Cybernethics / Cybernéthique

( Lire ces nouvelles urgentes du Zimbabwe (selon le Soleil)... )

Notons aussi les soucis environnementaux à deux vitesses de nos amis national socialistes. L'environnement, ça veut parfois dire sauver nos amis les bêtes des balles des méchants chasseurs. Mais une fois les bébêtes nationalisées, ça veut dire des gentils chasseurs en uniforme gouvernemental qui abattent les nuisibles bestioles maintenant déclarées trop nombreuses. Ah le prestige de l'uniforme! L'environnement ça veut surtout dire un bon prétexte pour justifier tout et n'importe quoi pourvu que ce soit le gouvernement qui le fasse, et qu'il nous balance le mot environnement dans ses explications. L'environnement c'est le nouveau refuge des totalitaires de tout poil. Mot-clef suscitant une réaction émotionelle pavlovienne d'approbation sans critique chez les citoyens préprogrammés.

( Illustration et envoi... )

I will be in Warsaw on June 28th and 29th to speak at the Libertarian International 2008 Spring Conference.

Since I don't want to preach to the choir what they already know or will soon know anyhow, I chose to tackle the topic I think is most missing from such conferences. That's why I announced the title of my future speech to be The Art of Living Free.

Now I have to find a great speech to put under this great title.

I came to Paris for a Surprise Party celebrating my father's 70th birthday. It was a tremendous success. I'm leaving next saturday morning. If you are around, I hope to meet you before then!

Je suis venu à Paris pour une Sauterie Surprise en l'honneur des 70 ans de mon père. Et quelle surprise ce fut! Je repars le matin de samedi prochain 9 février. Si vous êtes dans les environs, j'espère vous revoir d'ici là!

( Visitez Paris... )

Paris devient un double musée. Celui de la splendeur passée, et celui de la déchéance présente.

1938. Un magnat de l'Opéra à privilège perd de l'argent à produire des opéras que nul ne veut regarder. Il fait faillite. L'État le rachète et éponge ses dettes à coups de millions pour qu'il puisse continuer à produire des opéras que nul ne veut regarder.

Décidément, le Front Populaire était activement occupé à perdre la guerre en financant des entreprises inutiles pour satisfaire les goûts particuliers d'une toute petite minorité politiquement connectée au détriment de la majorité des citoyens opprimés, plongés dans une souffrance prolongée au nom du droit d'une élite autoproclamée à leur imposer ses goûts décadents.

Dans la partie musée de l'Opéra, un documentaire de propagande vichyste passe en boucle. L'idéologie nationale socialiste d'alors colle parfaitement à l'idéologie socialiste nationale d'aujourd'hui. On célèbre le collectif de 1200 personnes, qui travaillent dur tous ensembles vers un seul but sous l'autorité du chef, comme un exemple pour une nation en ruine où tous doivent se sacrifier de même.

Cruelle comparaison que celle d'avec le Metropolitan Opera de NYC, dont les comptes positifs sont financés par le public, pour le public, spectateurs et donateurs volontaires, et dont les productions classiques rayonnent sur le monde entier. Oui, il y a des subventions publiques aussi, mais elles n'égalent pas les impôts loin de là; et si les lois fiscales ont forcé l'entreprise à se faire ASBL, l'intervention politique y reste considérablement moindre qu'en France. En fin de compte, c'est bien le public qui paie à mesure de sa satisfaction -- et c'est la satisfaction du public, pas celle de maîtres politiques, que cherche activement à satisfaire l'institution privée.

Je serai de brièvement retour en France du 19 juillet 2007 au 7 août 2007.

I will be having holidays in and around San Francisco, arriving on Sunday Dec 31 at midday, and leaving on January 8 at night. If you are nearby between these dates, I will be most glad to meet you!

In any case, I hope you are happily celebrating the Winter Solstice, Saturnalia, Gravmas, or whatever you like to call the gift-giving season.

NB: I haven't been posting much these times. One major reason why not is that I am experiencing hands problems: RSI, CTS, Tendinitis, whatever the name. I'm slowly recovering, but typing quickly becomes uncomfortable then painful.

My friend Tamu is organizing a special screening of Jason and the Argonauts in presence of Ray Harryhausen on July 24th in Montreal (not 23rd, not 25th), I unhappily won't be able to attend (I wish I could), but I thought some of you might appreciate, especially since you might be around Montreal at said date for Fantasia. I think Tamu clearly underpriced the session, at a 9 measly canadian dollars. Maybe she'll make up the difference selling beers and cheesecakes. Flock in and have fun!

