KentForLiberty pages

Friday, February 29, 2008

Who Causes Problems?

Maybe I am in the minority, but I have very few problems that are caused by individuals that can be solved by state intervention. Of course, I am not one to throw the state at anyone, anyway. On the other hand, I have tons of problems caused by the state (and my refusal to submit to its whims). Maybe this means that I cause those problems for myself, in the eyes of the tyranny deniers, at least.










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Thursday, February 28, 2008

Anarchism or Nihilism?

I don't see anarchy as a destructive philosophy. That would be more like nihilism to me. Where anarchism means "no rulers", nihilism means "no rulers, no rules, no manners, steal, kill, bring on the chaos!" So nihilism is probably what most people are thinking of when they say "anarchy". Even the dictionary overlaps the two.

Just because I don't think rulers are legitimate doesn't mean I believe that evolved "laws" of behavior are wrong. That is the basis of the Zero Aggression Principle and the other moral principles that guide our lives. Even written law can be good as long as it stays within the bounds of naturally evolved laws such as "don't steal or attack the innocent". I only have a problem with written "laws" that violate individual rights or the natural laws that I think are carried inside each of us from birth.

I have been running across a lot of people who identify themselves as "anarchists" but who only want to destroy everything; the good and the bad. Simply because it is there. They are really socialistic revolutionaries who want to get rid of the current system so that they can commit wrongs with no fear of punishment. That is not me, nor is it any of the anarchists I know. This is the problem with language. I know what I mean when I say certain words, but others may mean something completely different when they use the exact same words. No wonder people are (or pretend to be) so confused about the meaning of the Second Amendment!

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Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Illegality Does Not Equal "Wrong"

I was recently observing an online discussion on the subject of "illegal immigrants". I was disturbed and disgusted seeing all the mindless hatred expressed. Then one scholar dropped the bomb "the word 'illegal' says it all - they are criminals".
At that point I put in my two cents. I said that "illegal" doesn't mean "wrong", nor does "legal" mean "right". After all, slavery was once "legal", but it still wasn't right; helping the runaway slaves was "illegal", but wasn't "wrong. The other guy responded that my analogy was stupid, and I should think before I wrote. I told him I wasn't making an analogy; merely pointing out that legality is a poor way to judge right and wrong.
I notice this error in thinking a lot. Have "we" become so brainwashed about, or by, the state that we can no longer think for ourselves? I know I have written about this before. It still astounds me that people would really judge right and wrong based upon what a group of criminals decided. Criminals who are only concerned with keeping the power and privilege they possess and gaining as much new power and privilege as they can get away with.
I won't play that game.

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Monday, February 25, 2008

The Conspiracy Against Conspiracy Theories

I am not a huge conspiracy theorist, yet it disturbs me that some (or most) people deny that conspiracies can exist within government. It has gotten so bad that to even suggest a conspiracy automatically disqualifies you from being taken seriously. If I were a collectivist who wanted to subjugate the population, I can't think of a more effective strategy than making it automatically "crazy" to suggest that conspiracies may exist. I know that there have been many conspiracy theories that are really "out there" and cast ridicule on all of them. That doesn't make them all, even the really "out there" theories, automatically wrong, regardless of the common opinion. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence; get out there and find it. I think that many things could be slipped under the fence and covered up with "You people are just crazy conspiracy nuts!" Just remember: when two people try to do something bad, secretly, it qualifies as a conspiracy. To deny that it happens in government offices is just plain nuts.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Happily Ever After!

This is one of the happiest tales I have read in a long time: The Tale That Might Be Told. Some people, those who either want to cling to the status quo, or those who erroneously believe they need the state, might not like it, or may say "it could never happen". Don't worry about "those people". Read this and let the contentment flow over you. I did, and I'm still smiling!



Thanks for the link, Christian Butterbach!



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Saturday, February 23, 2008

Why Does Liberty Matter To Me?

