Conservative Book Talk

Once I would have said that I leaned Libertarian in my political views. Then I started hearing more about what Libertarian actually believed. From what I can tell, it’s far more than a free-market small government attitude. I started realizing that the underlying philosophy was aggressively anti-God. It just so happened that some of my beliefs overlapped tenents of Libertarianism. So, when I heard that this book would demonstrate the world as a libertarian saw it (and I like some of this author’s other works), I decided to give it a try.

End result: Good story, terrible philosophy.

Briefly stated, the philosophy is that when left alone, men will naturally choose to develop a society in which everyone works together. Government is evil and non-government is good. Unfortunately for that point of view, mankind has a thing called: sin nature. In a perfect world, Libertarians would be right, but as Judges points out, men choose to do what is right in their own eyes and that is often a detriment to others.

Libertarians miss the fact that the government has a legitimate purpose as a restrainer of tyrants, bullies and shysters. Without a strong government (and I still believe in a small limited government) we would be back in the Middle Ages with lots of petty tyrants abusing the locals and trying to usurp one another’s power.

As to the book, the story is quite good. The story is told in retrospect by one of the main characters. The moon was turned into a penal colony. But, if one stayed on the moon too long, they would be unable to return to Earth as changes in their body would prevent it. So, after a person’s sentence was finished, they were stuck on the moon. Soon a colony of free people developed. Without any form of government, this colony “developed” into a wonderful place. Unruly people were spaced. Of course everyone agreed with the decision because it was “obvious” that these people deserved it for violating the understood social contract.

As an aside, Heinlein falls into the trap of assuming that their is no government outside of the people on the moon. But, that’s not true. The environment is truly a harsh mistress. Stupidity and a failure to get along will result in the entire colony dieing a brutal and sudden death. So, while there isn’t a fickle and tyrannical man made government, there was still a restraining inhibiting man’s inherent selfish desires. Failure to do one’s part could lead to a rupture or other cataclysmic event in the life support systems…. So, it is wrong to imply that mankind could live in freedom and harmony without a government. Besides, since evil governments are made up of men, the evil nature of the government must be a result of the nature of men. That point is a bit to subtle for the author.

Anyway, back to the story.

So, this story is about the struggle between an oppressed colony on the moon and their exploitative masters on earth. The main character Manny and his two compatriots architect a revolution from earth with the assistance of their friend: the world’s only self-aware computer. The story spends as much time discussing the nature of the conspiracy against earth as discussing the lifestyle of life on the moon.

Personally, I found the story to be quite exciting though it *is* a style that would probably annoy others. The story is an action story, but it is presented in a recitation of facts manner. In my mind, this works and of course plenty of others agreed, but your mileage might vary.

As for negatives, you have my opinion of the philosophy. Still, there is a small amount of profanity and the moral character of the family lives is problematic. They have strange open marriages and all sorts of odd stuff that is portrayed as acceptable because “it works.” A major underlying philosophy of the book is pragmatism: whatever achieves my goals is OK. gag….

Anyway, despite all the problems or rather because of them, I recommend that you read this book. Learn more about what a Libertarian thinks. And while your learning, enjoy a legitimately good story.

Tags: adventure, Current Events, Matt Gardenghi, philosophy, Robert Heinlein, Science Fiction, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress

By Arthur B. Robinson Ph.D., Noah E. Robinson, Ph.D., and Willie Soon, Ph.D.

Couple of notes. First this isn’t a review about a book, but about a paper published in the Journal of the American Physicians and Surgeons called Environmental Effects of Increased Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide. Second, while the authors of the paper have outstanding credentials, they aren’t climatologists by trade or training. (I don’t think that necessarily matters if the science is sound.) Third, I haven’t actually verified one of their foundational studies: determination of the global temperature over the last three thousand years based on core samples from the ocean. Not saying it isn’t so, just not convinced about the science until I actually verify the work done.

This paper makes the premise that Earth’s temperature has been significantly higher in the past (particularly in medieval ages). Then the temperature sunk a full three degrees Celsius in the 1700′s. According to Robinson and company the current global temperature has just reached the median for the last three millenniums. They also demonstrate that the shrinking of the glaciers began in the 1850′s, long before CO2 began to rise. The increase in sunspots also has coincided with the temperature increase.

Intriguingly, they quote studies that have shown that increased CO2 enhances plant life (obviously) but that it also decreases a plant’s need for water. So how hard would it be to cause the desert to bloom under increased CO2? Definitely some food for thought here.

Plenty of scientists have debunked the Global Warming Crisis. Not only does it not appear to be a crisis, but the current lack of sunspots and the very long La Nina effect have stopped, nay, reversed the temperature trends. Of course, Gore doesn’t typically mention that inconvenient truth. It is usually spun as predictable variations as the temperature trends upward. Which of course is true. That certainly happens, but when those fluctuations map almost perfectly to natural forces like the El Nino/La Nina effects and the presence of sun spots, why do we pretend that CO2 is the cause? Oh right, as the Czech president said, Global Warming Alarmism has replaced Communism. Its all about the control. That’d be power….

