Liberty not subject to majority rule

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for May 6, 2026)

My experience, gained from years of talking with many people, suggests that when most people talk about freedom, they mean "the freedom to do as I please, and the freedom to prevent others from doing the same".

That’s one way to express your freedom, but it's not good enough for me.

It’s why I prefer to talk about liberty- freedom tempered with the responsibility to not violate others' equal and identical rights. It's how liberty works, and it's awesome!

The problem some people have is that those rights include things they wouldn't choose to do, and would prefer others didn't choose to do, either. This doesn't change the fact they have a right to do those things. No legislation or rule can change this reality. Your natural human rights aren't subject to majority opinion or political edict, even if you've been trained to believe otherwise.

We are all free to make mistakes; we don't have the right to violate others to prevent them from doing something we believe would be a mistake. Or something we find offensive.

In exercising their liberty, some people will do things which offend you. Many people want you to believe if they've been offended, they've been violated somehow. They haven't. Being offended isn't the same as having your life, liberty, or property violated, even though weak people who want to control others often use this ploy. Don't play along.

If I try to stop others from doing what they have a right to do because I don't like their choices, how can I complain when they do the same to me? I would be a hypocrite of the worst sort. No matter what you do, someone is going to be offended by it. Guaranteed.

The majority of people don’t like this constraint of respecting others' rights. They want to be reassured that they have the imaginary right to control others. Telling them they have no such right angers them. It’s probably why they continue to vote for politicians who encourage them to deny their responsibility and who feed their lust for control.

Be big enough to support liberty. Do as you please, as long as you aren't harming others, and let them have the same freedom. Don't seek to violate their rights just because the system currently allows it. Any system which allows rights to be violated is wrong. Once upon a time, the system allowed slavery, too.

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Liberty is fun

Liberty should be fun. Liberty is fun!

My BBQ Gun post is a reminder of that. A reminder to have fun. It appears a few of you also thought it was fun.

If liberty were as miserable as statism, what would be the point? Statism is easier than liberty, so why make the effort if there's no benefit? If liberty doesn't make you happy?

"A revolution without dancing is not a revolution worth having." - V

"Fun" is subjective. Most things I find fun don't seem to resonate with many people, and things others think are fun are often things I can't see myself making it through for more than a few minutes before I'm itching to escape. 

A few times, though, I've managed to survive situations long enough that I actually started having fun at things I never imagined I would enjoy. An art show populated by faeries and nights at karaoke are a couple of examples I can think of right off the top of my head. You never know until you try. Embrace discomfort and see what happens.

If your fun isn't something I'm interested in, that's my problem, not yours. You go have fun. You're always invited to join my fun if you're interested.

You'll regret the things you didn't do more than the things you did- or so I've been told. Take the chance and have fun with it.

I'm all for people doing what they enjoy, as long as they don't enjoy controlling or violating others. If they do, I hope they encounter someone whose idea of fun is watering the tree of liberty. It's best if it never gets to that point, but that line in the sand is important to keep clear.

It's easy to get discouraged by all the statism and Statanism surrounding us. Don't give them a win they didn't earn. Carve out your own fun. Have fun in spite of them. Have fun, in their faces, to spite them. 

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