Is it you or your liberty they hate?

If someone hates (or fears) your liberty, I can't help but think that actually hate (or fear) you.

Every day I see people advocating for taking away someone's liberty-- maybe even everyone's liberty (somehow they'll exempt themselves). They strike a savior's pose, but that's not what they are. When you confront them about it, they'll try to change the subject. I can't blame them.

No one wants to believe they are the bad guy-- I've heard people trying to justify the most horrible things and play the hero while doing so. Just listen to cops for a minute if you don't believe me.

These liberty haters may lie and say it's about safety or protecting someone's feelings. But it's about enslaving others. No one is better off if anyone's liberty is violated. Not even those who are scared of you and are afraid you'll exercise your liberty in ways they don't approve of.

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Leave that loser stuff in the past

Back when I was a teenager I could clearly "see" the future when humans lived on Mars. And obviously, I "saw" that Earth governments would assert their absurdly toothless rulership over the Martians. 

It was equally evident to me that the colonies would eventually have to revolt.

I even "saw" the Confederation of Martian Colonies that came after the successful revolution.

Of course, I'd rather they grew out of the childish need to govern each other at all. Not that a confederation would necessarily be a political government of any sort. It could just be a mutual assistance agreement.

When humans finally emigrate from Earth they'll be getting a unique chance to do things right this time. With their origins in the cesspool of politics back on Earth, I'm not too hopeful of the possibilities for most of them, but eventually, someone will do the right thing. Even if it's only one colony out of billions-- at first. It's inevitable, and I hope no one screws it up so a liberated future can begin as soon as possible.

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Promises of politicians impossible

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for November 2, 2022)

Politicians are always promising to do things politicians can't do. Either they believe they are magic, or they want you to believe they are.

Sometimes they promise things they can't legally do-- things which violate the Constitution-- and other times they promise to do things which aren't possible within the laws of physics in our Universe. Do they believe you are gullible enough to fall for it? Probably.

Often they promise to violate economic reality, which is nearly as immutable as the laws of physics.

I've seen them promise to cap medication prices. I saw one suggestion that the cap for the price of insulin should be $0. Who did she think would continue to make insulin for free? Who would they enslave to do the work without being paid? Who will they steal the raw ingredients and facility from?

Did she mean everyone except the person getting the insulin will be forced to pay for it? This is usually what politicians mean by "free".

Economic ignorance is common in politicians, but it's not the only domain where they fail.

They are never good with scientific reality, as shown by "Save the planet", "Save the climate". and "End fossil fuels".

The Constitution is a frequent target of their delusions of power. Regardless of what the Constitution allows or forbids, they promise to secure the border.

With zero understanding of human nature, they believe legislation and cruel enforcement can end drug abuse.

They promise to ban an imaginary category of firearms: the "assault weapon". A name they made up so they could put anything they don't like into the meaningless category. It's still a lie, and they've been corrected enough times to know it by now. If they banned everything they label an "assault weapon" it would increase crime in a very real way. Prohibition always does.

The promises they make never end. Fortunately for us, they rarely get fulfilled. To a politician with ambitions to rule, reality is inconvenient to their goals and gets ignored as much as possible. Politicians can choose to ignore reality, but reality won't be cheated. The piper will be paid and gravity will pull them back down.

If you keep falling for political promises, you deserve what you get. My hope is that you'll see through their lies and avoid the pain which comes from trying to cheat reality to get what you want. Magic isn't real, and politicians are never Dumbledore.

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What liberty means to me

I wouldn't write about liberty if it didn't matter to me-- if I didn't have a passion for it. 

Liberty is the key to everything good. Even things you may think are unrelated to liberty. They aren't. 

Without liberty, there's nothing that can't be taken from you. Liberty helps protect your body, your faith, your family, your property, and your life. Anyone who doesn't want you to exercise your liberty to the fullest is not on your side.

There is no legitimate compromise that can be made when liberty is on the table-- it should never be on the table.

You can't give up liberty for the greater good because liberty is the greatest good. Never budge an inch!

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"Hey, Look at this other shiny thing over here..."

In the hours leading up to the story about Twitter's suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story I watched those on the BiDenmocrat side panicking and trying to redirect focus to what Trumpublicans (or those associated with that side) did or might have done.

Boring.

Yes, yes, all politicians are crooked and everyone associated with them probably is, too. But trying to divert attention from the ethical crimes of those trying hard to protect your guy by pointing out the crimes of someone else's guy probably isn't going to work with anyone who isn't already on your team... or totally apathetic. 

