Uphill Battle? It's a Wall!

The article was about a "meth lab bust". My comment was "Prohibition deja vu. Sigh. Outlaw something that people want and are willing to pay for; the price goes up and bad people (and some not-so-bad people) get involved in providing the product. Lessons learned? I guess not."

One brilliant ninny* wrote back "....you either have a strange sense of irony and humor, or you really are that stupid and ignorant. Methamphetamine is a highly addictive substance with devastating consequences, which include anxiety, violence and psychosis. Give reading a chance." He then posted a link to a government information site. (Yeah, you'll get "truthful" info there! LOL)

Blind, deaf, and illiterate ignorance displayed all in one paragraph! He's probably a LEO (Liberty Eradication Operative) or a relative of one. Where does this person read in my comment that I think that using meth is a good way to spend your weekend? Acknowledging the futility (and evil) of the War on (some) Drugs does not equal an endorsement of using them, Taterhead! Yet, this is what most people probably think first when confronted with the truth. The thought that killing people over chemicals might be stupid and evil never crosses their "mind". Their knees jerk and force words out of their mouths instead of their brains forming thoughts that turn into words.

This probably made me more angry than is warranted, but it gets tiresome fighting against such deeply ingrained stupidity on a regular basis. When someone posts a comment like that, he should be buried under an avalanche of ridicule and derision. Yet, there is only silence. Are people even awake?

Why is meth production profitable? Prohibition.
Why do violent aggressors get involved in the production and distribution of meth? Because Prohibition keeps out the nicer people.
Why do people choose to spend their money to purchase meth, knowing (yes, they know) that it will harm them? For the same reason that humans have always used mind-altering substances: it is a hard-wired part of being human to seek these experiences. No "law" or "war" will ever change that no matter how badly the control-freaks wish it were so. To pretend otherwise, and make policy decisions based upon that fantasy, is delusional. The harm those policies cause to civilization is inexcusable.


*This waste of skin posted a comment today making fun of the winner of the "Ms. Plus America" pageant. I guess his stupidity and rudeness knows no bounds.
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Messy Freedoms

There is a bell-curve of acceptance of liberties. It is shaped like the cross-section of a sunny-side-up fried egg, with the yolk being those things that no sane person doubts: the right to not be raped, murdered, kidnapped, or stolen from.

The "egg white" is the liberties that are really the same, but with the understanding that government and its agents are also not allowed to be doing those same things to anyone while calling them "taxation", "arrest", "law enforcement", etc.

The "messy freedoms" I speak of are the ragged edge of the egg where the grease has spattered and bubbled: the freedom to trade sex for money, the freedom to own and carry a fully automatic gun as you walk around town, the freedom to destroy yourself with chemical abuse, the freedom to end your own life if you decide to. These things are just as important as the ones that the majority agrees on. Maybe even more so for the simple fact that while the timid may deny it, the rights are the same: the right to live your own life however you see fit as long as you do not harm another innocent person. "Harm" does not include offending someone's sensibilities, or violating their sense of morals, either.

Maybe you could call these things "fringe liberties". These are the things "polite society" tries to prohibit, control, or otherwise regulate, but in doing so, initiates force against those who choose to pursue happiness in those things. That is wrong, no matter how you slice it.




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Me, a "Bad Example"

I was recently reminded that I am used as a bad example by some people. "You don't want to turn out like Kent!" goes the warning.


Well, if you want to turn out to be a "citizen" who belongs to the state, then I would be a bad example. If you want to worship Rulers and their "laws", then you might want to choose another person to emulate. If you want to control the lives of others even though they are harming no one but themselves, you need another hero. If you idolize the military or "law enforcement", then I am not your man. If you want to be rich, not that there is anything wrong with it, then look elsewhere for a model. I don't dress like a typical 21st century American, so you might want to look at GQ or something for fashion ideas.

