Better not to be led by your fears

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for May 7, 2023)

It seems everyone falls into one of two categories: those who want everyone rigidly controlled and those who aren't afraid of others-- those to whom this kind of control is unnecessary or even intolerable.

Those who want everyone controlled have their excuses. "Life is dangerous. People aren't responsible. There's uncertainty in every situation." Plus, power over others is profitable.

This kind of control, using threats of government violence to force compliance, is built on a foundation of lies. The biggest lie being that it is for your safety.

Controllers don't want you doing anything without a license. They believe a license proves proficiency, or at least offers a path toward punishment when that fails. This is a nonsense justification. Their excuses hide the fact that those who seek control are afraid and feel unable to deal competently with life and your liberty.

This control has unintended consequences. It often drives the problem-- if there is a problem-- underground. It frequently creates a problem where there wasn't one before. Sometimes it makes a small problem into a much larger problem.

Control freaks hated the fact that some people abuse drugs. So they refused to consider that use isn't necessarily abuse and made up unconstitutional legislation to forbid the possession, sale, or use of the drugs they hated. This made supplying those drugs profitable for criminals, it made more potent drugs inevitable and gave government more power to crush liberty from different angles. It was a gold mine for the newborn police state. It made nothing better, but quite the opposite. This is where the lust to control others will always lead.

Making a small problem into a big problem looks like failure to reasonable people. To those who hunger for control, it probably doesn't. A bigger problem gives them reasons to demand more power. It's a con, but it usually works. The only way it will stop working is for you to stop playing. Stop listening and stop being led by your fears.

Those who want to control others, or want others to be controlled by someone else, should focus on controlling themselves for a change. For most of us, this would keep us plenty busy. Those who refuse to recognize the desire to control others as a personal flaw will never be able to see themselves honestly. You can't fix what you can't see.

Be strong enough to not need to control others.

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Fragile nasties

It seems that the worse a person or group is, the more fragile their ego.

I've experienced it many times. 

Someone is rude and insulting, but the second you stand up to them on behalf of those they are being rude to, the bully falls apart and blocks you. They can't handle having their narrative destroyed.

I've seen it in real life, but even more online.

I don't participate on Reddit, but for some reason, I ended up on a highlight mailing list. I'll sometimes look at it to see what's going on if a headline catches my eye. I rarely comment, but when I do it is nearly always because the participants are being rude (most frequently Left-Statist) idiots. I'm not rude in return but I don't coddle them. I get "permanently banned" from the group nearly every time I wade in. They simply can't handle someone calling them out for their nasty idiocy.

I've seen the same, but to a lesser degree, on Twitter.

Nasty people can't handle being told they are being nasty. Their reaction exposes them. And I'm OK with that. 

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