Zack Sorenson

Government Is A Sociological Construct, Not Political

by Zack Sorenson | Sep 11, 2017 | Blog

Politics is collective action. Sociology deals with the norms people construct to define behaviors and roles in a society, specifically how that society deals with the distribution of resources. Government is usually treated as a political construct. People, acting in unison, consciously develop procedures for promoting the common interest. We think of American government as the product of a deliberate framing, with a Constitution that dictates and limits the functions of government. The roles of citizens and public officials are clearly defined. I think government is actually a...

Quick Style Notes – Which "Liberal" Do We Mean?

by Zack Sorenson | Sep 8, 2017 | Blog

This is my personal usage: Classical Liberal - "Classical Liberal" - the state should step out of the way of society. Essentially: laissez-faire, separation of church and state. General "Millsian" Liberal - "traditional liberal" - Society should be "open", with free expression and speech. Disputes should be settled via prearranged, open, non-violent means. People should trust each others' commitment to liberalism as a prerequisite. American "Democratic Party Voter" Liberal - "Left-liberal" - America's basically a democracy right, with good values? Let's trust the expansive bureaucratic...

I'm Getting Fed Up With Jordan Peterson

by Zack Sorenson | Sep 3, 2017 | Blog

Jordan Peterson seems like a good guy, he's a smart guy, he's doing good work, he's fightin' the left's dangerous political moves in Canada, but I'm starting to not be able to stand him. What has me real triggered is a recent show he did with Joe Rogan. This show is just one in a series of appearances by Peterson, but it's one which might be the straw on my camel's back. Here's my problem with Peterson: he's exactly the sort of mind that would come up with and steadfastly support the New Deal, and the New Deal is exactly why we have the problems we do in "North American" culture. Yet,...

What The Public Goods Category Really Is

by Zack Sorenson | Aug 14, 2017 | Blog

The economic concept of public goods is the singular justification for government's existence in the American "republican" political tradition. But what is this category actually? Many libertarian thinkers have deconstructed many ostensible public goods and demonstrated why they don't necessarily belonging to this category. Roads, utilities, the environment, even law can all be managed privately through voluntary interaction in the civil society - at least in theory. These goods don't necessarily belong to the public goods category. I was thinking about the sheep on the commons, and the...

The Simple Solution To Political Violence

by Zack Sorenson | Aug 12, 2017 | Blog

What do you do when someone at a political rally punches you in the face? You turn the other cheek. People who get into street fights already brag about taking hits. Of course they also love giving them. How about being proud of taking hits while exercising the self restraint needed to not punch back? Street violence is a tool among many, and is hardly decisive. Its purpose is to generate crises that other tools of politics make use of. It's a lubricant for intrigue. It doesn't work when one side refuses to fight. False flags are impossible when one side is ideologically committed to...

What Exactly Is Property? Alt-Right Vs. Liberty

by Zack Sorenson | Aug 3, 2017 | Blog

I was listening to a comedian talking about "stolen jokes" today. It's an interesting question for libertarians. Is it wrong to steal jokes? Should it be illegal? Briefly, I think that most libertarians would say that stealing jokes should definitely not be illegal, though it might be wrong. It might be appropriate for comedians to shun those among them who steal jokes, making it a socially unacceptable practice. From the libertarian perspective, stealing jokes shouldn't prompt and initiation of force, but it could still be treated as wrong. I think this is a pretty standard...

Leftism As Upper Middle Class Privilege

by Zack Sorenson | Jul 28, 2017 | Blog

More anecdotal evidence that leftism is a phenomenon of upper middle class social prerogatives. In review, I define leftism's essential characteristic as magical thought applied to the social and political realms. In response to any emergent social problem, leftism seeks to solve it by "wishing" it would go away. While this is my attempt to simplify the concept, I don't mean to say that leftism is burying heads in sand. Rather, problems are solved by assertion of belief. And since magic isn't real, problems get blamed on those who hold wrong beliefs. And so the real solution becomes to...

The Creature Of Philadelphia Is A Failure: Reject The “Republic”

by Zack Sorenson | Jul 26, 2017 | Blog

Philadelphia gave us an oligarch devised Constitution. Benjamin Franklin told an inquirer that the framers had given us, "a republic, if you can keep it." May we never have had it. The idea of the res publica: "the public thing", creates two categories of things we all have to suffer: public good categories, and a monolithic institution of violence and politics (i.e.: winner takes all approach to disputes and the consequent social discord). Libertarians know that the public goods category might not be much of a real thing. I propose that the category might be an invention which only...