Тег: Channels

Mechanics of Freedom, Chapter 8

I present for your consideration the translation of the eighth chapter of David Friedman’s treatise “The Machinery of Freedom”: “Monopoly II: State Monopoly for Fun and Profit”. While the previous chapter provided an overview of the types of monopolies, this one describes in more detail some of the mechanisms by which state monopolies are formed and maintained. The illustrative material, naturally, refers to the USA, but the mechanisms are universal enough.

Also, unexpectedly for myself, I have entered a social network as alien to me as VKontakte. One of the readers decided to open a mirror of my channel there. So, if you feel most comfortable exactly there (it’s convenient to comment, share, and all the things for which fines are later imposed and criminal cases are opened) — you are welcome.

Vacation is over

I’m back from my trip to the mountains, so there will be plenty of fresh material soon. Today, to get back into the swing of things, I’ll answer some simple question, and here’s the rough plan for what comes next:

  • I will break down the trip into cases illustrating different aspects of libertarianism and economic theory and release a fairly extensive article on the subject
  • I’ll edit and post the Friedman translations that my wonderful assistants managed to put together while I was away
  • I’ll put out a couple of articles for Bitarch and a new text for the Novosibirsk YouTube channel Libertarian Band (by the way, if anyone hasn’t checked out their latest video on libertarianism for grandmothers, definitely take a look; they have a new sexy host, and I like how he presented my text—the previous one, about lifelong tenure, turned out less lively).
  • I liked the idea of writing a few fairy tales in the style of Gorky’s Luka.
  • And we’ll see where it goes from there.

Oh, right, about Friedman. Shortly before leaving, I managed to edit the translation of one of the chapters of the third edition of the Mechanics of Liberty: Problems with deriving the ought from the is in Ayn Rand—enjoy this exclusive, as this text is hardly found anywhere, even in English. I’ve estimated the progress of the translation and think I can set a deadline for the project: February 12, 2020. Grandpa Friedman will turn 75 then, and we’ll have something to congratulate him with. I also remind you that donations for the translation are best sent to a separate wallet 1AFkD2bazCs5YZBBrSD7HsRMWLmRbg6QBo—it will be easier for me to estimate how much I can spend on rewarding my assistants. Please bear with me, but I will bother you with this reminder with every new chapter publication.

What will happen to the channel once you explain all aspects of libertarianism and the questions run out? (meanwhile, I am doing everything possible to make sure they don’t)

…And justice for all

Lately, indeed, interesting new questions have begun to appear less frequently, so soon I will need to devote more attention not to new answers, but to structuring what has already been accumulated. The results of the survey indicate precisely that people wish to see not so much regular fresh posts, but rather a certain new quality.

In general, the long-term goal of the project is the formation of a community of people who have a clear understanding of libertarianism, are ready to convey their ideas to those around them, and arrange their lives in accordance with libertarian principles. So I very much hope that gradually more stories about successful libertarian practices will appear here, and not at the level of “somewhere far away something was done, I read it in a questionable article,” but rather “our readers implemented such-and-such a mechanism and are telling us how they navigated the pitfalls.”

What pleases me is that the view that it is time to work as a team is leading in the survey. Great, let’s expand.

Translators for “The Mechanics of Liberty” are very much needed. A polished literary style is not mandatory; accuracy of work is far more important. I will be editing the submitted text anyway. So, if anyone feels they have the strength and desire to participate in the translation, take any unoccupied chapter—and go for it.

There is quite a high demand for a guide on the promotion of libertarianism, so I will have to pay quite close attention to this. If you have ideas about what the structure of this text should be, please suggest them; it is easier for me to work with a semi-finished product than to invent it from scratch.

As for building a convenient catalog of previously created posts, I think I will create a more detailed category system and move it to a separate page. I hope this will make it easier for you to find something valuable in this mess.

You’ll agree, it looks quite similar to my channel: many useful things very compactly in one place, but in terms of usability, it’s far from a masterpiece.

