Religion vs Rightful Liberty

My political/social opinions on religion pretty much begin and end with whether that religion- put into practice- violates Rightful Liberty.

All religions may have good points and bad points- I'm not familiar with all religions, or everything any of them teach in every instance. I suppose if there were no positives, no one would have ever began following it. I could be wrong.

The ancient texts may advocate horrendous things that the modern followers mostly ignore. In that case, the religion is worse than it's modern followers.

Or, the ancient texts may show a path of rightful liberty and neighborliness the modern followers ignore in order to push an agenda they prefer. In that case the modern followers are worse than their religion.

Both circumstances can even happen simultaneously in the same religion, depending on what part is being focused on.

Or, a religion can be vile, and it's modern followers may follow the vile precepts to the letter while adding their own abominations to it. I think we can all see this happening quite a bit today.

In all my readings of the Bible, I never remember even one instance of Jesus saying "There ought to be a law."

Nor "Vote ye, therefore, for the lesser of two evils so that the laws of the world can be changed in order to bring Heaven on Earth."

Didn't happen, and goes against everything else he is quoted as saying.

If, as a Christian, you try to enshrine your religion as "law", you spit on your religion and on Rightful Liberty.

If, as a Muslim, you try to enforce your religion as "law", you may be following the rules of your religion, but you are still trampling Rightful Liberty- which trumps any religion. Sorry.

In both cases, I will defy you.

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Vanishing statists

Months ago I had someone "friend" me on Facebook. A "conservative" statist, I would guess, from the things I read on his page.

He added me and then warned me that libertarians and anarchists always ended up running away and "unfriending" him when they couldn't counter his arguments or get past his logic.

I accepted the challenge without comment.

After he responded to one or two things I wrote in the first week or so, he has slipped off into the sunset of silence. He's still on my "friend list", but I haven't seen hide nor hair of him in any comments. I wonder what happened to his self-assurance?

Then again, I tend to wonder if the guy is a sort of troll, making "conservative" statists look ridiculous by the things he promotes. It's possible.

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"I would shoot somebody!"

Very often, when the subject of guns comes up with someone I am just meeting, they will make the comment that they "could never carry a gun", because they would "get mad and shoot someone".

That's disturbing to know.

If someone doesn't trust themselves with a gun, how can I trust them? At all?

Could part of their problem be that they don't demand responsibility of themselves, but feel it's OK to go through life like a spoiled child who could strike out anytime they get offended? Maybe a gun would force them to grow up; to take control of their impulses.

I do know it had that effect on me.

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Good job, PA State Police!

Your overwrought, expensive, and childish vendetta has done something I have been trying to do for years: shown some diehard statists that the only ones you truly "protect and serve" are your own gang members. 

I call that a "win"!

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Happy Halloween!

For your Halloween reading pleasure (?), here are two of my creepy stories from the past:

Melissa's Ghost (With help from Claire Wolfe)

The Werewolf

The Ghoul of Oasis

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After these messages...

If anyone has been considering making a donation to me, this would be a nice time. It's been a while since I asked. Clickable donation buttons to the right.

Or, you can help me out in other ways.

Thanks!

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Which package would you subscribe to?

When you sign up for cable TV service, or a satellite dish TV service, you can choose between a few "packages" they offer. You pay a set price for a lot of channels you don't want in order to get the few you do want.

That's exactly like "taxes" and The State.

You may be under the belief that you want government to tax everyone so you can have roads and "safetyness". But you can't choose to only pay for those items; you must also pay for the salaries of congressvermin, and for welfare (but I repeat myself). You pay for blatant violations of your right to own and to carry weapons to be committed against you, and for government kinderprisons. You are forced to pay for a lot of crap you don't want- and which you may even despise- to get the few things you do want.

How does this make sense to anyone?

If each of us were allowed to pay for only those things we want, I wouldn't waste my breath speaking out against "taxation"... but then it wouldn't BE "taxation", since it would be completely voluntary.

And, even if I want to pay for a particular service, I want options. I may want to buy the service from someone else who gives me more of what I want and less of what I don't. I can choose to opt out altogether. In the case of TV, that means I don't get to watch their offerings, but that's a "price" I willingly pay if I don't think the money spent is worth what I get in return.

Which illustrates a huge difference between The State and TV subscriptions: the consensual nature of the cable and satellite TV providers' services.

I haven't had TV in years (I do have Netflix streaming), and no cable company has shown up at my door to force me to choose a package they, or their satellite competitors, offer. Try refusing to pay your subscription fees for The State and see if they are as consensual as TV providers.