Unfortunately, the Leftstream media is mostly on your team and will be helping hide the truth. Again. This is how this situation was created in the first place-- so I guess you didn't learn. Or maybe you did learn that it works well enough. (I would count all their work on behalf of Biden as a campaign contribution, because it is one.)

To me, your panic mode makes it look more like you think Daddy Joe "The Big Guy" Biden is guilty than if you just shut your yaps. 

Let the info on Twitter's suppression of the laptop news come out and take your lumps. This is about Twitter's dishonest behavior, not about the Biden family's crimes, anyway. And, it seems like Twitter's BiDenmocrat partisans thought the Bidens did something they needed to help hide, whether or not that is what happened.

If you think anyone other than your team is going to decide to care more about old news than current events... well, since politics makes people stupid, you might be right. Nothing will really change, anyway (I would love to be proven wrong about that).

Watching the reactions on Twitter for a couple of hours shows one thing: this is a perfect example of people seeing what they want to see. Maybe what they are primed to see. 

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Be aware, not w0ke

Being "woke", or as I prefer to spell it, "w0ke", seems a rather low bar. As long as you aren't actually unconscious, I suppose you are awake-- "w0ke".

I prefer being aware to being merely "w0ke".

Fictional zombies are minimally awake but aren't aware. Not on any mental level beyond instinct. Most of the political w0ke seem about the same-- which is why I sometimes refer to them as xombies.

Most of these xombies would argue that being w0ke means they are aware. They are mistaken. I'm certain they probably feel they are aware. They mistake the feeling of awareness for awareness.

It's not that they are always automatically wrong about everything. It is good to rise above silly things like racism, sexism, nationalism, etc. That is a sign that you may be aware, but if you dive too deep you'll lose awareness and replace it with w0keness, and that's a giant step backward.

Most w0keness will advocate violating liberty in some way; often in multiple major ways. The w0ke might claim they don't trust the state or corporations, but then they are thrilled when the state/corporation imposes their w0ke policies. Often they encourage the state and the quasi-state (corporations) to impose and enforce their w0ke agenda under threat of violence or cancellation. 

This demonstrates a lack of awareness of the consequences they are setting in motion. Which isn't exactly surprising. W0ke people seem the least aware of anyone, or at least equally unaware as the political reactionaries who oppose them with their own anti-liberty political agenda. Politics makes people stupid, after all.

Be aware, not w0ke.

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Getting comfortable in your chains

When I lived in Colorado I noticed that I burned as much firewood before Thanksgiving as I did the entire rest of the season. Once I got used to the colder weather I didn't need as much firewood to stay comfortable.

Your comfort level adapts to the circumstances. That's great for some things, but...

I never want to get comfortable enough with tyrants trying to violate my rights that I don't resist by living free in spite of them.

This is what I see from people who live in some other countries (or states, even). They've gotten too comfortable with being violated, and they get mad when others don't accept the same violations. They do all they can to convince you to accept what they've accepted.

It's just not going to happen.

If they are content with their situation, that's fine for them. Not for me. 

I value liberty above everything, so I'm not going to willingly give it away in exchange for convenience, comfort, or "safety". Not "for the children", because I know the children would benefit more from liberty than from your pretend safety. No argument will make any difference to me. I can't be "shamed" into accepting the chains you offer. I'm not getting on that bandwagon. Go in peace, but go.

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Unsolicited Hollywood advice

As a little bonus, I decided to wade in where I have no experience and am probably unwelcome. I'm going to give Hollywood some advice.

No, not the kind they really need, about dropping w0keness like a red-hot coal, but about a missed creative opportunity.

I always liked the Addams Family. I liked the comics when I saw them (which wasn't often) and I really liked the old TV series. I always thought they were much better than the Munsters (which seemed like it was trying too hard). The Netflix series Wednesday is also mildly amusing.

The movies from the '90s were OK, but not great. One thing I think they screwed up on was by portraying Thing as just a severed hand. The new Netflix series fell into the same lack of creativity by copying this vision of Thing. Too bad.

In the TV series Thing had some arm attached and didn't end at the wrist. So being a severed hand just didn't work for me. I get that it required Thing to move like a spider in order to get around, which I suppose is creepy for some people, but it didn't add anything to the character. In fact, it kind of took away some of Thing's potential-- I mean, everyone can visualize a simple severed hand. Even a severed hand crawling around with a mind of its own. That movie trope has been done to death.

So I drew how I would have designed the character instead, even including a couple of possible variations. 

