Change is only constant in world

Change is only constant in world

(My Clovis News Journal column for May 11, 2012)

I have often heard the saying "Be the change you wish to see in the world". This may sound like gratingly "touchy-feely, New Age" pablum, but I grudgingly admit it is true when I consider the alternative.

Because, seriously, should you act in ways you know are wrong just because what you know to be right isn't popular enough to be widespread at this time? I don't think so; at least I hope not! Go ahead and start doing what you know is right and let the rest of the people catch up to you when they are ready. Even if they never join you, at least you will know you have done the right thing.

All change happens in individual hearts and minds, only. Usually in many isolated individuals; each independent, and often unaware of the others. From each individual it spreads to more people until there is a group which has adopted the change around each. Eventually the groups grow to the point where they mix and mingle and distinctions between them get fuzzy, and then the whole society has shifted. Suddenly everything is different and few people even realize a change has happened. Or if they realize it, they don't know how it happened.

This has been going on in societies for thousands of years. Sometimes the change is positive; other times it is negative. I'm attempting to make liberty more popular by simply embracing it in all circumstances, no matter who opposes it for what reasons. And I am far from alone.

The groundwork has already been done. The change has gone beyond a few scattered individuals and is now at the group stage. In fact, many unconnected groups, calling themselves by different names, are embracing this change. If things keep going like this, before long the gaps between the groups may vanish and change will be the reality. It has already begun happening.

The only constant in this world is change. Since change will happen whether you are ready for it or not, why not make sure the change is a good one?

Want to start now? Refuse to use coercion to get your way. Don't steal. Respect the liberty of all others, even those who repulse you, so that others will be able to respect your liberty when you repulse them. Don't wait until you are the oddball to accept a better way to live with your own species.

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History of government

I just started reading Jared Diamond's "Guns, Germs, and Steel". Yeah, I know. I'm late to the party, but I just found the book available in my price range at Goodwill...

The earliest parts of the book gave me a couple of thoughts.

Even if government/the State were "necessary" to get "us" to where "we" as a species are now (which is a common, unproven, objection to anarchy/liberty), they are no longer necessary. That would be like saying that because you had to drink milk when you were a baby, you can't ingest anything else now that you are grown. You must keep nursing, exclusively, until the day you die. Or that since humans once used stone tools, we can't advance beyond that, either. It's silly.

And...

Species evolve under pressure. As long as things are going well, there is no reason to change. Perhaps government/the State was the pressure that made humans evolve. Like a new parasite or disease. Or, if not an effect on biological evolution, perhaps there was a pressure to force cultural evolution, instead. Maybe government didn't "free" humans to develop culture and civilization, as has been claimed- maybe those things developed and evolved as a sort of immune response to the deadly threat posed by government's growth; an evolutionary arms race.

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Artifacts of the Species

I enjoy artifacts of human ingenuity. And some of those are artifacts of human thoughts- no physical substance, but still just as exciting.

Tools, science, philosophy. Those that are not harmful, anyway. Well, anything can be harmful when misused. Therein lies a problem.

One thing I have a very hard time enjoying in any way, shape, or form is religion. Religion is too harmful; it could be interesting if it weren't taken too seriously.

Yet I remind myself, as with anything, it is only a tool in the hands of a person. The way that person uses it determines whether it causes harm or not.

It's just that I almost never run across a person wielding religion who doesn't remind me of a drunk teenage boy with an AK-47 and a 6-foot high stack of 7.62X39 in little 20-round boxes, a pile of loaded magazines; sitting there looking at an abandoned field filled with unbroken glass jars, a couple of boxes of old, sweaty dynamite, and a rusted out car, and a couple of crows.

And I'm usually a crow.

Still, I would never dream of using the force of The State to tell someone what they can believe, or preach. As long as they don't use those beliefs to create "laws" it is none of my business- beyond excusing myself from their presence when they start. And I would never try to use The State against them even when they don't return the respect. In that case, however, I will not hold my tongue.

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Superior Ethics

The ethics of anarchism/libertarianism/voluntaryism are so superior to the ethics of any other approach to living as a human that there is just no contest. Nothing else even comes close.

Some other philosophies "get it right" in some areas and miss the mark completely in others, but that still smells like "fail" to me.

So, if you disagree ... that's your business. I'll keep following this path and leave you to yours. I won't fault you for not joining me; I hope you give me the same liberty.

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It just won't work...

Some people get very "bent" when you point out that government has had 5 or 6 thousand years to "get it right", and never has. They keep believing that it's "society's" fault for not electing "the right people", or for not enforcing the Constitution, or whatever the panacea may be.

I'm telling you, that won't work. It can't work because of the way every government in history has gotten "progressively" bigger, more tyrannical, less accountable, etc. It can't work because the majority of voters will always try to vote themselves something that everyone else will be forced to provide. It will not work because government is always set up so that it is a ratchet that can never move toward liberty. Never. It simply isn't made that way.

Your car can't drive to the moon, either, but that is no reason to blame your car. If you need to get to the moon, you will have to ditch the car and try something else.

So... When I tell you your way won't work, I'm not being pessimistic. I'm trying to help you stop wasting your time. You can whine and pout all you want but it changes nothing except my willingness to help you.

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My books on Kindle

I have finally gotten some of my books onto Kindle. I am not sure if/when the others will be offered in a Kindle edition.

I'm not particularly thrilled with the formatting. And I'm not going to spend the time to fix it right now. But, the price is right. Each book is only $2.00.

The quirky formatting, and the size of the file of one of the remaining books, is why they will not be coming to Kindle in the immediate future. Maybe later.

Click on the links below if you want more info, and, as always, if you want a free ebook edition of any of my books, find it here.

Tao Liberty Ching

Indy Pindy

Kent's Liberty Primer

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Odd Tales of my life

I've posted these in various places over the years, but I don't think I have ever posted them here. I think it's time to rectify that.

This first one happened in the mid 1990s.

We were sitting in Sunday School, which was held in the auditorium of our little log cabin church (Trinity Baptist, in Gunnison, Colorado). The preacher's wife taught the class, and we all sat in a semi-circle in folding chairs. She had her Bible open on her lap, and her empty styrofoam cup beside her chair on the floor. I was sitting almost directly in front of her.

