It’s not often that I’m proud to be a student. It seems like every night they stand around for hours in the cold doing nothing, then walk across town to studentville and stagger into their flats at 5am, all under the banner of ‘having a good night’. On one day a year, however, they do the opposite: they stagger out of their flats at 5am to walk across town to stand for an hour in the cold doing nothing. This time, however, they do it to honour the fallen. And for one day, I get to be proud to be a student.
Archive for April, 2011|Monthly archive page
WordPress, Google Apps and Liberty
In Liberty, OUSFL on April 23, 2011 at 3:47 PMSome time ago, I had an idea to found an organisation for Libertarian students at Otago University. I’m already the Otago Region President of ACT on Campus, which is a group of students who agree with and promote ACT policies. However, I’ve always maintained that my allegiance so not to ACT, but to Liberty. In recent times, ACT has come out with a few things, of which I don’t particularly like the look, especially the social conservatism represented by figures such as John Boscawen. Fundamentally, the issue with ACT is that it’s a political party in a democratic system, unavoidably burdened with the need to get votes. That’s all well and good for ACT, but what I want is Liberty, not politics, and I think a lot of students feel the same.
Why Indiana Jones would beat Batman in a fight
In Just for Fun on April 19, 2011 at 10:35 AMHaving argued with Liz Roberts on this topic and given her a verbal mauling, Liz underhandedly decided to take the fight to the blogosphere. Well, my dear Liz, to such skullduggery there can be but a single response:
The Philosophy of Liberty
In Liberty, Politics on April 19, 2011 at 4:07 AMI’m probably going to end up talking about Liberty quite a lot on this blog, so for the sake of clarity, I should probably define here what I mean by Liberty. There are many fine essays out there that present beautifully the concept of Liberty and fundamental rights. One of the best is On Liberty by John Stuart Mill. From Wikipedia:
Perhaps the most memorable point made by Mill in this work, and his basis for liberty, is that “over himself, over his own body and mind, the individual is sovereign”. Mill is compelled to make this assertion in opposition to what he calls the “tyranny of the majority”, wherein through control of etiquette and morality, society is an unelected power that can do horrific things. Mill’s work could be considered a reaction to this social control by the majority and his advocacy of individual decision-making over the self. The famous Harm Principle, or the principle of liberty, is also articulated in this work: people can do anything they like as long as it does not harm others.
Hello world!
In ChrisLaing.net on April 18, 2011 at 10:47 PMBet you thought this was the default WordPress post, didn’t you? Ah-ha! Already you are falling blindly into my well-laid trap!
Actually, I just think it’s a good title for an introductory post. This is the latest iteration of ChrisLaing.net. The site began as a playground for me to try out xhtml and css, then PHP and finally WordPress. After some time spent as a simple landing page, ChrisLaing.net has settled into comfortable old age as a personal blog.