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Selling reminder

Just a reminder- I still have some things for sale on eBay, and also I'm still selling patches.

"Believing in" Liberty

As much as we don't like to face it, our beliefs come first and our reasons we use to justify our beliefs follow. The smarter a person is, the better they are at finding justifications for what they already believe.

Long ago, I was a statist. Sure, I didn't trust or want much government standing in my way, but I "knew" government of some sort was necessary. And, even though I really didn't spend much time thinking about it, I could have found lots of ways to justify my beliefs- and would have even argued that the reasons I found were why I believed the way I did, rather than the other way around.

But, those subconscious reasons kept coming up against hard facts and cold reality.

At some point I did start actually thinking about it- oops.

Finally my beliefs began to change. A process that is still ongoing. (Funny, though, it has always moved in the same direction all my life- toward fewer and fewer exceptions justifying external control of others and toward a deeper respect for Rightful Liberty.)

Now I believe liberty is the only reasonable way to approach life. And I am very good at finding reasons I would say cause me to hold that belief.

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Many confused about libertarians

Many confused about libertarians

(My Clovis News Journal column for September 26, 2014.)

Very often, in the national media, I see items which show just how confused most people are over what is "libertarian" and what isn't. Liberals confuse libertarians for conservatives; especially of the "Tea Party" variety. Conservatives confuse libertarians for liberals. No one seems to understand why those are both wrong.

It even happens locally. Recently, during some admittedly heated discussion over a local event which attracted negative international attention, someone took issue with what I consider a case of "calling a spade a spade". He thought my behavior was not very libertarian, which he mischaracterized as "do no harm".

Now libertarians are confused for doctors, too? Although only libertarianism can really heal any sick society, "do no harm" isn't a part of libertarianism.

Perhaps he was confused by our adherence to the Zero Aggression Principle, which shows our recognition of having no right to initiate force, in person or by proxy, against any other human being.

Anything less only provides refuge for the bad guys.

Libertarians fully support doing harm, through the use of physical force, to those who are caught in the act of violating any person or property. It's called "self defense" and can cause real damage to the aggressor. Personally, I am against using physical force against someone who is only caught after the fact, seeing this as vengeance rather than self defense. Vengeance is the opposite of justice, which is why government "justice systems" are so fond of it- when wielded through "official channels", at least.

Libertarians also support exposing people caught committing aggression or theft to social pressure to change their ways through shunning and ostracism. This means advertising their wrongdoing publicly, so others know and can decide whether or not to associate and do business with them. This can be seen as "calling names" by supporters of the aggressor or thief, who would rather the incident be swept under the rug and ignored.

If publicity can be considered "doing harm", so be it. Thieves and aggressors choose their path, and their complaints about what happens as a consequence don't break my heart.

On the other hand, self defense and public exposure of anti-social behavior isn't really the causing of "harm"; but the repairing of harm. Sure, from the perspective of the bad guy and his supporters, this might be harmful, but from the perspective of the rest of the individuals in society, it is what is needed to make up for harm done, and to prevent future harm by alerting everyone around to the probable danger of dealing with someone who has shown a willingness to violate person and property in the past. It's justice.

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Everywhere, yet nowhere

The state is pervasive. Everyone seems to be wrapped up in its tentacles in some way.

Either they have a government job or their job depends on government contracts, their kid is enslaved by the military, they depend on welfare, or they feel loyal to the local government kinderprison.

And the sick people like it that way.

This entanglement makes it harder for them to face the harsh reality.

And, yet, The State only exists in the minds of those addicted to obsessing over it- either loving it or hating it.

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Pride in shameful things

I just had a horrifying realization!

Some people- maybe most people- have some sort of psychological need to feel proud of "their" government!

Why would anyone be that pathetic?

Do they also need to feel proud of the other robbers and molesters who surround them?

Yeah, I know: Stockholm Syndrome and all that. But still... it's just bizarre!

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Old, made up, "news" is good news to Prohibitionists

A couple of weeks ago, the local weekly paper, in the column written by the owner/publisher, was gleefully reporting the newest anti-marijuana study by Professor Wayne Hall. The paper's owner has long had a bee in his bonnet about marijuana, believing it to be a good thing to prohibit, and apparently, cage and kill people over. This "news" was exactly the sort he loves to find and pass along.

The thing is, this professor's "findings" are exactly the same sort of things the prohibitionists have been saying for decades.

