The "Thin Blue Line" vs Liberty

Liberty will eventually need to tear through the "Thin Blue Line" if it is to survive and thrive. Accept it. There is no other enemy capable of doing so much to violate Rightful Liberty, and at some point that enemy will have to be faced and dealt with- it would be nice to believe they could be reasoned out of their evil.

Illustration and idea by George Tirebiter. Commentary by me.

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Pageant winners

The time is coming when you will be encouraged to add your tiny, insignificant vote to an avalanche of other insignificant votes so a new crop of rulers can be selected to meddle in your private affairs and find new and exciting ways to steal from you- and decide they need to steal more and more.

Yep, elections are coming.

Maybe instead of calling this nasty ritual an "election", we should call it something more accurate. Something like a pageant of slavery.

The control freaks would call you crazy for calling it that.

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Ideals didn’t change, Americans did

Ideals didn’t change, Americans did

(My Clovis News Journal column for June 6, 2014)

How did the ideals America was founded upon- even if they were always imperfectly implemented- become so misunderstood and reviled by the majority of Americans? How did these principles become "radical", "extreme", and frightening? Or even "terrorism"?

How did false safety and socialistic collectivism become the default position of both the left and the right, and how did self reliance become suspicious?

The ideals didn't change; Americans did. One individual at a time. Through intentional mis-education, fear mongering, scapegoating, and more.

There isn't anything libertarians advocate which would have been foreign or antithetical to Thomas Jefferson or Ben Franklin, yet people who believe themselves to be honoring the memories of those men recoil in horror at some of the ideas and opinions presented. Does that not seem strange?

The root of those horrifying ideas is that identical human rights abide in every single person, everywhere on the planet, from birth. Those rights did not come from government, but pre-existed even the very first government ever imagined, and are independent of government approval, citizenship, or culture. Those rights trump any rules, ordinances, or "laws" ever made up. Legislation- the name for those made up "laws"- is not Law, but is often in direct opposition to Natural Law.

No official position or "job" can grant extra rights, carve out exceptions to the fundamental human rights of any opponent, nor grant a license to violate even the most "minor" right of the "least important" person you may encounter.

A demand or a requirement that violates those rights is null and void. You may still find it safer to comply in the face of armed enforcers, but the demand is never legitimate; you have been violated by common thugs with uncommon immunity from consequences.

As have we all.

Whistle-blower Edward Snowden recently said something that could have come straight from the writings of any of the most heroic of America's founders: "Sometimes to do the right thing, you have to break a law." He's right, and unfortunately, it's getting even more true with every passing day. Yet, those who pretend to revere the founders of America are those most likely to want to see Snowden's head on a pike. He exposed those who are the real enemies of liberty, but has become a Rorschach test to winnow the collectivists and nationalists from the lovers of liberty.

My only complaint is that he, like so many others, worked for the wrong side before realizing it was a mistake and turning around.

America's founders would approve of his actions, since they did similarly "illegal", but right, things in pursuit of liberty and in opposition to tyrants. Does that frighten you?
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Well-meaning thieves

Some people I love have government "jobs". It saddens me that they are thieves.

Even if they work for the money and do nothing wrong as part of their "job"- they aren't passing or enforcing counterfeit rules, nor directly violating anyone's Rightful Liberty- the money they are paid is still stolen property.

I have had people argue that they aren't thieves because they work for their money... they don't believe it is work to mug people in the park, or to break into houses and carry out all the valuables? Not only is it "work", it is dangerous "work". Do they believe those thieves should be compensated for the hard work they do?

Well, a mugger's "job" isn't wanted by me- and neither is the government school teacher's position, nor the cop's, nor the bureaucrat's. I willingly pay for what I want, but when I am forced to pay for what I don't want and would prefer to do without, I am being robbed. And so are you.

Please, if you work for government in any capacity, stop being dishonest and quit your government "job"*.

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*The one exception I would make is if you use your government "job" to monkeywrench and foul up government's plans and save its victims. And still, unless you are able to do a huge amount of damage, internally, to government schemes, and save a huge number of people from its clutches, it's probably not worth it. You can't have 10 victims for every person saved and think you are doing good.

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Look past deceptive labels

I have a chunk of granite and a block of marble. Unless you aren't too bright you'll recognize that neither is suitable as food. I might decide to call the granite "cheese" and the marble "horse manure", but that doesn't make the granite more edible. It's just a trick of mislabeling.

Well, the same goes for politicians.

You see this most often with "conservatives" and Libertarians (LP), where someone is only viewed as a particular thing because of the label they have chosen- but they have none of the attributes of that thing which they are claimed to be.

