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The principles that rule this blog

Principles that will govern my thoughts as I express them here (from my opening statement):


  • Freedom of the individual should be as total as possible, limited only by the fact that nobody should be free to cause physical injury to another, or to deprive another person of his freedoms.
  • Government is necessary primarily to provide those services that private enterprise won't, or won't at a price that people can afford.
  • No person has a right to have his own beliefs on religious, moral, political, or other controversial issues imposed on others who do not share those beliefs.

I believe that Abraham Lincoln expressed it very well:

“The legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done, but cannot do, at all, or cannot
so well do, for themselves — in their separate, individual capacities.”


Comments will be invited, and I will attempt to reply to any comments that are offered in a serious and non-abusive manner. However, I will not tolerate abusive or profane language (my reasoning is that this is my blog, and so I can control it; I wouldn't interfere with your using such language on your own!)

If anyone finds an opinion that I express to be contrary to my principles, they are welcome to point this out. I hope that I can make a rational case for my comments. Because, in fact, one label I'll happily accept is rationalist.

Friday, March 14, 2014

Vladimir Putin and Ukraine

I don't like Vladimir Putin. And I don't like his expansionistic activities. But I have to say he has some justification for his position on Crimea and Ukraine. There are a lot more ethnic Russians than Ukrainians in Crimea (though the Tatars pose a problem). And if they feel that they do not belong in Ukraine, their feelings need to be taken into account. And in fact, the Crimea was part of Russia until 1954, and simply taken from Russia and given to Ukraine by Nikita Khrushchev (who in fact was a Ukrainian himself). So I can see the feeling of wrongdoing that Russians might harbor.

So we really should let the Crimea secede from Ukraine. And I say this out of no love for Vladimir Putin, or his policies. But on this issue, he's right.
Posted by Opinionator at 12:30 AM

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