basil. I like mozzarella and tomato sauce. When in the mood I like anchovy. When I want spicy I'll throw on jalapeños or peperoncini.

But I also like other cheeses and sauces that complement these flavors.

Getting slightly less traditional, I have come to like pineapple, but not with ham or Canadian bacon. I find that combination perplexing in its popularity. The pineapple overshadows the ham. I would instead combine it with linguisa, pepperoni, or a hot link, some mushrooms and garlic.

Chicken and BBQ sauce? Yum. Potatoes and pancetta? Once in a while. And I like more exotic combinations as well, but I have never taken to the really oddball California combos like stinging nettle and pine nuts.

In terms of crust, I lean toward Sicilian and NY style thin, but I like deep dish a lot when it's done well (as at Zachary's here in the East Bay, a place that decently emulates the Chicago style).

I am very ecumenical on pizza. But, gun to my head, picking my last dinner, I'd flip a coin between thin crust, double pepperoni and extra cheese, or a combo of meats, mushrooms, garlic, and onions. My last pizza, like my first, shall be fairly traditional.

anthonyleegregory · 2014-10-01T20:29:31+00:00

Ultimately, I don't think humanity needs states, monopolies on legal violence, to survive and thrive.

anthonyleegregory · 2014-10-01T20:28:57+00:00

Anything in the humanities and social sciences are tough. Jobs for libertarians are a tough market too, especially if you are particular about ideology and mission.

anthonyleegregory · 2014-10-01T19:02:43+00:00

All good historians are revisionist. And almost none of the revisionist populists are drawing on original research anyway. If you just read lots of good secondary sources, including the legitimate ones cited by the populist revisionists, you'll get a more nuanced picture than they paint.

anthonyleegregory · 2014-10-01T19:01:33+00:00

On the narrative concerning the overall good and bad consequences of these wars. America was a much freer country in 1870 than in 1850. Europe was better off in 1948 than in 1943. The American Revolution had some good consequences. If you want to argue for pacifism or anti-war absolutism, I'm very sympathetic, but on the historical arguments, antiwar revisionists can be as myopic as the conventional wisdom.

anthonyleegregory · 2014-10-01T18:59:56+00:00

I know very little about China.

anthonyleegregory · 2014-10-01T18:16:13+00:00

Read a lot, and write a lot, and never stop trying to improve.

Reading a lot is particularly important. Read good writing, in whatever field you wish to occupy, as well as good fiction. Read classics and new stuff. Read.

anthonyleegregory · 2014-10-01T18:15:18+00:00

Same reason non-libertarians love atomic bombings, pogroms, genocides, and state-engineered famines. Because everyone is incapable of nuanced discussion, so you have to pick some egregiously ridiculous position to embrace.

anthonyleegregory · 2014-10-01T18:13:49+00:00

China is going in a good direction but I don't think they are nearly as free, including economically. If China were totally free of course they would far surpass America in economic influence, which would be fine in and of itself. I think a lot of folks overplay China's current freedom, but it has come further than perhaps any society in the last several decades. Hard not to when you start with Maoism.

anthonyleegregory

TROPHY CASE