Pleasant lunch with a lovely cannibal

I watched a TED video today that illustrated, for me, the divide between statists and rational people.

It was titled "Take the 'Other' to lunch". The point was to take someone to lunch who is from the opposite side of some issue. Of course, the speaker used the archaic and irreparably flawed "Right/Left" dichotomy, rather than reality, to illustrate her broken point.

She came from the "liberal" side and spoke of taking a "Tea Party" supporter to lunch to discuss their differences, with some ground rules meant to ensure civility. How nice for them, and what a lovely couple of authoritarian control freaks they must have made.

Yet, to me, the foundational problem is that while I could (and often do) talk to people, people either on "The Left" or on "The Right", who are opposed to everything I stand for, I am willing to leave them alone to go down their dead-end path, while they fully support killing me if I don't cooperate with their plans for me and for my children. That little undeniable fact tends to chill the friendly atmosphere somewhat.

They may support killing me over hemp, chemicals, guns, taxes, "patriotism", wars, seat belts, property code violations, licenses, permits, how I dress, schooling, what I write, words I say, sex, marriage, MP3s, pets, medications, money, religion, alcohol, private thoughts, weeds around my house, junk in my yard, light bulbs, photographs, velocity, numbers, milk, food, and lots more things than I can possibly list here... but the fact of the matter is that they do support killing me if I don't go along with what they demand of me.

If you think I am exaggerating when I say they are willing to kill me, remember that every single "law" is backed up, at some point, with the threat that if you do not submit, somewhere along the line, to those who are enforcing that "law", they will use deadly force to either capture and punish you, or kill you in the attempt. With every "law", no matter how seemingly trivial, the penalty for violating it is always death. Those who advocate and enforce "laws" are willing to kill you to see their will imposed on you.

How can you have a pleasant lunch with a monster?

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