Childish, adult, or mature?

I recently heard someone who was making a distinction between the "childish approach" of the political "left" and the "adult approach" of the political "right". I believe he missed something important. He was so focused on "right" and "left" he forgot to consider right and wrong.

The childish approach: "That's not fair! It's hard. I don't want to do that! I just want to do stuff that I like."

His amoral "adult" approach: "This will hurt right now, but we need to do it anyway for a better long-term result."

The ethical mature approach (which he ignored because it is neither "right" nor "left"):
Don't do the wrong thing, no matter your justification or excuses. The right way might not feel as good. It might not bring the results you want as fast as some other ways. But if you can't get what you want or believe you need without archating, then you're just going to have to live with it. Unless you want to be a monster. You never have the right to archate.

As you can see, many times there are more than two choices (and there may even be more than three). Don't let people fool you into missing the best choice by trying to force you to choose between two contrived choices they prefer you consider.

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Individuals and differences

Everyone is an individual. (Duh)

There are differences between individuals. These differences are real.

Some of those differences are affected by things which have been used historically to limit or deny natural human rights to some people. This is wrong.

Then there are differences which aren't as real. Even some totally imaginary things have been used as excuses to limit or deny natural human rights of some people. Things like nationality or "citizenship", for example.

Rights don't differ among individuals. Not based on any criteria. Not for any reason. No matter how you feel about it.

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More options

And, I guess the buttons are way down somewhere at the bottom
 if you're on a mobile device

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Cops-- Abusing your bosses

The fact of the matter is, if you are a cop, the lowliest crackwhore is your moral superior... and your boss.
And if cops don't like that they can always quit and get an honest job.

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"Be realistic" = be a jerk

If someone truly believes it is "Utopian" to expect human interactions to be voluntary, how would you like being one of their family members, or a neighbor?

Do you think they'd be a good cow-orker or employee? (Be careful while orking cows!) Could you trust them at all if you weren't holding them at gunpoint?

Are they really that barbaric, or are they talking through their hat; not understanding the concepts they feel the need to preach at you about? Perhaps they are just saying what they feel needs to be said to justify archation. I suspect it's that last one, since they are apparently still alive and able to speak, so they must be choosing voluntary interactions the vast majority of the time.

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Dear Badgescum...

How disgusting! What other molesters does the letter writer appreciate for their crimes?

If you fear "traffic stops", stop molesting and robbing drivers.

If you don't want to be filmed "doing your job", get a job that doesn't come with the obligation of letting your bosses see exactly what you are doing every single second you are on my clock, collecting a paycheck funded by money stolen from me and others who neither want nor need you.

The mainstream media can't crucify a character which doesn't exist.

Everyone gets tired at work. Everyone feels misunderstood. I promise you no one misunderstands you more than those deluded people who support you in spite of what you do.

So, you hurt when your fellow molesters die. If cops die, it isn't just because they are guilty of wearing a uniform and a badge-- it is because of the crimes committed by the gang they are announcing their membership in. A gang they would be kicked out of if they refused to commit the same crimes. You are guilty of the same things the dead armed government employees were guilty of. You can't show up for your "job" without violating life, liberty, and property. 

Yes, you are flesh and bone like me. And so is the rapist, the mugger, the serial murderer, and other people who make the decision to violate others. So?

The only thing you serve and protect are the politicians who give you the power and excuses to molest and steal, and the Blue Line Gang.

I don't want you or need you. Go away. Forever. Find an HONEST job and stop being a hired gun for the State. It's a mistake you could correct in less than a second, if you have a gram of principles and ethics.

It should HURT to be this much of a copsucker.

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America's Sharia Law

(Updated for reposting-- originally posted 1/19/2011)

One of the reasons I hear coming from "conservatives" for invading and occupying Islamic countries is so "they" won't take over America and force Sharia "law" on "us". You know, kind of an extension of the "fight them there so we don't have to fight them here" excuse.

True, I have no wish to live under such a brutal and primitive, and painfully stupid, system. But doesn't that mean we should deal with the mote in our own eye and get rid of our own version of Sharia "law" too? Otherwise we are just being hypocritical. Again.

Sharia law is no more obscene than most of the counterfeit laws in America. Kidnapping and murdering people over plants? Or chemicals? Or because they refuse to facilitate their own muggings? "Laws" based on what people claim their god wants?

If we refuse to put up with being ruled by Sharia "law", why don't we refuse the US equivalent and refuse to tolerate drug laws, gun laws, sex laws, tax laws, seatbelt laws, property codes, obscenity laws... and the list goes on almost infinitely to embrace any and all "laws", based on a religion, which attempt to control or regulate anything other than actual aggression or theft.

Sorry, but if your god approves of the War on Politically Incorrect Drugs, or government sanctioned (or prohibited) marriage, or 99%+ of the rest of the things that "The Law" concerns itself with, your god is a monster. And if you continue to follow your god (whatever name you call him) in spite of his monstrosity, then you are no better. And if you think it is a good idea to impose "laws" like this, and enforce them against your neighbors who may not share your religion, you should be happy with Sharia "law". As for me, I'll take liberty and respect yours as well.

