In "praise" of the donut munchers

As long as you are force to "pay" for a government employee's existence, you'd be better off to have one who does nothing.

A conscientious government employee is violating you twice. Not only are they robbing you, but they are also raping your rights with everything they accomplish. And someday they may actually kill you.

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Americanism is a real problem

Americanism. I guess that's what I'd call the mental problem infecting a large percentage of those around me.

You know the type:

Stuck in a fictional myth of the 1950s as The Golden Era. Borderism. Religionism. Militarism. Guns "from my cold, dead hands"... but only as long as we can keep them away from the "wrong people". Infected with just a tinge of "White supremacism". A deep fear of "brown people" or change of just about any sort. A love of punishment and revenge. An abiding belief that Democracy, along with The Constitution, is the Alpha and the Omega of freedom. Clinging to the demonstrably false belief that cops are the good guys. Symbols of the USA are worshiped, and no fault can ever be found in the global actions of the US government.

It is nostalgia elevated to religion. Kind of like the Amish.

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The lazy man's way: authoritarianism

Authoritarianism is the lazy way out.

When I am tired or distracted it would be so much easier to just "lay down the law" with my daughter than to think things through, that it becomes a great temptation.

It is more time-consuming and requires more thought to pursue libertarian parenting. It is a lot of work to be logical, consistent, reasonable, and listen to (or consider) counter-arguments. It's easier to just say "because I said so", even in cases where you are operating from a flawed perspective or with insufficient data. Because I have seen the harm that comes from that style of "parenting" I try to avoid that trap.

But, like I say, it can be a lot of work. Most worthwhile things are.

On the other hand, a little effort now saves a lot of trouble in the future.

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Politicians and their "values"

I see a lot of puppeticians who claim to have "values". And a lot of their sheeplike followers believe them.

"Dedicated to the values of idiocy" is not a virtue. Yet, it seems those who are dedicated to such are venerated and put upon a pedestal by their equally deluded followers. Sad.

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Don't let government stop you

Don't let government stop you

(My Clovis News Journal column for September 22, 2011.)

What is it you most would like to do if you had no onerous regulations and laws holding you back? What would you do with liberty?

This is a question libertarian author and novelist L. Neil Smith has posed in the past. It is still one of the best ways to awaken to the potential that liberty has in store for you. Just think about it.

I seriously doubt that you would daydream of a career as a robber or attacker. Nor would I. Why imagine the worst of others? Even if someone else did have those types of ambitions, there would still be the equal and identical rights of others, backed up by an absence of restrictions on self defense and defense of property, to prevent him from becoming a real problem. It isn't as if laws, and the chance of being caught by the enforcers, stop bad people from being bad now.

Many of us would probably dream of starting a business or pursuing a hobby that is just too difficult with government looking over your shoulder; demanding you jump through certain hoops for permission, and then demanding a cut of your efforts if you make a profit. Or, even when you don't.

The trick is that you need to come to the realization that your wishes depend on you leaving the other guy alone to pursue his dreams as well. Do you want to follow your dreams enough to stop preventing him from following his? You only get as much liberty as you respect in the other guy.

Do you want to keep your guns bad enough that you will stay out of your neighbor's marriage? Do you enjoy your raw milk products enough that you will stop worrying about what the cancer patient across the street is smoking? Do you value your religious beliefs enough to stop trying to interfere with the other guy's religious practices? Do you want to keep your own property enough that you stop justifying the theft of someone else's property? Do you want to live your life as you see fit enough to fight for the right of your enemy to do the same?

If so, start now. If not, perhaps you need to get out more and develop some interests. What's stopping you? Life is waiting.

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"...nor was I discussing political agendas."

Regardless of what some people seem to believe, right and wrong isn't a "political agenda". It just so happens, though, that libertarianism is intimately concerned with right and wrong in a consistent way that no other philosophy can be. And that translates into a logical way to organize our interactions, which means "politics" to a great many observers.

Yes, that disturbs people who have no ethical foundation for their politics, but that isn't my fault. They could look to improve themselves. We all have to start some time.