Anniversary of the project launch

A year ago, on May 30, 2018, the first post was published as part of this project. What followed was quite winding; you can read a brief summary on the “About the project” page.

Over the year, approximately 400 posts were published, 283 of which were answers to your questions. In recent months, there have been more long-reads and translations of English-language materials. I am terribly short on time, otherwise there would have been even more material.

As of today, the channel has 847 subscribers on Telegram, 135 on Facebook, and 78 on Twitter. This is modest; I was really itching to give myself an anniversary gift, buy a couple of promotional posts, and reach a thousand. On the other hand, I desire citability more than subscribers. Before the New Year, I complained about the same thing, but so far I have done little to correct the situation.

On the other hand, the small audience that the project managed to gather is inspiring. An exceptionally cozy chat has formed around the project, where, despite extremely light moderation, we manage to communicate quite civilly on topics of varying degrees of seriousness and intensity.

It is especially pleasant to see your regular donations. Over the year, you sent 0.3 bitcoin to the main wallet, and another 0.019 bitcoin via Lightning. I am terribly glad that you value me so much, and I hope that I can continue to justify your trust.

I want to separately mention the established ongoing cooperation with a number of other libertarian resources. First and foremost, this is, of course, Bitarch. As I understand it, he not only runs his own VKontakte public page but also actively sponsors content production by other authors, including myself. This also includes the public pages Freedom pride and Antistate. I don’t understand how one can seriously rely on VK as a primary channel for content distribution, but these guys somehow manage. The channels Dobroum and Tea Club stand slightly apart—systemic cooperation hasn’t happened there yet, but there is some exchange of ideas and episodic mutual promotion. I hope to grow closer in the future to the author channels of Vladimir Zolotorev and Vladimir Popov, but for now, my sympathy for them is mostly one-sided. I have successfully turned to Alexey Tereshchuk and Pavel Usanov for consultations, and I keep a few other experts on special issues in mind. Finally, a couple of reference bots operate in the expanses of Telegram, Mister Mises and Libertarian Answers—they use some of my texts. If the owners of these bots are reading me—friends, you can not only take ready-made answers but also request custom texts on specific topics. Just specify the topic and which resource the order is for.

I am often asked if I will do streams. I won’t make any promises, but it is unlikely. The text format is the coziest for me, and also optimal in terms of maintaining anonymity. Perhaps I will be able to cooperate with someone on the production of videos, but only as a scriptwriter. I haven’t received any offers from anyone willing to take care of everything else, and I cannot handle the organization myself. So, it’s all in your hands.

Surveys about money

Today I have two polls for you. The project has started to take up quite a lot of time, which has increased the importance of the question of its monetization. To avoid making mistakes while trying different options, I first want to ask about your preferences.

В какой форме вам наиболее удобно присылать донаты?
  • Add your answer
Results

Выясняю, какие способы платежей вам наиболее удобны. Можно выбрать несколько вариантов ответа. Можно добавить свой вариант.

Какие способы монетизации канала вы бы поддержали?
  • Add your answer
Results

Выявляю ваши предпочтения о том, за что вы готовы платить, а за что не готовы. Можно выбрать несколько вариантов ответа. Можно добавить свой вариант.

Why don’t “Schemes and Memes” love you?

анонимный вопрос

Don’t they love it? I would say it is more like touching courtship. When three or four channels I follow posted their ads, I was somehow too lazy to go and see what they were writing, but here I finally got around to it, so well done, they used a winning tactic.

I have exactly one complaint regarding the “Libertarianism in Schemes and Memes” channel, which Grigory Bazhenov voiced to them some time ago: where are the schemes? I looked, and they really aren’t there. A shortcoming.

A picture posted in schemememes brought me 15 new subscribers. Guys, make yourselves comfortable; I will try to avoid long delays in publications in the future.

As for “memes for Russians,” I am still too lazy to drop by. But if they post something interesting there, let me know and I’ll take a look. For now, schemememes reliably protect them from my attention, for which the protected ones, I hope, will thank them.