As she was talking, I saw something suddenly fall from about shoulder-height into her cup. The cup rocked and everyone looked. She picked up the cup, looked in it and there were 2 or 3 coins in it. There was no way they could have fallen out of her Bible, or from her pocket.

There was no balcony or anything, nor anyone who could have tossed the money in from somewhere else. She just kinda said "Huh." and went back to talking. No one else in the room seemed to think anything too odd had occurred. I couldn't concentrate anymore, trying to figure out what had just happened. I never did.

Years pass....

After my life got turned upside down, my second wife talked me into moving to PA (against my better judgment) in the summer of 2000.

The house I moved into in PA was very strange. When I was downstairs in the half-basement, I would clearly hear footsteps on the hardwood floor above me, but when I would go (stealthily) upstairs to look, HEAVILY armed, no one would be there. The cat would also react. I could hear the front door open and close, and someone walking across the floor towards the top of the stairs. I'd would be prepared to shoot the home invader, but none ever appeared.

Once my friend Amy came to the house and opened the door. I was thinking it was just the same old routine that I heard at least once a day, when she called my name. I just about jumped out of my skin!

I would also hear voices that seemed far away. I could not understand what was being said. My wife (at the time) Angel was scared to be there alone. But she was very superstitious anyway and claimed that her childhood home had been haunted by a ghost they called "Stella".

Finally:

I was living in my pet store in Gunnison, Colorado in the spring of 2004 when I experienced this.

One afternoon I was cleaning under the counter and found a knife catalog that was several months old. I looked at it and decided to add the company's website to my 'favorites' on my computer. I am not a good typist, and was even worse back then, so I have to concentrate on anything I type.

After entering the web address, I put the catalog on a small landing halfway up the stairs and started cleaning the shop. About fifteen minutes later, I took a break to read the catalog, but the catalog on the landing was different than the one I had left there.

It had changed. It was from a different company. The pictures on the front were similar, but not quite the same as when I placed it there, and it was older than the catalog I had found earlier. No one had been in the store during the elapsed time to switch the catalogs. (Not a busy day; that's why I was cleaning under the counter.)

I looked around the store wondering if I could have been confused. Then I remembered adding the Web site to my favorites so I went to the computer. Being from a different company, the web address on the back of the catalog I now held was a different one than the one I had entered earlier.

The website for the original catalog was on my 'favorites' list but had not been moved to the proper folder yet, just as would happen to a new addition. This is how I knew it was the one I had just added, and not one I had put there at some earlier time. (The "new" catalog's website address was also not in my "favorites" yet.)

I was completely bewildered. I decided to try to get my mind off of the bizarre occurrence, so I began surfing the web. I was not searching for anything related to what had just happened, but was just browsing randomly, yet one of the first websites I went to had an account of "reality shifts" where something changes in your reality, as had just happened to me, but no one else seems to notice. Now I was really in shock.

Over the next few days, I looked for the original catalog just in case I had imagined the event, but it didn't turn up.

I never did see the original catalog again. I had also never seen the replacement before the instant it appeared in place of the other one. I love knife catalogs and look at each one until it is memorized, so I would have remembered it.

....

Now, since I don't understand any of these events, does that mean they were supernatural in origin? Of course not! They all have a natural explanation that fits with the laws of the physical Universe, even if I (or anyone) don't yet understand those laws. Even extraterrestrials, other dimensions, or whatever "woowoo" that might be must operate under the laws of the Universe as we know them or as they can be extrapolated or yet to be discovered. But, in the meantime the unknowns sure can make things interesting.

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Self control best way to govern

Self control best way to govern

(My Clovis News Journal column for May 4, 2012)

Libertarianism is often described as the advocacy of maximum liberty and minimum government. The "maximum liberty" part is pretty easy to understand, once you really understand what liberty is. As long as your actions don't harm another person physically, and don't take or damage his personal property, you are within your rights to do anything. You are "at liberty" to proceed.

Thomas Jefferson put it this way: "Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others." Unobstructed action within the equal rights of others. Smart man.

Just keep in mind that the other guy operates under the same "unobstructed action" whether either of you know it or not. His rights are equal and absolutely identical to yours. So, you'd probably be wise to include being nice in your decision to act.

The "minimum government" part is where the complications arise. This aspect even confuses a lot of libertarians. Just how much government is minimal? Half of what we have now? A strictly constitutional government? No externally-imposed government, "State", at all? Ask a dozen libertarians and you're likely to get a dozen different answers. The only constant is that it would be a lot less than we are burdened with now. Even most "Repubmocraticans" agree on that point.

Contention does arise, though. For one thing, some people operate under the belief that you can't have liberty without a government holding back other people to prevent them from violating your liberty. Others point out that no one other than government is a real threat to your liberty. The only kind of government that has ever worked, or ever will, is self control.

You can't govern bad people, and you don't need to govern good people- they govern themselves. So it seems a waste of time and energy to keep pursuing something that is so pointless and unnecessary, and doomed to fail in its stated goal. Not to mention all the time, money, and lives this pointless pursuit has destroyed.

Of course, this means that if you fail to govern yourself you give someone else a justification for defending himself and his property against you. He would be well within his rights, even if the "law" doesn't agree. This principle operates the same whether you accept libertarianism or not. Reality is funny that way.

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The evils of Collective punishment

Collective punishment. I hate it. It is evil.

This is part of the reason I don't buy into the whole "America is becoming degenerate; we have to do whatever we can to stop it or we deserve whatever we get." Especially if you think a deity is going to rain punishment onto all for the actions of some. Or even "all minus one".

Your "degenerate" may not be the same as mine.

I'll not mention the "degenerate" things I normally see mentioned; most are based on religious notions (either openly, or in a roundabout way) I don't ascribe to, so I'll substitute my list, instead.

I think gun "laws", highway "checkpoints", the child molesters of the TSA, "urine screenings", cop/military worship, and various other things of that sort are degenerate. I don't believe a society that had a "majority" of individuals in it who had any respect for ethical behavior would tolerate any of those things.

Yet, I don't think "America" is being/will be punished because those things are allowed to go on. If those things are really bad, as I think they are, they are their own punishment. I don't need to beat up anyone who allows them to happen by not doing what I "believe they should do to stop it". That would make me wrong.