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Thought of the moment

Libertarianism is not just misunderstood, it is un-understood. How much of that is willful, I'll leave to you to decide. I suspect it is a lot.

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Dependency pushers

I saw a news article that quoted some puppetician who said the Social Security [sic] increase was a good thing.

What I don't get: "Drug dealers" are treated like criminals, even though their customers are consensual. Welfare advocates are treated as heroes, even though their customers and those who actually provide the product are coerced.

Both "drug dealers" and politicians are pushing dependency. Yet, only one of those "pushers" are using coercion to obtain the product and keep the customers.

Remove the negative effects of prohibition and I'll tell you which sort I'd rather have as a next-door neighbor. And it is NOT the tax parasite.

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The killing of Gadhafi- self defense or revenge?

I can't join the majority in the celebration over the killing of Gadhafi.

Yes, he was a very, very bad guy. Almost everyone who seeks political power is. Any one of his victims would have been fully justified in killing him in self defense. But... the old monster was not a credible threat any more- he was no longer the ruler and was not engaged in an initiation of force at the time he was killed. He was killed in revenge, not in self defense. I also don't see any justice in it.

I think revenge is wrong. Understandable, but wrong. I'm not saying I would never again do anything in revenge, myself, but if I did I would be wrong. I have done a few things in revenge in the past. I was wrong.

When I smeared poison ivy all over the toilet seat, and my wife's vibrator, before I abandoned my house to her and her new boyfriend, I was wrong. If I had it to do over again I hope I would make the right decision this time. I have the benefit of years of libertarianism to guide my actions now.

The rebels, who are now falling all over themselves in the rush to set up another State to abuse them and violate their liberty, were wrong for killing Gadhafi. And they are wrong for allowing a new government to be established. Actions have consequences. Watch what happens next.

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Gunwalker, or Fast and Furious(ly insane)

As is always the case when the psychopaths who work for government choose to violate their very clear operating instructions, the "Fast and Furious"/ Gunwalker scandal is not an announcement that there need to be more "laws". Only idiot congresscritters could see it that way. No, it is a clear call to repeal all "laws" (and agencies) that made the scandal possible.

Say you were born into a neighborhood where one guy has declared himself the head of a homeowners' association that you never agreed to join, but existed before you were born. Maybe 50% of your neighbors either agree, or at least are under the impression that somebody "needs to be in charge". Vastly fewer actually think he should be "the one" or that what he does is good. Anyway, the "head guy" insists that all houses remain unlocked so that he can check them at will for burglars. When you discover that HE is the main burglar in town do you let him then make more rules that don't address the problem, do you insist on replacing him with another power-mad maniac who wants the "job", or do you install locks and arm yourself against his next intrusion?

This is as clear an illustration as possible that government is not your friend and is not necessary. It is the problem, not the solution. It needs to be abolished, or ignored to death. However, as a compromise, I would suggest the following steps the government can take to show "good faith":

Repeal any "law" that seeks to violate the Second Amendment. And that is every "law" that applies to guns in any way. Yes, even the "pro-gun laws". The government is forbidden from addressing guns. Obey or die.

Abolish any agency or bureaucracy that deals with enforcing any of the forbidden "laws" that affect guns. And don't try to be cute by shifting the "job" to someone else. The "job" is illegal. Treat it as such, with enthusiastic fervor.

Repeal any "law" that makes it a "crime" to resist or kill any government employee who tries to violate any person's rights or property in any way.

Repeal, repeal, repeal. No, there shouldn't be a "law". Anything less shows that government is only sorry its tools got caught.

Follow this path and there would never be another scandal like Gunwalker. Follow a similar path every time government breaks its own rules, those which govern its existence, and before long we'd actually live in a free society.

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Who would Jesus vote for?

I am not being facetious; I am completely serious.

Please ask this of your Christian friends who vote. Especially pose the question to ones who, like some of my family members, say they will vote for Perry, Cain, or Romney because they "have to vote for someone".

