Some contests not safe to ignore

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for February 11, 2024)

I'm not watching television today. It's impossible for me to care less about a sporting event-- a game-- than I do

A good thing about sports contests: it's safe to not care. The outcome doesn't grant the winning team power to threaten my life, steal my property, or violate my liberty. The winners will not inherit an army of career rights violators who imagine their job is to control how the rest of us live. I can ignore the event without danger.

I wish all silly contests were as safe to ignore.

Unfortunately, this November the winning team in Stupid Bowl LX (that's "60" for non-Romans)-- you might call it the presidential election of 2024-- will get such power.

In this case, I care a little. By "care" I mean I actively dislike the teams and I'm not thrilled with the fans. The outcome is guaranteed to be harmful to life, liberty, and property. The best argument for either side is that a victory by their side will be less harmful than a win by the opposing team. Both are probably lying.

I'd like to cancel the contest and disband the league. For all his faults. Joe Biden has done one magnificent thing. His presidency proves presidents are mere figureheads.

At the bare minimum, I would like to make it safe to ignore their games. The way to do this is to make sure they can't threaten life, can't steal property, and can't violate liberty without facing the same consequences as any other criminal.

Since they are allowed to write the rules, this won't happen.

Those who would be out of a job want you to believe they are necessary for the functioning of society. They may even try to convince you they are society rather than the worms feeding on it. What a strange notion.

Over the years there have been many worthy suggestions for fixing things, but little interest in pursuing the solutions. It's hard to get anyone interested when the information is suppressed. It's even harder because these solutions must be written in legalese for the best shot at squeezing out all wiggle room.

The simplest solution remains to make everything in the Bill of Rights, after the first five words, redundant: "Congress shall make no law". This would also need to be retroactive. It would once again be safe to ignore the political games and stop worrying about the outcome of Stupid Bowl LX.

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Spoiled toddlers and their imaginary legitimacy

Authoritarians commonly try to portray those who value liberty as childish. Wanting to control your own life— childish? Really?

Which is more childish: wanting to control your own life or demanding the power— they claim it’s their right— to control the lives of everyone else? It should be obvious to anyone not brainwashed.

How many times have you seen spoiled toddlers screaming and throwing a fit to gain control over the adults around them? This is authoritarians to a T.

When I hear some statist strutting around claiming to be "the adult in the room" or the one having "the hard adult conversation", I picture a spoiled toddler pretending to be the parent. I picture a caricature. A foolish person, being evil while trying to hide behind a fiction. Even if they are unaware of the true nature of what they are doing. This isn't the way of the responsible adult.

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Thankful for government?

What am I glad that government does?

Well, I like museums and libraries, but I’d rather see them freed from government chains. So those can’t count.

In the spirit of acceptance, below is a comprehensive list of all the things I’m glad government does:

Not wrong, just "illegal" according to rules which are themselves illegal

Science popularizers cause me to lose respect for them by "thinking past the sale" on "climate change" and gun content creators make me lose respect for them by "thinking past the sale" on gun "laws".

Yes, I understand they'll be punished if they tell people to do something the authoritarian overlords forbid. But they lose credibility when they speak of these illegitimate rules as though they are legitimate. They'd do better to just skip that part entirely, or say that government rules, being arbitrary and evil, will vary according to location-- so watch out.

I saw a video where the supposedly pro-gun person was ranting about "straw purchases". Also known as "buying a gift for someone". They spoke as though the person committing his heinous act was the bad guy, rather than acknowledging that the true bad guy is the one who makes or enforces such a stupid rule.

Ethically, it's no different to buy a gun for another person than it is to buy someone a pair of shoes. It's only different "legally" because government is organized crime. Government makes up rules on matters it is forbidden to make up rules about, then pretends those who ignore those fake rules are the problem. Not even close!

If you speak about government's counterfeit rules as though they are legitimate, you are doing everyone a disservice. You can still warn people without appearing to agree with the ridiculous rules.

