We have to trust liberty completely

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for February 18, 2026)

Few people understand liberty. Even fewer trust it to work.

As Voltairine de Cleyre wrote in 1908, "[T]he sin our fathers sinned was that they did not trust liberty wholly".

They thought America could have liberty along with a central government- a state. It didn't work. Now we are stuck with a growing police state, and the tatters of our remaining liberty are being criminalized at an astonishing rate. This won't end well.

Liberty is indivisible- it can't be broken into pieces and remain liberty. You can't respect it selectively (for some people, in some areas, some of the time) and call it "liberty". True liberty requires consistent respect for everyone's rights, everywhere, all the time.

Critics of liberty often pick apart one small aspect they dislike, arguing either that this single piece "won't work" in isolation or that removing it disproves all of liberty. They then act as if they've won the debate, but they're missing the point entirely.

All elements of liberty are deeply interconnected, like parts of an ecosystem. You can't remove one part while keeping everything else unchanged, and claim you've shown a flaw with liberty. Government's very existence cripples liberty.

A common pro-government argument claims you can't have "open borders" and a welfare state. I agree. Easy fix! End all government welfare. This isn't the answer they want, though. They don't dislike welfare; just migrants.

This is how it looks any time people attempt to argue against a free society, like saying that without legislation enforcement, criminals would run rampant. Yes, they would... if you ignore self-defense, consequences, and social pressure (things legislation attempts to thwart).

It's a dishonest argument.

It’s like taking a malfunctioning rocket engine, removing critical parts you don't like the look of instead of addressing the bad piece, then pretending you won because the engine still doesn't work. Of course it won’t. It’s a system. A rocket engine's fuel pump won't lift a rocket into orbit by itself, nor can an engine designed to require a fuel pump function without one.

This government-supremacist argument doesn't work and looks dumb. Unless you're the one making the argument to others who do the same thing, and you're patting each other on the back for being clever.

Government is the enemy of liberty. Claiming this as proof liberty is unworkable is like noticing scammers exist, and this proves money is useless. Trust liberty completely; distrust all who fear it.

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Association must be voluntary, by mutual consent

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for February 11, 2026)

If you believe the best solution to any problem, real or imagined, is to give government more control, you're off base.

The government-created issue of "immigration" illustrates this perfectly.

Liberty trumps every other concern. Government solutions to "immigration" never enhance liberty but are a direct threat to it. Even if government is doing something you want it to do, and even if you believe the trade-off is worth the cost. Nothing is worth eroding liberty.

The New Mexico government recently barred state and local government-run facilities from contracting with ICE to provide detention centers. Good, bad, misguided, or pointless? This doesn't mean others won't choose to help ICE carry out its rights violations, but New Mexico governments won't be allowed to do so. It's still government doing government stuff.

Government has no business being involved.

As with most things, I expect some localities to ignore the legislation, hoping they'll get support from the federal government.

I'm opposed to concentration camps, whatever you might call them. I'm also opposed to barring people from living where they can make mutually consensual, voluntary agreements with the property owners.

Alternatively, I'm opposed to government participating in human trafficking; importing people from other countries and spending tax money to install them in communities.

Typically, you have people on one side who want government to ignore the Constitution and "control immigration" pitted against people on the other side who want government to import every basket case from every third-world country, and then support them for the rest of their lives on tax money stolen from the productive residents.

I want government out of the game altogether. Live where you want; make it on your own.

If you only want to hire people who were born in America- or in New Mexico- that's your right. Modern legislation might disagree, but if so, it's wrong. Again.

It's the same if you wish to discriminate on any basis for employment, housing, services, or whatever. Forced association is a violation of everyone's rights. If you don't want to be around me, why would I want government to force us together? That wouldn't be good for either of us. All association must be voluntary and by mutual consent. I wouldn't want to eat a cake baked by someone forced to "Bake the cake", to borrow a phrase from another case of forced association.

Government fouls everything it touches, including human interactions. It's never the solution.

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Socialist- delusional fascists eaten alive with envy

Socialists may just be the most delusional faction of authoritarian fascists.

They always believe only the undeserving rich (apparently everyone with more money than they have) will be forced to give up their money and property. Envy is their entire ideology.

They say they are only calling for "fairness" and "sharing". Sharing means giving someone YOUR property, not the property you've stolen from others.

