Simplulo

About The Author

I am a simple person who supports the liberty movement in New Hampshire.

About The Column

Simplicity is a virtue. Simple rules can be explained, understood, remembered, followed, and enforced. We see this when we try to explain the "adult" world to children--they see through hypocrisy. In simplicity there is beauty and truth:  simple designs lead to machines that fly reliably , and simple constitutions and simple laws lead to prosperous societies. Simple rules allow self-organization, paradoxically leading to complexity in outcomes. Complex rules that cannot be followed lead to stagnation, as in the Soviet Union. Despite the evidence, many people distrust simplicity: they call it "reductionism", and say it cannot handle the  complexity of modern life. Their failed counter-examples are valuable.

The most important simplest rule is that governing force: it should be used only in self-defense, and even then in only the minimum amount, no exceptions.

"A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away."
--Antoine de Saint-Exupery