I am not wealthy, or even successful. I have had failed businesses, marriages, and quests. On the other hand, I don't beat my kids or my girlfriend. I do take charity from family sometimes, but I don't accept welfare. I try to help people when I can, even at risk to myself. I have never hit anyone in anger, although I have come close. My friends like me, and I make new friends easily when given the chance. Even people who don't like me are given a chance. Life is too short to make enemies. Why waste the time and energy?

Really, it seems the only people who don't like me are those who have tried to cheat me and were thwarted. I don't really care for them too much, either, if you get right down to it. The difference is that they can't get over it, and I have.

I am living life to the best of my ability, using what I have. If that is not good enough, then I don't know what to say.


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Ambassador For Anarchy

I don't always live up to what I am trying to do, but....I am trying to be an ambassador, not a sniper, for anarchy. That means not shooting the fence-sitters. That means I sometimes listen to what others are saying about the state without giving my (wonderful, informed, well thought out, insightful) opinion. You wouldn't believe how hard that can be. Well, yes, I'm sure you know exactly how hard it is.

In my moments of listening I find that, even among the government sympathizers, dissatisfaction is running high. They know something is wrong, but are too blind (or brainwashed) to see what it is.

It is not "which scoundrels" we elect; it is the entire idea of electing Rulers to control our lives that is disastrous. It is the fact that we have been lied to and deceived into believing that every problem can be solved by passing a new law. A "law" to control or restrict the other guy; to steal a little more of his liberty to enrich our own lives in some way. It does not work and never will.

Each piece of "the other guy's" liberty we steal is also stolen from our own liberty. As Ambassadors for Anarchy I hope we can steer others to find the real solution. Otherwise, it's gonna get messy.

Anarchists and Lotteries

I can understand why people still pay taxes. The guns of the state pointed at your back if you refuse and all that. Less understandable is why people play the state lottery.

I started thinking about this after standing in line waiting to pay for my milk while some guy bought $36.00 "worth" of lottery tickets. One ...... at ...... a ...... time. OK, not quite one at a time, but not quickly either. I am not an impatient person; just ask anyone who travels around with me. I can happily wait for a whole line of cars to pull into the intersection. Or I can invite people to cut in front of me, especially if I am having a lazy day. I was just thinking how much money the guy was wasting, and what he might use the money for if he hadn't been handing it over to the Rulers. Anyway, back to the topic.

Someone once called a lottery "A tax on people who are bad at math". When you realize your chance of winning is less than your chance of being obliterated by an asteroid strike you should put that money back in your pocket. Or buy something useful, like ammo.

The other thing is that it is a completely voluntary tax. There are no goons with guns forcing you to pay. You are walking in and voluntarily handing your money to the state. Money that you could use better and that the state doesn't deserve. Yes, I realize there is a tiny chance of a payoff, and I have succumbed to the temptation a couple of times. Still, that is money that is going to the state, and we who know better should not give a cent to the state voluntarily.

Just something to think about.


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Mottos

Here are some new mottos for government programs, agencies, and people.


The USA PATRIOT Act: "Protecting you from liberty." or "Giving the government more ability to combat Liberty."

The IRS: "You would have just wasted your money on food and rent anyway."

TSA: "Making air travel safe for terrorists."

BATFE: "Ensuring the government's monopoly on force grows stronger each day."

FDA: "Making your life and death decisions so you and your doctor won't have to."

CIA: "Creating foreign terrorists for the next generation."

The military: "Helping tyranny in the name of freedom."

Department of Education: "Creating submissive serfs through ignorance".

The Federal Reserve: "Making your money worthless to enrich ourselves."

The Democratic National Committee: "Still pretending we are different than the Republicans".

The Republican National Committee: "Still pretending we are different than the Democrats."

The Libertarian Party: "Pretending to still have principles."

The Supreme Court: "Grabbing power that is not ours to take since 1803."

Congress: "Still the opposite of progress."

EPA: "The world's worst polluter ordering you to protect the environment."

Department of Agriculture: "Preventing preparedness through bribery."

Department of Energy: "Innovation in private hands scares us!"