They say they're only "giving everyone food and healthcare". By forcing others to pay for it.

They believe they are the opposite of fascists. While they act completely fascistic.

One told me to read Marx's "Capital", and when I admitted that I had, I was called a liar, since I said it was nonsense and Marx was wrong. I was told I am too stupid to understand it. I'll admit, I don't remember much of it anymore, because it was too ridiculous and obviously wrong to bother to commit to memory.

I guess I'm just not envious enough to be a socialist. I don't want to steal your stuff or have a gang steal it from you on my behalf. Seems like this is getting to be a rare quality these days.

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Is government the way to solve problems caused by government?

Government is a poor solution for the problems government "thinking" creates; a solution for the problems statism causes.

People don't like being responsible for protecting themselves from crime, so they establish a criminal network and say its job is to protect them from crime. It soon treats the people as criminals and says it needs more power and money so it can protect them better. That's stupid and never worked.

People don't like poverty, so they created a global theft ring that robs them into poverty and is supposed to run a safety net to help them survive poverty- not solve poverty, but perpetuate poverty and make it survivable. Wierd and ineffective. Charity is better and ethical.

People are scared that their territory will get invaded, conquered, and absorbed by warlords, so they set up a system of their own warlords to rob, murder, and rule them as a defense. Then, when their warlords get bored and adventurous, they go around the planet making enemies all over the world; enemies who decide the best defense is to invade, conquer, rob, and enslave the people who lived under the offending warlords. Stupid and self-defeating. Yet, they call this "national defense" as if repeating it makes it true.

People don't want to pay for "big projects", so they allow thieves to steal their money and pool what's left over (after the thieves skim their share off the top) to pay for the big projects the thieves feel like funding. Not necessarily what the people would have chosen to pay for. At inflated prices and with extra bureaucracy and waste. With the stolen money. Economically foolish and doomed to failure.

But, I'm expected to pretend that this is all somehow good, necessary, and the way it has always been and must forever remain. That's beyond insane!

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Billion$ in fraud is discovered...

And then, like magic, suddenly everyone is mad about taxes.

Welcome to the party, Pal.

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You don't want to be government's pet

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for November 5, 2025)

The SNAP crisis has shown a flaw in encouraging people to become dependent on government for anything essential. If you allow yourself to become dependent on government, it will own you.

Why would you do this to yourself? To your family?

This isn't only about food, but about a job, your personal safety, health care, or anything else you expect government to provide. Being dependent on government- something you have no real control over, and which relies on a steady stream of stolen money- is a terrible idea.

Pure self-sufficiency is impossible, but it should remain a guiding principle. It's preferable to not be a burden on others, but to be able to help them when you can. You can't do this if you are too dependent on someone else for your basic needs.

When you're dependent, the best case is that you'll be treated like a pampered pet. You may be taken care of, but you're not in control of your life or your destiny. You may be fed what someone else wants you to eat, and you may get neutered. Literally and figuratively.

The worst case is that you'll be treated like a slave. You aren't in control of your own life, but are under the control of people who don't care what happens to you. They may feed you as long as it serves their purposes and they can use you, but they don't care what happens to you if those purposes change. You're not important to them. You're fooling yourself if you believe you are; if you believe they really care more about you than about their power over you.

If you become dependent on someone else, you've given them the power to hurt you. All they have to do is withhold whatever you've come to rely on and use your anguish as a bargaining chip. Congratulations, you are now a political pawn to be used by political criminals to get whatever they want.

If you decide to riot or steal because of the situation, you've played right into their hands by doing what they were hoping you'd do. They might have said they don't want you to do these things, but they are lying. Your disruptive behavior gives them the excuses they've been hoping for.

I don't want you to put yourself in this position. Do what you can to cut the chains of dependence.

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Magic (tariff) Money

Sending out another round of stimulus checks, even if you call it a tariff windfall or something like that, would be incredibly irresponsible and economically ignorant. So... par for the course.

Just as I warned people back before the pandemic stimulus that it would cause inflation and make everything more expensive, I’ve tried to warn people this time.

They still don’t listen. They still don’t care. All they hear is “Free money!”

But TANSTAAFL.

At this point, I say send the money. Send some every month. Every week! Drive right off the cliff.