The scariest aspect of this railing against "degeneracy" comes from "believers". Just as a teacher who punishes the entire class of students because of the behavior of one or two kids is a monster, any deity who punishes the innocent because of the actions of the guilty is evil and is not worthy of worship or respect. So if staying on "the good side" of this type of deity is why you advocate using force to make other people live by your "moral code", you expose something about your beliefs... and your deity.

Concerning those "degenerate" actions that those who worry most about such things decry... It is very sick and twisted (yes, degenerate) to punish some people for the actions of others. Especially actions they can not stop and probably don't even witness firsthand. Should I go around shooting everyone who isn't doing what "believers" think they should be doing- or to stop them from doing what those "believers " think they shouldn't do? Should I go peering into their windows at night to make sure their activities aren't "sinful" lest I be punished, too? If that's what it takes to make a deity happy, then no thanks. It's why I don't swallow the notion of "morality"; preferring ethics, instead.

Collective punishment, and anyone who engages in it or advocate it, is wrong.

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Shameless Self-Promotion (well, maybe a little shame...)

If you have been thinking of buying something from me, here are some things I am offering.

You can check out my eBay items. I have some books, some "Zombie Apocalypse" items, some knick-knacks, some obsolete stuff, and some Chester Arthur (Denver mint) dollar coins. (The links just go to a representative item, not all I have for sale.)

I have more Chester Arthur ("D") dollars if you'd rather not go through eBay, but I need some money in my Paypal account ASAP, so I'd still probably prefer you pay that way. If you refuse to do business with Paypal, then I'll consider other arrangements, of course.

I also have my books for sale.

And Time's Up flags and T-shirts.

Links to just about all of it can be found at Dull 'Hawk's Shop.

And, you are always welcome to donate, although I would prefer to trade value for value.

Thanks.

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Well, isn't that... "special"?

A common theme I see in movies and TV is when someone who has "special abilities" feels guilty about that advantage (or is reviled for it) and is celebrated for not using them.

Usually it is some imaginary kind of "special ability", like magic or psychic powers, rather than reality-based stuff. Still... "Don't use magic"? If you've got it, use it!

Why not use all of your abilities and resources? Because not everyone is identical? Because it would be "cheating"? Forget that!

If you can, do.

Just don't initiate force or steal.

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"You hit the nail on the head!"

Every so often I write a column that strikes a chord with one faction or another. I'll get emails and people will stop me on the street to tell me, with enthusiasm, that they agree.

That's always nice. It can also be disappointing.

What is funny to me is that all my writings strive to exemplify the same principles of liberty, but people only respond when that liberty just happens to fit their own opinion. And usually that's when I am scolding someone for using their liberty in a way that offends a lot of people.

In this area, that means when "conservatives" just happen to be on the side that supports liberty, or when they oppose an abuse of liberty I have pointed out, my opinion is popular locally. Until the next time when the conservatives find themselves on the wrong side of the liberty fence. Suddenly I become invisible again.

You really can't cherry-pick liberty. You can't excuse the other guy's rights being violated and then genuinely be shocked when someone violates some of your rights in the same way. Not only is "what's good for the goose" "good for the gander", but the way you treat the goose gives the goose ideas about how to treat you.

On the other hand, I absolutely LOVE it when someone who really, truly "gets it" comes and expresses their appreciation for my newspaper columns or blog. This is happening more and more often these days.

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Liberty Lines May 31, 2012

(Published in the State Line Tribune- Farwell, Texas/ Texico, New Mexico. I was told this wouldn't be published this week, but next, so that is why the date is odd in the address bar.)

You're not going to find solutions or answers in government. You might as well be looking for diamonds in your box of breakfast cereal. That doesn't mean, however, that solutions won't be promised by those whose paychecks depend on fooling you into supporting them.

It's time for a reality check. Government can't stimulate the economy. Government can't create jobs. You can- unless government gets in your way.

Therefore, the best way to fix America is to find ways around the obstacles that government, at all levels, places in your way.

Stop waiting for some politician to fix it, or propose a plan to fix it. His solution, if it involves government action and the spending of "tax" money, will not have the effect you desire. In fact, it's almost guaranteed that his "solution" will make things worse, just as FDR's "New Deal" dragged the Great Depression out for seven years longer than doing "nothing" would have done.

There had been earlier economic panics which didn't get fixed by government, so they ended before they took root and became "depressions". They all seemed pretty bad until the government intervention of the 1930s changed the game and set a new standard for "depression". Government action can turn a panic, which usually lasted eighteen months at most, into a depression that can drag on for decades. Compounded government action can then make that depression "great" enough to become legendary.

So stop asking politicians to "do something". They are only too eager to pander to that request. Instead, demand that they butt out.

Things aren't hopeless, though. You're not "on your own", since most individuals are on your side.* But you can't rely on government to solve things that it is fundamentally incapable of solving. Government's solution to a bad economy is to create trillions more counterfeit "dollars" and spend them or spread them around. That's like solving a wildfire by dumping gasoline on it. Government solutions only make things worse, every time they are tried. Don't count on that particular law of nature to change on this planet.

(* For some reason, this is where the paper cut off my column. I feel they neutered it by leaving off the rest.)

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Government apologists: Short memories?

It amazes me that so few people seem to realize that all the things government "provides" now, were not always "provided" by government.

For example, someone responded to a comment I made by saying:

Who would coordinate the building of roads, making sure that water and food is safe, criminals are brought to justice, all children have a chance to be educated, forest fires are put out, national parks are preserved for the use of everybody, etc.?

Seriously? Why would government have to have anything to do with any of those things? It's like he tried to make sure every cliche was included in that one sentence. Which makes me wonder if he didn't already know the answers; just wanted to see how I would respond.

And here is how I responded:

Roads weren't always built by the government- and still aren't always built by governments now. In fact there is a recent case out of Hawaii where the local residents rebuilt a road that had been destroyed after government kept dragging its feet.

For those who complain that they don't want to have to pay a toll to drive- I hate to tell them but they already do. And that toll comes with no guarantees about the quality of service. The private sector- the voluntary sector- can provide roads cheaper, better, and safer. Without demanding you give up your liberty in exchange for driving on them.

Underwriter's Laboratories is a good example of a private quality assurance certification process. One that is paid for by its customers, and not forcibly financed by those who have no desire to finance it. Most private standards for safety are much higher than government standards even now. If your hamburger is only up to government standards, you had better consider eating something else.

