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I'm CERTAIN someone is wondering about "Omphaloskepsis"... You can read about the origin of this fantastic word (as well as see an insight into our daily household experience) here: https://classicalwisdom.substack.com/p/should-we-navel-gaze?utm_source=publication-search

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It's the kind of term familiar to those of us married to classics enthusiasts...

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I'm pretty sure I'm weird. I actually knew what it meant and I had seen the photos of the statues previously. The base of phalo I I thought perhaps was a typo on a tablet somewhere. Phalic... The definition of self absorption is apt. In modern terms, I consider them the first dick picks.. The great philosopher Anthony Wiener was similarly self absorbed. As posted yesterday on modern wisdom." Time is the king of all men. He is their parent and their grave. He gives what he will but not what they crave." A great quote but I won't be naval gazing anytime soon. I have a funeral to go to tomorrow.

I might drop that line if appropriate. Probably not it seems like self-absorption.

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Apr 18Liked by Joel Bowman

Joel, Rothbard used the Mises Institute to execute on his strategy. Rothbard was closely associated with the Ludwig von Mises Institute from its founding in 1982 by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. This organization became the main vehicle for the promotion of his ideas, and he served as its Academic Vice-President. In a four-volume series, Conceived in Liberty (1975-1979), he presented a detailed account of American colonial history that stressed the libertarian antecedents of the American Revolution. Libertarianism is in the DNA of Americans. Unfortunately we succumbed to Statolatry for which we're now paying the price. Put simply, Rothbard was an intellectual giant and his ideas are bearing fruit all over the world. I hope I live long enough to see the Liberty Revival here in America.

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G'day, Craig. I'm sure I must have read some of your articles at the LvM Institute over the years. Matter of fact, I was actually speaking with an Austrian School economist just this week (podcast for a future Note) about how they branched out down here in LatAm, notably in Brazil's São Paulo. This region is fertile ground for a resurgence of liberty. The irony that such a revolution might begin at the End of the World and make its way back to the US...

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Joel, so true; the irony is really rich!

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I admire and pray for Sr. President Milei and liberty revival worldwide. Therefore I believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates; in honoring, obeying, and sustaining the law of the land.

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Apr 18Liked by Joel Bowman

Again Joel, putting a smile on my face... most definitely did not contemplate that on my rise from bed this morning

I'm most definitely interested in hearing more about Rothbard.

Thanks.

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Apr 18Liked by Joel Bowman

If only these words by Rothbard would not fall on deaf ears!

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Paid for membership but when I put my email address in the box it doesn’t work.

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Hi Florence, please reach out to me directly so I can resolve this issue for you. (You can reply to the Notes emails directly, or DM me via Substack's chat feature). Thanks!

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That was heavy and wise. You have an unusual, good mind, Joel.

I have been writing for 50 years, precipitated by a religious experience. They were documented by William James. He wrote in a time when some sought the essence of truth. He probably thought that the essence began with a decision on God.

Christ went into the desert, like the metaphor of the Jews, like the 40 years struggle of a generation, to answer the first question, “Whom will you serve, God or man.”

Christ said, “I am the way and the truth.”

Who was it Kierkegaard, man has a puny brain, then it is clouded by self interest.

Today, the biggest obstacle to truth is delusion, the cacophony of broadcast lies” “Evil is the father of all lies.”

Christ gave us a philosophy: word and deed. He said, “I have come to set you free, to give abundant life. You must be born again, lose your old, corrupted self for the new self.

We are corrupted, delusion and mind control go hand and hand.

The only way to get the anarchy, government, public opinion that Tolstoy believed in, and Thoreau enunciated is by the change of individual hearts following “The way and the truth.”

Which emphatically, Christ said is himself, God. Not through any mediator, but directly.

“The hills are always alive with the sounds of music and even the rocks cry wisdom to those that have ears to hear.”

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Unfortunately, Rothbard's natural rights approach does not stand up to arguments that simply reject it. A different approach is to apply philosophy of science to the problem of understanding society: https://www.academia.edu/43892016/The_Society_Most_Conducive_to_Problem_Solving_Karl_Popper_and_Piecemeal_Social_Engineering

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Joel, Another brilliant essay from a lover of words, married to a lover of words. Your Pre Matins brainstorming comes from brilliant study and wit. I'm reading closer to midnight, and wonder about tonight's dreams. How will will we with mediocre education keep up? Slowing synapses can at least glory in visions of better thoughts.

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Murray Rothbart was a unique intellect. To say he was a bit irascible is an understatement. He is the father of Anarcho-Capitalism and for that he shall and should be thanked and remembered. He should also be remembered for the founding of the Cato Institute. In fact, he suggested the name.

But he had a falling out with Ed Crane and hence the founding of the Ludwig von Mises Institute came about. As we know, he was something of ideological purest. And so, they set up shop across the street from Auburn University. It's a cool place.

He also had some rather controversial ideas and political positions.

In 1948 he supported the candidacy of Strom Thurman and the Dixiecrats. In 1992 he endorsed Pat Buchannan for president. In 1959 he befriended Holocaust denier Harry Elmer Barnes. He also embraced revisionist history some of it valid, some of it, well, kookery, not sure that's actually a word but you get the idea. If you want an entertaining critique of Mr. Rothbart's revisionism, go to https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2012/01/23/courting-cranks/

He could be rather critical. He didn't last long as an acolyte of Ayn Rand. He dismissed Adam Smith as a "shameless plagiarist" in volume 1 of his "An Austrian Perspective on the History of Economic Thought." He could also find fault with his fellow Austrians. He broke with von Mises on the subject of ethics and on the idea of the need for a state. Mises thought a state was necessary according to the Rothbart Wikipedia page "to uphold markets."

He was a genius. He was an original thinker. He did not walk on water.

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If the stars continue to align we might once again hear, "Rich as an Argentinian". Might there be some ground zero investment opportunities?

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You are correct! I did not wake up learning about how to unduly the salty pick! Great article

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