Sometimes you’ve got to stand aside and let people get what they want. Good and hard. No matter what the consequences. Yes, it will be another blow to the economy. At this point, does it matter?

Just do what you have to do to protect yourself. If you can find a niche to profit from the collapse, go for it.

For me, I think I’m done spending Bitcoin. I’ve done my part in working to make it spendable money. I think I’m going to HODL from now on. I was just about to spend $400 or so before the recent crash. I decided to wait until the price went back up, but I’m not inclined to spend any now. The economy looks too precarious at the moment. Maybe if things improve in a few years, I will reconsider.

And, if the checks do come, don't waste it. Get stuff that's going to help you through what's coming. Preps. Metals. Bitcoin. Guns and ammo. You won't regret it.

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Government failing at its only job

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for October 8, 2025)

Much of the conflict over government stems from different ideas about what its job is— or should be.

If we strip away all the nonsense and propaganda- all the excuses- there's only one justification for government that holds water; it's there to protect the life, liberty, and property- the fundamental human rights- of the people forced to live with it. A job it seems unwilling or unable to do. Anything else it does is a direct betrayal of this purpose.

So much for the notion of a "night watchman" government.

If government were capable of fulfilling this purpose, it might be worthwhile to keep one around. Since government is the main problem we are likely to encounter in our daily lives, it's not worth the expense or the risk. Government is the wolf at the door, demanding you let it in so it can protect you from wolves.

So-called "safety net" programs- welfare, subsidies, and other handouts- are often sold as government's duty, but it's a trick. Every cent funneled through these schemes must first be stolen from the rightful owners through taxation. If government's job is to protect property, picking your pocket to hand the loot to me is a contradiction. You can't protect property by stealing property. You can't protect rights by violating rights.

No one needs bureaucrats taking their money and then deciding who to give it to. Charity is better at filling real needs while correcting for mistakes or scams. Stealing money through taxation, then giving it away (even if they aren't trying to buy votes with it) isn't generosity. It doesn't make for a kinder society. It breeds dependence and resentment, and it undermines the foundations of society. If there were any such thing as a "social contract", this would break it.

If you assume people can't run their own lives, and treat them as if they can't, they'll prove you right. If you try to remove the cost of being irresponsible, no one has any incentive to be responsible. If you insist on governing them, they'll never learn to govern themselves.

If government is to be tolerated, it must stick to its job of protecting your rights. Not violating you in the name of what someone pretends is a right. Not being a nightmarish nanny or a parallel universe Robin Hood who steals from the people to give to the state.

It can't do this, so why put up with it?

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Food as a human right

To be clear:

• You have the right to hunt, gather, and grow your food. Any government rules that make this difficult or impossible violate your human right to acquire food.
• You have the right to barter or buy food from others who hunt, gather, or grow food. Any government rules that make this difficult or impossible violate your human right to acquire food.

Food is a human right. 

Having others provide you with food is not a human right. That’s slavery.

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Obeying their lizard brain

I used to see welfare recipients as thieves, but I eventually came to see many of them as victims. They just don't know they are victims, or they imagine some other victimhood. 

Victims who'll blame those who aren't victimizing them when the handouts stop.

I blame those politicians and bureaucrats who steal and redistribute, not the saps who fall into the scam. I can't get too angry at people who are told, "Here's some free stuff- take it", for taking what they are offered. 

Part of this lies in my low estimation of the intelligence of the general population. 

Most people aren't aware enough to see it as a scam; they just hear "free stuff!" without the necessary awareness to realize there's no such thing as "free". Someone always pays, and there's a cost to the recipients, too.

The thieves who steal and redistribute are buying loyalty, and maybe even v*tes.
Those who receive the stolen money are only doing what their lizard brains tell them is good for them.

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Fatal involvement

The looming food stamp riots show one thing clearly: Government shouldn't be involved. In anything. It doesn't matter what the topic is.

Government shouldn't be involved in food distribution. When it is, look what happens.

That's not all, though.

Government shouldn't be involved in healthcare, justice, security, business/economy, money, making rules, education, transportation, arbitration, defense, or any of the other things government tries to involve itself in.
Even more dangerous are the things which government decides to enforce its artificial monopoly over.

Central planning is always a flop. Every time it is tried, it fails. If you believe it didn't fail in some instance, it's because government got involved in (and destroyed) education.

