Recent content by Nik

[FONT=Tahoma]Satya: Until this moment I had never heard of the distinction you make between the terms

I'm at gym usually five days a week. Every day I do 20 minutes of cardio and 40 - 45 minutes of weight training. I love it. I've always loved being at the gym and unless I'm having a low-energy day, I really enjoy breaking a sweat. My eating habits have sort of gotten better. I used to be a...

LadyINFJ: No need to panic. You're in a pretty good spot. Perhaps if the both of us last long enough here, I'll manage to persuade you to move a bit further down and to the right. It's pretty lonely in my area of the grid: mankind's last moral enclave.

[FONT=Tahoma]I think homosexuality qua homosexuality is an indulgence. Surrounding it with other acts and desires, in my opinion, does not strip it of its fundamental character, which is sexual in nature. Suppose two men, John and Sam, have known each other since childhood and eventually find...

I respectfully (and strongly) disagree with this conclusion. That the founders could not conceive of particular details or imagine future technological advances doesn't alter the aims of republican government. What makes the founders' experiment so unique is that the American regime is founded...

[FONT=Tahoma]Apostelytizer: Sorry about the delay; I

Excellent recommendation. It's always pleasant to find another reader of Plato. I often wonder what it would have been like if Socrates had been able to engage in a conversation with the Christian apostles. I think the old man would have welcomed and enjoyed the opportunity.

Barnabas, if you're not already familiar with St. Thomas Aquinas, you may find his work both interesting and useful. He developed a series of proofs, as well, for the purpose of defending the concept of God. More modern philosophy scholars have posed challenges to some of your points, like the...

Regarding your first set of questions, I'm not sure I understand what you mean when you say that people are "given" means. In my previous post to you, when I said "live within your means," I meant something quite similar to the later phrase "always be prudent." That is, no matter what your...

Or: Live within your means; find happiness in life, even if it isn't filled with an abundance of wealth and luxury; find happiness even in hardship, because there's something honorable and praiseworthy about fortitude and self-determination; learn to appreciate your family and friends more than...

[FONT=Tahoma]Kavalan: As I understand their work, the Founders did not intend for the federal government to have the sort of dynamism most progressives think of today. I mentioned in another post (to you, I think) that the federal government

If that law exists as a product of state or local lawmaking, then so be it. And only if it applies to publicly funded institutions (i.e., not privately owned hospitals).

Satya: Most of your questions presuppose that increased government control of our lives is necessary. I reject that supposition on the grounds that a free federal-republican form of government is best suited to preserve our liberties and safety. As such, any "compromise" that involves...

Many Americans, including myself, oppose mandated health insurance on two points: (1) it represents an unjust abridgment of our property rights and (2) unconstitutionally expands the federal government to proportions that destroy the character of federal-republicanism by supplanting it with an...

The reason compromise is impossible in this situation is because the two competing camps are polar opposites. One side, the liberals and progressives, demands equality of outcome; the other side, conservatives and libertarians, champions natural liberty. Hardship and pain are an unavoidable...