And, the professor doesn't seem to understand that correlation is not causation, which means he isn't doing science, but only propping up propaganda.

His assertion "it could double the risk of severe psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia" seems to ignore the fact that people with psychiatric disorders are more likely to self-medicate, with whatever they can find, to relieve their discomfort. Even I can figure this out.

According to Hall, "those who try to stop taking the drug can often suffer anxiety, lower appetite, depression and insomnia, and less than half of people who stop taking it can stay off it for six months". And, he says "The important point I am trying to make is that people can get into difficulties with cannabis use, particularly if they get into daily use over a long period."

OK. Anything you get into a habit of doing on a daily basis can get in the way of life, and can be extremely hard to stop doing.

And, there was more bad "science" of the same kind all through his findings. Almost everything he "discovered" as a researcher working as an advisor to a Big Government group (the World Health Organization of the United Nations) is what prohibitionists want to be discovered.

And, guess what: even if everything he claims were absolutely true, it STILL wouldn't invent a right to tell other people what they are allowed to eat, drink, smoke, or otherwise consume. It's totally irrelevant. That "right" doesn't exist, can't exist, and can't be invented. It doesn't matter if it's Nanny Bloomypants trying to forbid you from enjoying salt or a super-sized soft drink, or some dogwhistle trying to kill you so you can't inject heroin. No one has that right, so no one can delegate that nonexistent right. To attempt to do so is evil.

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Good post by K on living your Rightful Liberty

Sometimes, someone else's blog post will speak to me in such a way that I just keep returning to it and reading it again and again. This is one such post: Rightful Liberty: Rock-Paper-Scissors-Lizard-Spock

I can't even tell you for certain why it struck such a chord in me. Maybe because it's sort of how I live. Anyway, after reading it for the fifth time or so, I decided I needed to share it.

Enjoy!

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"Revisionist history"

One accusation that has always bewildered me is when someone gets upset and cries "Revisionist history!"

It's as if new information- if it chips away at the official story- is automatically bad.

That's the height of stupidity.

It's like refusing to accept the news that you were adopted. Or that you were born, the product of sex, if you had always been told the stork brought you.

History isn't the same as what really happened. Sometimes it's similar, but it is filtered by those relating the tales, and is often more what they want you to know than how it really went. And, there is a ridiculous focus on States and politicians and other nasty characters, while mostly ignoring the main important things of what normal people did in their normal boring lives. "Boring"- that's the problem.

Disasters, death, and disease are exciting, and nothing can bring those things about like States and bad guys acting on "behalf" of States, so they get the attention, while being extreme cases rather than normal. I mean, how many times has a president actually come into your life and affected you, personally? Me, never. Yet presidents are considered history, while the people who actually affected me (and you and everyone else, except for a tiny sample of people in the world), for good or bad, are ignored.

And, since those bad guys and people who think like them are the ones who relate the tales of the past to the new generation, they don't like it when new information leaks out showing they have cherry picked- or lied about- things that happened in the past.

Especially when it disrupts the narrative they want to push on you.

So, they need you to think that the new information is somehow revising history- by which I guess they mean "changing" the past- rather than what it is actually doing: wiping away lies and misconceptions that protect some people's "legacy" at the expense of others.

And, often, at the expense of the present and future. After all, if you don't understand where you came from, it is often hard to see where you are going.

History- the story of what happened in the past- will never (without a scope that peers through time without disrupting anything) be known with 100% accuracy, but new information will keep coming to light, and shouldn't be tossed aside simply because it doesn't fit with what you wish to believe. History will always need to keep being revised unless you love ignorance.

Of course, I have noticed the same people get upset and think that because the process of science discovers new things that sometimes modify what was previously believed to be the facts, science is unreliable and based upon whims because it doesn't remain chiseled in stone, like religion does.

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Flint and steel kits for sale

Sven from Hunchback Ironworks has forged some nice fire strikers as a collaborative venture for the two of us, which I have put into "strike-a-light" kits to sell.

I'm going to offer them here, to give regular readers the first shot, before I list them on Dullhawk.com.

All kits come in a tin. The tins can be burned or sanded to remove the paint, for a more primitive look, if you care about that. All, that is, except for kit #5- for reasons which will be apparent.

The kits all include a small piece of flint, some char cloth to catch the spark and make a coal, and a little juniper bark tinder to make the coal become a flame. The rest is up to you.