Also, I have no objection whatsoever to anyone decisively ending a food thief who believes they are entitled to the food in a store. That person can choose whether or not to be a thief, and if that's the choice they make, I have no pity when that choice has deadly consequences. There is ALWAYS a better option than theft.

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Dangerous, entitled parasites

Have you seen the entitled morons complaining, “If I don't get my food stamps, I’ll just steal the food and nobody better try to stop me as I walk out the door!”

Then there are the people, some are store employees, who say they’ll look the other way, because "hunger" or "compassion". "It's Trump's fault!"

They are no better than the thieves.

This illustrates why handouts are a bad idea. Why it's a bad idea to even start feeding the wildlife. I understand why some would want to, but it isn't really helping most of them.

People get entitled. And they enslave themselves to whoever holds the purse. They are handing control over their life to people who don't actually care what happens to them. I addressed this 19 years ago in my post titled MountainMan wisdom.

They also get dangerous if the handouts get shut off.
Well, no store owner has to tolerate that nonsense.

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It's like they have no principles whatsoever

I’m constantly amazed at how easily most people turn their backs on what they know to be true and what they claim they believe, just so they can keep supporting something they’d otherwise reject- except that they can’t imagine doing without it.

Cops.

You can explain the situation clearly, logically, and ethically. And copsuckers will twist in whatever way is necessary to keep supporting cops. No matter what. I can't even wrap my head around some of the mental contortions they put themselves through to keep supporting cops. It's crazee, but fascinating to watch.

Then they'll call you the hypocrite. It would be funny if they weren't so dangerous to society.

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Use your brain

Liberals and conservatives are both wrong. 

Just in (some) different ways.

Both are authoritarian.
Both love prohibitions.
Both are socialists. 
Both fear liberty.

It's only in the minor details where they disagree.

Use your brain. Don't be a statist.

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A "jobs program" for losers

Legislation- "the law"- is welfare (a "jobs program") for losers who have no actual skills other than being a bully. 

It provides them with the opportunity to wear a badge and bully people in exchange for a paycheck funded by theft. They are using their victims' own stolen money against them. And they are allowed to murder anyone who resists their bullying.

Good people don't do this, nor do they excuse it.

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Is it really a right?

I've noticed that when a lot of people mention "rights", they are just telling you how they want to violate you.

"____ rights are human rights". Well, OK, but in that case, there doesn't need to be a modifier. All humans alive have equal and identical rights. If what you're really demanding is an imaginary "right" to do things to other people that you have no right to do, an "extra right" beyond those shared by all, you can jump right off a cliff. And it does seem like this is what they are usually demanding.

Someone asked how to explain the concept that "food is a human right". It isn't, not the way they want it to be. 

Here is how food is a human right: You have the right to grow, harvest, hunt, and prepare your own food. Any government rules that get in the way of this are illegitimate. That includes "hunting licenses" and barring people from foraging and hunting for food on "public" (unowned) land. It includes property codes that demand you grow a grass lawn instead of edible vegetables. It includes property codes that ban you from raising livestock. It includes any rule that prevents you from (or licenses) engaging in trade so you can buy food. Government is the primary criminal preventing access to food.

Here is how food is NOT a human right: You don't have the right to go to a store and demand they give you the specific kind of food you'd prefer, nor to rob someone and use their money to buy food. It's the same as forcing someone to work in the fields and grow crops for you. 

You may not get exactly the kind of food you like. You may be eating "weeds" and sparrows rather than Twinkies and Big Macs. But that's as far as the right to food gets you.

You do have the right to ask for food or money with which to buy food. Again, it may not be exactly what you wanted to eat, but as long as it is food, your right is respected.

A right doesn't obligate anyone to do anything or give you anything. It doesn't entitle someone to anyone else's labor or property. It obligates them to not violate this right, just as you are obligated to not violate their equal and identical right. It's really not that hard, and most people who don't seem to understand don't want to understand or they would understand.

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Government not here to help anyone

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for January 19, 2025)

After watching the devastation of Hurricane Helene and now the Los Angeles wildfires, do you understand yet that government isn't there to help you? Do you understand it can't help, and generally makes things worse?