Liberty matters to me because I hate when people are hurt. I hate when innocent children starve because "their" national government takes the resources of the region to enrich its supporters and collaborators. I know that freedom helps more people than the alternative. I do not excuse evil, especially when the evil-doers claim they are doing it "for your own good". Liberty matters to me because I know people have a right and a responsibility to defend themselves even if their attackers have a badge and a gun, or an office and a "law". Liberty matter to me because I think there is value in living your own life as you see fit, and in living with the consequences and lessons. I see the heartache, death, and destruction that government, even the most benevolent government, causes. Liberty matters to me because there is no government program important enough to kill over: no tax, no drug law, no foreign adventurism... nothing. Ever. There IS a better way. Liberty for ALL. No "elites" who have different rules or are excused from most of the rules that apply to "us". Don't think there are different rules? Try walking into Wal*Mart past their "NO GUNS" sign with a big gun on your belt openly like the cops do. I know... some will say "but that is necessary" or "that's different". That is your opinion which I do not share. Liberty is important to me because I see what happens when liberty is rationed, licensed, prohibited, or belittled. It is not a pretty sight ....unless you salivate over controlling the lives of those around you. In short, liberty matters to me because people matter to me.

Friday, February 22, 2008

Cultural Preservation?

Some local politician is running ads bragging that he is a "true conservative". One of the ideas he advocates on his televised panderfest is that of making English the Official Language.

Wasn't it just a few years ago that Americans were laughing at the French government for passing all sorts of silly "cultural preservation laws"? I guess bad ideas are contagious. Now American politicians have decided that "The American Culture" is so weak and pitiful that it needs legal protections to survive. Unfortunately they have a lot of ill-informed support.

Any "culture" that can not survive being exposed to another probably does not have much chance of long-term survival anyway. If it has merit, there will be people who make a point of passing on the culture's unique attributes. To people who really care; not to people who are forced to submit.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

The Most Influential (on me) Books

The following is a list of the most influential books in my life. These are the books I read over and over. Read these and you will have a glipse into the depths of my mind. Any chills you get from that image are not my fault! So without further ado, or any real reason, and not in any particular order, I give you....


My favorite books:


Lever Action by L. Neil Smith


The Human Zoo by Desmond Morris


The Man in the Ice by Konrad Spindler


Abusing Science by Philip Kitcher


Owl at Home by Arnold Lobel


Tunnel Through Time by Lester Del Rey


The Mammoth Hunters by Jean Auel

Hope by Aaron Zelman and L. Neil Smith


Time and Again by Jack Finney


The Complete Sherlock Holmes by A. Conan Doyle


Pirate by Richard Platt


The Scars of Evolution by Elaine Morgan


The Stinky Cheese Man by Jon Scieszka



And the book I am currently reading and really enjoying is Pallas by L. Neil Smith. Of all the alternate worlds I have lived in through books, this one may just be my favorite.


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Tuesday, February 19, 2008

The Copycat Effect

I'm not sure how many of you are familiar with Loren Coleman and his blog "The Copycat Effect", which mainly deals with the school shooter phenomenon. He points out the patterns that seem to form around the shootings. Because the shooters are obviously "not right" in their software, I think it is a definite possibility that they see other shootings as a reason to carry out their own massacre. In any case, he is "predicting" another dangerous time soon. Be alert ("Cuz America needs more lerts").

Public Opinion

I read somewhere (The Dilbert Blog?) the suggestion that the "perfect" President would be one who has no thoughts or opinions of his own, but only works to implement the preferences of the American people. Do you really want the people who think American Idol is vitally important deciding how the country should be run?