This would go a long way toward bolstering credibility. If it's too dangerous to do this, simply don't talk about the topic at all.

Authoritarianism is absurd. It is unethical and has no "right" to be imposed on anyone. Keep this in mind, even as you warn someone of the danger of doing things they have a right to do when the political creeps say otherwise.

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Show me you don't understand what a "right" is...

This is why we have trouble with authoritarian control freaks trying to violate natural human rights.

This was a YouTube channel's poll that popped up on my phone. 

At first, I was bothered by the way the question was worded, then I started reading the comments. It got much worse. 

These are screenshots of the top of the comment thread-- nothing got skipped. And it went on and on like this. I probably won't bother reading the replies to my comment, just to avoid thinking the worst of "conservatives" who only want to conserve government supremacy. 

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Crenshaw is right, but not like he believes

Regarding the political scheme to ban TikTok in America, reprehensible government supremacist Dan Crenshaw says, to those who point out that he's on the wrong side, "You’re not defending the First Amendment. Our First Amendment doesn’t apply to the CHINESE COMMUNIST PARTY."

You're right, Dan. The First Amendment strictly applies to the US feral government, making it illegal for you and your gang of political vermin to ban Tik Tok. As much as I personally dislike TikTok, it doesn't change facts.

The first clue that he's wrong is his use of the word "our" in his post. The next clue is everything else he wrote.

His brain is crippled with government supremacy, so his wrongness isn't surprising. It's still a little sick when exposed for all the world to see like that.

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Magical non-magic evil individuals

I don't like government, but I don't think I have any delusions about it. 

A few weeks ago on my walk, I ran into a woman I've seen walking to the post office and the store on multiple occasions, and who I frequently see out in her yard raking the dirt around. She's positively ancient and walks extremely slowly-- with a walker-- but at least she's out there.

She is always cheerful when I say "hi", and on that day as I was passing her going into the post office, she started a conversation with me. 

It turns out she has interesting ideas. Such as... she thinks young people are getting all the "government money" that should be going to old people.

Another of those ideas was something she quickly got into discussing with me. She is convinced the town government is run by Satanic individuals (I can't argue against that), and that they are causing clay and sand to "come up" in her yard. From beneath the surface. Raising her ground level several inches over the years. She said the Bible predicts it.  

I asked if she was sure this extra dirt wasn't just blown there by the wind (we have a lot of blowing dirt and sand here, especially during the spring). Most older yards in town now have a ground level 4 to 6 inches higher than the curb-- some yards on the southwest corner of town have gained about a foot of elevation since they were built due to blowing dirt getting trapped in their grass, When I moved into my house 14 years ago, the front sidewalk and much of my curb were completely buried and it took months to dig everything out. My "yard" even extended a few feet out into the street due to blown-in dirt that had grown grass and weeds. I expressed my opinion that this might be what has happened to her.

Nope. She said she has seen it coming into her yard, hovering just a foot or two off the ground as it "moved" from the alley (which is coincidentally upwind of her house) into her yard. This sounds suspiciously like what I see on windy days when the dirt and sand are on the move, but no, she says the government officials are doing it to her on purpose. They have targeted her and this is how they intend to steal her house. "It isn't magic, it's just evil people", she told me.

I listened to her tell me all about this evil plot for 20 minutes or so. After my initial suggestion that it might just be the wind, I didn't give any more opinions; I only listened to her concerns. I've learned my lesson about saying too much in the wrong situation.

I consider government-- ALL government-- to be evil. I don't think any government has the power to do things like she believes this one is doing. Even if I could have figured out how all the dots were supposed to connect. I think dislike and distrust are the most rational, consistent ways to view political government. 

No magic-looking, non-magical, evil individuals necessary.

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Our rights are imaginary? Don't be barbaric

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for February 4, 2024)

It is often said there are two kinds of people. What kinds? It depends on the point being made. Yet, it's usually true, if incomplete.

In this case, I'm talking about two kinds of people where liberty is concerned. There are people who are authoritarian and people who are libertarian; those who want everyone else controlled and those who don't feel any such need.

