Kemp,

Illegitimacy rates in the black community are a result of the fact that black men have market power. Black women aren't easily able to date outside their race, and black men are more likely to be in prison. As a result, there are more black women than black men, giving black men the market power to drive down the price of sex.

Men represent demand and women supply. This even happens after a major war. For example, after both WW1 and WW2, young women became more slutty or pursued careers because a large number of young men were killed off.

I think paying higher wages would be a great idea. There is a correlation with less corruption and higher police pay. I have also noticed that officers in less populated areas tend to be the most shady.

Finally, a conservative who isn't all "praise the police, they can do no wrong."

Flint,

The Roman period called the "Five Good Emperors" lasted ~84 years. From Nerva (96 CE) to the death of Marcus Aurelius (180 CE). Secondly, the United States has experienced cycles of liberalism and illiberalism. For example, the autocrat-like powers exercised by FDR and the violation of civil rights under the McCarthy era. Although we recovered from those historical challenges, I fear that the present represents the biggest challenge to freedom yet.

But I will grant you that "republics" are more likely to be stable and remain liberal for longer.

Kemp,

1. I'm not talking about an autocrat whose rule could have been characterized by short liberal periods. I am talking about an autocrat who:

a. Reigned for a period spanning a decade or more.
b. Was able to effectively impose his/her rule.
c. His/her reign was mostly characterized by liberal rule.

2. When two ideas are consistent with one another, then they are not a contradiction. Since some autocrats have satisfied a/b/c, autocracy and liberalism are consistent with one another. Therefore, autocracy and liberalism are not contradictory.

3. I'm not challenging your position on succession. Nor am I challenging your position on man's corruptibility. I am challenging your argument because it is invalid.

P(1): There are no safeguards in autocracy to prevent an illiberal relative from succeeding.
P(2): The majority of autocrats are illiberal.
P(3): Man is inherently corruptible.
______

C: Autocracy is inherently illiberal / autocracy and liberalism are a contradiction.

This argument is plain invalid. The only negative conclusions we can make about autocracy are of a probabilistic nature.

Kemp

1. To say that liberalism and autocracy are contradictory means that no autocrat ruled liberally and politically survived.

2. I have shown this to be false.

3. You have only demonstrated that the successor of a liberal autocrat is much more likely to pursue illiberal policies. This is different from saying autocracy and liberalism are contradictory.

Kemp,

Here's the breakdown of my points for you.

1. Augustus lead to Caligula?
Well, Jefferson lead to FDR.

2. Liberal democracies becoming illiberal is not unusual.
3. The same can be said of all governments.

3. By your own logic, government is inherently illiberal.

4. The best you can say is that democracy takes longer to become illiberal.

____

Now, "Autocracy can be inherently illiberal yet produce liberal policies for a short time" means that,

1. No autocrat can rule liberally and for a long period of time.
2. Any liberal policies an autocrat pursues make up a small fraction of them.

I am saying that,

1. Some autocrats rule liberally and reign for decades. Augustus Caesar is an example.
2. By mentioning Caligula and Commodus, you are not highlighting how autocracy contradicts with liberalism. You are highlighting how an illiberal successor is more likely to result from an autocracy that practices hereditary succession.

Actually, it's foolish to carry cash. As BigOne stated, it's more risky. Also, some states in the US are so corrupt that police will seize your cash under civil asset forfeiture laws for drug trafficking if they can argue it meets the standard for "preponderance of evidence," and carrying an "unusual" amount of cash satisfies the preponderance of evidence. Usually, stopping you for driving 3mph over the speed limit on a road known for drug trafficking and manipulating the police canine to signal drugs, will often be sufficient for them to claim probable cause to search your vehicle and seize any cash as evidence of drug trafficking.

As for power lines, overhead lines are always at risk of an outage. Hell, even squirrels will occasionally shut them down.

Free markets

Edit: An interesting article.

http://www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cjv14n2-7.html

The parallels with the US are dreadful.

Kemp,

Examples of liberal autocracies include the "Five Good Emperors" of the Roman Empire.

Owned.

The next time Germany invades France, I say we let them keep it.

Open borders facilitate human trafficking.

> Acolyte wrote:

> Equality is a dangerous and vaguely communistic notion, in the context of the political arena.>

Equality of opportunity or equality of outcome? Or both?