Freakonomics on the Ten Commandments of The American Religion, and more.

More from the “blog posts you should read” department…

The gentlemen at the Freakonomics blog had some excellent things to say about the Ten Commandments of The American Religion. Some of it is hilarious to read, but the more salient point is that these are “meta issues” that form the background of American culture, and we need to understand it in order to fight it. Kudos to James Altucher for some thought-provoking content. Here’s a quick quote:

#3 Thou Shalt Recognize that Some Wars Are Holy. Everyone argued with me in my post about “Name me a war that was worth it.” Apparently some wars are “holy” and can’t be argued against. All I want is to prevent 18 year-olds from dying. That’s the basis of my argument. We can argue all the history we want after that.

Also, if you haven’t checked on LewRockwell.com recently, you really should read Lew’s latest article: The Police State Abolishes the Trial.

Today, every single citizen, no matter how free he or she may feel in daily life, is in reality a sitting duck. You can be made to disappear. There is essentially no way you can escape once the feds sweep you into their net. There is no justice. The total states of the past used to pretend to have trial-based convictions. The total state of the present doesn’t even bother. It just puts a sack over your head and takes you away…

How could this have happened in America? Well, looking back, it seems that it all stems from a single flaw: the belief that the most essential institution in society is the state that protects us from criminality and must maintain a monopoly over justice. Some of the greatest defenders of freedom otherwise have been happy to make this one concession to the state. And this one concession is now a major source of our undoing as a free people.