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Rule by majority unfair to minority

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for June 6, 2018- I don't write the headlines*)

Politics might be an amusing hobby, but it is a horrible basis for a society. One should never confuse government with society. Society grows naturally from the voluntary interactions of people, while government is anti-social; imposed by those who imagine themselves at the "top" onto everyone they see as beneath them.

Unanimous consent is the way to get things done without coercion or theft. Let those who agree work together without forcing anyone else to go along. If your idea relies on forcing people to participate, it's probably a bad idea. Anything which depends on force or coercion to survive should be allowed to die. Never use mob rule-- democracy-- to force people to do things they oppose.

Allegiance to a group shouldn't be assumed, mandatory, or dependent on where you live. Let people choose their own groups, and let the groups' territories overlap the way those of clubs or churches do. Let people switch between groups, or opt out, as their needs and circumstances change.

If your culture can't survive contact with a different culture, it may not be worth saving. Are you so dependent on the behavior and opinions of others that you can't live the way you believe you should if you don't have company? Yes, there is comfort in numbers, but you'll often find yourself in the minority over the course of your life. Embrace it. Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority you should re-evaluate your position. The majority is rarely right.

You have no right to enslave people for their own good, or what you imagine to be their own good. Let people find their own path, as long as they aren't stealing or attacking the non-violent.

You are responsible for yourself. You can take some responsibility for others, as long as you aren't imposing yourself on them. It's OK to allow others to make mistakes; to be wrong. It's usually how people learn. Don't let them drag you down with them, but realize when you need to back off.

You don't need others to live as you do, and everyone has the natural right to defend themselves from anyone who tries to force their way on them.

Remember that your ideas of what people should be doing may not be their ideas. If it would be wrong for them to force you to live as they want, then it would be wrong for you to force them to live as you believe they should.

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From the Ministry of Propaganda

It's no wonder people are confused about guns.

I was sent this in an email "news" alert. Here's an easy exercise... Spot the propaganda:

"Frustrated by state and federal lawmakers’ reluctance to address gun violence, local officials are starting a movement to control firearms within their borders. It’s an uphill task given that all but seven states have laws prohibiting them from doing so, but their work is slowly catching on.
In recent months, local governments have limited certain kinds of semi-automatic rifles, created “gun-free zones” and adopted zoning laws to keep out gun stores. “The failure of the Congress to pass policies that keep our communities and children safe means towns feel compelled to act,” Stephen Benjamin, mayor of Columbia, South Carolina, said

"Frustrated"? "lawmakers"? "reluctance"? "address"? "gun violence"? "officials"? "starting a movement"? "uphill task"? "their work"? "catching on"? "limited"? "created", "adopted"? "keep out"? "failure"? "policies that keep our communities and children safe"? "feel compelled"?

That's a lot of propaganda in only two paragraphs. I probably even missed some.

Why the dishonest phrasing? Is it because of the anti-liberty bias of the "news" organization? Yes. Yes, it is.

No matter your excuse, if you propose, pass, or enforce anti-gun "laws", YOU are a BAD GUY. YOU are as bad as the evil losers who shoot up crowds of ("legally") disarmed victims. You can try to veil your evil acts in all the glowing lies you want. It's still nothing but lies.

And when your lies warp people's opinions about something as critical as natural human rights you may actually be worse than the evil losers who shoot up crowds. Yes, "mainstream media", including the fly-by-night outfit which crafted this propaganda piece, I am looking at you and judging you. You don't measure up.

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Statists: Blissfully unaware

How many statists-- even the flaming statists-- realize they are statists?

A friend's comment made me stop to consider the question. Her observation-- that the ones she knows are completely unaware of their statism-- is right on the mark.

They are like fish, unaware of the water they are immersed in. They can't feel it, taste it, see it or otherwise experience its existence. It simply "is". It is their "normal". They expect (if they are aware enough to expect anything) their experience to be universal.

I, however, can feel statism choking the life out of me sometimes. I'm drowning in the statism the statists can't notice.

Forget draining "the swamp"; their beloved cesspool of lumpy statism needs to be drained and dried and sterilized.

My life has been a case of learning to swim so that their filthy statism doesn't snuff out my life. It hasn't been easy. I think I'm getting better at it. And, I do what little I can to drain their treasured cesspool.

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Follow your arrow

I don't know best how to run my own life most of the time; I certainly don't know best how to run yours.

I'm suspicious of anyone who claims to know how to run the lives of others; anyone who says they know what's best for you or me.

All I know is you and I have no right to archate. That leaves a lot of room for experimentation.

The path of archation isn't a good one, as it interferes with how others are choosing to live. Beyond that, you try your way and I'll try mine. If yours looks good, maybe I'll try to adopt some of it into my life.

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Taking statists seriously

I know I shouldn't be mean to statists. I shouldn't ridicule them or point out that they are no better than molesters. Even though it's true.

That's not how you get people to listen and (possibly) change. This knowledge requires a change in me. And that change is hard and unpleasant and unnatural.