Enjoy:

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Are some people "stopped clocks"?

There are several people who, when they disagree with me, cause me to stop and reconsider my position. It doesn't mean I'll change my mind, but a disagreement is a clear warning sign that I should consider whether I'm wrong.

There are more people who have no credibility on certain topics, and when they disagree with me on one of those topics I barely even notice. I realize this shouldn't be the case. I ought to pay attention to anyone who disagrees; give them a chance to make a point (not merely a claim). I could learn something I don't know. After all, you know what they say about stopped clocks.

One example: David Hogg is a liar and/or an idiot when it comes to guns and rights. But, he did tweet in favor of doing away with Daylight "Saving" Time, so he's obviously not automatically wrong about everything. It's possible-- though unlikely-- he might one day say something smart or honest about guns. So should I pay attention to his opinions?

The problem is, life is too short to pay unlimited attention to every opinionizer on every topic. This means that you'll save some time at the risk of missing the occasional diamond. Everything is a trade-off.

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"Rights have to change with the times"

Rights can't be created or destroyed. They remain the same throughout time.

Documents don't create rights, and even if they were intended to protect rights, they don't. That's a failed idea-- maybe one that seemed like something to try once or twice, but one that fails every single time.

Rights are more about what you can't do to others without being the bad guy than about what you can do. All rights are "negative rights" and this is a positive thing.

New situations or technology can't change rights. They can't create new rights or destroy old ones.

The right to speak freely didn't change when email was invented, or even when writing was invented. Because the right to speak freely only means no one has the right to silence you; to stop you from sharing your thoughts, nor do they have the right to prevent others who want the free exchange of ideas from hearing yours.

The right to defend yourself and your property from aggressors and thieves doesn't depend on the tools you use. It doesn't matter what tools are invented in the future. This is something you always have a right to do and no one has the "right" to meddle.

Slavery was always wrong, even when it was accepted. No one has the right to pretend to own another person. Slavery is always a violation of rights, even if you think of ways to justify it. Rights didn't change and suddenly take away an imaginary "right" to own slaves, or create a right to not be enslaved. The rights were always the same, even as acceptance and recognition of those rights shifted with time.

Theft didn't become OK when thieves started calling it "taxation" and the "right" to tax has never existed and never will.

Rights don't change or go away because of someone's feelings or fear. If you don't "believe in" rights, imagine a society-- or even two people meeting-- without rights.

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Swapping politicians pointless change

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for October 26, 2022)

It might surprise you to learn this, but I don't like change. Well, that's not completely accurate: I don't like pointless change.

I have tolerated uncomfortable situations simply to avoid the pain of going through a change I couldn't see as improving anything.

However, if something is broken and I can see a solution, I want to change it. This is why I try to save people from their addiction to political government and all its various manifestations, such as police, taxation, various prohibitions, and so forth. This would be a useful change.

The kind of change I don't like is trying to vote yourself free by selecting a different political criminal to replace the previous political criminal. Even if the new boss (who is supposed to be the servant) respects rights that were being violated before, you can be positive he's going to violate liberty in other ways. The nature of politics is to ratchet up the control.

Swapping out politicians is as useless as rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic after it sank.

This kind of pointless change is never a net gain.

However, I agree that sometimes any change can provide temporary relief. If a headache can make you forget about your broken toe for a while, I see how some people might choose the headache. The problem with politics is there will always be those who'd prefer the pain of the broken toe over the headache, so they aren't going to appreciate your preference being forced on them.

This winner-takes-all approach is why politics is so toxic to society. It's like voting on which church everyone is required to attend and fund for the next four years. This would cause religious wars, as history demonstrates. Political government isn't special. Don't ignore this effect just so you can govern others the way you want for a while.

To back a change I have to see how it could make things better than they are, or better than they seem to be heading.

The fewer people who take politics seriously, the better. Focus on your life-- govern yourself. Don't try to impose politicians or legislation on others to govern them. No one has the right to do so. Not even if you call it "democracy" or pretend a "right to vote" exists. Growing past this worn-out superstition would be a positive change I could support.

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Trying to spread the liberty virus

I just helped advise a couple of Hillary-loving, unwavering Democrat-v*ting Lefties on buying a handgun (I really dislike the term "handgun" for some reason-- it seems to have anti-gun bigotry baked in, but that's an irrelevant tangent).

It wasn't my idea, but they did ask for my advice and recommendations, and then asked what I thought about the gun store's offerings and suggestions.

