Anarcho-Capitalism and Intellectual Property Right

In his blog entry on Mises.org, Stephan Kinsella, an avowed student of Murray Rothbard, states the following:

You own the product of your own mind... You have the right to its use, possession, improvement, and disposition. You have the right not to share it. You have the right to destroy it... You're not a slave.

“And libertarian discussions of IP often confuse the details of the law under debate. In fact, it’s common for libertarians to conflate trademark, copyright, and patent (Murray Rothbard talked about a copyright on a mousetrap, which is an invention and therefore the subject of patents).

“Another reason is that from the beginning, the IP issue nagged at me. I was never satisfied with Ayn Rand’s justification for it. Her argument is a bizarre mixture of utilitarianism with overwrought deification of “the creator” — not the Creator up there, but Man, The Creator, who has a property right in what He Creates. Her proof that patents and copyrights are property rights is lacking.

… “But libertarianism’s initial presumption should have been that IP is invalid, not the other way around. After all, we libertarians already realize that “intellectual” rights, such as the right to a reputation protected by defamation law, are illegitimate. Why, then, would we presume that other laws, protecting intangible, intellectual rights, are valid — especially artificial rights that are solely the product of legislation, i.e., decrees of the fake-law-generating wing of a criminal state?

On Intellectual Dishonesty, Relativism, and Subjectivism

Let me state it here, that of all the kinds and forms of smear or criticism, I most disgust and resent dishonesty, whether intellectual, ideological or metaphysical. Any critic who resorts to dishonesty- that is, by arguing his cause by means of dropping the context of your premise or statement, or resorting to adhominem attack- has nary a sane, proper argument to adduce.

Some people believe that mind's mind is invalid...

I have seen a lot of their kind online, the kind of people who borrow disgusting statements from absurd intellectuals and use them against you. For instance, I have a lot of commenters who called me names and even described me as a member of the so-called Ayn Rand cult. This dishonest attack was perpetrated by a not quite acolyte of Ayn Rand named Murray Rothbard who later called her a ‘cultist.’ After he was ‘excommunicated’ from the Objectivist circle, Rothbard formed his own Libertarian-Anarcho-capitalist circle and wrote a book denouncing Ayn Rand as the high priestess of a secular cult. The fact is that Rothbard, who met Ayn Rand for less than half a dozen occasions, plagiarized the thesis of Barbara Branden, who was once a close friend and devout student of the philosopher. An intellectual fraud who had a long history of propaganda and myth-making, Rothbard unleashed his dishonest attack on Ayn Rand so to divert the real issue that he was a plagiarist. Now this is a good example of a dishonest attack designed to simply destroy the reputation of a person. Prior to his denunciation of Ayn Rand, Rothbard wrote a fan letter praising the novelist-turned-philosopher and her novel Atlas Shrugged. In his letter to Ayn Rand dated October 3, 1957, Rothbard wrote:

Ellsworth Toohey: Party Leader of the Socialists

Note: The following is the conversation between Humanitarian Ellsworth Toohey and Peter Keating. Toohey talks on how to rule souls.

You can rule men by destroying their soul.

“What do you want Ellsworth ?”

“Power, Petey. I want to rule. Like my spiritual predecessors. But I’m luckier than they were. I inherited the fruit of their efforts and I shall be the one who’ll see the great dream made real. I see it all around me today. I recognise it. I don’t like it. I didn’t expect to like it. Enjoyment is not my destiny. I shall find such satisfaction as my capacity permits. I shall rule.”

“Whom…?”

“You. The world. It’s only a matter of discovering the lever. If you learn how to rule one single man’s soul, you can get the rest of mankind. It’s the soul, Peter, the soul. Not whips or swords or fire or guns. That’s why the Caesars, the attilas, the Napoleons were fools and did not last. We will. The soul, Peter, is that which can’t be ruled. It must be broken. Drive a wedge in, get your fingers on it – and the man is yours. You won’t need a whip – he’ll bring it to you and ask to be whipped. Set him in reverse – and his own mechanism will do your work for you. Use him against himself. Want to know how it’s done? See if I ever lied to you. See if you haven’t heard all this for years, but didn’t want to hear, and the fault is yours, not mine.

Arroyo’s Congressional Farce: All About Lust for Power

Indeed, she's a power-lust...

Nobody was able to stop incumbent President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo who still faces questions of legitimacy and corruption from filing her certificate of candidacy for Congress.

Saying she was not after immunity and that she was simply responding to “clamor” by her province mates, Mrs. Arroyo believed she still has a lot of things to do. An absurd group of Pampangeños, at least according to friendly news reports, urged Mrs. Arroyo to continue her so-called public service.