Here I am in a new world. Safe and rested at last after a long journey. It's a new dawn. It's a new day. It's a new life for me. And I'm feeeeling good.

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On the first weekend of April, I attended the Spring 2005 Convention of Libertarian International, in Sofia, Bulgaria, as organized by the Bulgarian Society for Individual Liberty. I was a speaker, and my speech was about Capitalism as the Institution of Ethics. The notes for my speech are now available on my web site.

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It looks like my visa has been issued after all. Therefore, I will be able to come to Boston for a training period! Yippers!

2005-03-08 UPDATE: I got it in my mail this morning. Woohoo!

QOTD, re visas: A pretty face is not a passport, it's a visa and it runs out fast.

Petit extrait du lavage de cerveau insidieux effectué par les rédactions télévisées soviétiques francophones (RTBF, TF1, F2), ce dimanche soir.

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Si vous cherchez un endroit romantique pour une soirée à Bruxelles, allez donc au Grand Mayeur, restaurant tsigane russe, place du Grand Sablon, où un petit orchestre tsigane au violon virtuose vous ravira de 21:00 à 02:00.

In a bus to NYC early in January 2005, I met this gorgeous girl who was reading a course in Economics. The textbook was open on a praise of the Fed and its role in regulating the National Economy, with an opposing page in a special color denoting higher science, that justified this role based on one macroeconomic equation by Keynes. It was too tempting, so I started a conversation.

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While in the States, I had an argument with, of all persons, a French man. He argued for relativism, that true and false do not matter, and might not exist at all, that every situation is unique, etc. Yeah sure! His example went that everytime he heard that same Opera was unique. And my reply was that everytime he'd have to listen to the noise of a jackhammer for two uninterrupted hours would be just as unique. He was an extreme example of what Ayn Rand called the anti-conceptual mentality.

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When I was in the Boston subway, I saw the following advertisement on the red line, saying that Math is Cool. The next day, the advertisement was gone. Maybe math wasn't cool anymore. But then, there were still ads for learning philosophy, teaching english, etc. Things like that make me feel like Boston is just my kind of town. Think about it: a giant multiversity campus with lots of fascinating museums!

Les couloirs du métro annoncent Pharaon à l'institut du monde arabe, à grand renforts de sponsors étatiques et para-étatiques. Pourquoi pas Dalai Lama à l'institut du monde chinois? Chef Hutu, à l'institut du monde tutsi? Inca à l'institut du monde ibérique? Roi Champa à l'institut du monde vietnamien? Hannibal à l'institut du monde romain? Néanderthal à l'institut du monde Cro-Magnon? Et d'abord pourquoi un institut du monde arabe plutôt que d'aucun autre? Attention, si on laisse faire la vermine qui instigue une telle mascarade, dans quelques années, à l'institut du monde arabe, ce sera Premier ministre israëlien bientôt suivi de Président français. La collection a vocation à s'étendre autant qu'on la laissera faire.

( Lire la suite... )

I left the New World and what is left of New Amsterdam, and am now in Old Amsterdam, in the Old World. My oh my, there's a change indeed.

It's nice to have friends everywhere. Time to practice my double dutch.

( Read the blurb... )

I am François-René Rideau, a one-man think tank from France, and the webmaster of Bastiat.org. Since I realized tonight that time is expensive, I will be short. Iris asked me to answer the question: What is the reaction in France to Ayn Rand's ideas? Well, the answer is quite short actually: <french accent>The reaction to what???</french accent> In France, Ayn Rand is even less known that in America. The difference is that in France, academics don't even have to find a pretense so as to dismiss the significance of Ayn Rand, that is hardly ever brought about.

But the problem with the silencing of libertarian ideas goes much further. Consider that free trade was relatively popular in 1776 after Adam Smith published The Wealth of Nations. At the same time, socialism was mostly unheard of. Nowadays, free trade goes mostly undefended, while socialism is the semi-official religion of the day. So this is not just a matter of new ideas that haven't had the time to spread.

Ayn Rand insisted that the superiority of objectivist ideas resides in their rationality. Well, for an argument to be accepted, there are four steps which must be overcome: the argument must be heard; it must be listened to; it must vanquish prejudices; it must be understood. Only on the last step does rationality matter. For the rest, we must develop our skills at rhetoric if we want our ideas to compete on par with those of our opponents.

