This isn't way things have to be

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for October 29, 2025)

I've discovered that telling people what kind of world you want to live in doesn't get through to anyone. It's not enough to describe a world where everyone is free to live in liberty without waiting for permission from sociopaths who imagine they have the right to run your life. This doesn't resonate.

Perhaps it would be better to describe the world I don't want. The world I'm not willing to tolerate.

I don’t want to live in a world where the government isn't afraid of the people. I don’t want to live in a world where police are allowed to act like the masters over a population of slaves who either comply instantly or face death. I don’t want to live in a world where politicians are able to do whatever they want and the people feel they must obey them.

I don't want to live in a world where politicians and their enforcers decide what rights we have, and how those rights can be limited, rationed, or licensed. Where we are expected to thank them for not doing worse.

I don't want to live in a weird upside-down world where governments pretend to have rights; where individuals are only allowed to have privileges as long as they don't scare or inconvenience the politicians and bureaucrats.

Unfortunately, this is the world we have been dealt.

What can be done about it?

First of all, realize this is backward. Nearly every political question has been turned on its head. It's not possible to get things more wrong. This can't be an accident. Someone has done this on purpose, and they are not on your side.

Second, don't pretend this is the way it has to be; the natural order of things. It's not. It's artificial and harmful. It makes society sick by harming individual liberty. Things can be better.

Third, know you don't have to put up with it. You have the rights, the authority, and the ethical foundation- everything they lack. Let them know you know. Tolerate them only as long as they are tolerable. Ignore them when they aren't. Defy them when they leave you no choice.

It will be costly, but not as costly as continuing to let them control and consume your life. Plus, no matter what it costs today, it will cost more tomorrow if allowed to continue. If you value liberty, this is your mission.

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Thank you for reading.
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Observing feral humans in the wild

I have a sockpuppet X account that does nothing but serve as a backup in case I get banned again. I don't follow people on it, nor do I post or comment. I just use it to observe.

What I observe has taught me some things.

First, it has taught me that no matter how bad the political Right is- and they are bad- the political Left is orders of magnitude worse.

Since I don't interact, I get a good sampling of posts and comments from all ideologies on that account; my "for you" is almost entirely Leftist posts. The Left is far and away the worst people among a nasty crowd. 

They can't talk about something important without lying. Even if I'm inclined to agree with them in principle, they ruin it by lying. They threaten anyone who dares to disagree with them. They are far more aggressive, on average, than the Right. They are ruder than the Right.

Sure, there are exceptions, and this is my subjective observation based on what I end up being fed by the mysterious algorithm.

Again, the Right are often wrong, but they generally seem to be nicer people than those on the Left- until you figure in their cop/military worship. Better adjusted, less angry, and less crazy. I kind of wish it weren't so, because I want to side with the Left when they point out ways in which the Right is wrong. And, I still do, but it feels icky when I see what kind of people they are beyond that one dimension. Sure, it sometimes feels the same way to side with the Right when they point out how wrong the Left is. Neither side seems able to see beyond their politics into what's true and right.

It's simpler if I can just see them all as statists who hate/fear liberty. Which they are. But it's also delusional to not notice the differences, subtle and overt.

It has also taught me how much of a bubble my real X account is in. I'm protected from many of the most toxic statist "opinions" by who I follow and who I choose to interact with. This makes it more enjoyable, but it gives me a false sense of the world. Just a quick visit to the silent account breaks the illusion.

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Thank you for reading.
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