Laurie Calhoun | The Libertarian Institute

The Drone Program Whistleblower Problem

by Laurie Calhoun | Aug 2, 2021 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy

“I was the CIA director. We lied, we cheated, we stole...We had entire training courses...” - Former CIA Director and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo The concept of whistleblowing seems simple on its face: a government employee recognizes that crimes are being committed by the agency they work for and reports them so that the public is made aware that their tax dollars are being misused by those in charge. But what happens when large parts of the operations of an entire agency (such as the CIA), or even the entire executive branch of government, are grounded in immoral behavior?...

Daniel Hale: Drone Program Whistleblower

by Laurie Calhoun | Jul 28, 2021 | Blog, Foreign Policy

Daniel Hale has been sentenced to nearly four years of prison for documenting what other drone operators had spoken out about: that military-aged males killed by missiles launched by drones were assumed guilty until proven innocent. Under President Obama, thousands of unnamed suspects were killed outside areas of active hostilities--in other words, in places where there were no U.S. soldiers on the ground to protect. Trump naturally continued the drone program, and now the Biden administration is following suit. https://thedroneage.wordpress.com/2021/07/28/national-bird-a-cautionary-tale-2/

How Not to Treat Human Beings as Moral Persons

by Laurie Calhoun | Jul 16, 2021 | Featured Articles

Immanuel Kant, an eighteenth-century German philosopher, famously espoused the following maxim of morality: Act in such a way that you treat humanity...never merely as a means to an end, but always at the same time as an end. The terms of this principle, a formulation of what he calls “The Categorical Imperative,” are rather abstract, but Kant also provided a more practical test for determining whether a prospective action is morally permissible or not: Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law. According to Kant, violations...

The Con Job of the Century?

by Laurie Calhoun | Jun 22, 2021 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy

Over the course of the past century, a number of truly awe-inspiring heists have been carried out by con artists, whose modus operandi is to exploit human frailties such as credulity, insecurity and greed. Con is short for confidence, for the con artist must first gain the trust of his targets, after which he persuades them to hand their money over to him. A con job differs from a moral transaction between two willing, fully informed trading partners because one of the partners is deceived, and deception constitutes a form of coercion. In other words, the person being swindled is not really...

Moral Rhetoric vs. Reality

by Laurie Calhoun | May 13, 2021 | Featured Articles, Libertarianism

Philosophers tend to divide normative theories of morality into two broad categories: deontological and teleological. Deontological theories prioritize right action over good outcomes. If an action is wrong, then it is intrinsically wrong, regardless of the consequences which may ensue. The Ten Commandments and Kant’s Categorical Imperative are classic examples of deontological theories, and the libertarian non-aggression principle (NAP) is another one: Do not initiate violence against any person or damage or steal his property. Teleological theories, in contrast, define rightness in terms...

Pascal’s Wager for COVIDystopic Times or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying about the Coronapocalypse and Eat Krispy Kreme Doughnuts

by Laurie Calhoun | Apr 2, 2021 | Featured Articles

Being of a naturally skeptical bent, I have harbored doubts from the very beginning about the upheaval of the entire world rationalized by politicians everywhere because of a virus which kills less than 1% of the people it infects. I watched in amazement as country after country closed their borders to foreigners, imposed “common sense” quarantines, lockdowns and mask mandates, and shut down entire economies. I was perplexed by the inability of anyone in the position to craft policies to recognize that what really needed to be done was to isolate vulnerable persons, allow everyone else to go...

America’s Culture of Killing: It doesn’t begin at home

by Laurie Calhoun | Mar 24, 2021 | Blog

Biden bombs Syria. Mass shooters kill Asians in Atlanta and white people in Boulder. Connect the dots. https://whowhatwhy.org/2017/10/06/americas-culture-killing-doesnt-begin-home/

The Pentagon Turns ‘Feminist’

by Laurie Calhoun | Mar 22, 2021 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy

For many years, male U.S. citizens have been required to register with the Selective Service, an independent agency within the Executive Branch of the U.S. Federal Government, so that they can be located in the event that it becomes necessary to reinstate military conscription. The most recent military draft was ended after the Vietnam War, in 1973, and ever since then people have proudly pointed to the “voluntary” terms of U.S. military enlistment. That soldiers are voluntary is also frequently invoked in passing by cynical civilians who dismiss complaints about the plight of soldiers...