The truth is too harsh for some to handle

I have come to see that the truth is unwelcome.

Anymore it's "wrong" to call self-avowed socialists socialists. It's not "helpful" to call them something they are proud of being. And their actions and preferences which confirm the label don't matter either. All they are advocating is "sharing"... right? Who could object to that?

It's "wrong" to call clear and obvious theft theft. As long as the thief calls it "taxation", a "fine", "eminent domain", "asset forfeiture" or some other made-up name, calling it "theft" is just being mean to those who support the thieves and their acts of theft. How else do I expect the thieves to survive? (I'd actually rather they didn't.)

It's "wrong" to hurt the feelings of people who live as parasites, because without them... what? Other freelance parasites would replace them?

The truth is "unhelpful". It's not polite. Those who point out the truth are Big Ol' Meanies! They hurt the feewings of the people who are trying to molest people instead of doing honest trade. I have a long history of hurting these people's feelings. But it's their choice. They are free to stop molesting any time.

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Voluntary or barbaric?

There are some terribly confused people out there. I've been hearing some ideas expressed lately that show just how bad this confusion is.

Here are some hints that could clear it up, if they'd listen:

If it's voluntary, it's not taxation. It's giving.

If it's voluntary, it's not socialism. It's sharing.

If it's voluntary, it's not political government (the State). It's cooperation.

Taxation, socialism, and political government are not voluntary but are barbaric offenses against humanity. You can't hide this truth by calling the coercive act by the voluntary act's name.

Why does this seem so hard for government supremacists to understand?

Because understanding these simple truths doesn't advance their agenda. It's so much easier for them to have their way with you if you don't understand, either. That allows them to pretend they have the high ground. It allows them to pretend to be the "adult" in the room, scolding you for being hysterical and unreasonable.

Yet, the reality is simply this: Being against the coerced version of something doesn't mean you are against the superior voluntary version. And that's the reality which will be ignored, minimized, and poo-poo'ed if you allow it. They'll demand you allow it in the name of being reasonable and civil. How do you like that? Barbaric behavior as "reason" and "civility". No thanks. I won't cooperate with that nonsense.

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XII

This blog is 12 years old today. Twelve years!

I can't even believe it.

There is a term I've seen repeatedly used to describe this blog: "under-appreciated".
Occasionally I've seen the phrase "undervalued" used instead.

It's nice to hear, but I'm not sure it is true. How can something be under-appreciated? Either it has value and people know it and appreciate it, or it doesn't. I'm not even sure how you could measure such a thing.

It is a nice sentiment, though. And I take it to mean I'm producing content (what a pretentious word!) that people believe is worth more than the recognition I get for it. That's a nice thing to hear.

So, thank you to those who have said that about my blog over the past 12 years. And thanks to all of you for reading and putting up with me.

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New tariffs nothing to cheer about

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for August 1, 2018)

Some American workers are cheering President Trump's new tariffs. They know not what they cheer. Tariffs are as bad for you and me-- economically-- as taxing corporations. It's a great plan-- if your goal is to economically cripple America.

No one who truly understands economics would ever try to make the case otherwise.

When you tax a corporation, it never pays a cent of the tax, but passes the expense along to the final consumers-- you and me.

A tariff is a hidden tax which makes everything you want to buy cost more. Yes, even the things made in America. When foreign goods are artificially inflated in price by tariffs the American producers have less incentive to keep their prices down. I can't afford higher prices, can you? If you can, why not volunteer to pay more on every purchase without raising prices for everyone else?

I realize the American workers may believe their jobs are being protected by tariffs, but if everything they try to buy with their subsidized paychecks costs more, and less of the things they produce are being bought by consumers who can't afford higher prices, how have they gained anything? It's a comforting suicide pact between the workers and the government. But the government won't keep its end of the bargain.

There is a way to help American jobs-- kill the taxes. All the taxes, by whatever name.

Some people would worry that this starves government of funds it needs to carry out its programs and its mission. I call this a feature, not a bug.

This one act would boost the economy to levels never before imagined. How much more money would you have if there were no taxes on your income, on your purchases, nor on the production of anything you buy? You can't even begin to imagine.

Yes, you would still end up paying for some services you are currently taxed for. So? You're already paying, and paying the most wasteful, unaccountable organization ever created. Wouldn't you prefer to choose between offers, pay someone who provides the service you want, at the price you find comfortable, without being forced to pay for things you wouldn't pay for if someone weren't forcing you? I'll take competition and free choice over a coercive monopoly I'm not allowed to opt out of any day.

