The Assumption of Aggression

It is very hard for most people to think of a way to consider methods of interacting with others that don't involve using The State in some way.

Think of "liberals" and you think of the "laws" they impose on the rest of us.

Think of "conservatives" and you think of the "laws" they impose of the rest of us.

Think of "libertarians" and most people think of the "laws" that the Libertarian Party members want to get rid of or change, through political activism.

Think of "anarchists" and most people think instead of communists who want to use The State to impose their desires on everyone else.

Few people think of people interacting as individuals on their own, without using The State.  So, for the people who have their preference but don't seek to use coercion or theft, the round holes of assumed "political action" are a non-fit from the beginning.

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Euphemisms don’t change ethics

Euphemisms don’t change ethics 

(My Clovis News Journal column for December 28, 2012.)

Following libertarian principles is inseparable from being a decent human being.

Even kindergartners are taught the libertarian principles: don't start a fight by throwing the first punch and don't take other people's stuff. It really is that simple.

It's only as kids get older that most adults start trying to make children accept exceptions to these rules. It is a glaring inconsistency that most children can see right through, while their parents try to wiggle around finding justifications that just aren't there.

Rules are often made up to try to short-circuit a child's understanding. They are told that they can't fight back to defend themselves when someone violates the rules and hits them first. Or, they are taught that they aren't really the one starting the fight if someone has offended them in some way. They are told that stealing is OK as long as it is done with majority approval, as part of your job, or if it is called "sharing" even though it isn't voluntary.

You can't raise ethical kids by condoning this kind of behavior and confusing the issues.

Yet you can even be non-libertarian in your personal beliefs and still behave in an outwardly decent manner by following libertarian principles.

Whether a person is conservative or liberal, as long as they don't steal or use coercion and attack the innocent, we can get along. For that matter, I even have no problem with people choosing to live in a communist enclave, as long as all participants are there by unanimous consent, no one is coerced into participating, and anyone can opt out any time they wish. The first time a person is coerced to give up their self-ownership without their consent, and without it being necessary to fulfill a voluntarily-acquired debt or to pay restitution, the consent is gone. Theft or coercion has then occurred.

The problem is that non-libertarians try to change the names of theft and coercion to hide the true nature of the acts. Theft becomes "taxation", "property codes", "asset forfeiture", or "eminent domain", while attacking the innocent becomes "sobriety checkpoints", "immigration control", "gun control", and "homeland security". The euphemisms change nothing about the ethics of the acts.

I hope that the new year brings you in contact with lots of people who relate to you as if they are libertarians. I hope, too, that you will try to return the favor. Happy New Year!

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Do origins matter?

I really despise the "Pledge of Allegiance".  I know too much about its origin to respect it at all.

I know this puts me in a suspected minority.

But it makes me consider an idea.  How much does the origin of something matter?  Something that had a bad origin can turn out to be good and something that had a good origin can turn out to be bad.  Just look around you to see the truth of this.

In the case of the hated "Pledge", it can be judged by its fruits today: nationalism, war-mongering, blind devotion. and obedience.  All disgusting, rotten, poisonous fruits.

But, just because it was created by a nationalist/socialist doesn't automatically make it bad- judge it for yourself by how it is used today.  If you still think it is a good thing... well, give yourself to any ideology you want, but leave me out of it.

"Media and Politicians Firing Blanks"

Media and Politicians Firing Blanks

by Brian Wilson

Have you ever fired a gun? (NB: water, cap, BB, paintball and fingers
are not acceptable)

How many guns have you seen become violent? If your answer acknowledges
an individual is necessary to operate the weapon, why, then, are you
using the term "gun violence" and not "human violence"?

In 25 words or less: What is an "Assault Weapon"? Be specific

(Extra Credit: From Columbine to Newtown, how many involved "Assault
Weapons"?)

What is the difference between a "magazine" and a "clip"? Use both in a
sentence.

Is a .223 cartridge more or less powerful than the predominant rifle
cartridge used by American fighting men in WWII?

(Extra Credit: What was the caliber of the predominant rifle
cartridge used in WWII?)

If you had to choose, would you prefer to shot with a .22? .223? 30-06?
00Buck?

("None of the Above" is an understandable but unacceptable answer)

Why is a black gun more dangerous than one made with differently colored
components?

If black guns are bad, isn’t that racist?

How does a bayonet lug make the "assault rifle" more lethal?