A company won't last long (without government protection) if it poisons its customers.

I have lived places several times where I had my water tested by local labs to make sure it was safe. Why believe that "only government" can do it, that government does it "best", or that government would do it cheaper?

The justice system only accidentally provides justice. And not even that very often. There is no "justice" in locking up people who have been caught smoking marijuana. Or doing anything else that doesn't have an individual victim that you can point to. Even murder is not "fixed" by the courts or prisons. Real justice means you return a victim to the condition they were in before their life, liberty, or property were damaged. Where justice falls short, restitution is required to balance out the equation. Prison does none of this.

The really sad delusion is that a "crime" harms The State. Sorry, but The State is never a victim.

Before government took over education, America was an incredibly literate nation. Foreign visitors remarked on that fact. It has taken about a century and a half of government "schooling" to destroy much of that literacy. Now graduates barely read. They are ignorant enough of history that they can fall for the lie that the Supreme Court is the last word on "Constitutionality" and that having "dollars" backed by nothing but a government promise (and printed/created by the trillions) is good for the economy. Oh, and that "shall not be infringed" doesn't mean what it says. Education is MUCH too important to allow government within a light-year of it.

Fire fighting- whether of a town or of a forest- is in the best interests of everyone around. In a free society it could be accomplished through something like "fire insurance", but where if your property is damaged by fire anyway, the fire company is liable for the damage. Wildfires would be fought by any local fire companies that would prefer to nip it in the bud rather than wait until their customers were at risk- and their profits were at risk, too. I suspect that there would be fire crews for hire that could be brought in at a moments notice by the "insurance company. There will always be adrenaline junkies looking to do the heroic-type jobs. For pay. Pay that is collected voluntarily without the threat of "fines" or prison.

Property that is privately owned is cared for better than property that has no individual person responsible. "The Tragedy of the Commons" is real, and can be seen locally wherever "communal" property exists. If I owned a former national park, it would be in my best interests to keep it nice and clean. Both for my own enjoyment, and so that I could attract paying visitors. Government is the worst polluter the world has ever seen- how can such a thing "protect" or "preserve" anything natural? Whenever I go camping I spend a lot of leisure time picking up trash- much of it very old and weathered- that no one has seen fit to pick up as "part of their job". If I owned the place I would hire employees who would do their job or get fired. (Assuming the absence of government which prevents this proper response, anyway.)

Anything you can point to that government does can be done voluntarily instead. Everything good, anyway. And, if something is really a good thing, someone will find a way to provide it. For a profit. If you think that will cost more than it does now, consider that in a free society you will only be paying for those things you actually want, need, or use. Those things that aren't wanted, needed, or used will go away.

And, remember, the above ideas aren't necessarily the way it "will" be done; just possible ways it could be done. People will probably find solutions for some things that could have never been discovered until liberty was respected again.

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Seeing your reflection in others

"You can't trust 'them'."

"You can't be nice to 'them'."

"You can't expect 'them' to act like you and me."

"'They' will take your kindness as an opportunity to kill you."

"Life isn't worth as much to 'those people'."

"Fight them over there or you'll have to fight them over here."

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How many times have you heard justifications like this. It's why it is OK to invade their homes and kill them as "insurgents" or "terrorists" when they resist your "help".

To some people, anyway.

Well, people often treat you as you are treating them. Even if all the above excuses are correct, it doesn't prevent you from being civilized, yet prepared to defend yourself without notice. And it doesn't justify you behaving as you claim 'they' behave.

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Government more like unruly dog

Government more like unruly dog

(My Clovis News Journal column for April 27, 2012. So, is the more crude translation "Government's a b*tch"?)

George Washington is quoted as saying “Government is not reason. It is not eloquence. It is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.” Unfortunately, in spite of this awareness, he chose to be a part of the problem. That's the way the cookie crumbles.

His assessment still holds up, although I think government is more like a dog.

A big, poorly trained dog that forever grows larger and meaner. The bigger it gets, the more of your stuff it breaks and the more it consumes. It slobbers all over everything, has terrible gas, and is possessive of your property.

As a puppy he was manageable. He was given some rules and training, and seemed agreeable for a while. As he matured it was believed he made your home safe because he was so powerful.

Unfortunately, the people who gave him to you lied about him. They said he would only grow so large, then stop, and that he would obey the rules that were set out for him. He didn't stop growing, and the larger he gets the more he ignores the rules, which were never really enforced anyway. Now when you try to correct him, he growls- and sometimes bites. He takes what he wants from your plate and if you try to scold him, he goes berserk. He roams wherever he wants with impunity, and may well be rabid. This dog has become your greatest danger.

You know he has been attacking the neighbors, but some of your family members stick up for him no matter what he does. Those whom he has threatened or wounded are getting fed up. Some would like to see him put down. The neighbors blame you for the dog's behavior, though you really do try to be a responsible master. You are only one person and no one else in your household sees any problem with the dog. They still believe that the bigger and meaner he gets, the safer your house will be.

A common distillation of libertarianism is "maximum liberty- minimum government". Maximum liberty is having the freedom to do everything you can do without violating any other person's rights. Minimum government is arguable. Since this "dog" seems completely incapable of doing the only things that his few libertarian defenders think he should do- protect the innocent by protecting property rights and ensuring justice- my "minimum government" is self government, also known as "self responsibility", and involves no third party. How much beyond that do you want?

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Lots of potential Libertopias

Here's some more sciencey speculation for you.

I am always seeing estimates of the percentage of stars which might have a planetary system surrounding them. (Current estimates range from 20% to 50%) I think they are all wrong.

I suspect it will eventually be realized that star formation includes planet formation just as surely as dropping a big rock into sloppy mud creates a surrounding pattern of splatter. Planets may be considered almost a part of a star. Beyond the chromosphere and the corona is the "planetsphere".

So, I strongly suspect the percentage of stars with a planetary system is 100%- with the possible exception of some stars which went through some cataclysmic event that stripped them away from their planets. (What percentage of humans have a head?)

Now, how many of those stars have a planet (or more) where life develops, and how likely is it for sapience to arise in those biospheres? The answers may turn out to be just as obvious.

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Ouch! That hurt!

I just turned down an offer of $100 to place a link in my blog.