DEA: "Killing for chemicals."

Department of Justice: "Oops. We meant 'just us'"

Border Patrol: "Your friendly jailers."

Police departments across the land: "We are the 'standing army' your founders warned you about!"

National Firearms Act of 1934: "Infringing on your 'militia-appropriate weapons' just to see if we could get away with it. And we have for 74 years and still counting!"

Gun Control Act 0f 1968: "What 'slippery slope'?"

The Brady Act: "Look where momentum will take you."

Obama: "It depends what you mean by 'hope' and 'change'."

McCain: "I hope you mean to change my Depends."

Barr: "I hope and depend on a change in what 'liberty' means.



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Self Defense Thoughts

From Check Your Premises we get What is self-defense? Part 2. I think this is an important issue for us all to consider. You can read the previous discussion by following his links.

As I said in his comments, I don't usually consider verbal threats to be very serious, even if it is possible for the threatener to follow through. I have had several people make threats towards me during my life, but have yet to have someone really try to carry the threat out. Perhaps it is because I made it clear that I would defend myself if they tried. Perhaps it is because they cooled off or decided I wasn't worth the effort. Whichever, it means I have not been backed into a corner yet.

I realize that the state is a different critter: it threatens by its very existence, and it does carry out the threats against selected victims. Therefore, I think self-defensive actions are justified, if not always wise. I think it is usually easy to escape notice by the state, but I don't expect or demand anyone to live their life as a scurrying rodent hiding from a predator. I guess this is another case of wishy-washy "do what you like": confront, scurry, scheme, "gulch", or strike back. What is right for me may not be right for you in your current circumstance.

I do think that government is irredeemably evil, but I refuse to live my life worrying about what its agents or enforcers think about me. Government: disgusting, morally vacant, harmful to life and liberty, and never to be trusted with even the smallest power, but still almost completely irrelevant. Until something changes, I don't feel intimidated by them and I hope it stays that way.


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A Sense of "Belonging"

I can understand, in a way, why some people wish to join the military or do other things that make them a part of a group. They want to feel a sense of belonging. It is probably why they obsess over the term "brothers", too. It is unfortunate when those who claim to value liberty join a group that actively works to destroy it, and that is controlled by the worst enemy liberty has ever had, but I can at least see why they willingly blind themselves to that fact. Their need to belong overpowers their love of liberty.

I have rarely had that feeling of belonging. I have always been the black sheep. Maybe it is because I am not willing to turn my back on what I value in order to belong to a group that has opposite values. I would like to be a part of a group (real-life; not virtual) that mirrors my values. I would even enjoy a neutral group that has nothing to do with "values" of any sort, but is simply fun. I used to have that with karaoke. In my current situation, that may not be possible, but I will keep my eyes open to the possibility.


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Family

I had started writing this blog when I discovered that Sunni had already kinda beat me to the punch on some of my points. Oh well. I will go ahead and say what I was planning to say anyway!

Even though my family thinks I am rather odd, I feel that in a lot of ways I owe them for my oddness. It was my family who raised me and therefore encouraged me to exercise my ability to think for myself. I may have come to some different conclusions than they would have chosen, but without the freedom to think for myself, I would have never become an anarchist. With their support I was able to resist the brainwashing effects of the public "school" system. I was able to see through the smoke and mirrors of the state. For those things, and more, I thank them.

I think my differences with my family concerning individual liberty come down to the incontrovertible fact (in my eyes, at least) that is is absolutely wrong to punish a person for activities that harm no one but himself. Particularly as in "drug abuse". That fact stymies them every time. They just can't see it. I don't think it is a good thing to harm yourself with anything (medications, "cutting", overeating, job addiction), but adding "punishment" to the equation is just sick and perverted. Talk about making a bad situation worse!

If a person who is abusing drugs harms others, he is subject to self-defense (or owes restitution) just the same as anyone else. I am not excusing aggression by him or by anyone else. His problem does not give the state or anyone else the authority to coerce him to change his self destructive behavior; not through kidnapping (arrest, or forced treatment) or theft (fines, or civil-asset forfeiture). If you try to do so, you are the one committing the aggression and subject to the price of such behavior. And that is just as it should be.

