Supporting liberty not contradictory

Supporting liberty not contradictory

(My Clovis News Journal column for March 21, 2014)

What is a quick way to cause confusion? Advocate liberty consistently and watch what happens.

I'll use myself as an illustration:

I am a firm believer in the high value of education, therefore I am not a fan of public schooling, nor any schooling based upon the same template.

I hate aggressive violence which threatens the innocent, therefore I actively and publicly oppose all anti-gun "laws".

I know the necessity of good, safe roads for all aspects of life and liberty, and therefore I don't appreciate seeing government employees patrolling and controlling them.

I crusade for property rights, opposing all theft and aggression against individuals, therefore I want nothing to do with laws or courts, and have no respect for either.

I hate to see people destroy their lives through addictions, therefore I expose prohibition for the unconstitutional and inhumane abomination it is.

These positions only seem contradictory to people who refuse to notice the actual, real-world results of the state's approach. Once you dig to the bottom of things you can see the world in a much clearer, brighter way than before.

But, getting to the bottom of things can make one unpopular. It means calling a spade a spade, no matter how much others wish to see it as something else. It means digging up problems with favored institutions and other things which many people are emotionally attached to, and exposing bad sides people would prefer to not face.

It means recognizing that schools based upon the "Prussian Model", as are all schools in America, were never meant to educate, but to indoctrinate and pacify.

It means understanding that anti-gun "laws" only restrain those who are not bad guys in the first place, leaving the real thugs free to prey at will.

It means knowing governments don't build roads, nor are they held accountable for the road conditions or damage their roads cause, all the while claiming use of "their" roads implies consent to give up all your basic human rights in the name of "safety". This is nonsense.

It means admitting the greatest threat which has ever existed to property, as well as to life and liberty, is (and has always been) people calling themselves "government" of one sort or another. Real restitution is a low priority for them, compared to enriching the state's treasury and paying for the bureaucracy.

It means seeing that the War on Politically Incorrect Drugs- Prohibition- has created the market for more concentrated, and more dangerous, substances, and causes people to not seek help they might otherwise want, out of fear of the disproportionate consequences.

Being consistent in support of liberty only looks contradictory until you examine the alternative.
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Kids' problems

I was watching kids playing at the park while there with my daughter. I noticed what happened when kids encountered problems. They solved them.

For one example: There is a ring that the kids can hang from and ride as it slides from one end of a track to another. Only it binds up in the middle and if a kid doesn't have enough momentum, it will stop before they get to the other end. And most kids are not tall enough to reach the ring when it is not by one of the end platforms. So, when it gets stuck they'll work together. Or they'll try jumping at the ring to knock it to one end where they can reach it. They'll try to find a taller kid or adult. They'll find a tool (tree branch) to extend their reach. But, always, they find a solution.

Kids solve their own problems if not interfered with. Give them the liberty to find their own solutions. It will make them smarter and stronger than if you coddle them.

Now, kids are not perfect- just like adults aren't. Some think it's OK to initiate force or to steal. Some can be very cruel. Let's not give them bad examples by our behavior, and certainly let's not place the worst of the worst- cops and politicians- on some kind of pedestal and pretend these are people for kids to look up to or emulate.

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