Politics boils down to controlling someone in some way, so most politics is authoritarian. Maybe all politics. Both major parties and most, if not all, minor parties are included. Controlling other people is politically popular.

The only type of legitimate control is when someone is stopped in the act of violating another-- including violating them with political control.

Any legislation which seeks to control behavior which doesn't violate life, liberty, or property is itself a violation. It is illegitimate control. Anyone who seeks to pass or enforce any such legislation is a violator. They are fundamentally the same as any mugger, attacker, kidnapper, or murderer. They are doing something they have no right to do.

No one has the right to violate anyone's right to exercise their liberty. Not for any reason.

Having the power isn't the same as having the right, but most people, as long as politics or government are involved, won't understand the distinction.

I've heard people say rights are imaginary; all that matters is whether someone has the power to do something. This is both ridiculous and barbaric. The whole reason crime happens is because someone has the power to violate someone else. Their power doesn't excuse them from doing wrong.

As I've pointed out in the past, if rights are imaginary, then no one can claim the right to govern others. I'm fine with this outcome. For some reason, this obvious conclusion makes those who want to rule people or be ruled change the subject.

It wouldn't even be a problem if the authoritarian people could keep it between themselves and leave the rest of us out of it. Rule each other all they want, but don't try to spread their toxicity beyond their ranks. Sadly, part of being authoritarian is the antisocial inability to live with that boundary.

This means the rest of us, those who understand and value liberty, must continually find ways to drive around avoiding the debris and potholes of authoritarianism on the road of life. It keeps us on our toes.

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Government Wrong Time starts tomorrow

Don’t forget to mis-set your clocks tonight, to appease the control-freak morning people who can’t just go to work an hour earlier, but believe they are entitled to force their preferences on everyone else. No matter the cost in lives.

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From the frying pan into the fire?

About a month ago, my 16-year-old daughter decided to re-enroll herself in govschool. I was disappointed, but I believe in letting her make some of her own decisions/mistakes. Maybe it won't be as much of a mistake as I feel like it will be.

She disliked homeschooling and unschooling. She doesn't like having me help her in any way, even though I (believe I) can be very unintrusive. She won't ask a question if she doesn't understand something, and she doesn't want me to offer unsolicited help. This makes it difficult for me to really help.

Plus, she wanted to be able to go to the prom in a year or so, and she wanted to know the people she'd be going with. She realizes she can't seem to be social without having it forced on her, which is an admirable level of self-awareness. This is why she decided to go back.

I understand her reasons, even if I disagree with them. I told her the responsibility is on her to get up and get to school on time, to do her school work, and do it well. So far, that has gone OK.

I'm still disappointed. This has taken some enthusiasm out of me recently.

At least the school seems to take safety seriously, according to the signage. I'm hoping they deal with the bullying better this time. Or, that there isn't any bullying this time.

We'll see how it goes. Wish us luck.

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Nice, and slightly disturbing

On Monday of this week, on my daily walk around town (I'm lying, my walk only encompasses half of the town) a town employee called me over to his pickup. He handed me a walking stick saying he'd gotten it "somewhere" and thought of me.

A brand new walking stick, with the tag still on it. It was a nice gift. I have a glut of walking sticks but I switch them up depending on my mood. And this one has a metal defensive spike under the rubber tip! So I do appreciate it.

I thanked him and continued on my way.

But I must admit, I'm a little uncomfortable with government employees thinking of me in any context. 

I know I'm a bit of an oddity, and I stand out. I'm going to get noticed. I'm friendly with everyone I encounter on my walks, which sometimes leads to pauses of a half hour or more as I talk to someone who just needs someone to listen. But I don't know this guy. I was totally caught by surprise. At least he isn't a cop.

My walks bring a lot of interesting things into my life. You ought to try it if you don't already.

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Making happy, loyal customers

In the past few days, I've had to deal with customer service/tech support on three separate, unrelated occasions.

