HBL

TheHarry BinswangerLetter

Blog: Value for Value

A sense of proportion

Re: the thread on the limits of open immigration It’s time for Ayn Rand’s Power Question: What facts of reality give rise to the need for such a concept as X? Here, X is “citizenship.” Why do we need this concept? Mainly, to determine who can vote. You can probably think of a few perquisites

Don’t choose between two evils: Neither Harvard nor Trump

On this forum there has been a spirited, but civil and polite, debate over whether Harvard deserves support in its stand against Trump’s attack on it. It’s a pretzel of an issue, and I appreciate the arguments of both sides, I really do (and can be momentarily swayed to one side or the other). But

Don’t choose between two evils: Neither Harvard nor Trump

On this forum there has been a spirited, but civil and polite, debate over whether Harvard deserves support in its stand against Trump’s attack on it. It’s a pretzel of an issue, and I appreciate the arguments of both sides, I really do (and can be momentarily swayed to one side or the other). But

Trivia contest

The Randsday Conference, which was a great success, featured my Objectivist trivia contest. Having used the questions before an audience of about 70, I know I can’t use them again, so I post them here for your edification and amusement.Answers are at the bottom. ==================================================Trivia answers

Not Left, Not Right . . . Try Up (Parts I & II)

This is addressed to all those repulsed by the political alternatives offered today, those who are seeking a rational social-political position. 1. Content Rational—reached by a process of reason. A political position should be based on a process of logical reasoning, not on running with a herd or substituting feelings for thinking. Harry’s Substack is a

Cartels are fine

Thread: Bilateral Economics Re: Member’s post of 11/30/24 I think Rockefeller was on balance a hero, but not an Ayn Rand Hero. Of course. Except, from my limited knowledge, you don’t have to say “on balance.” At several points he led the formation of cartels and other such actions to establish prices and volumes he deemed

The meaning of the Trump victory – Some positives

Unfortunately, my prediction of a Trump victory was correct.  I can’t predict what a Trump administration will do. Neither can Donald Trump. But I can say there will be a price to pay. The form it will take is not predictable. Maybe, as in the first years of his first administration, the economy will improve.

For Open Immigration

[This essay was written in 2014, and should have been included in “Value for Value” from the outset.] This is a defense of a policy of absolutely open immigration, without border patrols, border police, border checks, or passports. After a phase-in period, entry into the U.S. would be unrestricted, unregulated, and unscreened, exactly as is entry into

Kamala Harris pro “interest”, not “charity”

Posted by a Member: I love this statement, because it dismisses altruism: So then the United States is supporting Ukraine not out of charity, but because it is in our strategic interest. And I’m fully aware that she didn’t say “self-interest,” which would have been much better. I have no illusions about Harris’ domestic politics.

Libertarianism and Israel

Libertarians are hostile to Israel – posted by Peter Schwartz I have long maintained that the Libertarian movement is at root not anti-statism, but anti-state, and that it is therefore hostile toward free, or semi-free, countries because they demonstrate the rational value, and necessity, of a proper government. This is why Libertarians, like their leftist