Ack! I haven’t written anything here since before term break. So much has happened since then, I hardly have an idea of where to start. So, I’m not going to write some kind of lame this-is-what-I-did-over-break thing, so you can breathe a sigh of relief. :) Besides, most everyone who reads this already knows. :)

So instead of just enumerating my activities of the past three weeks, I’ve decided to write a little about the major threads of stuff in my head over the past few weeks.

Komm, süsser Schlaf

A conversation [in Japanese] in Japanese class on the first day back from break:

1. Sensei: How was your break?
2. Me: Great!
3. Sensei: What did you do?
4. Me: I slept!

The first major, new notion to be tossed around in my brain upon arriving home was the fact that sleep is not only something that people can do, it’s also something that most people usually do. Not only this, but I could sleep a decent amount too! :) I made sure to give my unconscious ample time to mull this one over, and as a result returned to school absurdly well-rested. At least, absurdly well-rested by the standards of my sleep-deprived brain.

OK, that last one was pretty non-profound. Deal. :)

Saving the country at a profit

If this country is worth saving, it’s worth saving at a profit.

— H.L. Hunt

The topic for the March salon of BON was [nominally] anarcho-capitalism. I walked away from it with a few interesting ideas bouncing around in my head. A lot of them are from Kirez’s ideas for what he calls ‘privatization consulting,’ but I prefer to use Bill’s terminology, ‘marginalizing the state.’

Essentially, where there is state interference in the economy, there is disequilibrium, and disequilibrium is a good indicator that there is a potential to profit in that market. So, in cases such as the postal monopoly, private firms have already moved in on that market as much as the courts have allowed them too, thus marginalizing much of the post office’s operations.

We want to take that to the next level. We want to turn the political system on itself, and make deregulation and privatization politic, to use David Friedman’s wording of this.

While I think this is really interesting stuff to write about, I’m going to cut this short here, with just this hint at what I’m talking about. But, if you’re interested, don’t fret. I’m writing a policy proposal for a class I’m taking this term entitled “Marginalizing the State for Fun and Profit” in which I’ll talk about this a lot more and which will be webbed.

Untitled Section of Ethical Thoughts

Even an act performed out of love is supposed to be “unegoistic”? But you blockheads!

— Friedrich Nietzsche

At some point on Saturday I noticed that Cameo’s real name field (IRC) was this: my love… married to myself. This wandered through my mind for a moment in search of something to connect with.

Dan, Curtis, Dave Svesko, Scott Walshon, and I watched “Chasing Amy” over at Dave & Scott’s apartment this past Saturday night. I hadn’t seen it for quite a while. It’s really quite a powerful story. That you love someone is not sufficient to sustain and grow a relationship; how you go about loving is as (if not even more) important). This wandered through my mind for a moment in search of something to connect with.

Fifteen seconds later (to continue the meaningless literary reference to the next logical step), I was run over by a big yellow bulldozer of integration. The chunky mess that follows is what was left over:

[Aside: One of the things that I’ve been hung up on for quite a while is the relationship between principles, methodology, and strategy. I’m not satisfied with a bunch of principles lumped together. The way the principles are justified, derived, expanded upon, and applied (the underlying methodology of the principles) is what really concerns me. After mentally swallowing these two things, I want effective strategies for the day-to-day implementation of these principles and this methodology in my life. I’m demanding like that.]

So, I made an interesting connection between my relationships with others and my relationship with myself. I suppose the following may be obvious, but I think that, in actuality, few people act accordingly, so I’m guessing there’s at least some work involved in getting here. To be less ambiguous: think about someone that you love dearly. You want the best for this person. You want them to live up to your expectations, for them to become who they are (in your mind). This colors your thinking of them and your actions with regard to them. As it should. Healthy, mutually-valuing relationships are like positive-feedback loops, with each partner helping to actualize the best in the other.

Now, let’s make this reflexive, shall we? When you’re about to do something, try thinking about it like this for a little bit: Suppose that someone I loved were faced with this same choice. What would I wish her to do in that case? I’m willing to bet that, on average, this question helps the moral decision-making process, which is a good thing.

I have yet to think much more about this, and may write more about this in the future.

Thanks, Cameo, for inadvertently triggering that thought in my head.