Misunderstanding Hayek And The Road To Serfdom

“The Road To Serfdom” by Fredrick Hayek is a disappointing book. Conservative bloggers often race about it claiming it has great insights into modern politics. While I disagree with the Austrian school of economics I read it to here the other point of view. I found it a boring, out dated book that didn’t have anything particularly original or insightful to say. It’s mainly concerned with saying a totalitarian state where the government controls everything doesn’t work (you don’t say). The book might have been relevant when it was published, but I am at a loss to see its use today. I think to a large extent Hayek has been misunderstood. I have regularly heard people use Hayek to criticize … Continue reading “Misunderstanding Hayek And The Road To Serfdom”

September 24, 2012BooksBooks, Central Planning, Communism, Conservative, Economics, Government, Government Spending, Hayek, Libertarian, Masters Of Money, Obama, Opinion, Political Theory, Politics, Road To Serfdom, Socialism, Tags Austrian Leave a comment

Religion As A Cause Of War In Ireland

In my last post I argued that religion was a major cause of war. Now I want to discuss this in an Irish context. In fact the history of Ireland is basically the history of Protestants and Catholics warring among each other. There are numerous incidents where Catholics or Protestants were killed solely because of their religion. There is a serious problem in separating actions based on religion from those based on nationality. In fact Daniel O’Connell went as far as to claim that being Catholic and being Irish was the one thing. This presents a serious problem in decoding conflict and classifying them as nationalist or religious wars. Some even argue that class was the driving force, with the … Continue reading “Religion As A Cause Of War In Ireland”

May 23, 2012Religion1916. 1798, Atheism, Catholic, Christianity, God, History, IRA, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Political Theory, Protestant, Religion, Troubles, UDA, UVF Leave a comment

Religion As A Cause Of War

I would argue that a major cause of most (but not all) wars is religion. Religion divides people into separate groups and tells them that they are incompatible with each other. It provides justification for the killing of others and the promise of reward for martyrs. There are numerous examples of religious wars. Some of the main ones include the Crusades, Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan, The War On Terror, The Thirty Year War, Northern Ireland and the numerous religious wars of England and France (which culminated in the Saint Bartholomew Day Massacre). A frequent justification for the British, French, Spanish, Portuguese etc, (which led to horrendous massacres) empires was so that the natives could be converted to Christianity. Religions claim they … Continue reading “Religion As A Cause Of War”

May 22, 2012ReligionAtheism, Bible, Christianity, God, International Relations, Political Theory, Politics, Religion, War Leave a comment