Two times it was stuff that just went wrong, at no fault of theirs, that I needed help with. Both of those people were excellent. They were helpful and sounded thrilled to be helping me. One (at the local internet provider) actually sounded like I had rescued her from boredom.

Both of these customer service/tech support people solved my problems and then actually offered to go above and beyond their jobs with extra assistance. If every customer support experience were like this I wouldn't dread calling them.

The third experience was a little different. 

I was calling their attention, by email, to an expensive mistake they'd made. A mistake in my favor. They acted as though I was to blame, and I had to ask to be reimbursed for the direct expense their mistake had cost me. They tried to weasel out of reimbursing me, saying they had "no way to do that". They punished me for their mistake. I wasn't impressed.

How you interact with customers makes a huge difference in how customers feel about the business you work for. The business you represent. I now have good feelings about two businesses, and a bad feeling about another.

I'm not going to put the companies' names out there, but if anyone asks me specifically about my opinion of any of those companies, any time in the future, you know which ones I'll say good things about and which one I won't.

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Whee!

I think my new favorite spectator sport is watching the price of Bitcoin when it's going up. And Dogecoin, too. At least it has been for the past few days. I try to ignore it when it's going down.

I'll never be rich in Bitcoin (or anything else), but it's fun to dream. That's why people buy lottery tickets. 

At least this way doesn't fund The State like lottery tickets do. I don't want to help fund the Ancestral Enemy any more than is necessary.

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How open American "borders" could save the world

If having open "borders" is a magnet for criminals, as the borderists like to claim. that could work to the advantage of all decent people, all over the world. If it is allowed to. 

All it would take is to turn America into a meat grinder for criminals. 

Let everyone in-- as is ethical-- then respect the natural human right to own and to carry weapons everywhere we go, and the concurrent fundamental human right to use those weapons in defense of life, liberty, and property against ALL violators. 

If criminal migrants are a real issue, this would solve it almost immediately. With the bonus of solving the problem of home-made criminals at the same time. All it requires is for government to stop being criminal.

That's because the real issue is people who archate, not where those archators were born or which government pretends to own them.

Eliminating the bad guys at scale will benefit the entire human race. The countries of origin will be better off. The people in America will be better off. Everyone wins! Well, everyone except for criminals (including politicians).

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Liberty dangerous, but essential to life

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for January 28, 2024)

Like Thomas Jefferson, "I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than those attending too small a degree of it."

I also know there can be no such thing as "too much liberty" since liberty-- freedom tempered with responsibility-- is self-regulating. Jefferson knew this, too, since he was smarter than me, but he may have been trying to get his point across to someone less aware.

There are also people who are scared of liberty.

Liberty is messy. It’s not as tightly structured as authoritarianism. Liberty is water; authoritarianism is a  crystal of potassium cyanide. Both can be dangerous, but only one is essential for life.

I'm a libertarian; I recognize that no human being has the right, under any circumstances, to initiate force against another human, nor to advocate or delegate its initiation..What does this mean?

"Initiate force" means to throw the first punch; to attack someone who isn't harming your life, liberty, or property. Nor does anyone have the right to hire someone, such as a politician or a legislation enforcer, to do this on their behalf. This is 'delegating" the initiation of force.

This is what "libertarian" means when stripped of all the political frippery.  It's an easy concept; even most children get it.

It is also a promise of what to expect from me. In the unlikely event I violate my principles and throw the first punch in the absence of a credible threat, it's with the realization that I am doing something I have no right to do; something wrong. I would owe restitution.

I have difficulty imagining such a situation, but I suppose anything is possible.

My view comes down to this: I believe in maximum liberty. Since there is no "but" qualifying my stance, this means I am also an anarchist. I do not believe in the legitimacy of any form of government which is imposed on anyone. You have a right to govern yourself, but no one else. Not as an individual, not as part of the majority, and not by delegating someone else. You can't establish or support a government without initiating force.