(Extra credit: How many drive-by bayonetings occurred in the US last
year?)

To the nearest 100,000, how many Assault Rifles are made of Nerf?

Within 10,000, how many times a day do law-abiding gun owners prevent a
crime without firing a shot?

Approximately how many gun laws (State and Federal) are in force in
America today?

With so many laws already in force, what are the compelling reasons to
believe criminals and mass murders will obey the new ones?

If faced with a home invasion, would you want to be holding your phone
or your firearm?

The above was forwarded to me by MamaLiberty

I have a couple of questions of my own to ask anti-liberty bigots:

Are you completely insane?

Are you totally ignorant of human nature, history, ethics, physics, and the difference between right and wrong?

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The silliness of "borders"

Borders.  Imaginary lines.  I can understand them to a certain extent.  Private property lines are the borders that trump all others.  And I can even understand a "border" that gives an area an identity.  Maybe based upon geography or customs or other things like that which give a shared identity that the locals rally around.  As long as they are not imposed or maintained by "law".

What I don't understand are "legal borders".  I mean the kind that derive from governments saying  "We have these laws over here, and they have those laws over there.  Our laws are better than theirs." That includes saying that "You live here, so we are entitled to a percentage of your money."  And, really, that's all "national borders"- and even "state borders"- come down to.  "Our laws are better than their laws" and posturing to be the "legitimate" thief.

To say "Here, possession of this plant/gun/car window makes you a criminal, even if over there it doesn't" is evil.  For that matter, passing or enforcing any "law" that attempts to control or prohibit anything beyond aggression or taking/damaging property (which may include trespassing) is evil.  So, arguing over borders is just two thugs arguing over which one is violating you in "just the right way".

And the short answer to that is: neither one.

Since I don't believe in "laws" that go beyond (or violate) the Zero Aggression Principle and "don't steal/damage other people's property" (which never need to be written down anyway), the rest of the "laws" are all bad.  To pretend your counterfeit "laws" are better than anyone else's counterfeit "laws" is ridiculous.

It's not about "open borders".  It's about the ridiculous notion that a line dividing between different bundles of "laws" is anything other than a delusion based upon elevating theft and aggression to a place of honor.


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I need more exciting dreams

Sometimes I have odd dreams.

Recently I dreamed I was watching an in-depth video presenting the best arguments for conservatism, liberalism, libertarianism, and pure anarchism.

Each position was laid out by the best proponent of each philosophy.  No, I didn't dream who each of those people might be.

The video ended with sci-fi movies showcasing libertarianism/anarchism.  I guess in my dream, the conclusion was a foregone conclusion as to which philosophy was going to be discovered to be the best.


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Imaginary lines

A family member was complaining about an arbitrary rule that resulted in an inconvenience because we happen to live on the losing side of a state line- everything we need generally lies on the other side, and because that is a different state, some things are off-limits to us and we have to go miles out of our way to something "in state".  In this case it was a dog rescue group that wouldn't take in a starving dog that was rescued because "we don't take them from out of state".

My family member was griping that it was all "because of that imaginary line".

I agree.  The thing is, she's perfectly fine with other imaginary lines.  Why does the imaginary line between "Texas" and "New Mexico" on a map bother her, while the imaginary lines between "The USA" and "Mexico" or "Canada" are fine with her?  (I'm kidding- I doubt she cares about the imaginary line that says where Canada begins.)

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Strikers

Would the person who emailed me about hand-forged strikers please email again.  It went to my "junk" box and I saw it just as I emptied the box- and it was too late and I can't get it back.

Sorry about that, and I hope you get this message.

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"Traffic stops" are the key

It's all well and good to have a plan and know how to defeat Stormtroopers and reavers who show up in masks and body armor at your house at 3AM, to kidnap or murder you and your family- after shooting Rex and stomping Fluffy for the sacred cause of Officer Safety, of course.

However, the reality is that most of the kidnappings will be done as the result of a "traffic stop".  This is where they have gotten more people accustomed to forced encounters with agents of The State.  And most people are trained and frightened into being compliant and cooperative.  That is going to have to end if liberty is to ever return to the former America.

I'm sorry to be the one to have to break the news to you, if you haven't already realized it on your own.  But it has come to this.

So, think about it and plan accordingly.