They have never quite been anti-gun bigots, but they have been politically suspicious of guns. They actually gave me a .22 rifle a few years ago. It had been passed down to them and they had no use for it; they knew I'd be responsible and appreciate it. And I do.

The past few years (including suffering through a bad case of MSNBC-induced TDS) caused them to decide they might ought to consider at least having a pistol at home, but I haven't won them over to daily carry. Yet.

I will work with them to help them with safe handling, care, use, cleaning, ammo selection, and skills, and I and my son will take them to the range.

I really think that familiarity with firearms will go far toward extinguishing fear. If I can chip away at the fear, maybe the anti-gunners will have lost a little support. Those who I see make the biggest anti-gun claims are always* speaking from a position of ignorance. Every time. Even the ex-military people you might reasonably assume would know better. But, Nope. They don't.

*(It's ignorance in every case even when it isn't also seasoned with a big helping of open dishonesty.)

I don't expect this pair to overcome their Democrat beliefs, but even a taste of liberty could be a foot (or a toe) in the door. Even if they never get past their belief in a Loving Parent Government, they've taken a small step on the road to personal responsibility. It feels like a win to me.

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Goose attacks occur where there are geese

I've noticed that when you point out that evil losers in America tend to murder people with guns because that's the tool available, and evil losers in other countries tend to murder people with different tools if guns aren't available, anti-gun bigots don't like this.

As I recently pointed out, goose attacks happen where geese are, not where they aren't.

But, just because you didn't get attacked by a goose doesn't mean you weren't attacked by something else.

An anti-gun bigot demanded I provide evidence-- with references from a source acceptable to them-- for this observation. When I asked who they would find acceptable, the question was deflected. They wanted me to do the work to provide evidence for something which is actually self-evident, and then they were going to reject the evidence because it didn't come from a source they trusted, which they didn't want to name ahead of time.

There was a time I would have done it anyway. That time isn't today.

Besides, it's irrelevant. Liberty is the greatest good and "safety" is usually slavery painted in cute colors.

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Happy Thanksgiving Day

I feel gratitude for all you outlaws and troublemakers who keep visiting my blog. 

I am especially grateful for the seven of you who subscribe (and sometimes also donate above and beyond that) and for the others who are occasional donors. You know who you are.

Together we are making the world a little bit better, in spite of the best efforts of the government supremacists and other bad guys.

Go do something enjoyable and I'll see you on the other side of the holiday.

Now, I'll get back to making food, including the cornbread above, which is going into my dressing.

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Thanks

Be ed-jikated

Anti-gun bigots hallucinate that the "AR" in AR-15 stands for "assault rifle". We all know how stupid that is.

Gun people are always saying it stands for "Armalite Rifle". Well, it could...

Those of us who really know, know it's this way:

Educate the anti-gun bigots. They'll appreciate it.

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Does politics improve anything?

Politics ruins everything it gets mixed in with. I've said it many, many times before, but I don't think it has really sunk in.

Medicine + politics is no longer medicine, but is only politics. Same with science. This is how you get mandates and power-hungry people declaring themselves to be "The Science". It becomes the opposite of what it claims.

Education mixed with politics becomes gov-school, which is anti-education.

Economics + politics becomes Keynesian "economics"; fake economics. This is how you destroy an economy.

Religion with a little added politics becomes theocracy. If you want to completely discredit your religion, this is a quick way to do so.

If you add politics to a region (or to governance) you get a State, which is going to be spending most of its time and energy violating natural human liberty. This results in destroying property lines by mixing in politics so that they are replaced by "borders".

And libertarianism mixed with politics turns into political libertarianism. Then you get people stamping their feet and insisting that "anarchism is NOT libertarianism" because "true libertarianism" embraces the State, but wants it kept "small".

Even if politics was part of the original mix, you improve a thing by distilling away the politics. Remove the contaminant and you've got something better. (According to everyone who isn't invested in promoting the dross, anyway.)

Politics seems to be the one thing that is always bad to add; never an improvement or an essential ingredient for making a superior alloy. 

I've been pondering for days whether there is anything that gets better if you mix a little politics into it, and have come up empty. Maybe I'm missing something that you can think of. And I guess it would depend on your definition of "better".

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Prohibition has opposite effect

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for October 19, 2022)

Isn't it better to not create a problem in the first place than to try to fix it after it happens?

I appreciate those organizing a trash pick-up day, and those who took time out of their week to participate. I appreciate the people who don't toss their trash around in the first place. and those who regularly pick up litter whenever they see it, even more.

