I keep trying to imagine some object or "thing", anything at all, that I hate or fear so much that I would prohibit a (otherwise welcome) visitor to my property from having it hidden in his pocket, as long as it stayed completely hidden and had no physical effect on my property.
Try as I might, I just can't.
Does this mean I am short on empathy? Or imagination? Or that I don't have "enough fear"?
Once again I am faced with the possibility that there is something inherently different about me. Something some people consider "wrong".
.
.
A vial of smallpox?
ReplyDeleteNope. As long as it is sealed how can it hurt me?
ReplyDelete"Does this mean I am short on empathy? Or imagination? Or that I don't have 'enough fear'?"
ReplyDeleteNone of the above. It just means that you really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really want an exception to the Non-Aggression Principle for guns, so you made one up and convinced yourself of it.
When there is no aggression, no "exception" is necessary.
ReplyDeleteIt's not about "guns". The only reason this crops up whenever guns come into the picture is that guns are the only thing that people seem to believe are the magical exception. The one thing they can arbitrarily forbid. If it were forks, or thoughts, or pink underwear I would still be saying the exact same thing. Having them "on you", when they stay completely hidden and have zero affect on the property beyond the person who possesses them, is not aggression- it is NOT a physical interaction involving the use of force.
ReplyDeleteKent,
ReplyDelete"If it were forks, or thoughts, or pink underwear I would still be saying the exact same thing."
And so would I.
People have a right to specify how and under what conditions their property may be used, and using others' property in violation of said specifications is aggression. Period.
Or as I used to put it, and as Scott Beiser immortalized in a couple of panels in the graphic novel version of L. Neil Smith's _The Probability Broach_, if I own a store and put up a sign that says "Must be naked and upon pogo stick to enter," if you enter in any condition other than naked and upon a pogo stick, You. Are. Trespassing.
"Naked and on a pogo stick" are external conditions that are out there, visible, and make an actual difference in the immediate surroundings. And so I totally agree with that conclusion about those conditions for entering the property.
ReplyDelete