...under any confiscatory scheme
Sunday, January 10, 2016
Inferior substitutions
(Previously posted to Patreon)
It's interesting to me how words get used to mean something they don't mean.
I always thought mums were flowers- specifically, Chrysanthemums. I just discovered this year that "mums" apparently don't mean the flower anymore, but a customized cluttered ribbon thing you can wear on your jacket to some sportsball event. Yes, I am out of the loop where sportsball rituals are concerned.
Then, there is "fleece". Fleece is wool, like a wool blanket or a sheepskin with the wool still attached. But now when most people talk of fleece, they mean something made of fuzzy polyester. Yuck.
The same goes for "freedom".
Besides confusing it for liberty, they get confused about what it is altogether.
Some particularly nasty politicians claim it means doing what government bullies decide you will do.
Others mean they can do anything to you they feel like, and you are obligated to put up with it without doing anything about it. Their "freedom" goes only one direction.
Some see the slavery inherent in the police state and cheer it as a manifestation of freedom. TSA gropedowns = Freedom at work!
You can use a word to mean whatever it means to you (we all do that anyway), but it helps if you define your word, especially when you use it to mean something it clearly has never meant before.
You have the "freedom" to pin a "mum" to your "fleece" sportsball jacket and get a gropedown before entering the stadium. Hooray for freedom!
.
It's interesting to me how words get used to mean something they don't mean.
I always thought mums were flowers- specifically, Chrysanthemums. I just discovered this year that "mums" apparently don't mean the flower anymore, but a customized cluttered ribbon thing you can wear on your jacket to some sportsball event. Yes, I am out of the loop where sportsball rituals are concerned.
Then, there is "fleece". Fleece is wool, like a wool blanket or a sheepskin with the wool still attached. But now when most people talk of fleece, they mean something made of fuzzy polyester. Yuck.
The same goes for "freedom".
Besides confusing it for liberty, they get confused about what it is altogether.
Some particularly nasty politicians claim it means doing what government bullies decide you will do.
Others mean they can do anything to you they feel like, and you are obligated to put up with it without doing anything about it. Their "freedom" goes only one direction.
Some see the slavery inherent in the police state and cheer it as a manifestation of freedom. TSA gropedowns = Freedom at work!
You can use a word to mean whatever it means to you (we all do that anyway), but it helps if you define your word, especially when you use it to mean something it clearly has never meant before.
You have the "freedom" to pin a "mum" to your "fleece" sportsball jacket and get a gropedown before entering the stadium. Hooray for freedom!
.
Request: history book suggestions
I had a request for more information; inspired, I believe, by this older post: History? Their-story.
What are your favorite books on history- especially pertaining to stateless societies?
What about reading suggestions (particularly in book form) about other more liberty-leaning societies- either past or present?
The world is full of books pushing the statist agenda- including all the books (history and otherwise) used in schools. We know how indispensable government employees believe their club to be. Let's get the other side for a change.
If anyone has suggestions, post them in the comments- it would be a good resource for the future.
Thank you!
.
What are your favorite books on history- especially pertaining to stateless societies?
What about reading suggestions (particularly in book form) about other more liberty-leaning societies- either past or present?
The world is full of books pushing the statist agenda- including all the books (history and otherwise) used in schools. We know how indispensable government employees believe their club to be. Let's get the other side for a change.
If anyone has suggestions, post them in the comments- it would be a good resource for the future.
Thank you!
.