The Worst Authoritarian Argument

Many times, when I have pointed out that some law should be repealed because it is broken often, the inevitable response is something like "well, why not legalize murder?"

Here's the problem with that kind of thinking: it can be used to argue against the repeal of any law. Therefore, it is the equivalent of saying that no law should ever be repealed.

Here's an example:

A: X should be legal. Too many people break laws against it.
B: Well, why not legalize murder?

I'm sure there were plenty of conversations during Prohibition that went like this:

A: Alcohol should be legal. Too many people break laws against it.
B: Well, why not legalize murder?

Abiogenic Petroleum

The conventional wisdom is that so-called fossil fuels were formed from the remains of living things that died millions of years ago. However, there are vast amounts of methane, the key component of natural gas, on Jupiter. Since most likely was never any life on Jupiter, where did the methane come from?

If it's possible that the methane on Jupiter was produced without life, isn't it possible that the methane, coal, and oil on Earth was produced without life? Russian geologist Nikolai Kudryavtsev thought so.

I'm not sure what experiments would prove that fossil fuels were produced without life, but it has not been ruled out yet. No one knows how the fossil fuels formed.

I think it is very intriguing question and I hope I live long enough to hear the answer.  

Liberals Don't Understand Incentives

Liberals think if you raise taxes, you'll get more money. When this fails to happen, as it always does, the react in astonishment. They simply cannot understand that if you tax more, you create an incentive to either earn less or hide your income.

Likewise, they cannot understand why giving poor people money fails to end poverty. If you give poor people money, you give them an incentive to remain poor. It amazes me still how adults can consistently fail to understand these very simple concepts.

If you go to a national park, you will see many signs warning visitors not to feed the animals. The reason is if animals get used to getting food from people, they associate people with food, follow them around and become a nuisance.

 People aren't all that different. If the government gives them money, they forget how to work for it, beg the government for more, and become a nuisance.