Having fun together is nice and well, and we're enjoying tonight (at least, I hope); but it only goes so far in terms of advancing Liberty. To advance Liberty is to convince other people of the nature, validity and importance of human rights. And convincing other people is a long and difficult task. It is an Enterprise of its own, to be approached as such. We have limited resources; we must manage them properly. With these resources, we must develop and market our ideas and arguments. Usual marketing techniques and pitfalls apply. We must define our targets, and cater to their needs. Most importantly, so as to survive and to extend, we must follow the bottom line: the self interest of the participating individuals, the sustainability, hence profitability, of the structuring institutions through which we advance Liberty.

Liberty will not prevail by chance. It will prevail because some people will have taken its success seriously, and will have undertaken the task of heralding it rationally. You can be among these people. You can become an activist. Or you can fund activism by people who specialize in the field. You may decide to fund my think tank, or another libertarian organization. In any case, it is your responsibility to entrust proper resources to people who will advance the cause of Liberty. Because you are the ones who know better.

Thank you for your attention.

I'm coming today. I want to be a part of it: New York, New York!

Yes, this time, it's serious. I'll be coming to NYC, after all. I'll be spending the New Year's Eve there, and leaving on the evening of Monday January 10th. I'll also be in Boston on January 2-4, and back to NYC on the afternoon of January 5. If you'll be around at these dates, maybe that's the opportunity for you and me to meet there?

A Nous Deux, New York!

Places I am committed to visiting in 2005:

• Sometime in January: the south of France. I have friends and family there. During the transition between two jobs, it's a great opportunity to go there. If I go by car, depending on my January schedule, I'll probably stop at Lyon.
• In April 1-3 2005, I am scheduled to go to Sofia, in Bulgaria, so as to speak before the Libertarian International Spring 2005 Conference.
• In July 10-15 2005, I would very much like to go to St Petersburg for the ISIL Conference.

Places I am planning to visit in 2005, without confirmation:

• Maybe in January, New York. I might have an interview in the east coast in January, and if so I'll definitely stop at NYC, because I know I need unique New York.
• Amsterdam. If I do that New York trip, I'll definitely stop over at Amsterdam to meet friends. Even if I don't, I might go to the Chaos Computing Camp this summer if it happens in Holland as was decided, and the dates don't conflict with the ISIL conference.
• West Germany. On my way out of Luxembourg, why not tour a bit in the area?
• Switzerland. I might get a job there. Or I might just visit during the Libertarian Week-end of Pro Libertate.
• If I can afford it (money and time), I'd like to go to Asia (Japan? India? Vietnam?). But since I don't even know where I'll be working and living, this is probably more of 2006 travelling.
• Who knows where else I can get myself to?

So, if you're in any of these places, or intend to be at the same time as I, why not meet?

Another important way in which americans are free and french are not: in public messages, whether in ads or in public venue regulations, the main way that people are enticed to do things, in the States, is you can do it, you can help preserve the environment, you can achieve something for yourself, etc. In France, it's you must, whether you like it or not, you cannot, because someone who knows better than you has decided it this way. Of course, this is more visible in public regulations than in private advertisements, since the latter always rely on the good will of the consumer. Still, even french ads more often than not resort to bad conscience and other forms of self-loathing. This is not something to be found in the States.

I greatly enjoyed driving on highway 101 between San Francisco and Mountain View. Part from the reason was the nice rental car. I liked its automatic gear box a lot, though I couldn't manage to use it till I had some passerby explain to me that the brake pedal also served as the clutch. All the americans I met were so very nice, except for a civil servant from MBTA (who was notably lacking niceness though without being rude). Reminds me of Japan -- however, though the japanese might have seemed even nicer, I couldn't understand what they were saying, whereas I can speak english and enjoy american niceness.

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I may have been out of the loop, but I was happily surprised to see how Linux was present everywhere during my air travels. First thing, I hear Dell spending several minutes in an on-flight radio program explaining how it installs RedHat Linux on its servers, or whichever other flavor of Linux suits their customers. Next thing, Oracle bought all the ceiling ads in SEA airport to say that Oracle makes Linux unbreakable. In San Francisco, Veritas puts Windows, Unix and Linux on par. Finally, on my trip back, the in-flight entertainment system by Panasonic reboots in Linux: I could see the penguin on my neighbour's screen as he desperately twiddled the command pad. Wow. Linux has gone a long way in thirteen years. The free market works around information protectionism, slowly but surely.

I went to Boston so as to attend LL4. I was disappointed to find that none of those great PLT guys could or would come this year, but all in all, it was a nice event, with nice people, and the last session was particularly entertaining, with presentations about gooze and frink.

What was even better, I got to meet two friends that I find truly impressive, each in his own way: Jay McCarthy and Denis Auroux.

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