I said I would be glad to do it as long as I could disclose that I was paid for the link. I was told that no one else insists on doing that, and that it would be a deal-breaker.

So, I wrote back and said "sorry, but thanks for the offer".

I have to admit, for the tiniest moment, a hesitation before I hit "send" on that reply. Dang my ethics!

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Zippo- an outlaw company (good for them!)

About a week ago, I had an experience that showed me, again, that even the most innocuous of government monopolies is still a bad thing.

Out wandering the wastelands on the edge of town with my daughter I found an old Zippo lighter. Being obsessed with fire starting methods/tools, I kept it. The cap was missing and the "wheel" was rusted in place, but I know Zippo repairs or replaces their lighters for free, "forever".

When I got home I went online and found the address for the Zippo Repair Clinic, packed up the old lighter, and headed off to the local post office.

The clerk took the package and asked the standard "anything hazardous, fragile, or flammable?" question, to which I replied "no".

She held it carefully, looked at it suspiciously, and said "It says 'Zippo', what's in here?"

I said it is a broken lighter.

She looked shocked and said "You can't mail lighters!"

I said that I followed the packaging instructions on the Zippo site (and why would they even have a mailing address at all if you couldn't mail anything to them?), and I had mailed lighter to them before.

"They might still have residue!"

"No, this one was very, very dry. I've mailed them before."

"You just didn't get caught that time" (paraphrased- my attention was slipping)

She pulled out a full-color, government brochure detailing all the things the government has arbitrarily declared to be "dangerous" to mail (which UPS and FedEx can still mail, I suppose).

By this time I wasn't really listening anymore, but was trying to figure out how I was getting this to UPS or FedEx. But she kept lecturing for a bit anyway.

So, I left the post office with my package, and as the "proud" owner of a full color, government brochure (slightly used)... had an idea, and went a few blocks, across the state line, and mailed my package without incident from New Mexico.

Zippo emailed me to confirm receipt of the lighter, so I emailed them back to inform them that according to this officious postal clerk, mailing their lighters, under any circumstances, is a serious crime.

I guess it's a good thing I'm already an outlaw.

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Is that the feeling of my head swelling just a bit?

One of the nicest things I have ever seen said about anything I have ever written showed up a while back on another blog, in the comments.

It was in response to this comment I had made a bit earlier:

The way I see it, if something offends you but does not "break your leg or pick your pocket" (not my words, look it up), speak out. Ridicule it. Say loudly why it offends you. March alongside quoting the Bible (or book of your choice) calling them whatever name you can think of. Shun them, totally and completely and try to get others to do so, also. But the second you use force- in person or by proxy- against someone who hasn't used force against you or stolen from you, you have become a bad guy too.

Anyway, "Jim Klein" wrote:

For the record, I completely concur with what Kent wrote...word for word, idea for idea. In fact, it's so good that it easily does as well as any words of wisdom that were written 240 years ago.

What's liberty in the American tradition? What defines a rational society? There it is.

Wow. Thanks!

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"Based on actual events"

Here's a situation for exercising your thinking skills. This in't about me, and I have my own thoughts on how to deal with the situation, which I'll keep to myself in order to get uncontaminated input.

I suspect this is a case of two people with the same personality "quirks" running head-on into one another. Like two anger-crazed rams or something.

In any case, Person A is a low-level manager at a "major retail chain" who is having trouble with Person B who is directly above her. I'll assume for the moment that Person A is giving an accurate account of events.

Person A says Person B is sabotaging her at work. Person B spreads rumors among the people in Person A's department- those she is supposed to manage- and acts rudely to "A" in front of them. "B" has gone back to Person A's department after "A" has left for the day, and un-done everything "A" did that day, and then pointed out to higher management that the department's work is unfinished. She made threatening gestures at Person A one time, in front of another manager, and nothing was done.

It has gotten to the point that "A" acts just as nasty to "B" as "B" acted to her from the beginning. "A" is not a particularly pleasant individual to begin with.

Person A is about ready to quit her job, even without anything else lined up. Person A has gone to every other manager who is above "B" without any results whatsoever, other than a couple of times having them run directly to "B" to report what was said. Person A has even gone to regional management with about the same results. She was told "respect is a two-way street".

What would you do in such a situation?

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Earned or wasted on the undeserving?

What if someone honestly believed it was good to do "---", but instead "---" was a horrible thing to do? Would you "honor" them anyway, based upon their erroneous belief that what they were doing was a good thing?

Do their beliefs make a difference? Their intentions? Or do results and the reality matter?

Do you honor people who believe they are doing the right thing when they are really not doing the right thing at all?

I just can't. And it creates a divide between me and some others that I'd rather not be at odds with. So, I generally just keep my mouth shut as long as no one beats me over the head with it.

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"Eliminate private property"?

I frequently see socialists say something to the effect, in the course of their "debates", of: "...eliminate private property and everything will be great".

You can't. That would be like me saying that everything could be perfect if we could just eliminate theft and aggression.

Private property is a feature of life. You can't eliminate it just because you want to. All you can do is eliminate "legal" recognition of private property- which all governments do to a great degree (generally in violation of their charters). But private property still exists in spite of that.

Just like the right to own and to carry, whatever kind of weapon you want, wherever you go, in any manner you see fit, openly or concealed, without asking anyone's permission, ever, is a fundamental feature of being human, regardless of "laws" that governments may write and enforce to the contrary. The right still exists; it is just being violated.

So it is with private property.

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No justice in Florida teen’s slaying

No justice in Florida teen’s slaying

(My Clovis News Journal column for April 20, 2012)

One recent "big national news" story where I seem to differ with a lot of libertarians is the George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin shooting.

I have seen the prevailing voices shift support behind whichever of the two the latest reports seem to vindicate. I continue to support both, and neither. Which is to say I support truth and liberty, wherever that may lead.

None of us were there, and even if there are any witnesses who are brought forward to testify, they will all have an agenda and be trying to push a certain perspective. It's human nature and inevitable. All any of us will ever know for sure is that two people encountered one another, and now one of them is dead.

I believe- and I admit it is nothing more than a belief- that this is a case of two troublemakers out looking for trouble and succeeding in finding it when they encountered one another. Both seem to have a history that points in that direction. I don't believe I would have been friends with either man, since both seem to have been fans of intimidation and coercion and cultural divisiveness. Of course, in both cases, all any of us knows about the individual involved has been filtered through others who want us to see the events from a particular perspective, and any truth is incidental.

