Recently I got into a discussion with a guy whose vocabulary revolved around words like "system", "punishment", "enforcement", and so forth; he couldn't even think beyond those concepts. To him, everyone needs to be forced into "a system", and directed. If government isn't doing it, it isn't getting done. To him, individuals are nothing more than atoms of the collective. And yet, this person would probably get really angry if it were pointed out that he is a collectivist.
I do not need to be coerced into being a part of a "system", nor do I want anyone else to be forced in, either. If it is a good system and suits my wishes and needs at the moment, I will join willingly- as long as I can opt out at as soon as my wishes and needs are no longer being met.
And, I don't need anyone directing me. Nor do I want anyone else to be directed. I'll gladly take my chances with other free individuals.
It comes down to this: "The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire." ~ Robert A. Heinlein
And that common thread of history, the question that never changes: shall man control his own life or shall others control him?*
I don't want or need to be controlled or "directed" and I have no need of that for anyone else. I know this from real world experience. No amount of statist meme parroting can change reality, nor can it make me fear other people enough to want to have them "governed" on my behalf or "for their own good".
That means there is a gulf between me and the statist that there may be no way to bridge. We just see the world too differently- he with suspicion and fear, and me with "trust, but verify".
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*I wanted to use this quote, but I have been told it isn't "real". “The issue today is the same as it has been throughout all history, whether man shall be allowed to govern himself or be ruled by a small elite." ~ Thomas Jefferson.
Well, "real" or not, someone said it, because there it is. And it's true no matter who said it or didn't say it.
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