My family would probably disagree, citing some responsibility to save people from themselves, or to prevent aggression before it happens. Unfortunately, they would be causing more damage than they prevented. Giving the state power over the lives of non-aggressors is the worse possible thing you could do to individual liberty. It just comes down to what you value. I can't speak for you, but as for me, I choose liberty!


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"Gun Crimes"

Some anti-gun (or gun ambivalent) people assume that since I despise victim disarmament "laws" with every cell of my body and every spark of my synapses, I have never lost a friend to a gun-wielding attacker. They would be wrong.

My best friend from my teen years was killed by a gunshot to his abdomen when he was 24 years old. The shooter was only charged with manslaughter and I don't know what ever happened in that case. I didn't care because nothing would have brought my friend back. That doesn't mean I would associate with his killer in any way (being a firm believer in the power of shunning), but revenge ("punishment") accomplishes nothing. Could a gun have saved my friend's life? I don't know since only the killer knows what really transpired in those fatal moments. If the killer's story is true, then a gun would not have saved my friend. If the killer is lying, then it was a fatal mistake for my friend to be unarmed. I would not have denied him the tools to have a chance at changing the outcome.

A few years later another very good friend was murdered by an ex-boyfriend whom she had gotten a restraining order against. That "paper shield" didn't work too well. She was working for a lawyer, and he was advising her on how to deal with the stalker, who kept walking away from the mental health facility where he was supposedly living. I wonder if her boss advised her to get a gun and learn how to use it. If not, he didn't do all he could have done. If I had been around her during this time, I certainly would have helped her in that way. Would it have saved her life? I don't know. The killer pulled up beside her at a traffic light and shot her in the head. I don't know if she ever knew he was there. Situational awareness is so important.

(I had another friend who was shot by a mugger, but survived. Once again, his situational awareness was nonexistent and allowed the attacker to grab him from behind before he was detected. A gun in my friend's hand would probably have changed nothing.)

The point is that my dead friends would be just as dead had they been killed by fists, knives, bricks, or poison. Why do hoplophobes focus on the gun instead of the violation of the ZAP? To deny others the most effective tools for self-defense ever invented because bad people sometimes use the same tools is positively retarded. Give everyone the chance to choose the tools they prefer, without bowing to the desires of the Rulers and freelance aggressors. Helping the most vulnerable among us helps us all.



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Eating Our Own

Recent discussions with Joey of The Freedom Symposium have illustrated to me what I think trips up the liberty movement*. The debate has really made me think, and has been very educational and helpful to me. It has helped me understand even more clearly why I believe what I believe (even if am not able to articulate it completely). None of this should be construed as an attack on him or his website, because I certainly don't mean it that way.

If you are a libertarian, you are already free, or at least well on your way to being a free anarchist (don't let that shock you. Just give it time). No one can truly enslave you without your consent, and often-times, with your help. Your body can be caged, it is true, but that isn't the worst enslavement. As long as you refuse to submit, in your mind, you remain free. That is the deepest freedom there is, and forms the foundation of physical freedom.

Most of us want to do so much more, though. We want the rest of the world to experience the joy and wonder of liberty that we experience. There is a stumbling block in our path: libertarians and anarchists will never get far in our quest for freeing the rest of the world if we can't stop "eating our own". It turns off those who may be interested by giving the appearance of a hostile environment. If they want that kind of life they can join the mainstream statists.

So many times we fall into the trap of "the only way". We decide our carefully, logically, thought out approach is the only way that will work to free everyone else. We tend to forget (because liberty is so important to us) that many people are scared of liberty and don't think they want to be free. Those people can be ignored for now. We can only help to free those who want it. The others will come around later, or they will join the statists in trying to kill those of us who insist on "liberty for ALL".