Taxes, even when you call them a tariff, always cost the little guy. Support them if you feel you must, but don't expect my help.

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"What if?"

It shouldn't surprise me, but it does, how many people want to rob and enslave others based on "what if?".

Yet, that's what I see every day.

They believe in the DMV's "job" because, otherwise, "what if" someone doesn't know how to drive? Or steals a car? Or doesn't have insurance?

Gotta love those cops, because without them, "what if" some freelance bad guy steals a fraction of what is stolen to support the State? "What if" you tried to use your property in a way the town council decided you can't be allowed to? Or "what if" someone (who isn't a cop) physically attacks you? Or "what if" someone wasn't there to take pictures of your murdered corpse? "What if" you drove as "irresponsibly" as the police do? Who could force you to pay the government for this crime?

Prohibition, anti-gun "laws", speed limits and seat belt "laws", are all supported because "what if" someone got hurt because no one was there to force you, at gunpoint, to do things the State has decided you should do, or to stop you from doing things the State has decided you can be murdered for doing?

To me, it looks like ethical weakness and cowardice. In every case. It's all I see in "laws" or government.

I will never advocate robbing or enslaving you for a "what if". I'm not that pathetic.

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Ignorance of "the law"

What's one of the most ignorant things a statist can say? "Ignorance of the law is no excuse." That's just about the dumbest thing that can ever come out of someone's piehole.

It's completely wrong. It has zero truth. It has no merit whatsoever. It is a lie told to justify molestation.

Not only that, but police are always enforcing "laws" which only exist in their own minds. If that's not "ignorance of the law", then what is? And they seem to always get away with it, so it must be a very good excuse-- at least for the Blue Line Gang.

Instead, making up a "law" is no excuse. A "law" can never give anyone a real excuse to molest people.

It doesn't matter if it's "illegal" to not wear a seat belt. That "law" is no excuse to stop and rob someone for not wearing one.

It doesn't matter if a particular weapon is "illegal" somewhere, or that carrying it in a certain way is against the "law". The "law" is no excuse to violate the natural human right to own and to carry weapons.

It doesn't matter if it's "illegal" to ingest certain substances. No "law" can ever give someone the excuse to behave as though they own your body.

It doesn't matter if it's "illegal" to fight back against molestation by armed government employees. No "law" can ever abolish your natural human right to defend your life, liberty, or property.

Ignorance of the "law" is not only a great excuse, it's the only excuse needed when the "laws" are almost all counterfeit. Ignorance of ignorant legislation which violates natural law can never be a real crime. Anyone claiming otherwise is looking for an excuse to molest you while pretending to be the good guy. You are not obligated to allow yourself to be victimized by that person.

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Disasterama

Why are socialism and other horrible, destructive ideas so popular?

Much of the national news media, social media elites, and "entertainment" figures seem to want socialism and other manmade disasters because of the drama they create. Lots of people love drama. It's not boring. It can make them feel important.

A nice day with good weather and no major attacks by evil losers? Boring. Who will listen to your belittling sermon about what they should give up if there's nothing to be worked up and scared about?

Hypertornadoes and a volcanic eruption causing "civil unrest" with riots, looting, and killing? "Tune in to the Breaking News to find out what you need to know! Brought to you without interruption by our sponsors and FEMA."

Archation-- both freelance and State-- create drama. If you won't freak out on your own, they'll hand you a State which will prod and poke you until you snap. It's good for business.

Politics is the failure of society and socialism is the Sharknado of politics.

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Be the weed

We've had an unusual amount of rain this summer. Where I had sand dunes starting to form a few years ago, I now have a lush growth of various weeds*. And some grass, but mostly weeds.

One weed in particular, amaranth, is driving me crazy. Yes, I know its leaves and seeds are edible and nutritious, but just like I wouldn't want every square inch of my yard covered with pumpkins or parsley I'm overwhelmed with amaranth to the point of near-hatred.

Two kinds (maybe more) grow here. One is soft and doesn't hurt when I try to pull it up, the other kind is spiny and leaves my hands stinging for a while if I grab it by accident.

I won't spray it, because I just don't do that, and it would kill off the stuff I want growing there. So I keep fighting it physically.