And, neither is suitable for running your life anyway.

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"Proportional response"

The rather dangerous concept of "proportional response" keeps raising its ugly head.

"Proportional response" is nonsense. Once someone has aggressed or stolen, the burden is on them for "starting it", not on you to make sure you only defend yourself or your property "just enough".

Does that mean I would shoot a kid for cutting across the corner of my yard? No. I haven't done it, and kids cut across my corner lot every single day- and have even damaged stuff.

Instead of being so worried that a response might be unproportional, pay more attention to not doing anything which will cause a response in the first place. As I have seen expressed so "eloquently": Don't start nothin', won't be nothin'. But if you do start it, don't whine when it doesn't go how you have visualized it going.

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Don't be scared; be prepared.

Those who carry a gun don't need to be afraid of the bad guys.

Those who have a Bug Out Bag don't need to be scared of emergencies.

Those who have prepped their homes don't need to be scared of natural or man-made disasters.

Those who know "government" is an illusion don't need to fear anarchy.

It doesn't mean things will always go well for you- it means you have done all you can to increase the odds in your favor. No one can do more.

Don't be scared. Prepare.

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Solve a mystery

1t
2J
3n

The above are 3 text messages which I got last night/this morning at 12:01 from "Unknown. They all arrived within about a half second, in numerical order.

Even stranger, when I actually open the texts, the letters aren't there, only the numbers.
There is no way to reply to the texts, not that I would anyway.

Does anyone have a clue what this might be, or has anyone ever gotten something like this?

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Happy Secession Day!

Or, maybe Liberty Day. Because you're independent every day, right?

I refuse to celebrate a day which was originally set aside to celebrate independence from a tyrannical State by worshiping the growing abuses of a tyrannical State which is in the process of building a planet-wide Mega-Empire of aggression, spying, and theft.

Nope. I'll celebrate the spirit of secession- as it should be.

And, when I encourage secession I don't just mean an independent nation of Texas or something like that- although that would be fine too, as a first step of smashing Leviathan into manageable-sized chunks- but secession all the way to the level of the individual. Not isolated islands of one person each, but a sea of equal individuals. No slaves; no masters. Just sovereign individuals living their lives, not under any false "authority".

That is Liberty, and secession is a necessary step on the path to get there.

Happy Secession Day!

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I see this as the antidote to the fictional Unification Day from "Firefly". Yesterday I was shocked and disappointed to see a supposed Browncoat on Facebook defending and praising the real life Reavers... I mean PurpleBellies.  Oops, Alliance... uh... cops. Whichever... the real life bad guys. The cognitive dissonance seems like it would painful. Can't much figure out how copsuckers survive such high levels of it.

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Restricting liberty inevitably tragic

Restricting liberty inevitably tragic

(My Clovis News Journal column for May 30, 2014. Sorry, I was late posting the whole thing to the blog this time!)

As soon as I heard about the Santa Barbara, California, murders I held my breath and waited for the anti-gun advocates to start dancing in the blood- I didn't need to wait long.

Six innocent people died- three of those shot to death. All because one person (who came from a home of confessed anti-gun advocates, by the way) felt rejected and inferior. He was seething with homicidal racial hatred, against "white people" and "black" men, which he blamed on blonde women who wouldn't date him.

His rants showed no hint of self responsibility for his situation, nor any awareness that perhaps women- all women- rejected him because he was exhibiting violent tendencies, socially awkward behavior, and harboring violent fantasies.

I'm sure if he had survived his murder spree he would claim no responsibility for those who died at his hands, but would blame his victims in some way.

Many other people will choose to place the blame elsewhere, as he did, but on one tool he used, instead. He blamed blonde women; most observers with an anti-liberty bias will blame the gun. In their minds it couldn't be entirely his fault.

Might as well pretend the stabbing deaths didn't happen, or find a way to blame them on the gun, too. It's the standard drill after these tragedies occur.

California already has some of the most onerous anti-gun laws in the country- the same kind we are told will keep us safe. How is that working out?

Gun haters believe if you just keep kids away from guns, and keep them ignorant about how guns work, the kids will be safe.

Let's try the same with water safety and see how refusing to teach kids to swim, or sensible behavior in and around water, pans out. Don't act shocked and angered- and don't blame water- when kids drown due to enforced ignorance.

Kids and guns do mix. It's the best way to teach them the proper way to use the tools, and the consequences of mishandling them, early enough for the lessons to stick. In addition, the libertarian principle of never "initiating force" will go a long way toward avoiding intentional aggression, with or without a gun.

Some people find it easier to blame inanimate objects, or claim other people made them do bad things. Plus, as long as people keep seeking excuses to justify aggression, while at the same time demonizing defensive violence, more tragedies will result.