As of now, I have 5 kits to sell. (UPDATE: I now have only kit #5 available)

• Kit #5

Kit #5 is another special kit. The striker was too large to fit inside an Altoids tin, so it got an International Coffee tin. This one comes with a plastic lid. I made cardboard partitions to keep things inside #5 organized, and to keep the char cloth a little safer- it's fragile stuff. This kit also comes with a few extra pieces of char cloth. Kit #5 costs $25.00

• Kit #1 (Sold)

This is a special kit. The striker has been polished and etched. It says "LIBERTY" on one side, and "STRIKES BACK" on the other. Kit #1 costs $25.00

• Kit #2 (sold)

Kit #2 costs $20.00

• Kit #3 (sold)

Kit #3 costs $20.00

• Kit #4 (sold)

Kit #4 costs $20.00

As a freebie, and to help those who buy the kits, here is a video I made explaining how to make more char cloth when you use up the bit that comes in the kit, and also some hints on preparing tinder.

All kits are offered on a first come, first served, basis (email me, don't rely on commenting here to get the message to me). If this goes over well, there will be more next month. And, of course, you can also contact Hunchback Ironworks directly if there's something else you need forged. Tell Sven I sent you!

And, get your preps in order.

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See the gun aimed at you

Just think about it: all speed limit signs might as well come with a gun attached. 

They are a threat to rob you- just looking for justification by making up an arbitrary rule you'll probably break. And, make no mistake, it is an armed robbery. You will be murdered if you resist long enough. I'd like to add stickers to those vile signs to make them more honest.

Kinderprison

Yeah, that's a new word I may have just invented (or more likely, applied in a new way).

To me, a kinderprison is any school- government or "private"- based on the Prussian system of behavior modification destruction for the purpose of enforcing conformity and obedience- with a possible accidental amount of actual, useful education occurring despite the best efforts of the control freaks in charge.

Abolish the kinderprisons!

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Trying to talk to statists

I've noticed a very consistent pattern when trying to discuss things with rabid statists. This imaginary discussion illustrates what I'm talking about.

Statist: "What's the 2nd letter of the alphabet?
Libertarian: "B"
Statist: "Well, then, what letter comes after 'A'?"
Libertarian: "B"
Statist: "OK, but what letter comes before 'C'?"
Libertarian: "B"
Statist: "Why do you keep going in circles?"
Libertarian: "Sigh..."

Yep. That's how it goes when discussing liberty or rights with a statist. They rephrase their objections, and then complain when they get the same answers over and over.

Liberty is the answer, regardless of how badly they don't want it to be.

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Government stops real solutions

Government stops real solutions

(My Clovis News Journal column for September 19, 2014.)

It is said "No man is an island". This seems undeniable, yet libertarians are frequently accused of believing individuals are islands. As if we see humans as isolated and alone, unable to join with others to fix problems which are beyond one person's ability, unless they form that most persistent of Utopian ideas: a government.

People coming together in a completely voluntary and consensual manner, to accomplish something they are in unanimous agreement on, is a wonderful thing to be a part of.

What we do oppose is anyone being forced to join projects they would rather not, and being forced to pay for things they either don't want, or believe they are getting a bad deal on.

Government is currently the main barrier preventing individuals from working together and finding voluntary solutions which don't violate any individuals. Its employees say they must approve, license, regulate, or coordinate every big project, and most small ones as well. Which means, in essence, "no private solutions allowed". Everything must be shoved through the meat grinder of bureaucracy and coercion before being implemented- which destroys any chance of a rational solution being put into action.

Let's say a group of individuals- perhaps ranchers, dairy owners, farmers, and any other concerned people- came together to take on some hypothetical area's ongoing water problems.

The only limitations are that no one may violate the private property of another- which means, in part, no one can be forced to pay for it against their will through taxation- and no force can be used against those who opt out of the plan. It doesn't mean those who opt out can still get the full benefits of any solution without chipping in, though.

Would I trust those individuals to find the best chance at a real, lasting solution for this crisis? If government were not allowed to interfere in any way whatsoever- yes, I would.

Could a solution actually be found? I don't know for certain.

What I do know with certainty is that government solutions to this problem have never worked. They can't. Most are analogous to having the water shut off to your house, so you decide to use the water in your water heater and toilet tanks while pretending it's a permanent solution. And buying, with your neighbor's bank account, a solid gold dipper to serve it with.

Some problems have no real solution, no matter how you treat others. But, if you commit to respecting the rights and property of all concerned, at least you haven't added to the pain. or done the wrong thing for supposedly noble reasons.

It's the mature and ethical way to approach problems.

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