Posts from the ‘Whiskey Wisdom’ Category
Chapter 36 The difference between dogma and doctrine is the difference between faith and thought. The extent to which an ideological system is taken on faith is the extent to which it is dogmatic. The extent to which an ideological system is by its leaders expected to be taken on faith is the extent […]
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Chapter 9 There is no sort of freedom other than the sort which voluntary exchange brings about. In its fundamental form, freedom has only one meaning: freedom is the absence of state force. Freedom is the omission of governmental coercion, compulsion, and force — whether that force is direct, as in assault, or indirect, […]
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Most human-beings don’t think too much about the great problems of existence, concerning which things, most humans behave as most around them behave. Most people perform certain daily acts without paying particular attention to their acts, neither to the ideological theories nor the hierarchical structures that undergird them. Most people do most of things for […]
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It was toward the middle of the twentieth century that the inhabitants of many European countries came, in general unpleasantly, to the realization that their fate could be influenced directly by intricate and abstruse books of philosophy. Their bread, their work, their private lives began to depend on this or that decision in disputes on […]
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Excerpted from my forthcoming: Chapter 4 Independent thought is critical thought – it is the critical faculty at its best: the faculty of identification, evaluation, discernment, grasping. Thought, in turn, is accomplished by means of language, which is precisely why the more you understand the words you’re using, the clearer and more streamlined […]
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Excerpted from Chapter 3 of my forthcoming. Chapter 3 Independent thinking is you, your car, and an auto-mechanic you don’t really know. Independent thinking is you taking your car in for a biannual tune-up, strictly routine. After handing the auto-mechanic your car keys and then waiting in the lobby for approximately five minutes, […]
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Excerpted from my forthcoming: Chapter 30 Since humans are each discrete, individuated beings, with a singular consciousness, born into a complex system of nature, humans are because of this infinitely diverse. This is a good thing, and it is a beautiful thing. This infinite diversity means, however, that humans are inherently unequal – in countless […]
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Excerpted from my forthcoming: Chapter 12 Tribalism is a form of collectivism, which is a philosophy that denies the primacy of the individual human-being and subordinates her to a so-named collective. Tribalism is the logical result and the logical elaboration of postmodernist irrational philosophy. Irrationalism is a school of philosophical thought, with a long and […]
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This is excerpted from Chapter 25 of my forthcoming. Chapter 25 Howard Zinn is the author of a cultic classic called A People’s History of the United States, which is a tour-de-force of historical misinformation, sloppy scholarship, and outright prevarications. This perhaps partially explains why on the subject of history and the role of the […]
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This is excerpted from Chapter 22 of my forthcoming. Chapter 22 “Every serious civilization,” she said, “like every serious person, possesses an essence or a spirit. A soul, if you like.” The woman speaking was a political refugee. She was standing – and not sitting – at my bar one mellow Tuesday evening. She […]
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The following is excerpted from my forthcoming. Chapter 1 The art of independent thinking is the art of individual inquiry, and individual inquiry is rooted in observation. When a child learns through personal experience, by bouncing it on a concrete surface, that a properly filled basketball can be dribbled, but then after testing the […]
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The following are five bullshit notions bartenders often hear that would kill the living beast in anyone: 1. You’re not smart enough Then educate yourself. As you know, it’s never been easier. Do you remember your ABC’s? A. Always B. Be C. Cogitating Always be cogitating. The truth is, it’s always, in principle, been simple […]
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Most people are boring. Not you. Why? Because you broke away from the pack a long time ago. You’re a different breed — a dog of a different color. You cultivated the black art of individuality, learned the art of personality. You became brilliant. People argue about your modesty. She does things differently, they say, […]
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For you, the secret was never a secret, quite, because for you it always seemed natural — not necessarily easy, of course, but obvious, and obviously right. It never mystified you, perhaps because you learned long ago that your body is a ship, your brain the pilot at the tip. Which is why everything you […]
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You can spot her from a mile away, the smartest one in the bar – or, if not quite from a mile, nonetheless from very far. She doesn’t necessarily think of herself as smart. Still, her brain is carefully crafted – self-crafted and stylized – like a work of art. Her eyes are alert and bright and lively. They twinkle. She’s […]
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(c)Ray Harvey 2011