Restricting liberty is never the solution, and inevitably leads to a tragic destination. It's long past time to start respecting the Rightful Liberty of every person, whoever and wherever they may be.
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Liberty Lines, July 3, 2014

(Published in The State Line Tribune, Farwell, TX/Texico, NM)

I can't believe the arrogance of those who decide to give themselves more power over the lives of people they previously had no "authority" over.

Some people choose to live beyond city limits in order to enjoy a little extra freedom from the intrusive and meddlesome rules that towns are known to make up out of thin air (usually "justified" by "health and safety") and enforce.

Extending a town's jurisdiction in this way is a betrayal, no matter what "state law" may allow. It's really no different than Canada suddenly deciding to control what people in Montana can do on their own property. Sure, governments jealously guard their own tax cows, and Montanans are already claimed, and well milked, by several different levels of government, but people choose to not live under more government than they want for a reason. This status quo is like a truce- live and let live. This proposed expansion of "jurisdiction" is a violation of that implicit truce.

Take a hard look at those pushing for this expansion of government intrusion. Never believe them if they claim to be for "limited government" while seeking to expand government control in such a large way. You now know exactly what they are and how they see you.

Does this mean the Farwell police department is admitting there isn't enough actual, real trouble in Farwell proper to keep them busy, so they feel a need to extend their territory? If so, cut back on employees, put the remainder on part time, and refund the savings to the residents. I can "police" myself- as can almost every other person in town. And together, without any "official help", we can keep the actual aggressors and property violators in line- apparently unless they hold political office or draw their pay from the tax loot.

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Mike Pomper- In last week's Border Banter you wrote "us homies cannot do a blasted thing about" all the new federal regulations which will be imposed on us in the near future. Sure we can! We choose whether to obey or not. I realize you may not want to be an outlaw, but you had better get over it. Soon, all the decent people will be outlaws. Maybe "soon" is already here.

In "Atlas Shrugged", Ayn Rand wrote "There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws." That time is upon us. It's interesting how applicable that quote is to the first part of my column as well.

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Don't crawl in bed with the bad guys and it won't rub off on you

Government is strictly forbidden by the Second Amendment from making up rules regarding guns. Period. That's what "shall not be infringed" means, even though government employees lie about it.

That means courthouses, post offices, cities, and Washington, District of Creeps can't legitimately (or legally) regulate guns in any way. Not without becoming criminals (yeah, I mean in even more ways).

But I think it also means that anyone who gets in bed with government can't either. And, by that I mean those who give up their private business to become a corporation, with government perks and benefits, have given up more than they realize. Those "benefits" have a downside.

(That may even have implications for Hobby Lobby's latest win. Are they really private property, or are they in bed with government/incorporated and therefore seeking to have their cake and eat it, too? And, no, I don't believe anyone is "entitled" to have anyone else pay for their healthcare.)

There's a simple way to avoid this and make up all the anti-liberty rules your little heart longs for: don't prostitute yourself (and not in a good, honest way) and your business by becoming a corporation. Yes, that has drawbacks, but you can't have it both ways. Either you are a free market business and make up all your own rules, or you become a quasi-governmental corporation and have to abide by the rules you willingly signed on for. What? You didn't think that was part of the deal?

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Great minds think alike

So many times I'll be writing something and run across someone else's writings that parallel what I have been thinking and writing.

Or, I will publish something only to have someone else tell me they have been writing about the same topic.

I'm sure events probably trigger thoughts that tend to lead in similar directions to people who reject the institutionalization of theft and aggression. But maybe it's more than that.

Maybe "great minds" just tend to think alike.

We are all endlessly repeating and exploring- and discovering- the same concepts over and over. And that's OK. In fact, it's probably essential. To get an idea into your brain it helps to hear it over and over, and hearing it from multiple sources probably helps even more. Universal truth doesn't get diluted by being presented by lots of people. It gets reinforced.

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History? Their-story.

I have almost no interest in history as it relates to what governments and their militaries did. That's a club I have never belonged to, so their "history" isn't mine.

That's why history in school was so dreadfully boring to me.

The history I am more interested in is what normal people did while simply living. Yes, some of what they did was in reaction to governments, but that's polluted history. Not the real stuff.

I enjoy dabbling in the ways they lived. I have hundreds of thousands of years of human history to experience. Why just focus on the worst bits and the worst thugs and pretend that's the "important part"?

And why limit myself to this current time when choosing what to wear and what to do? Pick and choose the best history has to offer.

The past is deep. Jump in.

