(My Clovis News Journal column for September 7, 2012)
There is so much more to life than politics. For that, I am glad.
Every day, in a variety of places, I write about libertarianism; the politics, or "anti-politics" as the case may be, of liberty. Everything I am is libertarian. That shouldn't scare you; it just means I will not steal from you and I won't use force against you unless it is in self defense, nor will I have other people do this dirty work on my behalf. If it is wrong for me to do it to you, then it is wrong for me to have other people do it to you, and those acts are still wrong even if I use euphemisms to hide the reality of what is being done. That's pretty much all there is to it.
Other than that, unless you ask, or say something outrageous, politics will never enter the conversation.
Yet, people do say outrageous things all the time, apparently without even thinking about what they are saying, expecting me to enthusiastically agree. They assume I will support using laws against people they assume I will fear or hate. They assume that just because government currently enforces a monopoly in providing certain "services" that this is the only way, or the best way, it can be done. They assume that when I oppose a particular government monopoly, I oppose that which the government is supposedly providing. In most cases, nothing could be further from the truth.
But it gets worse. Many people also twist their moral foundation until it is unrecognizable in order to excuse themselves from any responsibility for standing up for individual liberty. They avoid holding government employees accountable for their actions, which is necessary in order to make society better. It isn't my fault that people misread Romans 13 so that they can feel better about defending the indefensible, but it should embarrass them. As it will if they ever realize what they have done.
Do politics matter? In a perfect world no one would need to pay any attention to politics, since politics would be powerless to affect your life as long as you didn't steal or attack the innocent. The world is not perfect and never will be; not even if humans ever do finally create a free society. So, it remains important, for now, to understand and pay attention to politics for self defense, and refuse to support things that are wrong. The more you pay attention, the less you will consent and the more free you will be.
Every day, in a variety of places, I write about libertarianism; the politics, or "anti-politics" as the case may be, of liberty. Everything I am is libertarian. That shouldn't scare you; it just means I will not steal from you and I won't use force against you unless it is in self defense, nor will I have other people do this dirty work on my behalf. If it is wrong for me to do it to you, then it is wrong for me to have other people do it to you, and those acts are still wrong even if I use euphemisms to hide the reality of what is being done. That's pretty much all there is to it.
Other than that, unless you ask, or say something outrageous, politics will never enter the conversation.
Yet, people do say outrageous things all the time, apparently without even thinking about what they are saying, expecting me to enthusiastically agree. They assume I will support using laws against people they assume I will fear or hate. They assume that just because government currently enforces a monopoly in providing certain "services" that this is the only way, or the best way, it can be done. They assume that when I oppose a particular government monopoly, I oppose that which the government is supposedly providing. In most cases, nothing could be further from the truth.
But it gets worse. Many people also twist their moral foundation until it is unrecognizable in order to excuse themselves from any responsibility for standing up for individual liberty. They avoid holding government employees accountable for their actions, which is necessary in order to make society better. It isn't my fault that people misread Romans 13 so that they can feel better about defending the indefensible, but it should embarrass them. As it will if they ever realize what they have done.
Do politics matter? In a perfect world no one would need to pay any attention to politics, since politics would be powerless to affect your life as long as you didn't steal or attack the innocent. The world is not perfect and never will be; not even if humans ever do finally create a free society. So, it remains important, for now, to understand and pay attention to politics for self defense, and refuse to support things that are wrong. The more you pay attention, the less you will consent and the more free you will be.
.