by Scott Swain | Jul 2, 2020 | All Articles, Business, Economics, Liberty, Voluntaryism
By way of clearing up two myths, we’ll begin to gain a deeper understanding of regulatory capture: (1) We do not have free market Capitalism in the United States. We have what some call Corporatism and others call Crony Capitalism. (2) “Corporation”...
by Scott Swain | Jun 12, 2020 | All Articles, Culture, Economics, Liberty, Socialism, Voluntaryism
We have all heard American Republicans and Democrats speak of each other with rancor. It is especially tragic when we realize both “sides” want the same things; peace, prosperity, a strong WiFi signal, freedom, security, sex, health, pizza, and happiness....
by Scott Swain | Jun 12, 2020 | All Articles, Culture, Economics, Liberty, Life, Socialism, Voluntaryism
Over the past few years there has been an acceleration in what some may call “Cultural Marxism”, “Identity Politics”, or “Wokeness”. One form this has taken has been in films, specifically from the most powerful franchises in...
by Scott Swain | Jun 11, 2020 | All Articles, Business, EQ
Have you experienced times when you felt you did your best and you hear only criticism. How about feeling completely misunderstood or unappreciated when your accomplishments seem to be in plain sight? Many of us spend a significant portion of our lives in an office...
by Scott Swain | Jun 11, 2020 | All Articles, Business, EQ, Life
from Scott Swain’s upcoming book, Practical Empathy I used to think fear was the emotion underlying anger. Until a woman in one of my Emotional Intelligence Play Groups said it was actually frustration. I thought about that. I tried to think of a situation where...
by Scott Swain | Jun 11, 2020 | All Articles, EQ, Liberty, Parenting, Voluntaryism
vir-tue [ vurchoo ] 1. goodness: the quality of being morally good or righteous 2. good quality: a quality that is morally good 3. admirable quality: a quality that is good or admirable, but not necessarily in terms of morality. “If you make a choice under...
by Scott Swain | Jun 10, 2020 | All Articles, Business, Economics, EQ, Liberty, Life, Parenting, Unschooling, Voluntaryism
You probably see the inequities and corruption in our system. Do you also see the growing distance between you and other humans, in your beliefs, amount of time spent with others, and level of compassion you feel? Maybe you even see the many ways it is possible that...
by Scott Swain | Jun 10, 2020 | All Articles, Business, Economics, Liberty, Life, Socialism, Voluntaryism
I bet most of us agree that there is usually a net overall loss when one person forces another person to do a thing. Sometimes, though, people “expand” the definition of force to include not doing a thing. What?! Example A person in need came to you asking...
by Scott Swain | Jun 10, 2020 | All Articles, Business, EQ, Liberty, Life, Voluntaryism
Following is an argument for using a form of empathy I’ve developed called Practical Empathy (PEQ), based on and similar to Nonviolent Communication (NVC) by Marshall Rosenberg, PhD. Empathy is not agreement, so you risk no loss of integrity by practicing...
by Scott Swain | Jun 9, 2020 | All Articles, Culture, EQ, Liberty, Parenting
I’ve noticed a pattern. Let’s call it “bubble-wrapped people”. Most parents care about their children and justifiably want happiness for them. Unfortunately, these caring parents may not realize the benefits of allowing their children to...
by Scott Swain | Jun 9, 2020 | All Articles, Culture, Economics, EQ, Liberty, Life, Parenting, Socialism, Voluntaryism
It seems that Socialism is on the rise right now; at least amongst those who have not come to the USA looking for the opposite of what socialism did to their Country. Why? Let’s speculate. I see it as a combination of factors: – Wealth largess from the...
by Scott Swain | Jun 9, 2020 | All Articles, Economics, Liberty, Socialism, Voluntaryism
or “Broken Window Fallacy” simplified by Scotter A window is broken. Is this a net negative or positive for the economy? Look to your intuition. Does this sound to you like a net negative or positive? Some such as Keynes and Krugman say: The net effect on...
by Scott Swain | Jun 4, 2020 | All Articles, Culture, Economics, Liberty, Socialism, Voluntaryism
Voluntaryist Empathizing with and Addressing the American Democratic Socialist Perspective No matter what your philosophical / political beliefs, odds are: you have a desire to increase joy, prosperity, health, and security. Also, I propose that many have in common is...
by Scott Swain | May 30, 2020 | All Articles, Business, Economics, Liberty, Life
Any one of the ideas below, alone, may have little affect on your expenses. However, they add up. Here’s my list. I’d love to hear yours. Please share your ideas in the comments. Gardening for food. Raised beds are easy. Even easier: Go to a Home Depot or...
by Scott Swain | May 24, 2020 | All Articles, Economics, Liberty, Socialism, Voluntaryism
This article is a summary of the video of Scott on the right, below the Candace Owens and Thomas Sowell videos. “Where are we if we don’t have diversity of thought? How are we to have intelligent conversations with each other? How are we to learn from each...
by Scott Swain | May 22, 2020 | All Articles, Liberty, Life, Privacy, Voluntaryism
“But if I am doing nothing wrong then why worry?” What if privacy is something that makes you a human? While it is useful to deny snoopers such as Facebook, Google, US National Security Agency (NSA), FBI, Police, insurance companies, etc., from seeing your...
by Scott Swain | May 17, 2020 | All Articles, Economics, Liberty, Voluntaryism
“But… I thought we need a government to force some behaviors so the weak and poor are not trampled under the boots of those with more power?” It is a legitimate concern to worry about people taking advantage of those with less power. This is the...
by Scott Swain | May 17, 2020 | All Articles, Economics, Liberty, Voluntaryism
“What if, in a society run on voluntary principles, corporations were to become warlords by enslaving the entire population in a military style dictatorship? And… how do we protect ourselves against other governments looking upon our purple mountains and...
by Scott Swain | May 16, 2020 | All Articles, Business, EQ, Life
After many years of practicing the Nonviolent Communication (NVC) method of empathy and then creating my own system based on NVC, called Practical Empathy (PEQ), I’ve become much more aware of when I’m being lied to. How did this happen? My...
by Scott Swain | May 11, 2020 | All Articles, Culture, EQ, Liberty
Evaluation Evaluations and moralistic judgements are when we judge another person [often as “wrong” or “bad” but also including terms like “good” and “awesome”] when they do things that are not in agreement with our...
by Scott Swain | May 1, 2020 | All Articles, EQ
From my upcoming book, Practical Empathy: In order to keep it simple and reduce confusion, I’m not going to talk here about the many ways other people define empathy and sympathy. There are many! I’m going to focus on my changing understanding of these...
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