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Go back in time- Kill Hitler

I love time travel stories, particularly tales of travel into the past and thoughts of "What would I do if I could go back in time?  What would I try to change?"

There are lots of events in my own past I'd be tempted to change.

Beyond the personal, there are so many events I would like to witness first-hand to see for myself how badly misinformed I am due to errors of history or willful disinformation.

But one almost universal thought I hear connected to the idea of time travel is the assertion that "If I went back in time I'd kill Hitler."

Regardless of whether they'd smother newborn Hitler or shoot him just before he began to kill the innocents, they seem to be saying that they would, with the wisdom of information about the future, be bold enough to do something that would be seen by most contemporary observers to be an act of evil.  In order to prevent an actual evil that would then (probably) never come to pass.  They might even go down in history as an evil assassin.  Or a baby murderer.

Sadly, by the time that killing Hitler was obviously the right thing to do, his security apparatus made chances of success almost nil.

I wonder what would happen if I could somehow send a message back in time to the 1930s, to people who might encounter Hitler before it was too late.  Back before the tides of history became obvious.  Back when an assassin would have been seen as evil.

Maybe we have dodged that bullet before.  What would people say to the purely hypothetical claim that JFK was just days away from becoming a mass-murdering despot when he was shot?  It seems highly unlikely, but since he was killed and we can't know what he would have done the next day, there could never be any real proof.  A time-traveling assassin could do a lot of good while being judged to be a monster.

What would a time traveler from 50 years in our future do if he showed up tomorrow?  Or, if he couldn't physically return to this point in time, but could send you a message, what might he tell you?  What would you do about it?

Funny thing about today- it will be history soon enough.  You are living in someone's "history" today.  How will our grandchildren and their grandchildren view us?  How do we view the Germans of the 1930s?  I wonder what their ghosts might say to us if they could communicate.


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Self defense prevents massacres

Self defense prevents massacres

(My Clovis News Journal column for Winter Solstice/The Mayan Apocalypse/December 21, 2012.)

Mass murders.

Who commits them?
Where do they happen?
How can they be prevented?
How can they be stopped when prevention fails?

These seem to be the only reasonable questions to ask in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre.

Who commits them? People who have mental problems; which have usually been treated with SSRI medications. People who, for various reasons, are already prohibited (illegally and unconstitutionally) from possessing the weapons they use to murder people.

Where do they happen? Almost exclusively in places where people have been told they are not allowed to be armed, and usually where there will be a crowd of distracted people and a bottle-neck to "control" entry.

How can they be prevented? By curing mental illness, or by force or the threat of force.

While seeking cures there needs to be an immediate solution, and there is.

People can be locked up before they start killing, or it can be made impossible for them to kill anyone. Therein lies a problem.

No expert can know who is really a threat. There's also the problem of "who gets to decide what constitutes a 'mental illness?'" Just like "drunk driving", the definition will creep to include anything the "authorities" want it to encompass.

There is also no way, short of killing the person, to make it impossible for them to harm someone. The brain is really the only weapon there is, and as long as it is conscious and able to control the body, it can kill. The tools used to accomplish that perverted goal are interchangeable and irrelevant.

So how about prevention through the threat of force? That works better. By letting these aggressive monsters know that they will not have an easy harvest, they may decide it isn't worth it- not enough infamy to bother. That police will eventually show up doesn't stop them because they know they'll have met their goal by that time. But a universally-armed society? That those they plan on killing will fight back and ruin the scheme removes much incentive.

Which leads to the final question: How can massacres be stopped when prevention fails? By the good violence of self defense. Immediately deployed. From several different sources at once. Sure, most of these monsters plan on dying, but they also plan on murdering a large number before that happens. Foil them. Any other suggestions are just the sounds of sheep bleating, begging the wolf to go away, while standing in the butcher's holding pen.

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Property theft on grand scales

I saw this top map on Facebook.  I can't verify its accuracy.  I also won't debate whether a particular State is "better" than some other State.  Are they based on "taxation" and coercion?  That's all I need to know.

What that map does make me think of is another map, concerning someone else who was in a place first (and, no, no one was in either of these places in "the beginning", but migrated there at some point) and lost their land/property and freedom to someone else who decided that god had given the land to them, because of their obvious superiority and because they won god's favor.  Or something.

It just doesn't smell right to me, in either case.

