We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. From the very serious to the extremely frivolous... lets see what is on the mind of the Samizdata people.

Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]

Samizdata slogan of the day

If money does not matter to you, you do not have much imagination
– Tania Emery

Samizdata slogan of the day

A little anti-fascist sentiment brought to you by Samizdata.net

Sic semper tyrannis

Samizdata slogan of the day

“…it rests on the assumption that your kids belong to the state. If we buy that assumption then it is for the state — not for parents, the community, the religious institutions or teachers — to decide who shall have what values and who shall do what work, when, where and how in our society. That assumption isn’t a new one. The Nazis thought it was a great idea.”
– Ronald Reagan in Human Events, February 1979

(Quote via Nolo Consentire)

Samizdata slogan of the day

Perhaps it is better to be irresponsible and right, than to be responsible and wrong
– W. S. Churchill

Samizdata slogan of the day

Sure I am of this, that you have only to endure to conquer. You have only to persevere to save yourselves
– W. S. Churchill

Samizdata slogan of the day

You may find me one day dead in a ditch somewhere. But by God, you’ll find me in a pile of brass.
– Trooper M. Padgett

Samizdata slogan of the day

Still, if you will not fight for the right when you can easily win without bloodshed; if you will not fight when your victory will be sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than live as slaves.
– Winston Churchill

Samizdata quote of the day

I quit about ten years ago. I was getting sick of it and Hillary was going to finance her health plan with taxes on cigs. I went cold turkey and being mad at Hillary helped me over the rough spots. Maybe you could think of all your money that will NOT be going to the government.
– Commenter ‘Spacer’ on how to motivate a libertarian to give up smoking

The very nature of central planning

Jeffrey Tucker has written a superb article about conservative statist central planning, but one paragraph stands out for me:

Central planning has several universal features. It is coercive. It bypasses the needs of the consumers for the sake of politics. It relies on edicts which may or may not reflect reality. It does not take advantage of the price system, profit, or loss. It is impervious to change. It ignores local conditions. It does not permit flexibility according to circumstance. It robs those who know the most of the ability of make decisions and innovate. It creates incentives to obey the plan but diverts attention from the real goal, whatever it may be (and it may be the wrong goal). It ends up over utilizing material resources, underutilizing human ones, and not generating the intended results.

What could I possibly add to that?

Samizdata slogan of the day

Spiritual movements are revolts of thought against inertia, of the few against the many; of those who because they are strong in spirit are strongest alone against those who can express themselves only in the mass and the mob, and who are significant only because they are numerous
– Ludwig von Mises

Samizdata slogan of the day

…if evil men were not now and then slain it would not be a good world for weaponless dreamers
– Rudyard Kipling, from Kim

Samizdata slogan of the day

…But nobody can be a great economist who is only an economist – and I am even tempted to add that the economist who is only an economist is likely to become a nuisance if not a positive danger
– Frederick Hayek