In many polls I see that a majority of Americans believe in ghosts, doubt evolution, and that a substantial percentage believe that UFOs are abducting humans for "tests". Those things make me hesitant to want the country, as a whole, run based upon the opinions of average Americans. Run your own life according to whatever ideas may be rattling around in your skull, but don't think that others are required to hold the same notions. That's the beauty of anarchism: your ideas can not be forced upon others, and neither can mine.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Curing America

It is really hard to see America ever being cured when most Americans don't realize she is deathly ill. Or perhaps America is already dead and is simply writhing like a head-shot snake. In either case, I really like these suggestions from The Libertarian Enterprise:


The list of cures is endless: abolish sovereign immunity, disarm the feds;
demilitarize the cops; outlaw the secret ballot; send the politicians (including
the President and his Cabinet) into combat first; abolish limited liabilty,
outlaw fractional reserve banking, repeal every law passed since September 11,
2001, repeal every law passed since 1912. And no, I'm not kidding about any of
those or a half a hundred more I could have written down here. But the problem
remains the same as it was before: no real reform effort can get any traction
when the system is run by crooked politicians and the whorish media.

The only difference I would suggest is that instead of "outlawing" anything, simply get rid of the counterfeit "laws" that allow these bad ideas to be forced on us.



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Sunday, February 17, 2008

Do Two "Wrongs" Ever Make a "Right"?

Two wrongs make a right? I don't think so. Now, shooting someone who is in the act of committing a real crime (not just violating a counterfeit "law" that has no victim) is obviously not wrong to begin with. That is simply correcting -stopping- a wrong. But is torturing one person in an attempt to catch someone else who is a bad person, or torturing one person because another person did something terrible, "right"? I don't believe so.

Is torture a reliable way to get acurate information? I doubt it. I'd probably confess to being Obama bin Clinton under torture. I think that torture, physical or phychological, is always wrong. Any group that embraces the use of torture of any kind has lost any moral high-ground it may have once held.

No one is denying that there are really bad people doing horrible things to innocent people in Iraq and elsewhere. It would be stupid to claim otherwise. But it is also stupid to claim that since "our" torture isn't as bad as their torture, that "ours" isn't really torture. I want to judge my actions against good actions, not against other evil actions. You can always find someone somewhere who is doing something worse if you want to play that game.

I think that torture is a lazy person's shortcut to try to get "results". Kind of like the police crime labs that fake evidence in order to get a conviction at any cost. In some cases it may be the frustration at not being able to really do anything effective to stop terrible acts that drives the abuses. That frustration could take the form of an evil act on the part of the basically good person who desperately wants to do something. It still doesn't make it right.

If I am to err, I will err on the side of decency. I am personally glad that I still possess a conscience. How about you?


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Saturday, February 16, 2008

Bribery? or a Carrot on a Stick?

Believe it or not, I love technology. I am not just a "stone knives and bear skins" guy. But I have come to believe that government uses technology as a bribe to get people to comply with the state. When I read about new inventions, I consider whether they will make life more enjoyable or not, and whether government can use them to control the population more. I also wonder if we, the average people, will even be allowed to own or use the new stuff, or if it will be reserved for appendages of the state only. I mean, what good is a flying car if the permits and licenses are based upon REAL ID, you are restricted to flying only below a certain speed, the registration is too expensive or intrusive, and GPS tracks every move you make in it. Not that I would ever be able to afford a flying car anyway. I want all the neat gadgets that are being invented, but not enough to give up my liberty, my privacy, and my individuality to be "allowed" to possess them.

Friday, February 15, 2008

Statist Troll Bingo


Because "turnabout is fair play", I now post the Statist Troll Bingo from Check Your Premises. I only hope the statists are as amused by it as I was by the Libertarian Troll Bingo. (and here).  Follow the links if you can't read the spaces.


Humans May Be More "Sheeple" Than They Think

"In most cases the participants didn’t realise they were being led by others." One study shows the flocking behavior of humans. Something some of us have suspected all along. Could be bad news; could be useful information. Think and react accordingly.


