Challenging Ideology

by Richard Sutton

In the marketplace of ideas it is easy to buy a bad one so be careful of what you think.  It can be as simple as considering if the ideas you support might be doing more harm than good.  That's how I went from being what I would describe as a young democratic socialist to a Libertarian after passing briefly through the Republican ranks.

Our emotions can motivate us but we must use our intellect to guide ourselves through all the "feel good" ideologies that can cause so much unintended harm and reach the imperfect but rational best policies and ideologies for our lives to be as free as possible with the understanding that we cannot have a free nation through force and the threat of force.

Assuming that we are, like most people, not interested in harming people and would rather help those in need I encourage you to consider the possibility that it is best done by you rather than handed off to a vast bureaucracy.