KentForLiberty pages

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Immigrants go where welcome

(My Clovis News Journal column for October 23, 2015- inspired by a blog post from over a year ago.)

Does it not seem completely bizarre to you that people who seek to live somewhere without first getting permission from a gang of bullies — permission that is getting more difficult to obtain — would be an issue around which people would base their choice for new supreme slavemaster?
I mean president.

“Conservatives” yapping about “illegal immigrants” sound as ridiculous as “liberals” droning on about “reasonable” anti-gun laws.

"Conservatives" say they oppose the migrants because they are being brought in to become "new Democrat voters". Well, who do you think they'd vote for? The people who are "welcoming" them with hatred, calling them "illegals", claiming they are rapists and murderers, and waving the Federal flag in their faces? Or people who actually want to let them live where they choose and aren't treating them like pariahs? Even if the latter is only a political tactic.

Sure, it would be better if the new migrants, and the rest of us, refused to play the political game at all. It would also be better if there were no welfare for anyone to become dependent upon, and no "offices" into which one could elect parasites and bullies. But until people wise up and change this archaic and destructive system, you get what you get.

Consider who immigrants are inevitably going to identify with after being exposed to both reactions. It's not going to be the "conservatives" of the Republican Party.

If you want new immigrants to become more like you, treat them with respect. If you don't want them to slip into the arms of your ideological enemies, stop driving them there. Give them a chance. Encourage them to be independent and self-reliant. Lead by example, with kindness. Be accepting of them even while you show them why certain ideologies are harmful to them and their loved ones. Explain which behaviors you will defend yourself from, and recognize they have all the exact same rights you do.

Marginalizing them is guaranteeing an outcome you claim to fear. It's a self-fulfilling prediction. And unless you are deeply in denial, you have to see how much of the responsibility is yours. Immigration control has been a "progressive", government extremist notion from the beginning.

Republicans are using migrants as a common enemy to unite their voting constituency. Democrats are also using them, of course, but I suppose if everyone were trying to use me to promote their agenda, I'd still prefer those who use me in a way which doesn't portray me as subhuman.

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I’ve changed a lot from teen years

(My Clovis News Journal column for October 16, 2015)

Recently a friend from my late teenage years commented on a Facebook post. He expressed his opinion that I have changed a lot since then.

It wasn’t clear whether he meant this to be complimentary or not.

My first reaction was to get defensive. Fortunately, before responding I realized how wonderful it was I have continued to grow beyond my teenage knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes. How tragic would it be to fail to mature?

He has also changed from the person I knew. Our paths have diverged about as radically as possible. We all grow, learn, and change.

Most of my changes over the years have been due to recognizing inconsistencies in my views and striving to rid myself of them. Inconsistencies are never desirable. Being consistent doesn't automatically mean you are right, of course- you can be consistently wrong- but when you are inconsistent it's a clear sign you are definitely wrong about something. It isn't possible to be inconsistent and right.

If you've already realized this, congratulations. This took years for me to figure out for myself, especially because of the inconsistencies I liked keeping around.

In those days I was "conservative" and wrong in the normal ways "conservatives" are consistently wrong. Yes, I appreciated liberty, but only within certain arbitrary parameters. In other words, I didn't understand what liberty actually was.

Back then my enthusiasm for liberty tended toward the "liberty for me, none for thee" variety. Especially for anyone whose sexual orientation differed from mine, those who sought to self-medicate with substances the government had declared off limits, or anyone whose non-coercive choices I didn't understand. Now I understand liberty is the freedom to do absolutely anything which doesn't violate any other person or their property.

I was never a fan of government, but unlike today I couldn't have explained why. Because of my inconsistencies, anytime government was used against those whose liberty I didn't care about, I could look the other way without a second thought.

Had I stagnated I would fit in better today, but I would still be wrong in those areas where I was inconsistent. I'm glad I changed.

I expect I will continue to change into the future as I learn, consider, expose and strip away any lingering inconsistencies I haven't yet noticed. I look forward to each and every step along the journey. I hope many years from now people will still comment about how I have changed.

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The futility of the Police State

(Previously posted to Patreon)

I wouldn't have expected to have so many people complimenting me for my response after my daughter Cheyenne's death. I will say that has been the strangest result.

The thing is, I really believe what I write. I have no choice but to believe reality. Pain and sorrow don't alter it even a little.

I don't believe "laws" would have saved her- there are already "laws" against drugged driving- they can't stop anyone. There are "laws" demanding we all wear seat belts- which she did. There are "laws" which force car manufacturers to install air bags- and they worked as designed in her new car. There are cops flooding our streets to make sure all those "laws" are enforced.

And, yet, Cheyenne still died.

Given the same end result, I would have preferred she lived her 24 years in a free society, unmolested by these "laws". I'm not sure what she would have preferred- she did pretty much as she wanted anyway. Whether she would have admitted it or not, she and I were a lot alike- for good or bad.

So, don't be amazed that I haven't changed my mind about prohibition, or check points, or cops, or prison. Pointless things remain pointless, and things which whittle away at Rightful Liberty are still harmful. They were harmful to Cheyenne, whether she realized it or not, and they did nothing to protect her. And they are harmful to my surviving kids.

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