It has been a daily battle this summer. I mow it, and the next day it looks like I did nothing. I use the trimmer to cut it off at ground level and it takes several days for it to recover, but it does recover. Then, instead of growing tall, as it does where no one bothers it, it spreads along the ground, going every direction out from its stalk. You'd think this kind of abuse would stop it from going to seed, but you'd be wrong. No matter how tiny the plants are, when they are ready to seed, they seed. I've never seen anything so resilient.

And I want to be like that.

Be the weed. If they keep chopping you down, keep coming back. If you can't grow as tall as you'd like, go to seed right at ground level. Just don't let them win.

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*"Weed"-- a plant growing where it isn't welcome. Don't be that. Just be resilient and anti-fragile like a weed.

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Mollie the racist tweeter

Maybe Mollie would have been better off to not judge people by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

Maybe we all would.

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Hero of the Proglodytes

I am not "pro-Trump".
I am not "anti-Trump".
I'm not impressed by anyone's stance on Donald Trump.

I'm completely opposed to the office of "president" existing, just as I am opposed to every other political office. I don't want anyone holding those offices and using them to molest anyone or their liberty. I don't think decent people hold political office. If a decent person finds himself in a political office, they won't stay decent for long. And I'm talking nanoseconds or less. I also believe that holding a government "job", even of the most benign variety, causes ethical (and perhaps, moral) damage to the employee in that "job". I would never wish that on anyone I like.

For these reasons, I get indigestion hearing people going on and on about Trump, either for or against. He simply doesn't matter to me one way or the other. No "president" would.

And this brings me to today's aggravation:
The ONLY reason the dead dirtbag anti-liberty bigot John McCain is being treated like he was some kind of hero is because he was vocally anti-Trump. That's it. If he hadn't come out of that particular closet none of the national mass media proglodytes would have spent the past couple of days praising his corpse's "legacy". In fact, they would probably have taken the position that his being dead is a good thing. But because he was anti-Trump while being "Republican" he is praised. No, his status as a former troop isn't the reason, nor is the fact that he was a POW. Those are used as justifications, of course, but they aren't the real reason. His greatest value was in being anti-Trump. Well, la-dee-dah. Anyone can do that.

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Evil plus evil equals doubly evil

From here. Tip the artist if you can.

"Democratic socialism" isn't better than other kinds of socialism because it's democratic; it's worse because it's democratic.

Democracy is horrible. It is mob rule made "socially acceptable".

Socialism is horrible. It is the attempt to make a society stand on a foundation of envy, theft, parasitism, and entitlement.

Who could possibly imagine that combining these two nasty concepts could make something good?

Politics isn't like chemistry where you can combine two deadly poisons like chlorine and sodium to make something beneficial and necessary like table salt.
Politics is already the path of failure and evil, and when you mix those two political toxins it makes something even more deadly.

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Good to treat enemies as humans

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for July 25, 2018)

The political left, and much of the political right, keeps putting me in an uncomfortable position where I almost feel the need to defend President Trump. Almost.

It's not a position I enjoy.

I see no legitimacy in the office of president, nor in any other political office for that matter. I don't care about Donald Trump one way or the other; he's irrelevant to my day-to-day life. But the way the political left overreacts to everything he does goes beyond criticism into delusional territory. Pointing this out is seen as "defending" him. It's really not.

How could any sane person object to the people in charge of a couple of governments deciding to shake hands and put off threatening to annihilate each other's subjects and territories for a while?

Personally, I think it's a good thing he treats the U.S. government's enemies like fellow human beings. The other option is to encourage them to go to war. I can't see that as a good idea.

I'm glad Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong-un aren't behaving like some politicians and pundits seem to want them to behave. It's as if those other people are itching for a war. They probably are.

While I'm glad neither of them seems to want to start a nuclear war right now, I'm horrified the situation has been allowed to get to the point where such a thing is even possible.

I also prefer Trump and Vladimir Putin acting friendly instead of being at each other's throats. I see no benefit in the two governments wanting to fight each other. None at all. People I care about might get caught in the middle.

Sure, maybe Russian government hackers exposed the DNC's corruption, but which is worse-- the exposure or the corruption? And the U.S. government is always interfering in foreign elections so the possibility someone may have done the same thing to the U.S. doesn't upset me. You'd have to believe elections are a legitimate process for choosing a ruler to get worked up about it. I don't.

When Trump uses "alternative facts" people lose their minds, but when he tells the truth about the U.S. "intelligence" apparatus' complete lack of credibility, they don't like that either, and lose their own credibility through their hysterical reactions.