Regardless of what had happened in the past, or even earlier that fateful hour, at the instant the trigger was pulled one of the two was innocent- not deserving to be harmed at that particular moment. You and I will never know which one of them was the innocent party. A trial won't alter that.

If Trayvon Martin was innocent there can never be any justice for him. Certainly not through the courts. If George Zimmerman was innocent, his prosecution is the opposite of justice and is heaping injury on top of injury. In either case making a criminal case out of this, and, in case of a conviction, allowing the prison system to swallow yet another person, isn't helping anyone other than those who profit from the excessive, abusive use of the justice system for the benefit of the imprisonment industry, and those who profit- economically or politically- from driving a wedge through society.

As in so many other cases, the best thing to do is to take Zimmerman at his word that he was being attacked and acted in self defense, but watch him carefully for any hint of aggression or "enforcer-type" behavior from this moment forward.

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Condescension in responses

Yes, I can be condescending. A commenter has called my attention to it once again.

This happens when I get frustrated. When a person keeps saying the same thing over and over (and over) again; grasping for any justification for The State. It becomes hard to take that person seriously, since they are not taking the pro-liberty evidence seriously.

At least I don't start calling people nasty names- not worse than "statist", anyway. But if that's their position, that ruling other people is a legitimate human activity, should they be insulted by the acknowledgement that this is what they believe? I don't know. I am not insulted in the least when called an anarchist, even when the person is trying to insult me. I guess that's just me.

I just finished reading the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, and he mentions a similar problem he had that was pointed out to him by a friend. He tells how he endeavored to change his behavior. I may not be as good a man as Mr. Franklin, so I may fail... but I will try to do better.

I'm not saying there is no place for condescension. Or profanity. Or even calling an idiot an idiot. What I am saying is that I try to not be the "place" for that.

However, there are some notions that have had a free ride for way too long. Some opinions are just not valid. The myth of "needing" a State is one of them. Too many people have coddled the people expressing this false delusion for far too long, and pretended that the idea isn't simply outright insane. I think it's long past time to call a spade a spade.

Thoughts?

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Addendum: Then what makes me even more irritated in this particular case is that the commenter huffs off after claiming to find misogyny in the comments. Notice that no one mentioned gender at all. Until she brought it up, that is. It makes me think that she believes that socialism is a "feminine value" or something. Ugh!



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Annular eclipse photos- May 20, 2012

All photos, except the one of the reflection in the house window, taken by my mother. In order, I think.

Free market supporter?

If you are a supporter of the War on (some) Drugs, you are an enemy of the free market.

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Eureka! Eclipse shows stop signs DO have a use

After long, fruitless years of studying, I have finally done it: I have found a legitimate use for stop signs!

They are good screens for projecting annular solar eclipses on.

I was happy to be along the path of this evening's eclipse and by using a mirror I was able to watch the reflection of the whole thing (until the sun set). Awesome!

I also used a pinhole and reflections in car windows and another group of eclipse watchers let me look through their welding helmet as well. And I did sneak some peeks as the sun set and was dimmed by haze.

Here's a regular picture of the annular eclipse taken by my mom during the maximum.

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A situation concerning a dog

On Claire Wolfe's blog, she mentions a "situation" she is facing. I think it is the first time I have ever found myself on the "other side" of a Claire opinion.

Basically, it comes down to this: Is it worth saving the life of an apparently unadoptable dog to let him be taken to be trained as a "drug sniffer"?

I'm sorry, but I don't think it is.

I love animals, but people have to come first, in my opinion. If I had to choose between a beloved family pet and some stranger, I might choose the pet, but that would be wrong of me.

Liberty is about humans. It is about doing what is right to other people. "Don't do unto others what you would not have them do unto you." You don't have a right to do things you know will ultimately harm people who have not harmed others. And all "laws" are eventually enforced with death for those who don't submit in time. Helping the drug warriors get a tool to use against the innocent seems to violate the principles of libertarianism.

Cruelty to animals is a sign that I read as "Stay away! Danger! I am cruel and enjoy hurting living things. You or your child might be next!" But sacrificing an animal to rescue a person, even if the animal suffers in the situation, seems the proper response, to me.

As I mentioned in my comments, if I manufactured guns or ammo, I would NOT want any of them getting into government hands. I would not sell to anyone who I knew would provide them to any agent of The State. If I didn't know what was happening, that's different (but I would put an end to it as soon as I discovered it).

But I accept that I could be wrong. I might be allowing my feelings to cloud my thinking. Either way, this doesn't change my opinion of Claire in any way, and I hope my disagreement doesn't upset her.

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Are "peace officers" a good idea?

No. And I'm not even talking about the reavers. I'm saying it is a bad idea to have anyone set apart, with a badge and "authority".

Yes, I know that the original idea was that a "peace officer" had no authority that wasn't held by any individual in the general population, but was supposed to be someone paid in order to free his time to devote to "keeping the peace". How has that worked out?

Even the notion of "policing" is a bad thing. It's my job to "police" my own sphere. No one can do that for me better than I can- all anyone else could do is interfere. There is no need for a "special" class to do it, and when established that "special class" will inevitably evolve into the abomination we suffer under now.

Because, if I am "policing" my own life, and I go beyond the limits of protecting myself and my property (or the self and property of someone else), I am responsible for my actions and will be held accountable. Reavers are almost invariably found (by their own gang) to be acting "within department guidelines"- even when guilty of the most obvious acts of evil.

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Freedom from religion

Regardless of what some "conservatives" claim, freedom of religion does- at least in some circumstances- mean freedom from religion.

It doesn't matter what the Constitution has to say on the matter, either. All the First Amendment says is that the government is prohibited from setting up an "official American Church" or from stopping anyone from worshiping however they see fit.

But don't get scared. It doesn't mean you have to shut up about your religion just because it annoys some people. It doesn't mean you have to stop practicing your religion.

What freedom of/from religion does mean, is that if you are in a position where you have power over someone else, rightly or wrongly, and that power is due to your government "job", you need to keep your religion in your pants, and keep your pants zipped. Until you are "off the clock", anyway. You have no authority to be preaching at people you are trying to coerce while they are paying you with money you had stolen from them on your behalf.

