Thursday, February 19, 2004

The Origins of Nazism. It is sometimes claimed that Nazism arose as a reactionary movement to reclaim the German past. Ludwig von Mises refuted this point in Omnipotent Government (1944), now online for the first time. Nazism, Mises shows, has it roots in the Prussian Constitutional Conflict of the 1860s, and the brief career of Ferdinand Lassalle. "Lassalle was not himself a Nazi," writes Mises, "but he was the most eminent forerunner of Nazism, and the first German who aimed at the FŸhrer position." [Ludwig von Mises Institute Articles] So far I've only read the linked excerpt. It isn't just about the origins of Nazism, though--it addresses the origins of the philosophy of statism that manifests as National Socialism, Communism, and the hybrid form of both that currently dominates most of the world. 1:54:42 PM    comment () RIAA Countersued Under Racketeering Laws [Slashdot] The woman's attornies are arguing that "...by suing file-swappers for copyright infringement, and then offering to settle instead of pursuing a case where liability could reach into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, the RIAA is violating the same laws that are more typically applied to gangsters and organized crime." I happen to agree that the RIAA is engaging in extortion. However, I suspect this countersuit is doomed, because the entire system of civil suits today is based on this kind of extortion. I don't believe the legal professionals involved in the case will allow that sort of threat to their livelyhoods to prevail. 1:09:21 PM    comment () Paranoia. Greg Costikyan has licensed his classic role playing game, Paranoia, to a British firm that will produce a new XP edition. "Player: Are you using the d20 rules system?" "The Computer: No. PARANOIA is fun. D20 games are not fun. The Computer says so." " PARANOIA's second edition rules were, of course, perfect. The new PARANOIA XP expunges certain imperfections introduced by subversive elements, and will be even more perfect." Costikyan can write. He's got a nice piece in the new Tekka on "Games for Smart People". [Mark Bernstein] I used to play Paranoia when I was in high school. It was pretty funny, although I suspect that it would be less so now--America has moved pretty far towards the game's setting in the past 15-20 years. 10:33:00 AM    comment ()

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