Sunday, March 17, 2019

There's no 'one-size-fits-all' for living

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for February 13, 2019)




How much of what you want government to do is based on your emotions? On your feelings about what you wish other people would do or believe they should do, and your willingness to use government violence to make it happen?

If it's more than "none" it's too much.

I recently ran across a quote by social psychologist Jonathan Haidt in which he said, "Some people are less emotional, more reasoned. We call these people 'libertarians'. There's actually data on this-- that libertarians are lower on emotion, higher on reasoning ability. They have worse relationships; they care about people less, but they are better able to just reason through a lot of data."

Fortunately, he's not quite right.

Libertarians are not less emotional, but-- at our best-- we are less controlled by our emotions. I can hate drug abuse and still understand I have no right to use government violence to impose drug prohibition. As long as I don't let emotion overpower reason I won't advocate harming someone who isn't violating anyone's life, liberty, or property.

Libertarians know a crime requires the intent to harm. An accident might result in the same harm as a crime would, but without an intention to violate someone there is no crime. Emotions triggered by the event might try to steer us along a different path, but it would be a wrong path. A debt is often created by an accident, but again, a debt isn't a crime. To confuse these things creates tragedy for individuals and sickness in society.

He's also wrong about libertarians caring less about people.  I care about people very much. This is why I don't accept any justification for violating them. How can staunchly respecting people's natural human rights be mistaken for not caring?

It's not "caring" to use taxation to steal from some in order to fund government programs which keep people impoverished. It's not caring to force people to live as you believe they should,

So would I support government if only libertarians, with their superior ability to reason, were in charge? Not at all. Even those who are better able to reason have no right to govern anyone but themselves.

No matter how well a person can reason through data, they can never know all the circumstances of everyone else's life as thoroughly as each individual can know their own life. There is no "one-size-fits-all" way to feed a family, dress, or live... or to govern. It's foolish to pretend otherwise.


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Mistakes and wrongs



I've made so many mistakes over the course of my life. And I've committed so many wrongs.

Many of my mistakes haunt me when I think of them. Each one undoubtedly set my life on a different course. When I think of them I sometimes want to punch myself in the face and mutter "Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

If the "many-worlds" interpretation of quantum physics is correct, there are countless versions of me out there who didn't make the same mistakes I've made (they made other mistakes). I wonder what those versions are experiencing as a result. What mistakes did I avoid making?

And when I think of the wrongs I've committed... if I believed in punishment rather than justice, as so many do, I would probably kill myself.

I never did anything like robbery, rape, kidnapping, or murder, but wrong enough that I wish I hadn't done them.

One good thing is that I haven't committed as many wrongs since my early 20s or so. I'm sure I've committed smaller wrongs, but nothing I dwell on. I've focused more on making mistakes since then.

No matter what anyone else thinks of me, I'm my own worst critic. But the cats love me.

I do think I'm getting better with the passing years. Coming to understand rights and responsibilities was a big part of that improvement. The best anyone can do is to be a better person than year-ago you was.

I also have to remember that in very real ways, I am not that same person I was. Not only have all my cells been replaced since then, but my mind has other contents. I'm a different person than I was when I was 20 or 30, and certainly different than when I was a teen. At some point you've got to let the past be the past and move forward. Remember and enjoy the good parts of the past; let go of and forgive yourself for the bad parts. That will help make you a better person, too.

Now, if I could really convince myself of this and put it into action. It's a process.

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Reminder: I need roof help!

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