It means that what you believe on your own time is your business, but trying to pass or enforce "laws" based upon your religious beliefs- Sharia Law- is outside of what you have a right to do. It means using stolen money to promote your religious beliefs- any religious beliefs- is wrong.

Freedom of religion equals, in many cases, freedom from religion. Whether you like it or not. And believe me, even those who claim otherwise usually demand to be free of having other religions' ideas forced upon them- they just don't want to stop doing the forcing themselves. At least, that's what I have observed.

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State not necessary for good life

State not necessary for good life

(My Clovis News Journal column for April 13, 2012.)

Many of my favorite things to do in and around Clovis are at government-owned locations. Which is kind of sad.

I really enjoy the zoo, the library, Goodwin Lake Trails, and Oasis State Park, just to name a few things off the top of my head. And, since I pay for them whether I use them or not, above and beyond any applicable entrance fees, I might as well take advantage of them.

I just see how much better those good things could be if they were voluntarily-financed and freed from the shackles of government. In some cases I can see improvements that could be implemented right away, and in other cases I see things that could make a big difference in the long-term. If, that is, innovations were encouraged, as is normally the case when something has a clear individual owner.

Of course, in our current situation government would still exert control over their daily operations through permits, licenses, red tape, taxation, and arbitrary regulations. That is the reality of the economic model known as "fascism"- where the business sphere is supposedly privately owned, but in practice The State dictates how business must be done; acting as the de facto owner.

Some people worry that if government doesn't provide something, no one will. I don't think that's ever the case except for those things no one really wants. Even if it were the case, I would do without something I enjoyed, without complaining, if it couldn't be voluntarily provided. At least people who don't enjoy the same things I do wouldn't be forced to subsidize my activities. There is nothing I want bad enough to force you to pay for it on my behalf.

Plus, if I decided I really wanted it, I would find a way to provide it. For example, ignoring the current regulatory climate for a moment, if I wanted a zoo and there wasn't one close enough, why couldn't I start my own? I could obtain the animals I like the best, or some I think people would gladly pay to come see, and design and create an attractive setting in which to house and view them. If I let the displays get filthy, or let the animals get sick, people wouldn't want to come spend money, and I would lose customers, so it would be in my best interest to keep things neat, clean, and healthy. No coercion involved.

Government is not necessary for a good life full of enriching activities. I pity those who have forgotten that beautiful fact.

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Serving leftovers

Do you ever read the old posts on this blog? Without me linking to them, I mean.

So many times anymore, something I think I should write about will occur to me and then I realize I have already written about that in the past. I could just re-post those, maybe with a bit of an update, but that seems dishonest.

Just today I was dwelling on something I read on another blog where people were saying they would use violence against someone who offended them. I was going to write something about how you are welcome to act on that which offends you, as long as you don't attack in person or through government, but then I realized I have written that same thing so many times. Is it worth writing again, linking to, or should I just move on to other issues?

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Avoid the personality cult

The case of the activist-turned-informant illustrates why you shouldn't get caught up in any one person. Not Ron Paul. Not Thomas Jefferson. Not Ayn Rand. Not Henry David Thoreau. Not anyone.

Weigh a person's words for yourself. See if what they are saying is true and whether it works for you. Don't worry so much about who said what. Don't even get too caught up in whether the person who said the words, lives by them. Who knows, they might be right in what they say, but they may not believe themselves. Or they may be weak. Or a self-deceiver.

You are smart enough to work things out for yourself. Other people can give you ideas and make you see things in news ways- perhaps get you to recognize connections you hadn't seen before- but ultimately you have to think for yourself and act on what you decide. Regardless of what anyone else may do.

Seriously, if I imagined that anyone was too wrapped up in what I write, I'd get really worried about them. I hope I give you ideas, but I am not anyone's paragon. And neither is anyone else.

That being said, I am probably my own worst critic and harshest judge.

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Accepting consequences of outlawry

You may or may not know about the recent uproar that came about when a respected liberty activist was found to be working as a police informant.

It makes me really sad.

Do you have an absolute human right to use, sell, and purchase any substances you want? Yes. But, as I have said many times, it may not be smart to do so in the current circumstances in which we find ourselves. You have to weigh the consequences and decide if it is worth it to you right now- in case you are caught.

We are ALL outlaws, so we had better accept that fact and start doing things to protect ourselves from the real bad guys- the ones with badges and government jobs. And remember that if you are doing something that the Rulers forbid, it is your responsibility and you shouldn't turn on other people if you get caught just to try to strike a deal with the bad guys. Well, maybe report the mayor or police chief for something, but not non-aggressive people.

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Drive throughs installed- cheap

A few evenings ago we were out in the front yard- I was watering our attempt at garden plants- when my daughter's mom ("Dm") said "That car just ran into that house!"

I looked up and the car was still moving forward- into the house. The back tires were still spinning, kicking up quite a cloud of dust. The car had gone right into the front door and was pushing the porch roof up and kinda over. Then the brake lights came on and the tires stopped spinning.

The car slowly backed out of the house, and I thought the porch roof was going to fall since it was lurching back and forth. A woman got out of the car and started yelling "Oh my god! Oh my god!" over and over. There was another car in front of the house and a couple of girls got out of it and kinda milled around.

"Dm" decided she needed to go over there and get into the middle of it. I stayed in the yard and looked through my spyglass. It seemed no one was injured, just upset.

I guess by the time she got there (just around the corner from us) the driver had sat down and wasn't talking anymore; just crying. She had run into her own house.

I think it was a case of putting the car into drive by accident, instead of reverse, then, when the car started forward, panicking and hitting the gas instead of the brakes. (One of my second wife's sisters did that and ran through the front of a convenience store.)

The cop and sheriff showed up almost immediately. The sheriff didn't stay too long. The cop talked to everyone there and put "caution" tape around the gaping hole where the front door and a window were kinda dangling in the rubble of what had been a wall. "Dm" said he told them they couldn't stay there until the house had been inspected to see if it was going to fall down. He tried to get "Dm" to say she thought drugs were involved, or that one of the woman's kids had been driving. Then he left.