This puts me at odds with political Libertarians who have a big "But". I've heard from plenty of them about this exact issue. They can do what they want, but they have more in common with Democrats and Republicans than with me.

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If someone isn't an anarchist

If someone isn't an anarchist it tells me one of three things is probably true about them.

They don't know what anarchism is, having fallen for the statist lie crafted to fool people into hating or fearing anarchism...

They want to continue having power over you, to control what they'll allow you to do...

Or, they hope to have power over you when the tables turn.

So, it's a sign they are either ignorant or evil.

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Statists are experts

One thing statists are really good at, I have noticed, is justifying evil. They'll usually say they are being pragmatic or "realistic".

You need to murder a million people in some country that you don't care about, to maybe save a government you work for? Tell people there's no other way. Tell them it actually saves lives in the long run. Tell them it's the only way to save their life and the lives of those they care about. 

Divert that trolley into the people you are willing to sacrifice for the "greater good". A "greater good" which isn't good, and isn't great, unless you mean in size. A gigantic evil.

Statists are experts at justifying evil because they get so much practice. It's the only way to justify political government, so it's something they must do all the time.

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A little childlike openness would benefit us all

Yesterday I was out and about, and in one business there was a woman with a little girl, about 5 years old, in tow at the register. The little girl was staring at me. I noticed and looked her way, at which point she waved excitedly at me. I waved back and she was so thrilled when I did that she started jumping up and down, yanking on her mom’s jacket. 

Years ago I had a friend whose son, who was around 4 or 5 at the time, would get so excited every time he’d see me that he’d start yelling “My cowboy!” and run to me to show me the toy he was carrying or tell me some important news. 

That sort of thing has been common.

I’ve never been a “kid person”, but they have always been drawn to me anyway. Often when I didn’t think I had the time or inclination to engage with them. 

People have told me that it may be because I don’t talk down to kids. And I’m willing to do things like show them how I make fires without a lighter, pick apart owl pellets to find bones, or look at bugs under a magnifying glass. Things they aren’t normally exposed to by “normal” adults.

The same things that catch the interest of kids have often made adults unable to connect with me. Or so it seems. 

In my experience most adults would rather talk about their team— sportsball or politics. Things I can’t really discuss intelligently (by their standards), and which quickly bore me anyway.

However, that sometimes changes when a kid’s parent sees whatever I’m showing their child through their child’s eyes. Suddenly they are open to something they wouldn’t have been open to before. I’ve made friends this way, when I probably wouldn’t have been able to get to know the parent otherwise.

And, even in other cases, I hope I’ve made some positive impact on the kid. Maybe given them a spark of curiosity they wouldn’t have had otherwise.

Or, even just brightened their day because an adult took notice and waved back.

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The domestic threat

It's true in every country around the world. It's especially true in America: Government is the biggest domestic threat. Yet, government is a foreign power. 

The US government is not American-- even if (bad) Americans are the majority of its workforce. It is an occupying force with interests not aligned with the life, liberty, or property of ordinary Americans.

If Chinese saboteurs replaced every government employee, you probably wouldn't see much difference-- it would still be a foreign power being the biggest domestic threat to America. 

Except that none of your neighbors would care if you defended yourself-- your life and your liberty-- and your property from the replacements. 

The amount of theft, kidnapping, and general archating might even go down because the veil of legitimacy would be gone. There would be nothing for the crooks to hide behind. It's hard to see a downside.

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Cops vs good people

I am a better person than >95% of police officers, and I'm betting you are, too. 

Depending on how ethical you believe working for the state is. I believe it’s completely unethical, but that’s a discussion we’ve had many times before.

Police departments don't even want good people. Or smart people. 

Good people won't enforce counterfeit "laws", and smart people know when a "law" is counterfeit, and are less likely to obey bad orders. Smart people are also less likely to stick with the job of legislation enforcement, which is why police departments won't hire people with IQs above a certain level (room temperature?). That's not the raw material they want in a recruit. No, they want shining examples like Acorn Cop.

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