Look at history. "The only way" in any area is almost always wrong. Even paths that have led nowhere in the past may work in the future since the landscape constantly evolves. Don't limit your options, and don't denigrate others who are honestly trying. As for the in-fighting....I don't think it leads anywhere except to more centuries of statist domination.


*Just a joke. But sometimes I feel we are about as relevant to the world-at-large.

"Independence" means.......

"Independence means we have an awesome military!" Huh?

That was an actual quote I heard on the radio during "Independence" day. No wonder so few people understand freedom, liberty, and independence; they are looking in the wrong places for the wrong things. It is very disheartening to hear such vacuous statements as the above quote. How can people work for liberty, or even value it, if they don't have the foggiest clue what it is? How can we educate them when they don't want to hear?

Unless and until the military surrounds DC and cordons it off to keep the tyranny contained, the military has nothing whatsoever to do with promoting "liberty".

"Independence" means you are not dependent. There is no such thing as complete independence since all living beings are dependent on the sun and/or chemicals of some sort, and other life (for us "higher" forms). We should not be dependent on unnecessary things, though. As humans we should never be dependent on theft and coercion, which is all government consists of. For humans "independence" means that we are not a burden on others and do not live as a parasite. It means that we only are part of voluntary associations and do not force ourselves and our preferences on others. Government worship is the polar opposite of "Independence". To support government is to spit on liberty and independence.


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Is There a Silver Bullet?

Ignoring the state is satisfying, but does it accomplish anything more than making me feel good? I doubt that enough people can be convinced to ignore government to make a real dent. I'd love for you to prove me wrong!

Can education reach enough people, and illustrate to them that government is never the right way to solve anything? To show them that coercion is wrong, and collective coercion is the wrongest of the wrongs? It can help. Spread the news every chance you get!

Resistance is futile. At least for your individual liberty. The state and its sympathizers love to make an example of resisters. Liberty already has enough martyrs. If you have the guts for it, though, go ahead and make a stand, but be sure it can't be swept under the rug or ignored by the general population. Otherwise you are just preaching to the choir.

Can politics be used to gain more liberty for me or for you? Since, as I have said, "politics is a method people use to get along with those they dislike", I have my doubts that it can be used for much, other than harming others in some way. Still, if you can make a scene and get your point across.... there are those who automatically reject more unconventional methods; you may convince a few of them.

Voting is something I am very wishy-washy on. Sometimes it is fun, otherwise I would NEVER do it. I don't feel obligated to "go along" with results of elections that I don't agree with, and you shouldn't either. My rights are not up for vote.

Any form of "working within the system" is crippled by the fact that the patients are running the asylum ... and making the rules. Just try to get on a jury when you know your true responsibility. Yet, if you are sneaky enough, you just might make it on a jury and be able to save some innocent person from being state-raped.

The thing is, I don't know what will eventually topple the state and neither do you. It may be one of the paths already being trod, or it may be something new and completely unforeseen. That is why you should keep trying whichever method you like the most. Pricking, stinging, buzzing, tickling, distracting, and otherwise annoying the state in whatever way you can. Eventually something, somewhere, will be the final straw that will make it crumble like a camel-dung tower. We can't afford to stop trying on even one front.


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Patriotism and Independence Day

Time's Up for Tyranny.

Many people think "patriotism" is waving the US flag on "Independence Day", or reciting the socialists' "Pledge of Allegiance". Maybe it is. I prefer to not be called "patriotic" anyway.

I stand up for liberty for the individual; not loyalty to a government. Rights should always carry more weight than "authority". Instead of the US flag, I fly either the good old Gadsden flag (the real American flag) or the Time's Up flag. I think about what true "liberty" and "independence" are. I try to stay away from the war-lovers and the tyranny deniers. Those things are negative and negative people bring me down. Life is too short and precious to waste it on them.

If others honor and respect the same things, I am right there beside them; if not.... well, eventually time will show who is right.


PS: If you've always wanted a "Time's Up" flag, but been unable to afford one, here's a nice, free, virtual one you can use anywhere (online, anyway) you want. Enjoy it.

