OVO

If there is such a thing as a right, it resides in individuals and not in groups of individuals. And if there is a fundamental right, it is the right to not be killed – that one has ‘ownership’ of one’s own life. This most private of private property is the just foundation of law. The rule of law (a weak means of encouraging individual rights, recognition that we won’t all just get along) is better than a lack of the rule of law (no means of encouraging individual rights, assumption that we’ll all just get along). Democracy (a weak means of voting out bad laws and rulers) is better than tyrany (no means of voting out bad laws and rulers).

What good are copyrights? Buckminster Fuller went on at length about his personal mission to improve the lot of humanity, but you can be sure that he copyrighted each and every artifact he invented / improved. The reason, he said, was to create a long-term and public record that an individual can make great achievements – achievements that a large and well-funded institution or government could not. He also wanted to keep his inventions out of the hands of people who would not use them as he thought best. He did profit from his work (horrors!), and some of that profit was based on his claim of ownership over his ideas (or, sadly, his claim of ownership over other’s ideas). But Bucky’s example is one that demonstrates copyrights have their place even among those who are against the ownership of ideas. Without a respect for private property (including intellectual property), there are no rights, no rule of law and no democracy.

I advocate a broader spectrum of copyright law, with many shades between “I own this completely for a long time” and “I made this and I say everybody come break off a piece, have fun.” The marketplace of ideas (and the marketplace of marketplaces) will favor those who offer the best ideas at the cheapest prices. This will allow room for both the owned and the shared, with everything sliding toward the shared sooner or later.

Dan Baker writes: “I have an challenge for Christians. My challenge is simply this: tell me what happened on Easter. I am not asking for proof. My straightforward request is merely that Christians tell me exactly what happened on the day that their most important doctrine was born. The conditions of the challenge are simple and reasonable. In each of the four Gospels, begin at Easter morning and read to the end of the book: Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24, and John 20-21. Also read Acts 1:3-12 and Paul’s tiny version of the story in I Corinthians 15:3-8. These 165 verses can be read in a few moments. Then, without omitting a single detail from these separate accounts, write a simple, chronological narrative of the events between the resurrection and the ascension: what happened first, second, and so on; who said what, when; and where these things happened. Since the gospels do not always give precise times of day, it is permissible to make educated guesses. The narrative does not have to pretend to present a perfect picture–it only needs to give at least one plausible account of all of the facts. Additional explanation of the narrative may be set apart in parentheses. The important condition to the challenge, however, is that not one single biblical detail be omitted. Fair enough?”

“It is refreshing that conservative students are increasingly fighting back against academic intolerance. Some conservative students at the University of Texas have begun compiling a ‘Professor Watch List’ to warn students about professors who use their classes for liberal indoctrination. – Phyllis Schlafly, Confronting The Campus Radicals January 12, 2004

“Large numbers of revolutionary young people [...] have become courageous and daring path breakers. Through the media of big-character posters and great debates, they argue things out, expose and criticize thoroughly, and launch resolute attacks on the open and hidden representatives of the bourgeoisie.” – Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Resolutions of the Eleventh Plenum August 1966

Read these and other Scenes from the Cultural Revolution by way of Wiskey Bar.

I loves me some Matthew Barney. How I wish I could buy the Cremaster films! But aside from 30 minutes from the middle of the middle film, no dice. However, there are some little bits here and there to hold me over.

I think it’s funny that the Ayn Rand Institute has the following on their news page: “free offers,” “Free Online Audio and Video,” “Save 20%-40% off list price on most items,” “Thanks to the generous contributions from ARI donors, we have so far sent more than 65,000 75,000 copies of Ayn Rand’s novels to high school classrooms across the nation and in Canada,” “special editions are available at no charge” – and so on. The funny part is to read such a champion of capitalism offering things for free. That’s the funny part. Ha.

A friend gave me a photocopied article from The Skeptical Inquirer (May/June 2003) titled “The Luck Factor” by Richard Wiseman. From the article: “A ten-year scientific study into the nature of luck has revealed that, to a large extent, people make their own good and bad fortune. The results also show that it is possible to enhance the amount of luck that people encounter in their lives.” The article is remarkable and inspiring, and not online. But Wiseman wrote a book with the same title, of which you can read an excerpt here, a review here (“Mostly codswollop, but possibly inspiring for some”), search inside the book via Amazon, meet the author c/o the Guardian, or go right to the Luck Project Home Page.

Yumpin’ Yimminy! But I’ve posted a bunch to American Samizdat recently. There are just too many examples of the one-ply tissue between state and superstition, and not enough pleasant stories, lately. But don’t give up, we are still on the job here at pleasant.