Of course, it wouldn't be an issue at all without governments behind it.  People should be free to keep their property, or sell or trade it, to anyone for any reason.  People should also be free to use any means at their disposal to defend their property from those who want to steal it.  Neither of the illustrations show consensual property redistribution, but theft and aggression.  And no one should ever be subject to some government or its "laws" simply because of where they live or because of who outnumbers them.

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Sheriffs discover nullification

While I suppose I am glad that there are some sheriffs making nullification-type noises concerning proposed anti-gun edicts, I would be more impressed if they realized that the next anti-liberty "laws" are just a continuation of the evil anti-liberty "laws" they enforce every day.  And have been enforcing since they took office.

Mr. Shire Reeve:

If you accept any "federal money", equipment, supplies, or oversight, you are already an oathbreaker.

If you enforce any anti-drug "laws", you are already an oathbreaker.

If you have ever arrested anyone on any "weapons charges", you are already an oathbreaker.

If you allow federal "law enforcement" to operate in your employers' territory in order to commit any of those acts, you are already an oathbreaker.

What's one more violation to you?  Why make a fuss now, when you have been happy to betray your neighbors thus far?  Is it to fool people into believing you have principles?  Is it to cover your... "self"... when your neighbors start picking up pitchforks and lighting torches?  Are you trying to give yourself plausible deniability?

I won't be fooled.  Some of your neighbors probably won't be fooled, either.

You have already chosen your side.  Unless you switch sides, unequivocally, now- and immediately cease and desist your unconstitutional, immoral, and unethical actions this instant.

Past violations can be forgiven.  Future actions will be tallied.

Where will you be standing when the account comes due?

(The other side of the coin: Law enforcers openly admit to being criminals)

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Unveiling: Money

If the US government can do it, so can I.  After all, no State has rights not held by the individuals who make it up, and no individual has more rights than any other.  And if rights are imaginary, then no one has a right to rule me or coerce me, so...

Here is the one and only 1 Million Money Note in existence.  So far, anyway.

I authorize myself- through my own Constitution- to issue Money in whatever form I see fit (it says so right on the back of the note).

The current exchange rate for a "Money" is 1 Money to $0.75 (in Federal Reserve Notes).  Silver and gold are given preference in exchange, and get better rates, though.

Acceptance is not mandatory, but is purely voluntary.  Laziness on my part, and my inability to issue Money electronically, ensures that Money will never hyperinflate itself in the way US Dollars are guaranteed to do.

But, just like Federal Reserve Notes or US coins, it is only really worth the material, the paper or metal, that makes it up.  Only the belief it is worth more makes it worth more.

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Law enforcers openly admit to being criminals

"We will uphold whatever laws that are actually enacted."

Then you will be violating your oath of office as well as declaring yourself a domestic enemy.

"Shall not be infringed" doesn't leave any room to wiggle.

And, before you grasp at the "well-regulated militia" part remember that when the words were penned, "well-regulated" meant "well-practiced" and "fine tuned"; not what anti-liberty bigots want it to mean. And the militia is everyone capable of holding and shooting a gun.

There is no room left for your feelings or concerns. The Bill of Rights leaves no room for any anti-gun "laws"- not against "felons" possessing guns; not against semi-automatic or fully automatic guns; not against where the guns may be carried.

The Bill of Rights doesn't "give" anyone any rights- it takes away authority. The only thing the Bill of Rights did was make it a very serious crime for government employees to pass or enforce any "law" dealing with guns in any way. If you don't like that then you need to immediately remove yourself from any position of "authority".

Unfortunately, the sheriffs who have announced they will not be enforcing any further unconstitutional "laws" are lying.  You know it and I know it.  Because they will still be enforcing anti-drug "laws", and taking federal handouts, and assisting federal (and illegal) law enforcement agencies.  And, when push comes to shove, they will roll over and betray their employers to the feds in order to keep their "job".


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"Too much liberty"?

I wish cops would just leave everyone alone.  Yes, I mean everyone.

Like Thomas Jefferson, "I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it." (1791)  He would have hated, and fought against, the current police state that infests the former America.

I am tired of seeing cops everywhere.  L. Neil Smith once (or probably more) said America has 10 times more police than any civilized country should tolerate.  Well, I'd say the situation is at least an order of magnitude worse now.  But I don't want any police.  Not one.