If there is a pre-existing problem, make sure any solution you try isn't going to have the unintended consequence of making things worse. In some cases, much worse. Such as what has happened with the War on Politically Incorrect Drugs.

I understand the desire to try to stop people from abusing, and dying of, dangerous drugs like Fentanyl. However, it would have been better to have never started down the doomed path of prohibition which made Fentanyl (and the stronger drugs which will replace it) inevitable.

With litter and prohibition, irresponsible people made a mess and the rest of us have to deal with it. But picking up trash doesn't make litter worse, while prohibition does make drug abuse much worse.

Trash is the easier problem to deal with because no one attacks you for picking up litter, but if you try to help get rid of trashy "mala prohibita" laws-- counterfeit "laws" which make crimes of things which aren't wrong, only forbidden-- such as drug laws, you risk being harmed by those whose jobs depend on those fake crimes being treated as though they are real. In a strange upside-down way, you're treated like the bad guy.

So many of the problems society faces were created or made worse by someone-- possibly with good intentions-- deciding to use political government to address an issue.

The war on poverty, waged with handouts of money confiscated from workers, trapped many people into generational poverty which is nearly impossible to escape.

Laws mandating safety have made people helpless to use judgment to keep themselves from being injured.

Legislation against guns has made everyone more vulnerable to bad people who have no intention of following the rules anyway.

These "cures" were worse than the disease.

Keep doing the same dumb things and you'll keep getting the same bad results. It's so much better to stop creating these problems out of situations which could have been easy to handle if you hadn't fertilized them and made them grow.

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Don't trust the title

Did you realize there are people out there who still don't know that legislative bills are deceptively named? And that they all get filled with junk that has nothing to do with the titular topic, but can make the whole thing a really bad idea to approve?

They believe that the Patriot Act was actually patriotic, that the "Safer communities" acts make communities safer, and a Respect for Marriage Act would somehow codify "respect" for marriage. Instead of the opposite. And they believe that's all those bills would do.

If it's a bill, you can know it will be given a name that is the opposite of what it embodies, and it will be filled with irrelevant, harmful legislative trash. If congressvermin have any shred of ethics left they will v*te against every bill every time.

Even if a bill has some good stuff in it, it should be v*ted down anyway just because no more legislation is needed, and it all needs to be abolished.

Government licenses are among the most useless and harmful things I can imagine.

Are you operating your vehicle in a reasonable manner? If so, I respect your driving abilities and no government needs to get involved to either "respect" or sanction your driving with a license or recognition of your license from another state. No government involvement is wanted or needed.

You tell me you're married? That's good enough for me. I consider you married. I don't need to go ask a government bureaucrat whether or not I should "respect" your marriage. I have never once asked someone if they are "really married-- like, does the government say you're married?" As if that matters to me.

And, obviously, since I don't want government to meddle in your life, I don't want them to use your marriage status-- married or not--  as an excuse to molest you or reward you. Your rights don't depend on your relationships with other people. 

"But what about contract disputes?" If the two (or more) of you are splitting up and have a dispute, find arbitration-- the state isn't necessary for this either.

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Political libertarianism

It seems to me that political libertarianism is a separate thing from libertarianism. There is obviously a lot of overlap, and there's a load of friction where that overlap occurs. Friction can be good or bad-- it can wear away rough spots that need to be removed. But the friction in this case seems mostly destructive.

What do I mean by "political libertarianism"? Political libertarianism is concerned with pragmatism, politics, government, v*ting, the LP (and party politics in general), and not "scaring the women and children" with harsh truths. It seems to hate something external to itself more than it loves liberty.

I've watched political libertarianism used to justify police, "borders", war, taxation, and many other statist problems.

I think all libertarians slip into political libertarianism sometimes-- it has happened to me-- but some choose to wallow in it. I don't think anything beyond a quick dip is healthy-- and I'm not sure how healthy even the quickest splash really is.

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Getting what others deserve

I approve of Trump running for president again. 

Not because I want him to be president (I really don't care either way and I don't need a president), but because he breaks the brains of those who hate him. That does amuse me somewhat.

No, I'm not going to v*te for him. Nor for one of his opponents. But if I'm going to be subjected to political drama, it might as well be entertaining in some way.

I had supposed that once Trump was out of office the TDS would subside and its sufferers would shut their pieholes about him and move on to some other topic. But, no. I was wrong. They can't let him go (they are much more attached to him than even his supporters). If I'm going to have to listen to it anyway, it might as well be for something real-- an actual sitting president that makes them crazy, not an irrelevant former president they can't get over.

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