Yeah, I’m somewhat passionate about this, mostly because I enjoy my freedoms and I hate to see them taken over by some people who have created a false threat to gain power and control. Its almost as bad as labeling EVERYTHING a terrorist threat and using that to swipe freedoms. (No, I am not against the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan but I am against using the specter of terrorism to increasingly consolidate power amongst the few.)

This global warming scare is intriguing as it demonstrates the great power of the media. From Readers Digest to the 6 o’clock news, all assume that global warming is a threat and that radical action must be taken. I heard a caller on a radio show angrily proclaim that this debate is stupid. He stated emphatically that he didn’t need a GED to know that this is a real threat.

Right.

And its people like that who are well meaning but swallowing the party line that is fed to them that help keep this ball rolling.

This paper is the most scientific work I have read on the debate so far and when it comes to controversial subjects, I like academic. Especially when I agree with the premise, I want it in documentable and scientific format so that I can verify that what I believe isn’t screwy.

Please read a few of these links and at least the highlights of the paper and let me know what you think. If you disagree, why? What scientific evidence do you have for your side? Let’s frame the debate in quantifiable terms instead of hyperbole and opinions.

Also read Senator Inhofe’s blog. And yeah, that is an official US government blog.

Again the paper: Environmental Effects of Increased Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide

Tags: CO2, Current Events, global Warming, Matt Gardenghi, Non-Fiction, Robinson, Science, Soon

(disclaimer of relation: I was so encouraged by the message of this book, as described on their website, that I volunteered to run the Do Hard Things Portland conference tour. And, their father, Gregg Harris, is the founder of the group of churches that I and my family are members of).

This book is the print version of a vision that has been in place for many years in the Harris household. When Alex and Brett were 16, their father sat them down with a heaping stack of non-fiction books and told them to start reading. Most teenagers might see that as a summer of drudgery, but these twins took the book list as an opportunity to learn more about the world in which they (as the future generation) would live. Learning about all the issues in the world today (poverty, economics of scale, pollution, adult-essence, monetary systems, political processes), they began to wonder how other people in their generation (my generation) could cope with it all if we continued to do the stereotypical teenage thing; sleep in and ignore the world issues in favor of celebrity gossip. Then they started a little blog called “the rebelution”, combining the terms rebellion and revolution to get a new meaning; “rebelling against rebellion”. Then it became a website with 5,000 hits a day, then a movement that spawned conferences in multiple countries, then a modesty survey that crashed their internet server with 500,000 views in the first two hours, and now a book.

DO: The teen years are not a vacation from responsibility, but rather, a training ground for future leaders. For centuries, there was no middle ground between “child” and “adult”; once you started looking like an adult, you were expected to act like one. We need to act like the adults we want to become, because, newsflash fellow young adults: we’re adults. And if we want things to be different from the present we must make changes in the present. Young, yes: need to work on competence, yes; freed from responsibility because of the aforesaid, no. “To make changes in your life requires you to make changes in your life.”—Alex Harris.

HARD: Hard doesn’t mean “hard for other people” (i.e., unless you are recovering from alcoholism, staying sober isn’t an achievement. It’s a good thing, but not your hard thing), or “stupid” (jumping off a cliff) . Don’t, however, think that just because its hard (keeping your room clean every night) or big (starting a business) or both (fighting modern slavery) that you can’t. At the same time, there is a place for small hard things (like keeping your room clean, which is hard because you have to keep doing it every day for the rest of your life) and unseen hard things (not harboring anger, or giving in to lust). If God is calling you to do something, whatever it is, pray and do it.

THINGS: They give lots of examples about teenagers (throughout history and today) who used their teen years to the max and reaped the benefit. And of “typical teens” who need to be renewed in their vision for their own lives. What I loved about all the examples was how simple the concepts were, and yet, I could see a piece of myself in each teen they profiled (and they are all real people). Some were cause for rejoicing, others, for disappointment. But each chapter helped me get closer to finding my “hard thing” that God would have me do with my life.

Overall, this was a very easy read that has challenged my thinking on many levels. I honestly didn’t think this book applied to me when I picked it up. I’m a good young adult (not a teen), who is trying to be more Christ-like (not there yet, but trying), living in a Christian environment… so how does “Do Hard Things” apply to me? The answer lies in the question, “what is hard for you?” There will ALWAYS be something that God wants me to do that is hard. “If you always do what you’ve always done you will always get what you’ve always got.” – Brett Harris. God wants the best for us, which will always involve change in my life.

Tags: Alex Harris, Brett Harris, Current Events, Do Hard Things, Non-Fiction, Personal Development, Sincerelyornot