Who would Jesus vote for? Do you really think he would vote for the "lesser of two evils"? Isn't that like choosing to commit the lesser of two sins? Do you really think he would want you to vote for the lesser of two evils?

Christians who vote are not obeying his admonition to "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's" and are instead giving Caesar that which does not belong to Caesar: their attention, time, and respect.

Grow up. Withdraw consent.

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A horrible thought

I just saw another news report of a kid who was taken from his family by government force because it was claimed he was abused. Now he has been taken from the foster family that he was placed with because it is being claimed they also abused him.

Do some kids attract abuse?

I'm not saying he "deserved it" or brought it upon himself in any way, but I have to wonder if some kids trigger a sort of "immune response" in ethically-weak adults around them that makes abuse more likely.

If I were in charge of placing homeless kids with families (in a free market sort of way), I'd first make sure the foster family members were all followers of the ZAP. Obviously the current "system" doesn't work.

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Little learned in last 10 years

Little learned in last 10 years

(My Clovis News Journal column for Sept. 16, 2011. As written, not as published.)

Last weekend America observed the 10th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Apparently few Americans have learned anything in the past ten years. At least, that is the lesson I take away from what I saw of the commemorations.

If the terrorists hate us for our freedom, they must love us now. The US government has cancelled freedom and only allows us to exercise certain privileges, at their discretion and within "sensible" limits, in place of freedom now.

The only part of the Bill of Rights that isn't obviously violated by the federal government on a daily basis across America is the Third Amendment. Yet, I believe even the spirit and intent of that one is violated by having a standing military and unendable wars. The rest of the Bill of Rights is a laughingstock to those who work in government.

In other words, the federal government did the terrorists' "work" for them. Why are Americans not gathering goose feathers and heating pots of tar? Or taking up pitchforks and torches? Can Americans really be so afraid of a phantom menace that they think trading priceless liberty for false security is a good trade?

Governments cause terrorism just as surely as a virus causes smallpox- and the solution is the same. Most of the "9/11" commemorations seemed to celebrate the cause rather than notice the solution.

Want to defeat terrorism? Abolish gun control and stop making it hard for the first line of defense (that's you and me, folks) to do its job. Stop meddling in the affairs of other people around the globe. Not "isolationism", but non-interference. Close the Department of Homeland Security and the TSA. In fact, abolish any government agency, program, or law which diminishes liberty in any way. Take away the ability of the US government, and all its local co-conspirators, to infringe on any individual right from this moment on. Learn a lesson from history rather than seeming determined to repeat the worst mistakes.

You can also change the way you think. Refuse to be afraid. Don't fly flags (either the federal "Stars and Stripes" or a more authentic American flag) at half-mast in defeat, but from the top of the pole as a display of determination. Stand tall and unbowed when remembering that America survived the pathetic attempt to destroy it. Stop giving terrorists what they want!

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A difference that makes no difference is not a difference

Ack! The idiots strike again.

I saw where someone was having a hissy fit because they read someone who was comparing communists and nazis and not making a big deal about the "differences" between the two.

The hissy-fitter was mainly upset that people who were commenting on the "Occupy" protestors don't know that communists are on the "extreme left" while nazis are on the "far right". As if that imaginary distinction makes a difference!

Does it really matter if the rabid animal chewing your throat is a cat or a dog?

Nazis and communists are identical in the only way that matters. They are both murderous monsters when given the power of The State. And they are not the only ones who should never be given that power. The same is true of every ideology. The only solution is to allow (and encourage) The State to evaporate.

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The Statist's Burden

In a past century it was called "the white man's burden". Now it isn't the burden of the "white man", but of statists of every "race" who feel the "burden" to spread their particular brand of State- be it democracy or Islam- in order to rescue everyone else from their own "depravity" or chaos.

Well, Statist, is your burden too heavy? I can relieve you of your burden right now. Your "statist's burden" is all in your head. You are unwanted. Go away and take your misplaced "burden" with you. You don't need to "save" us wretched anarchists from freedom.