There is plenty to criticize about President Trump, but until his dedicated enemies of the Loyal Opposition stop screaming over figments of their imaginations and things which don't matter I can't take them seriously.

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When Failure is your solution

It gets me how often people notice (or imagine) a problem, and start hollering for government to fix it. It's that pathetic "there oughta be a law!" syndrome.

And it's as wrong as it is possible for anything to be.

Government is never a solution. It is a cover-up. A band-aid. It might hide the problem, but it can't fix it. It can't solve anything. It makes problems worse every time it is tried. It shifts problems, creates new problems, and makes problems where none existed before. Government is the way of The Failure.

If you can't think of a way to solve a problem without resorting to theft and aggression you aren't thinking enough. Maybe you aren't thinking at all. But don't give up. You don't have to be a Failure. Keep thinking. Keep searching. Either the answer is out there among the various voluntary options, or it's a problem without a solution in the real world. They probably do exist. But don't pretend government is a solution-- you're lying to yourself if that's what you believe.

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I want more, more, MORE!!

Here's another dark confession: I am practically obsessed with kerosene lanterns, flashlights, bags and packs, carry knives, solar chargers, and batteries. Probably a few other items, too. And I'm not even sure why since I can do without most of those things just fine (especially the higher-tech things), although maybe being able to do without makes me appreciate them even more. I know that's the case with fire-starting.

I have a hard time passing up any of those type things when I see them at a thrift store or yard sale. I mean, I do pass them up, I just don't enjoy doing so.

I can't afford to buy more of things I probably have "enough" of, and with at least one kerosene lamp in every room of the house (and maybe one power outage of any duration in 8+ years) even I can admit I probably don't need another kerosene lantern. In fact, it's been years since I bought one. I'm sure I'm in a similar position with the other things I mentioned, as well.

I never really feel like I have enough of any of those items, but I probably have everything I need, even in case of TEOTWAWKI, since I know not to rely on "stuff". (You can never have enough skills!!)

So I can still understand how people get obsessed with certain things (or non-things).

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How's the view down there?

While ostriches don't actually bury their heads in the sand, most people do. At least figuratively.

It's much more socially acceptable to bury your head in the sand than to speak up and say "No, this isn't right. Good people don't support this!"

How do I know? Because I live it.

No, I don't go around handing out unsolicited advice. Usually. But there are lots of things I won't condone when it seems everyone else is on board with it. Refusing to support these activities or people doesn't do much for one's social standing.

At least almost no one ever asks me to praise kinderprison staff, "the troops", or law enforcers anymore. Almost no one ever tries to convince me of the usefulness of a "law" these days, or why more are needed. And that's a good thing as far as I'm concerned.

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Proglodytes and conservatrolls

That's what I see all around me when I look at how people interact with each other. Of course, the simpler name for proglodytes and conservatrolls would be "statists", but that just leaves them staring at you with no comprehension in their dull eyes. Most don't understand that word any better than they'd understand the more fun descriptive terms.

Depending on where you live, the local government kinderprisons are either brainwashing kids to be proglodytes or perhaps, in rare cases, they are brainwashing them to be conservatrolls. Either way they are being turned into statists who will usually deny that they are statists ("I'm NOT like Mussolini!" as one complained to me once). The option of helping kids figure out how to think for themselves, and be responsible people who respect the rights of others isn't on the agenda. It's not useful to the State. That's up to you whether you accept your responsibility or not.

But it's not only the State turning up the statism.

Much that is created for broadcast and mass viewing is created by proglodytes, advancing the false narrative that their way is kind, compassionate, generous, and caring... while the others guys are just so mean and greedy.

And if you work at it a little bit you can find the message created and advanced by conservatrolls, which says their opposition is so gullible and dumb that they'd blame you for not caring how your murderer feels after sawing off your head... and then your survivors should be punished for your crime of making the murderer feel he had no choice but to murder you. And you can listen to conservatrolls claiming to love the Constitution while demanding unconstitutional "immigration control". And supporting police-- which may be their worst failing.

None of them, on either "side", want you allowed to run your own life, to keep your own property to use as you see fit, or to live in liberty. They want you controlled and enslaved so they'll feel safer.

So each side squeezes your liberty just a little bit more, twisting and breaking you "for your own good", or for the sake of a "culture" which isn't worth saving and which has no room for people like you who understand and value liberty.