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"Law" Games

Just for fun yesterday, I started keeping track of how many "laws" I was aware of breaking throughout the day. I counted six. The really funny thing is that those are just the ones I know of, and that I was paying attention to. How many more did I break without even knowing it? Probably dozens. And yet, not once did I harm anyone, defraud anyone, or even endanger anyone by my lawlessness. Because, you see, I was only breaking counterfeit "laws". You know, those "laws" that attempt to control or regulate something other than actual aggression or fraud; the victimless "crimes" that the state feeds off of. I'd be willing to bet that you broke about as many as I did, still without ever doing anything wrong. I think that today I may see how many more counterfeit "laws" I can break on purpose. Why not join me?

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Improving My Attitude ... I Hope

Libertarians, especially the anarchist subset, are right. Time will show that we are. Until that time, we should try not to make enemies of the deluded people who think the state is a good idea. Roll your eyes when they start waxing eloquent about one of their pet slavery-enabling schemes if you must, then show them the better alternative with your actions. Words are generally wasted. Those who are part of the state are already lost. They will possibly discover their mortal error someday, but it won't be because we try to educate them. Their minds and eyes are closed. I'm not going to waste my time hating statists, but I do pity them. As for me, I DO NOT consent; I WILL NOT comply.


The state is really funny if you think about it. People who can't govern themselves insisting that they have the divine right to govern the rest of us? C'mon. People who think that no laws apply to them demanding that we submit to their counterfeit "laws" that are not based upon any reality? Might as well let cockroaches instruct us on sanitation.


Then again, we can be pretty funny, too. There is value in laughing at ourselves. We spend a lot of time and energy fighting against something that will collapse faster on its own if we just refuse to give it power over us. We should be concentrating on living our own lives; only fighting the state when it tries to interfere. Usually, just ignoring the nasties will be enough. We must also be a strong, united front that the state, confused at why we are smiling, thinks twice about crossing. Petty squabbles don't help us; they serve the statists who want us dead.


Wherever you say "no!" to government meddling or overreaching, I stand with you, regardless of whatever disagreements we may have on other issues. As long as we are moving in the same direction, the direction of more freedom, we are fellow travelers. Statists and "tyranny deniers" -I admit it, they can really get me down. When they do, it is my fault, not theirs. I will try to not post any more blogs when I am in a defeatist mood. I may not reply to any comments that are obviously calculated to push my buttons, either. Life is too short to worry about ignoramuses.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Libertarian Troll Bingo






















I found this over at Adventures In Frickintardistan, so I thought I'd play. I didn't get a "Bingo", though. Maybe I need to embrace more of the non-libertarian ideas it portrays so I can win! Nah, I keep forgetting, I am a hooligan libertarian and an anarchist!

Disclaimer: I really can't rightly claim to "get" the free space. I am male, and probably mostly "white" (to the racists), but I'm not young and I have no haircut at all.

Added: Here's what we came up with.


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Sunday, February 10, 2008

Voters and Other Dreamers

In the fight for liberty, voting is the safest, even the most cowardly, easiest action that can possibly be taken. It is supposedly secret. It is easy to blend in with the collectivists who are also voting on that day. If you want to, you can even lie about who you voted for if you feel intimidated. Yet, over and over again, voters vote for the anti-freedom candidates. When handed a non-confrontational way to express an interest in freedom, without any risk, people still don't do it.

I can hold out hope that the real freedom fighters stay away from the voting booth, recognizing it as a futile act, or an act of distasteful "implied consent". You know "lending legitimacy to an illegitimate system".

Still I wonder, if no one stands up for freedom when it is safe enough that a coward could do it; easy enough that someone as lazy as me could do it, and non-confrontational enough that a shy people-pleaser could do it... then how will liberty ever be regained once the shooting starts?

Saturday, February 09, 2008

Friday, February 08, 2008

Soul Searching

As you may have guessed, I am undergoing a lot of soul-searching and re-evaluation. My recent clash with the military people who think they are helping America by supporting the US government has made me decide liberty is doomed, at least in the short term. The government hates liberty. The military, even if they claim to love liberty, are working for the very organization that has done more to destroy liberty than any force in history: authoritarian government. Then we are told that we must work within the rigged system to beg for our liberty one measley drop at a time. Obey the masters until we can convince them to let us be free. When has that ever worked?