“After much contemplation, I realized I’m not ready to step down completely from public service,” she said. “Gaya ng alam ninyo, hinihilingan ako ng mga mamamayan ng aking tahanang distrito sa Pampanga na manatili sa buhay-publiko (As you all know, I have been asked by the citizens of my home district in Pampanga to stay on in public life), so after much soul-searching, I have decided to respond affirmatively to their call.”

It’s no longer surprising for local political kingpins in Pampanga to contrive some sort of public-sentiment agenda to somehow woo Mrs.

“COUNTRY ABOVE SELF”: An Anti-Man Political Ideology

These political duo are mini-Kantians with specks of Marxism...

I’VE finally heard and seen the worst political slogan ever invented in (and, God forbid, for) this country. This political slogan—which should be described as the stupidest, the dumbest, the scariest, and the most Nazistic slogan—ever conceived for the coming 2010 elections is not an appeal to reason, but a desperate attempt to tinker people’s gullibility and emotion.

“COUNTRY ABOVE SELF!” Of all baloney words in the dictionary and of all stupid, passé mottoes popular among teenagers, presidential aspirant Noynoy Aquino and his teammate Mar Roxas, both eager to replace a sitting despot in Malacañang palace, came up with this despondent, ludicrous political stunt to fool or soothe the people. This political mantra does not merely signify a political act of desperation; it also exposes these political duo as naïve apprentices of realpolitik, a system of politics or principles based on precarious pragmatism rather than moral or ideological considerations. It regards the Filipino people as a herd of stupid, mindless voters. It contains political platitudes of piety designed to attract more votes. In fact, this is worse and more preposterous than convicted plunderer and recycled presidentiable Joseph Estrada’s political motto that propelled him to power— “Erap Para Sa Mahirap” (Erap for the Poor).

When a Grotesque Massacre Awakened a Whole Nation

When you cast you vote in 2010 elections, remember this day...

Perhaps it would take a monstrous natural disaster or a grotesque manmade carnage to awaken a whole nation. The unforgettable super typhoon Ondoy that submerged the whole of Metro Manila and claimed the lives of hundreds of people brought a handful of lessons to Filipinos. On the other hand, a monstrous massacre that took the lives of 64 innocent people, mostly women and journalists, awakened the whole Filipino nation to a bitter reality—absolute political power kills absolutely.

Call it massacre or genocide, but this tragic incident that implicated a powerful political clan in Maguindanao—the Ampatuans—shows the kind of dirty, murderous politics we have in this country. Indeed, the Maguindanao massacre brought a nation back to life and consciousness.

It is interesting yet lamentable to observe that the last few days of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in power are marked by an ongoing economic crisis, catastrophic natural disasters, a manmade slaughter, and more political violence to come. Perhaps these incidents are sending us a clear warning or a message—respect man’s freedom and rights or else the nation will collapse.

Since the Ampatuans are known close political allies of the sitting President, the people, outraged and disgusted, have sent their ultimate message to the government—bring the monsters to justice and

Maguindanao Massacre: A Handiwork of Pure Evil

A despot who won’t hesitate to claim the lives of over 60 people won’t also waver to destroy a whole nation…

Only a monster can do such an evil thing...

They were warned. There were threats to their lives and security before that bloody carnage ended their existence. They thought a convoy composed of mostly women and journalists was strong enough to dissuade an evil clan determined to keep a political stronghold. They were wrong, as the Devil, which they sought to challenge, had already sealed their fate.

The wife of a municipal vice-mayor, along with some relatives and a phalanx of media men, refused to heed the warnings of a former political ally. They asked for police security, but their final request, which could have saved their lives, fell on deaf ears. In a province strongly controlled by a power lust, to challenge the status quo is considered a deadly offense.

Jenalyn Mangundadatu, the wife of Buluan vice-mayor Ismael “Toto” Mangundadatu, and some relatives and a number of media men, were on their way to file a certificate of candidacy on behalf of Ismael when a group of about 100-armed men abducted them. Mangundadatu is running for governor in the province of Maguindanao.

Prior to the bloody slaughter, the Mangundadatus claimed they received warnings from the Ampatuans, a powerful political clan in the province. They thought that by sending female relatives accompanied by some media men would deter the criminals from harming them. Their attempt to appeal to the Devil’s conscience was totally unheeded.

The worst political carnage in Philippine history claimed the lives of 64 people. Even those who were not part of the convoy had to be killed for the sake of a clan’s attempt to monopolize political power. Their remains were collectively buried in an unlikely gravesite.