We don't need your police. We don't need your "laws". We don't need you to "protect" us from contaminated food, or from the improper use of our devices. We don't need you to try to direct traffic. We don't need you to imprison people for eating or smoking whatever they choose. We don't need you to provide for "the common good" or "public" anything. We don't need you to keep us safe from (other) terrorists or to secure the borders.

We don't need YOU. Seriously. We really don't need you. So just stop being a dick and get on with your life and don't force us to defend ourselves from your unwanted attention. It's the only way to avoid the approaching unpleasantness.

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Perpetual motion and "taxation"

Recently I again ran into the erroneous belief that government employees pay "taxes". This is a myth that just keeps on walking around, undead and looking for brains to munch.

The fact of the matter: Government employees pay no taxes. Ever. Zero. Period.

The pretense that they do is the financial equivalent of a perpetual motion device that keeps the economically ignorant among us (more) content with the status quo.

All government employee pay comes from government-confiscated "taxes", and all the "taxes" they pay go "back" to government. (The money never actually left the government's bloody hands in the first place.) Plus some money is always lost in the shuffle between parties. The lost money is equivalent to the waste heat in a mechanical system.

Put another way: If I paid you $100 dollars, but then demanded you pay a "tax" of 20% back to me, did I just give you $100 or did I give you only $80? Contrast it with this scenario: If I paid you $100 but you immediately paid a third party $20, I have actually, in fact, paid you $100 even if you passed some of it along to someone else. There is a difference.

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Results-oriented parenting or a control freak?

I overheard something disturbing recently.

A dad was speaking to some other parents and said "I will raise these girls way different because I have a different end result in mind."

On the surface I'm not sure why it disturbed me. We all "raise" our kids in the way we think will produce the best results. As if we could ever know which "results" would be "best", or what would produce those results.

But there was some type of arrogance to that statement that really got to me. To think you can have any "end" in mind for your kids- it just seemed creepy to me. Added to the fact that the guy was sporting a semi-military haircut, wearing a T-shirt with a military logo, and going on and on about different Republican presidential candidates without mentioning that they are all authoriturd puppeticians (with one sorta-exception whom he never mentioned) - it all added up to a control-freak authoritarian in my mind.

Maybe I am wrong.

I didn't know the guy and wasn't sitting that close to him. I forced myself to sit and not speak up or snort in derision. It was hard. I've grown as a person.

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Silverblog

Check out Silver's blog. It is full of nutrition for your starving mind!

(Thanks to Claire for the heads-up.)

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A "disgusting rant"

I am angry. Exposure to idiots has that effect on me. I know I shouldn't let it get to me, but it is difficult to ignore. I am only human. So, since my "rants are disgusting and very difficult to take seriously" I might as well give the statist perverts a real rant.

This time it is the really stupid comments from those who see nothing wrong with agents of the State entrapping people and charging them with sex crimes against "children" (15 years old is NOT a child) who did not exist. Even if the LEO predators never initiated contact, and never said anything to lead the alleged "pedophile" on and escalate the sexuality of the situation, what they do as a part of their "job" is still wrong. Two wrongs don't make a right.

I would like to scream at the commenters "Look, Moron! Your stupid belief that you must either choose between The State or having your child molested is ridiculous and false." But statists are apparently too dumb to understand that obvious fact.

There is a better way to combat this problem. One that doesn't require you to become the bad guy or support the actions of bad guys.

There is only one person who will always be there when my daughter is in trouble. I want that person to be able to protect her. And that one person is she, herself. Sure, I would prefer to always be there to protect her, myself. That isn't possible and to act as though it is sets her up for tragedy. To train her to rely on agents of the State is child abuse. It is teaching her helplessness. I won't do that!

So, to any statist perverts out there: I do NOT support pedophiles who act upon their desires by actually attacking or deceiving children in order to take advantage of them. But that doesn't mean I support agents of the State who are paid with stolen money, lie, attack, kidnap, and murder- as well as often sexually attack the innocent. You can oppose both types of bad guys, and in fact, if you are consistent and ethical, you WILL.

So, how's THAT for a "disgusting rant"?

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