Are you a 'controller'?

Are you a 'controller'?

There is a clear dichotomy in people. As Robert A. Heinlein said, it comes down to "those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire."

While that is the root difference, there are some further implications that result from that difference.

In the first group, "those who want people to be controlled", you have those individuals who think that everyone except possibly themselves is just looking for an opportunity or excuse to go on a violent rampage. These are the people who generally hate and distrust everyone else, except, sometimes, their own little in-group of like-minds. This person will look for excuses to suspect and hate others, and lacking one, will invent a reason. In this group you also have those who religiously worship the state and its tools. These individuals will carefully ignore the fact that if people are inherently evil, as they claim, helping them form big gangs with a monopoly on violence, and giving them more power over the lives of others, is an incredibly stupid thing to do. This person will usually look down on, yet want to "help" (with your life and property), everyone whom they feel is inferior to themselves. They are very pessimistic, yet project this trait onto everyone else. They also refuse to see their own preferred social organization to be Utopian, while placing that label of the views of those they fear might be right.

In the second group, "those who have no such desire" to control everyone else, you generally find the individuals who like people and get along well with others, and who are not afraid of every conceivable thing in the universe. These are the people who look beyond the scare tactics of the state and mainstream media to see individuals as they really are. This is where you will find the individual who is confident that they can run their own lives without being told what to do. This person can take care of themselves in most instances, as well. The Utopian and irrational nature of the state and all external government is obvious to most of these individuals. A person who fits within this group can stay consistent with his or her principles without making excuses. Often, this person will get frustrated by the stubborn individuals in the first group who seem to insist upon sticking their fingers in their ears and endlessly repeating "La la la...I can't hear you..." when confronted with reality.

Of course, these are generalities. Some people seem to pick and choose from the available menu, even though it isn't necessary. Both groups contain individuals who can get incredibly cranky with anyone who doesn't see eye-to-eye with them on every tiny issue. This just shows that, regardless of any other differences, we are all just human.

'What can I do?'

'What can I do?'

If there are any freedom lovers out there who keep wondering "What can I do?", here is a suggestion.

There are a lot of times that a letter to the editor will be published and the statists immediately descend in droves to ridicule the sensible voice under a flood of insults and "Arguments from Apocalypse". In many cases word gets around to rally help from the woodwork, but sometimes it comes a little late- after the reasonable voice has been buried, drowned out, or frightened into silence. That shouldn't be allowed to happen.

I would like to see someone start a service for libertarian responses to letters to the editor, or any other online posting such as blogs or media stories that allow comments.

I think that it could be done one of two ways, or maybe even a combination of the two.
There could be a website that when a relevant letter to the editor is brought to their attention, either by the letter's writer or just a reader, they would post the details, including the main topic of the letter and the objections being used by the statist apologists, and a link. If, during the course of the day, a freedom advocate gets a few free minutes and wishes to weigh in somewhere, he or she could check out the site to see if anything gets their attention. People who are interested, or are experts, in the particular topic could then add their voice to the discussion.

Alternately, or in conjunction, there could be an email list, where you sign up to get alerts on specific subjects, say "gun rights" or "free market advocacy" for a couple of examples. When a letter or post dealing with that subject is brought to the website's attention an alert would go out to those who asked to be notified on certain subjects so they would have a chance to counter the statists. Too many "Guns only kill the innocent" or "Deregulation caused the financial crisis" lies, just to focus on two popular subjects, slip past without being refuted properly by knowledgeable freedom fighters. Or, in many cases it is one lone freedom-loving person defending freedom against a horde of state-praising zombies. That is discouraging to those who dare to speak out.

If someone is already providing this service, let me know so I can add it to my daily to-do list.
It's just an idea. If I weren't already overloaded, I would do it myself.

Update- And here is the final result: Project LTE. Visit it soon, and often!