Defending the UndefendableWalter Block
Defending the Undefendable
by Walter Block · first published 1991
5mentions
2recommended by
5HN commenters
2009–2025first – last mentioned
40% recommend60% neutral
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Honestly, they're providing a service and there are customers. Walter block who is a noted austrian-school economist did a fun set of books called "Defending the Undefendable" where he runs through thought experiments about Slumlords, Payday Lenders, Pimps, etc. I'm not asking you to agree with him, or start defending pimps but reading through some of those is a fun way to…
on “Consumer Protection Bureau Aims to Roll Back Rules for Payday Lending” ↗There are some pretty convincing arguments that directly repudiate the points in this article in a book called Defending the Undefendable by Walter Block. For example, there's a chapter called "The Person Who Yells Fire in a Crowded Theatre" and one called "The Slanderer or Libeler." You can get it free from Mises here: http://mises.org/books/defending.pdf
on “Taking a stand: Facebook, TechCrunch, and Free Speech” ↗…presence that feels legitimate and scholarly, but it's not really. That's not to say there's not interesting arguments, I'll always be attracted to some libertarian ideas, e.g. some of Walter Block's Defending the Undefendable. But I think most people can relate to having strong convictions about something, growing older, losing the conviction, and then being wary of taking extreme positions in topics that they know little…
on “Show HN: A central bank simulator game with a realistic economic model” ↗I don't think that is ever really the argument made by that kind of economics. Even the most extreme free marketeers like Walter Block (author of "Defending the Undefendable") talk about pollution as a violation of private property. Climate change as a result of pollution definitely would come under that kind of argument. They would just say it's a matter for the courts,…
on “Richest 10 Percent Responsible for Two-Thirds of Warming” ↗…drugs based on legality. The Rat Park experiment showed that rats in enriched, social environments consumed far less drugs than isolated rats, highlighting how environment strongly affects addiction. In Defending the Undefendable, Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson’s chapter “The Pusher” argues that drug dealers, often vilified as destructive criminals, play a complex social role by supplying a demand that already exists. He suggests that…
on “The death of tech idealism and rise of the homeless in Northern California” ↗