It doesn't take a disaster. Government won't save you from poverty, from health problems, from crime, or from competing governments. It isn't designed to help you; it is designed to hold, and increase, power. You are its annoying pet, or livestock to be sheared or butchered.

Taxes aren't inflicted to fund government. The Federal Reserve can dream up all the funny money government wants. Taxes, including inflation, are imposed to make sure you don't have money available for what you want and need. Taxes are designed to change your behavior and to keep you from being self-sufficient. This way you might come crawling to government, begging for its help. Help you'd be less likely to need if you were able to keep and use your own money.

When government does provide a service, it's a dim shadow of what you would choose for yourself if you had the money.

Just like the wealthy homeowners in California who hired private firefighters to save their homes once they realized the government-provided service wasn't enough. Or those who rigged up their own fire suppression systems instead of relying on government.

There are still people in western North Carolina living in tents, in winter conditions, who thought government was there to help.  Not only is government not helping, but it's blocking those, like the Amish, who want to help. It considers its own rules more important than the lives of the victims. It has even informed its victims that their property tax bills will not be adjusted to reflect their new circumstances.

If you don't yet understand how evil government is, are you waiting until it affects you, personally? Even worse, you may decide "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" and become part of the problem by entering government. As well-intentioned as you may be, you can't change the mafia from the inside. Chances are, good people who accept a government job will change more than they change government. If you've paid any attention, you've seen this happen time after time.

A smarter approach is to do what you ought to be doing in spite of government. Find workarounds to help those government is ignoring or mistreating. Be the help government can't be.

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Government is dangerous

One of the greatest dangers facing you and me is government. Not a specific government, but the very notion of government.

Either government alone, or-- possibly the greatest danger-- government vs. government with us caught in between.

Government causes situations that endanger us. 

It meddles in other regions, creating enemies. Many of these enemies are (just like many Americans) unable or unwilling to distinguish between the government hurting them and the people in other countries who disavow what the government that rules them is doing. It isn't necessary to be my enemy just because you hate the US government. I hate it, too!

Government offers handouts, making people dependent and likely to get violent if the handouts stop. It makes people incompetent by design.

Government imports people from other countries. People who hate Americans. How does this make sense, unless it is to create trouble that you need to be resued from?

It makes it a crime for you and me to defend ourselves from freelance bad guys or from the bad guys operating on behalf of government.

Government makes up arbitrary rules that prevent you from "legally" doing things humans have always done-- things you still have the right to do-- to provide for your home.

Without government there wouldn't be excuses like "global climate change" being used against you. There wouldn't be tariffs, or egg shortages, or inflation.

Government also provokes other governments. Without government there wouldn't be missiles aimed at where you live. There wouldn't be nuclear weapons. 

Government is a net negative. I understand how so many have been brainwashed to feel (not think) it is necessary. It's still a net negative.

Government doesn't create society and give us prosperity and safety. If we have those things it's because we create them ourselves in spite of everything government is doing.

The warlords used as justification by fans of government are the very government they defend.

The more who realize this, the better off we all will be.

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Diversity

Diversity of completely irrelevant characteristics like sex, "race", sexuality, etc. doesn't matter. It's not important. It can be ignored. It should be ignored.

Diversity of competence is stupid. It's a disaster and needs to be rejected totally.

Focusing on the diversity of irrelevant characteristics guarantees a diversity of competence because it takes attention away from what's important. It's a method to dilute competence and to take unreasonable chances.

Some individuals of every sex, "race", sexuality, or any other irrelevant characteristic like these are competent in every realm. They don't need to be propped up by dangerous policies.

It's OK to not be competent in every realm, but everyone can be competent in something. Chase that; not the things you lack competence in, but you wish you were good at. Or, find a way to become competent in what you want to pursue.

If someone isn't competent in some area, I don't want to risk putting them in that position. If someone is competent in some area, I want them doing that, regardless of their other irrelevant qualities. It makes my life better and it is risky to exclude them.

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Don't make deals with government

Government never keeps its end of any agreement. Not if breaking it is more convenient for its purposes.

It has broken the Constitution, treaties with the natives, and deals with other governments. It broke the deal that got the gullible to agree to the "income tax" and to "social security". 

Government lies.

Don't ever make an agreement with government, unless you have a good plan to use it against government. But I warn you: you aren't as crooked, evil, and sneaky as government. Not even close.

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