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Auction: The very last "Time's Up" shirt

I'm down to the last "Time's Up" T-shirt, so I took it off the website and have listed it on eBay.

If you wanted one, this is probably your very last chance- at least for this design (the Gadsden and Culpeper modified design).

So, if you are interested, Check it out here.

Terrorize the bad guys

Are you a "terrorist"? And, by that I mean do you strike terror into the hearts of bad guys?

I must be a terrorist because I have seen fear in the eyes of bad guys on a few occasions when I went up against them- or more accurately, when they pushed where I wasn't willing to go.

Some weren't smart (or observant) enough to be scared. They never knew how close things came to getting really ugly. (And, no, I'm not foolish enough to imagine the outcome was assured.)

I am no threat to those who are not initiating force or violating property, so obviously anyone who considers me a "terrorist" must be doing something really wrong.

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Statist losers and their desperation

Now, not all statists are necessarily "losers"- some are. Some libertarians are, too. It's a human thing. But sometimes....Oh, the comments my CNJ columns attract... Here's what some statists resort to when they have nothing else:

Statist Tax-Addict Commenter

It's easy to be a freedom loving libertarian when you live in your parent's basement.

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  Me
  

  My parents don't have a basement. They are welcome to come to my house and use my cellar in the event of a tornado, though. Statists are such sore losers. LOL

  
  
• Statist Tax-Addict Commenter

  I heard different. At what age did you move out?

  
  
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  Me
  

  Not that it is any of your business, but just after my 22nd birthday. Decades ago, in other words.
  
  And, it wouldn't matter regardless.
  
  Do you reject scientific discoveries if you disapprove of where the person lives when they make the discovery? Truth is truth, and rejecting theft and coercion is still the only ethical way to live, no matter who espouses it, or where they live. Just like theft and coercion are still evil no matter how you believe you are justifying it with "necessity" or a "job".
  
  I know lots of freedom-loving libertarians, and have never concerned myself with what their living situation might be. Just like I have never considered where a statist lives as relevant to the debate. I don't need to worry about pointless things like that, because the statist ideas are so deeply flawed and self-contradictory it gives plenty of *real* ammo against their position. But it's a pathetic attempt I see dredged up over and over by statists. It's just a diversion to try to find something irrelevant in order to try to discredit liberty, since there's no real foundation with which to attack it. It's a tactic of desperation pursued by people who know deep down that they have no leg to stand on. Can't argue with the truth, so let's find a way to attack those telling it. As if it somehow gives their position credence.
  
  Now, supposed "libertarians" who advocate aggression or theft ("taxation" of any sort, as an example, even a "flat tax") are the ones discrediting themselves, because they are not living up to what they claim to believe.
  
  I suppose I could also point out that statists who don't go around robbing their neighbors (in person, I mean, not just by supporting "taxation") and attacking or kidnapping innocent people are also failing to live up to what they say they believe in, since there is no difference in doing those things in person or by proxy through the State/government. Evil is evil.

  
  

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You'll know them by their badges

The badge.

Every time a cop pins one of those metal trinkets on his chest, he is aligning himself with the State and against you. It's no different than when Nazis wore swastikas to show where their allegiance lay.

A badge is the moral and ethical equivalent of a swastika. Those disgusting trinkets should be known as "badgstikas".

Someday, soon, they may be seen in the same light by more than just me.

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Rattling the tin cup

I'm changing this into my generic "I could sure use some donations or subscriptions" post. So, if I have linked to this, it is a quiet request.

Any updated information is below:

I'm sure someone has a few thou$and sitting around they were just gonna toss in a bonfire, but started thinking "How else might I dispose of this stuff?", right? Well, now that you asked...

If you have the desire and the ability* to donate, click on the button over there on the right side.

Thanks!

*And, as always, please DON'T donate anything you can put to better use! Seriously!

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Why "they" can't win

Even if "they" manage to criminalize every liberty, and ban and confiscate every gun in the right hands (yours and mine, not "theirs"), "they" still haven't won.

Because at that point I am perfectly willing to kill a government employee to take his guns and fight for my life, liberty, and property. Maybe not at that precise moment, but it will then become a legitimate path for each and every person to take. Not just on a whim- there may still be better and smarter ways to act at that moment- but if I find myself backed into a corner, and see no better option... yes, I'm willing.

I will also support anyone else doing the same- even if it's before I am forced to act.

And I know there is nothing "wrong" with doing that even now, although it is usually a foolish, suicidal choice.

As long as some of us accept this terrible responsibility, "they" can not win. Not ever. And don't kid yourself- it IS a responsibility. You can accept it, or you can deny it, fear it, and try to hide from it, but you can't change it.

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