No person was hurt, and the house is now under repair. What I couldn't help wondering is why the situation "needed" a cop, and who called them. The cop didn't actually help the situation in any way (do they ever?). At least he didn't arrest anyone.

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Time Magazine's breastfeeding cover

Yeah, like all of you, I've seen it. Seriously, I don't get the uproar. It's fairly obvious to me that two people who are old enough to consent to having their pictures on the cover of a magazine shouldn't have anyone else dictate their actions for them.

(I'm joking. Sorta. They're really claiming that large person who is attached at the boob is 3 years old? I am not sure I am falling for that.)

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"Does the 2nd Amendment..." No, it doesn't!

Being human gives you the right to own and to carry arms.

The Second Amendment makes it a serious crime for the US government, or any of its "subordinate" mobs, to violate or tamper with that right in any way.

Pro-gun folks get confused on that issue almost as much as the anti-human gun banners do.

I get tired of the polls that ask "Does the Second Amendment give you the right to own a gun?" Because the answer is obviously "no", but if you answer that way it looks like you are voting with the genocide fan club.

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North Carolina and gay marriage

Are you unhappy about the North Carolina marriage vote? I have a solution. Or at least a tactic.

If you are a North Carolina resident who is going to get married soon- whatever your gender or orientation, do so without asking the state's permission. Regardless if you are marrying a person of your own sex (or a couple of people of whatever sex). Just do it.

If you are a person who does not reside in NC but are planning to get married soon, travel to NC with a willing "officiator" and get married. Without the state's paperwork. Maybe with news cameras rolling.

Thumb your nose at the state by doing what it says, by vote, that you aren't allowed to do.

Just think if North Carolina became the gay marriage capitol (and otherwise unpapered marriage capitol) of the world as a result of this "law". Hehe.

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You do NOT have a right...

Since all legitimate rights are "negative rights", or, as some people put it "rights are imaginary"- what does that mean?

It means you do NOT have a right to:

• Take away someone's tools of self defense or tell them they can't defend themselves from attacks.

• Tell someone what substances they can introduce into their own body.

• Take a person's property from him without his consent.

• Forbid a couple (or more) from forming a family unit based upon mutual consent.

• Rule a person, or otherwise dictate his non-coercive, non-deceptive behavior.

All "positive rights" would violate one or more of these ethical guidelines. And, even if rights don't really exist, the list is still accurate and binding.

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Feds deserve blame for gas prices

Feds deserve blame for gas prices

(My Clovis News Journal column for April 6, 2012)

Let me take a wild-eyed guess: You are unhappy about the rising price of gasoline. I'll make another guess: You are blaming the wrong people.

Most people place the blame on oil companies and ignore the reality. Without government interference, prices would be much lower than they are. How much lower? We will never know until we make separation of business and state an enforced reality.

People get upset over claims that BigOilCo pays no taxes. By this I assume they mean corporate income taxes or some-such thing. The truth is that no company ever pays any taxes; their customers do. If an oil company "pays" taxes, the extra expense will be added to the cost of production and you will pay all those taxes at the pump and when you buy your food, water, clothes, electricity, and everything else. The added expense has to be passed along or the company will cease to be. That's just basic economics, which means it is beyond the thinking capacity of government.

At each step of the way, before the gasoline gets in your tank, taxes are rolled in as a cost of doing business. This is in addition to the regulations of every sort which also increase the price. All that red tape is expensive and you ultimately pay for it.

Then governments stick it to you, personally, at the point of sale by adding even more taxes on top of everything else they have collected so far.

Then there are also the problems that official and covert government intervention causes in the countries where much of the oil is being produced. Meddling, threatening, and otherwise making enemies of those who should be trading partners; not subjects of the growing Empire, being told how to run their own countries.

On top of all this is the protection of the fuel monopoly. Nothing so far discovered works as well as petroleum for fueling vehicles. Nothing. And, yes, I have owned an electric car. Stifling innovation, through more regulations and red tape, in the development of new technology that might make internal combustion obsolete, or actually efficient, prevents real solutions from being found and implemented.

The final 800-pound gorilla in the room is the misnamed phenomenon of "Inflation". Inflation is not the price of gasoline rising; it is the value of a dollar falling. An ounce of silver still buys about the same amount of gasoline it did back when the US dollar was backed by by something of value and our "silver" coins were really silver. The counterfeiting operation at the Federal Reserve has stolen the value of your labor by replacing your money with empty promises. It takes more of these counterfeit "dollars" to buy a gallon of fuel.

Let's blame the real bad guys, not their other victims.

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The sum of my experiences...

I am a sum of my past.

Throughout my life I have gone through phases, and although sometimes those phases may seem, to an observer, to have ended, they have all left their mark. They have each been incorporated into the me that now exists.

I was thinking about this as I was out throwing my tomahawk. I have not been to a mountainman rendezvous in several years. I don't wear buckskin clothes exclusively anymore. I don't even wear my mountainman hat very often. Yet the skills and experiences from that part of my life are just as strong in me and just as important a part as they ever were. And, often, still just as useful. They changed the way I look at the world completely and I can never go back. Someday, I may even get back into the lifestyle again.

Every other phase I have lived has left the same indelible mark on my life. They have made me who I am. Each time was another case of "taking the red pill".

If I ever decide to stop speaking out- educating?- about liberty I expect the same results. The things I have learned by digesting my own thoughts, and the thoughts I have had shared with me by others, mean I can never go back to the way I was before. And for that, I'm glad.

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Attempted crimes- no victim?

(From a discussion on facebook.)

Is an attempted "crime" a victimless crime? I don't believe it is. And I, of course, mean actual aggression, coercion, theft, or other violations of life, liberty, and property- not the ridiculous things The State seeks to forbid that have nothing to do with those real wrong things.

In order to attempt an initiation of force or theft, even if you fail to complete your intention, you have to have a target- a "victim"- in mind. That falls under threatening to initiate force, or violating property rights. Anyone on the receiving end of your intention to do them harm would not be wrong to use force to stop you from completing your intended action. How much force? How much will it take? How much adrenaline did your threat release in your intended victim, and how can you be sure "momentum" won't take them further than you think is "appropriate" under the circumstances?

But, as in the case discussed on the facebook thread linked above, the victim can't be imaginary or "society". That's like punching shadows. You may have an intention of doing someone harm, but there is no one there to be harmed.

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