New year time to accept reality

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for December 31, 2023)

There haven't been many years where, as New Year's Day approached, I thought "I'm glad I survived this one; I wasn't sure I would". This has been one of those years.

It was a year marked with unrelated random health emergencies, financial crises partly caused by those health emergencies, and general trouble.

I'm glad to see the year end and I'm hoping next year will be better.

If your past twelve months were rough, I hope the coming year is smooth sailing. If the past year has been good to you, I hope it was merely a hint at the great things to come.

One common thread I noticed running through all the troubles this past year was that government never made any situation better and seemed actively determined to make each of them worse in some way. Often, in multiple ways.

I can't figure out why anyone would want to keep this parasitic institution around. It's like insisting you need your alien brain slug and don't want anyone pointing out the harm it's doing to your health. It's a net negative in your life and for society and you don't need it (but it spends a lot of your money trying to fool you into believing you do).

If this thought offends you or hurts your feelings you might need to realize reality doesn't care about your feelings. Reality simply is, whether you like it or not.

A new year is a great time to decide to accept reality anew. Work with how things are, and if you don't like them, see if you can do something to change the way things are and will be into the future. Change is going to happen; see if you can guide it.

This is what I do. Most people act as though government is a concrete thing with rights or authority. This is the reality I have to work with. I do my best to point out to these people that the emperor has no clothes. They can believe me or they can continue to live in a fantasy world-- it's not something I control.

What I can do is keep telling the truth, hoping it makes an eventual impact. Making a better future than might otherwise be. The Universe doesn't care if anyone has a good year. It's our job, as humans, to help each other have the best year possible. Telling the truth is a good start.

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Invasion?

Is Texas experiencing an invasion? Does the "invasion clause" of the Constitution (Article IV, section 4) mean any "invasion" or does it only apply to a military/paramilitary invasion? 

It seems that Texas Governor Abbott did one thing right. I'm going to assume he searched the US Constitution, looking for some legal way to stop "immigration" or to close "the border", and since that's not in there, he found a different path. His only hope was to claim an invasion was occurring.

Is it true? Is this honest or is it a typical political lie?

Honestly, I can see both sides. 

Dictionary.com defines "invasion" as:

1. an act or instance of invading or entering as an enemy, especially by an army. (emphasis mine)
2. the entrance or advent of anything troublesome or harmful, as disease.

If the people coming here were shooting or machete-ing their way into Texas the first definition would fit. "Entry, plus enmity". Since they aren't, you'd have to be able to read their minds to see their motivations; there are no overt signs they are entering as enemies. Ignoring any counterfeit "laws" regulating "immigration" doesn't meet the criteria.

You could argue some unknown number of them are entering to form or join "sleeper cells". If so, the proper way to deal with that is to encourage the entire American population to stay armed and ready to defend life, liberty, and property from any enemies, foreign or domestic, at all times, everywhere they happen to be. In other words, ditch every single anti-gun rule on the books and all anti-defense legislation. Anything else is equivalent to mass murder, even in the best of times. It is a crime against humanity in the event of an invasion.

If definition #1 fit the situation, the best thing government could do would be to get out of the way. Let the militia handle it by repelling or shooting any combatants encountered. The most legitimate thing the National Guard could do in that case is to hand their weapons over to the militia. (For all the dumb statists out there it needs to be pointed out that the National Guard is NOT the militia, but came along much later.) Maybe they could pass out water bottles and provide medical care, too. All other branches of government military need to stay out of the way unless they are willing to do the same. The government's military isn't a help.

It would be easier to apply definition #2 to the current situation. The case could be made, even if I think you'd have to be collectivist to make it. I could be persuaded by this definition, at least in some individual cases. Cases requiring an individual response and solution.

My 1949 edition of Funk & Wagnalls New Practical Standard Dictionary includes a third definition of “invasion”:

“3 Encroachment, as by an act of intrusion or trespass…”

"Encroachment"? "...to advance beyond proper, established, or usual limits; make gradual inroads". Who gets to define "proper"? "Established" by whom and by what rights? "Usual limits"? It opens a lot more questions. But I can see how it might fit the circumstances... if looked at in a certain way.

If anyone— migrants, border control, Texas cops, federal troops, or whoever— is trespassing on private property they are subject to consequences. If they die, oh well. 

Unfortunately for borderists, the US government does not own all the land inside the “borders” it claims. Crossing government "borders" to enter “public” (government) land (or entering a government building on January 6th) is not trespassing in any real sense. There is no legitimate rightful owner to violate.

Crossing a private property line is another matter.

If, as I’ve heard, the razor-wire fences in question are on private property with the consent (or at the request) of the landowners, then the feds need to back off. If they refuse, I don’t care what happens to them. “S, S, & S”, as ranchers say. And good riddance.

No matter how you want to define "invasion", an authoritarian response is never the right way to go. More government power and control is never going to improve the situation. Let the people handle any problem, if there's a problem.

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Liberty is the greater good!

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Also this or this