Let me deal with bad drivers, robbers, rapists, jaywalkers, thieves, murderers, unlicensed pharmacists, drunks, in my own way- without initiating force- IF I FEEL THE "NEED" TO "DEAL WITH THEM" AT ALL!  If you are too weak or too cowardly to deal with them on your own, I might even volunteer to assist you as long as you don't "ask" for my help through some coercive agent.  But I will warn you right now- if they are not attacking anyone, nor stealing, you are on your own because what they are doing is none of my business.  Nor yours.

I have no use for cops, and really, neither do you.  They need to just go away.  Forever.


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Gun Appreciation Day

Yes, I appreciate guns.  I appreciate the pleasure they have brought into my life.  I love the way they feel and smell.  I enjoy handling them and shooting them.

I appreciate the fact that guns have helped feed hungry people for hundreds of years.

I appreciate the fact that guns have helped good people resist- and kill- tyrants, thieves, thugs, home invaders, drunk husbands, jealous girlfriends, rabid dogs, and various other vermin.

I appreciate the fact that guns have provided countless hours of enjoyment for "plinkers", and target shooters, and Buckskinners, and "Cowboy Action Shooters", and gunsmiths, and movie goers.

Guns have been abused by bad guys.  Bison were indiscriminately slaughtered.  Genocides were carried out.  Helpful signs are damaged (and by "helpful" I am obviously not talking about "stop signs" or "speed limit signs" or any other Nanny State excuses for highway robbery).

I have lost two friends to bad guys with guns.  Another friend was shot by a mugger, but survived.  Would my dead friends have survived if they had been in possession of a gun at the time they were attacked?  I don't know, but they couldn't have been hurt any worse.  I am not stupid enough to blame the tool the bad guys used.  Yes, that is what it requires to blame guns for the bad guys' actions: stupidity on a monumental scale.

I blame bad guys for all they take from life, and I appreciate guns for all the good they bring to life.


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Gun Appreciation Day- To the NRA:

I have been trying to send the following letter to the NRA, and their "contact form" has managed to prevent the message from being sent.  Very well.

Here it is:

Not ONE MORE INCH! 

If NRA 'compromises' one iota on ANYTHING anti-gun, no matter how pragmatic it may be, I will renounce my life membership and publicize it on my blog, on facebook and twitter, and in my newspaper column. 

No anti-gun 'law' is constitutional- not one.  Not the 1934 NFA, not carry permits, not prohibitions on felons possessing guns.  Stop calling for the reavers of 'law enforcement' to 'enforce the laws already on the books'- you are supposed to be on OUR side; not theirs.  Stop pretending there is any legitimacy to any anti-gun 'law'.   

I am tired of the tsunami of 'compromise' sweeping away liberty and making 'criminals' out of decent people. 

I am tired of NRA supporting anti-gun puppeticians who are in 'useful positions', and ignoring candidates who are actually pro-gun, just because they might not win.  Washington DC, and its lesser, more local partners in tyranny need to be warned that gun owners will not obey one more 'law', and any attempt to inflict another 'law' on us will result in more of us seeing the stupidity of obeying the counterfeit 'laws' we have obeyed up to this point.   

If the penalty for owning a semi-auto is just as draconian as the penalty for owning a full-auto, why settle for the lesser weapon? 

Rights don't come from government or a constitution.  Rights can be respected or violated.  Period.  I am tired of seeing them violated with NRA's 'compromising' consent.

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My "NRA" tag

I don't know if you have noticed, but I "tag" most of my pro-gun posts with my NRA tag.

Not because I think the NRA is pro-gun, but because I enjoy ridiculing their anti-liberty stance by demonstrating how real pro-gun looks.


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Be ready. Be vigilant.

Keep a close watch for the next couple of weeks.  Be observant beyond your normal level.  Stay as alert as you can manage- and push the awareness envelope.

Because, I hate to suggest it, but judging by the past I suspect America is ripe for another mass shooting- they always seem to happen when the feds and their slimy familiars are seeking support for new anti-gun "laws".  Not saying that these events are "triggered" or called into action, but...

You might be the person to stop it before it happens.

Sure, that will not be reported by the "mainstream" media, but that's OK.  You are not looking for fame anyway, but looking to live by the Zero Aggression Principle.  Right?

Don't depend on someone else carrying your load for you.  Be ready.  Be vigilant.  "Don't leave home without it."  The war is here- denying it won't make the truth go away.

You watch my back- I'll watch yours.

And, thank you in advance.


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