While the general direction of human civilization is toward greater individual liberty, I think we are on the verge of entering a dark age of tyranny that would make Hitler, Vlad Dracula, and George W. Bush giddy. Maybe our great-grandchildren will be free. The Tyrannocratus sux who run the state will eventually either evolve some decent morals and become human, or they will go extinct, but not before they drag humanity into a pit of authoritarian super-state torment as has never been seen before. Just as in past dark ages, the damage will take a long time to undo. It would be so much better to avoid the trap to begin with. Unfortunately, too few people are paying attention or would care if they were.

Then I wonder if humans are simply too programmed to seek a strong "leader", no matter how evil, to ever accept self-ownership in numbers large enough to matter. I worry that I am a defective person because I chafe under authoritarians. Maybe the "sheeple" are the true humans, and I am an aberration. The sad thing is that "sheeplehood" disgusts me to my core. If they would simply leave me alone, we could coexist in peace, but that is not the way of the state. Control and even the illusion of "implied consent" must be maintained at all costs and any dissenters must be marginalized until they consent or are killed. At least for the foreseeable future.

How will I deal with this future? I can either pretend to go along, and drown in resentment. Although that is my usual mode of operation, I want to change. I also don't relish the thought of being a martyr and dying in a raid by BATFEces or DEA. I can quietly monkey-wrench at every opportunity, although writing it here now makes that ineffective. I can try to get over my gloominess and laugh at the authoriturds as they tighten the noose on civilization. I depends if I feel optimistic or pessimistic today. The glass is half full... of cyanide.

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Increasing Liberty?

When I look at people, their actions, and what they advocate, I find myself asking "does _X_ increase my liberty or make liberty more difficult or dangerous?" Very often I find that whatever I am evaluating makes liberty harder for me and for society.

Several years ago ago I heard of the "Jews in the attic" yardstick. If some new government policy or bureaucracy would make it more difficult to hide innocent targets from government oppressors or murderers, it should be opposed and, if passed, violated. Does that ring any REAL ID bells?


It would be nice to be able to believe that "we" can still work within the system to change these illegal laws. Unfortunately the "system" is rigged against liberty. Liberty lovers are outnumbered by those who depend on government for their livelihood and those who think that it is OK to support the state, through its government, as long as they say they are supporting liberty. Even those who are otherwise on our side. It is impossible to strengthen the state and not destroy liberty. The misguided liberty-desiring government accessories are doing great damage to the cause of individual liberty while believing they are helping it.

Monday, February 04, 2008

"Absolved" by Mike Vanderboegh

Everyone, especially the anti-gun enforcers and rulers, needs to read this tale from The War on Guns. "Absolved" by Mike Vanderboegh. Powerful stuff.

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Quick! Destroy the "Wondrous" Before... What???

One problem I have with a lot of science fiction or fantasy books or movies is that whatever wondrous discovery is made, it must be destroyed before the story ends. Whether it is The Nautilus, the "lost world" of living dinosaurs, or "The Lost Ark of the Covenant", things must be back to normal when the last page is read, or when the credits roll. I think this is a sign that most people value the status quo more than they value the new or the unknown. What are people afraid of? Am I odd to not feel the same way?

Maybe this is why people speak up in vehement support of the "way things are" instead of considering that maybe a different way is better. Maybe that is why they argue over which socialist clone represents "change". The normal world order must be maintained at all costs. Until freedom becomes the norm, it will be denigrated and its advocates will be reviled by tools of the system. I am tired of being in the minority of people who don't support tyranny in any form. How about you?

Saturday, February 02, 2008

Happy Groundhog Day!

I hope everyone enjoys their tasty groundhog dinners. Don't eat too much, you know how sleepy it will make you, plus you can only loosen your pants so much.

Poster-Children For the Death Penalty

I saw this on The War on Guns and a couple of other blogs. If these monsters don't deserve the death penalty, then no one does.