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The OverRulers

Government isn't just made up of Rulers, but of OverRulers.
They don't like the rules they are required to follow, so they overrule them.
They don't like the medicines or methods your doctor thinks would treat your condition, so they overrule him.
They don't like who you choose to love, so they overrule you.
They don't like the way you would prefer to live your life, so they overrule you.
And we let them do it!

Why?

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"The Heller Misdirection" By William Norman Grigg

This is the best analysis I have seen of the Heller decision: The Heller Misdirection:

I especially enjoyed this paragraph:

We can't really expect a statist creature like Antonin Scalia to embrace the
view that the right to keep and bear arms includes the right of citizens, acting
either individually or collectively, to kill agents of the state when such
action is necessary and morally justified. Any other view of the Second
Amendment is worse than useless; this is certainly true of the view that emerges
in Scalia's Heller opinion.

I guess Mr. Grigg is threatening to kill people, just like I get accused of doing.

I have been saying that the Heller decision is not a good thing for freedom in the long run. It seems more and more people are reaching the same conclusion. As long as you say something is an individual right, yet can be "limited", you are saying it is NOT a right at all, but a privilege that is granted by the state. That is disastrous for ALL our rights, not just the right to own and to carry weapons. As long as we assent to be subject to the whims of the state our rights are meaningless. Do not fall for it.

Your rights are absolute; not subject to limitations or restrictions. No court, not even a supreme one, has the authority to whittle even the smallest sliver off of your rights. So don't let them pretend that they do. Remember that, even according to a previous Supreme Court decision, you have no obligation to obey any "law" that violates the Constitution because, as they said, it is not really a "law". I guess it is a counterfeit "law".

Of course, in that same decision, the Supreme Court justices became criminals by illegally stealing power that was not theirs to have; leading to this whole "interpreting the Constitution" mess that we keep finding ourselves in. But that is just another example of why you and I should not get our sense of right and wrong from the Clowns of Coercion.

Thanks to The War on Guns

Libertarians

It is becoming more and more popular to call yourself a "libertarian". You see many scoundrels running for office or giving misleading opinions under that banner. It is much less popular to actually live up to the label.

I'll ignore what I consider to be the core principle of "libertarianism" for this post, since I can still illustrate my point without bringing it up. I will also not bring up the point that "anarchism" is simply "libertarianism" in full bloom; taken to its logical conclusion. (Ooops! Did I say that?)

Not everyone who calls themselves a libertarian or hangs out with libertarians is one. No matter what your own internal definition of "libertarian" happens to be, I am sure you would agree that many so-called "libertarians" hold mutually exclusive ideas and values. You can not embrace individual liberty while thinking the answer to "the problem" lies in more (or more powerful) government and more (or stricter enforcement of) "laws".

"Libertarian". The core of the word is "liberty". So anyone who is opposed to liberty or seeks to limit it in any way (except where it harms innocent people) must not, by definition, be a "libertarian". It is like saying you could be opposed to good health and be a doctor. Not impossible, but definitely irrational.

The "argument" often used by the timid so-called "libertarians" is: "you can't really want to get completely rid of cops or taxes or all gun laws or....? That would lead to chaos and death in the streets!" I doubt it would, but.... Sometimes individual liberty might be inconvenient. It might even be dangerous. No one who values the individual over the collective ever said life would be or should be safe. A safe life (totally imaginary, by the way) would not be worth much anyway. Liberty is unexpected and exciting. It has no guarantees or limits. Even so, the alternative is much worse. The worst among us get drawn toward a position inside the state's machinery where they can use coercion to control and harm others in ways a freelance attacker can only dream of.

There are many socialists of the "left" and the "right" who are trying to have a bit of the libertarian glow rub off on them by claiming the label. Yet they are not willing to leave their love of the state and their distrust of individual liberty behind where it belongs. If this applies to you, you may need to rethink your ideas of yourself. It embarrasses the rest of us who actually believe in real individual liberty and are not ashamed to stand up for it... even when it is inconvenient.



