Monday, October 25, 2010

Will a mugging wake a politician up to reality?

Will a mugging wake a politician up to reality?

(And this is one of those times I actually have the meat of the post after the obligatory ABQ stuff.)

State Senator Mary Jane Garcia was mugged and robbed September 16 outside of a hotel in Albuquerque. So, although she seems to be recovering, she now considers herself a victim who is entitled to sue the hotel because they didn't have security guards patrolling around the hotel that day. Never mind that her safety is first and foremost her own responsibility.

She has said that as a result of the mugging she is more aware of the affects of criminal violence, and that she intends to be much more active in promoting "support for victims". She says she wants "women to be more aware of what they can do to protect themselves". Good. I expect to see her become very active in fighting the repeal of "laws" that make it harder for people to own and to carry weapons with them everywhere they go. If she does anything else, she is a liar and a hypocrite. And a typical statist.

Speaking of statists:

Some people can't tell the difference between being coerced and having someone else refuse to be coerced. It seems strange, but it's true.

My young daughter gets mad when she wants me to do something that I am not willing to do at the moment. I wanted to eat lunch today and she had a fit because she didn't want me to stop playing to eat. I told her she could keep playing but I needed to eat. My choice didn't really affect her in any way other than the fact that for a while she'd need to play alone. I had to assert my right to act for myself.

I have also had other people in my life whose attitudes were no more mature than that. As an example: one woman I was involved with insisted on going to karaoke with me, even though she hated going and did nothing but cry, complain, and whine (except when she was trying to start fights) while there. Obviously, I would have preferred she not go. In other circumstances, when she wanted to force me to go somewhere I didn't want to go or do something I was not willing to do, she would say "But you force me to go to karaoke with you and I HATE it!" No, I simply was going and she insisted on going along to make sure I didn't enjoy myself too much. Her choice. When I mentioned that there was a big difference between forcing someone to do something, and refusing to let someone force me to not do it, she would sulk.

The same is true of so many other people in "society". They hate guns so they try to claim it is an imposition on them if I carry one. They support the stupid and evil War on (some) Drugs and claim it imposes on them if someone destroys themselves by abusing some substance. They claim that since they are forced to get government permits for certain activities, everyone else should have their liberty violated in the same way. It is a very childish attitude, to be sure.

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