I see both proglodytes and conservatrolls as monsters. I don't care which parts of the State they resist because they still embrace some of it. Embracing any statism is harmful to humanity. It's not compatible with human flourishing. Statism is backward, brutal and barbaric no matter what you call it or how you dress it up.

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"Not all cops..."

Some police are racists. Some police aren't.

Some police like to bully. Maybe some don't.

Some police rape. Some police don't.

Some police are looking for opportunities to shoot people. Some police aren't.

For any individual belief, some police hold it, and some don't.
For any individual action, some police take part and some don't.

Anything you can say about police will be true for some, but not true for others... except for one thing: all police are bad guys because of the things they do-- things inseparable from being a police officer and enforcing "laws. Just as you can't say "not all rapists are bad guys", it makes zero sense to say "there are some good cops".

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The ZAP is my promise

Whether you adhere to the Special Principle of Libertarianism (the Zero Aggression Principle/Non-aggression Principle) or the General Principle of Libertarianism (the Zero Archation Principle) you personally accept that this reminds you that you have no right to either initiate force or to archate, depending on your favored version.

Now I can't speak for you, but if I have no right to do something, I take that to mean I shouldn't do that thing. Maybe you see it differently.

And whether you do or not is up to you, and changes nothing on my end.

When I say I'm a libertarian and that this means I live by the ZAP, I mean that this is a promise from me to you. I accept that I have no right to archate, and I will always aim to live up to that. If I fail, I accept that you have the right to defend yourself and your property.

It's also a warning of sorts. If you choose to archate, there is no law (or legislation) which can void my right to self-defense, defense of others, or defense of private property. None. If I believe you have the upper hand, I might choose to not employ defensive measures, but it's not guaranteed. Take the risk if it means that much to you.

Accept my promise or ignore it. It remains the same either way.

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No virtue in upholding bad laws

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for July 18, 2018)

It's more important to do the right thing than to obey laws, and it's wrong to obey laws which violate life, liberty, or property. Even if you agree with them or believe they are necessary. When the laws are wrong it's your responsibility to break them rather than wait until the law is changed.

All laws are ultimately enforced by the threat of death, so supporting any law is admitting you would be willing to kill people over an opinion.

Using laws to solve problems is like using a sawed-off shotgun to take out a bad guy in the middle of a crowd; firing at him from too far away. Sure, if your aim is true you may get him, but how many innocents will be harmed along with him? Even one is too many.

Legitimate defense against an individual bad guy is more like a derringer pressed into his ribs.

Laws always have innocent victims; people you didn't mean to harm, but did. A dishonest name for such victims is "collateral damage", and a common justification is that they must have done something to deserve it.

"I was just doing my job" or "following orders" didn't cut it at Nuremberg after World War II. Today's excuse-- "I have no choice. I don't make the laws; I just enforce them"-- is no better.

So what if the law orders you to separate children from their parents, or demands you enforce anti-gun laws, prohibition and checkpoints, seat belt laws, or runaway slave laws? You have the responsibility to ignore a bad law and refuse to harm people, even if it means you'll have to walk away from a steady paycheck.

The responsibility for all your actions lies with you. You get to choose what you do, even in the face of someone giving you orders. You are not a puppet.

It's probably a mistake to allow yourself to be in a position where you'll be given orders in the first place, particularly if any of those orders demand you do the wrong thing. There's no virtue in upholding wrong laws, and they constitute most of today's laws. Why take a job you know will require you to do wrong? It's not honorable.

Yes, each of us has a choice, even if the choice came before agreeing to do a particular job. If a job would require me to do things I know are wrong I wouldn't take the job. Why would anyone?

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Above the law

It's not that I believe I'm "above the law"; that the "law" doesn't apply to me.
It's that I recognize everyone is above the "law"; that the "law" doesn't apply to anyone -- other than those who pass, enforce, or explicitly agree to be subject to the "law".

The only people legitimately subject to "arrest" for using drugs, smuggling, prostitution, migration, or any other mala prohibita "law" are the people who support those "laws", the lawgivers who made them up, and the cops who enforce them. No one else is subject to them. Everyone else is above those "laws".

"Law" or no "law" everyone has the right to defend themselves from archation, so don't make the mistake of believing this means that since murderers don't agree to "laws" against murder they get a free pass. The "law" isn't what makes murder wrong, nor is it what creates the right to fight back.

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