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"SHHHHH! Don't Make a Scene!"

"Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice, moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue."

I have seen the above quote attributed to several people, so I will let you sort it out. All I can say for sure is that it didn't originate with me. But I do agree with the quote, "extremely".

It seems that there are a lot of people, even self-proclaimed "libertarians", who disagree with that quote, though. Yes, I am an extremist when it comes to individual liberty. So? There can be no compromise; no equivocation; no "ifs, ands, or buts" because: "In any compromise between food and poison, it is only death that can win. In any compromise between good and evil, it is only evil that can profit.” (Ayn Rand)

I will not ever call for the killing of innocent people, nor have I ever done such a thing. It violates the ZAP. However: "In self defense and in defense of the innocent, killing is not murder, hesitation is not moral, and cowardice is the only sin." (Dean Koontz). If you do not want to be subject to being killed in self-defense, it is an extremely simple thing to avoid. Don't attack the innocent. It isn't that hard, I promise. If your job makes it an impossible standard to live up to, then you should change jobs.

Don't mistake resolve for anger. I am not angry, and in fact, I am happy and relaxed. I simply will not be pushed. I will not compromise. I will be a soul-mirror: the attitude you approach me with will be reflected. Approach me with a full recognition that I am aware that my rights are an inborn trait, not subject to your wishes, and we will have no problems since I have the same understanding and awareness of your rights. I have no pathological desire to rule you or your children. I will consider any attempt to rule me or my children as an unjustified attack. Yet, I am not angry. Just resolved. Too many have been too polite to those whose behavior and attitude do not warrant politeness. Look where it has led.

If you take this as a threat, then obviously you are planning to attack an innocent person, or you support those who do. Either way you need to examine your beliefs and positions. You are on the side of the aggressors.


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A Letter to the Editor

In the local paper, I read an editorial that got me stirred up. The editor makes anti-government sounds, but he is just anti-this government. He believes that there could be a good government out there somewhere.

I wrote this in response and it was published on June 19, 2008. You can get the gist of his editorial by my response, but it is not available online.
____________________________________________________________

Dear Editor,

In your Border Banter column of June 12, you seemed to be saying that politicians are not doing the "right things"; that with different scoundrels in office, the process would "work". It isn't the particular scoundrels that are wrong, it is the process.

Your hero, FDR, set many of the things in motion that have led to our current situation. Socialism by any other name still doesn't work. Gridlock in congress is the safest course of action. There are more than enough laws to interfere with our lives for centuries to come without any new ones being passed. The best way for government, at any level, to help the middle class is to get out of our way and let us do what we do best: build America one person at a time. The same for the health care crisis. Allow people to choose their medications or health care providers without state interference. Allow doctors to prescribe alternative treatments they feel might work better and cheaper for a particular patient. More government always brings a cost that is greater than the benefit. I have enough sense to make decisions for myself. Don't you?

Inflation is a phantom. The real problem is that our money has been stolen by government printing presses. When your money is not backed by anything of value, such as gold or silver, and more can be printed out of thin air, it will always lose value. Fiat currency creates the illusion of price increases as it sinks towards worthlessness. A gallon of gasoline still costs about the same as the silver content of a pre-1964 quarter. Think about that for a moment. Gas at a quarter per gallon, except that our "new" non-silver quarters are no longer worth a quarter, but only about a penny.

Redistribution of wealth is wrong. Controlling the lives of people who are harming no one but themselves is wrong. To allow a majority to vote to violate the rights of a minority is wrong. As long as you have a system that allows or even demands such things, our society will still be sick with all the bad things you griped about: inflation, silly regulations, clueless politicians, healthcare crises, and a middle class that bears the burden of the parasitic class of Rulers.

Sincerely, Kent McManigal

"The Rejection of Liberty"

Please take the time to read The Rejection of Liberty by Rick Flame. It gives a good review of the reasons people may use in choosing government over liberty.