Statism-- the belief that governing others is a legitimate human endeavor-- is ripe for ridicule. This notion that people can't be trusted to run their own lives, so we need to have some (who can magically be trusted-- going against the original assumption) with power to run the lives of others is a demonstrable mess. It makes no sense. It is internally inconsistent. It doesn't work in the real world, with real people in real situations.

It's hard to not be mean to people who advocate something so stupid. It's hard to not point out how they promote evil acts. It's hard to not compare them to others who believed similar things with similar results.

I know I shouldn't, but it's not likely I'll stop. Too many people treat them with unearned respect and act as though they are actually contributing something to the human conversation. There needs to be another side to it. Someone needs to be pointing and laughing at their nonsense.

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Not worshiping the State hard enough

I posted this to FB:

Hey..."great" job, Idiots. Declare independence from a state then turn right around and set up a new state which turns out to be far worse than the relatively weak state you rejected.
When you finally get rid of a tapeworm you don't rush out to swallow another one. Well, not unless you're an utter moron.
I reject your "4th of July" and embrace independence from all your states and other control freaks.

And was immediately graced with this comment:

You are totally lost!...I pray God for your salvation!.

And then she "unfriended" me. (I have no clue who she is, so I'll get over it.)

I find it interesting how some people tend to conflate their gods; confused over which one I'm not properly worshiping this time.
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Related: Put independence back in the day

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Archators-- we are watching you

Sometimes I get the feeling that my readers and I are a quiet, secret little conspiracy for liberty. Quietly undermining the status quo-- at least the rotten parts of it-- below the radar.

It's probably just a symptom of an inflated sense of self-importance. But it's kind of a pleasant one.

"Hey, archators. We are here; watching, working, and undermining you and your gangs. Laughing at your claims to "authority" and legitimacy. You can kill us, but you can't stop the signal. And, if we feel cornered, you might die in the attempt."

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"Reparations"-- You can't owe imaginary debts

The odds are almost certain that some of my ancestors were enslaved by the ancestors of someone else sometime in the past. When do I get my "reparations" for this slavery?

Of course, the odds are just as good that some of my ancestors also enslaved the ancestors of someone else sometime in the past. I guess any "reparations" cancel out.

And I'm OK with that because I have never personally been enslaved (if you don't count the attempts to govern me) nor have I ever personally enslaved anyone. I'm against enslaving anyone for any reason... and always have been. Even the kinds of slavery the "majority" approves of.

Abolitionists like me carry no guilt over slavery which was committed in the past-- long before we were born-- and can't owe anyone for krimes (which were then legal and "moral", but never ethical) of the past which I didn't commit and don't support. It's ridiculous that anyone could believe otherwise.

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'Nothing' is best government activity

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for May 30, 2018)

There is one thing government could do which I will support. One thing I believe it needs to spend more time doing. It's the one thing government can do best, the one thing government can do which will actually help, and the only thing which can justify taxation.
What is this extraordinary government activity? Nothing.

I support government doing nothing, and I believe it needs to spend more time doing nothing. Nothing government does is better than what the market can do. Government does nothing which helps, and nothing justifies taxation.

This doesn't mean I'm against everything government currently does; I'm against those things being done by government with money stolen from my neighbors who may not want such "services" at all. It's an important difference.

As long as people are going to imagine government is necessary or even desirable, I want it sitting in a donut shop day after day gossiping, eating, and drinking coffee rather than being out there meddling in our lives. I may still have to pay for it, but at least this would limit the additional abuses. If people are truly desperate to encounter government, let them go find it napping in its office, never running free in the community among the people.

It's why I favor gridlock. It's as close to government doing nothing as we're likely to get.

As lawyer, newspaper editor, and politician Gideon J. Tucker once observed, “No man's life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session.” He noticed this fact back in 1866; the situation has only gotten worse since then.

Gridlock is a partial solution-- the one way, under the current circumstances, we can stay a bit safer from government's probing fingers.

As long as gridlock is paralyzing Washington, DC, neither side will let the other have a win, so new laws aren't being imposed.

While the politicians are at each other's throats, trying to prevent the other side from having its way with us, perhaps they'll be too distracted to find new ways of grabbing for our wallets, touching our bodies, and fighting against our liberty. It may be the best we can hope for until the people stop tolerating a distant gang of criminals always seeking new ways to control their lives.

I'm in favor of anything which helps government approach the ideal of doing nothing, even if it's only temporary and limited in scope. Gridlock is a good start.

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Misplaced trust

If someone hated you and wanted you to die, would you follow their health advice? Would you let them talk you into behaviors you knew were risky? Would you listen to them at all?

Yet, people let government employees tell them what rights they have.

I see this all the time in responses from people when I say something about the right to own and carry weapons. Particularly on Quora, and especially among those who are saddled with a government which doesn't want them to have guns. (Even more than the U.S. government's aversion to an armed population, I mean,)

They constantly tell me what that specific gang of bullies says their rights are (and are not). They act as though I'm a barbarian for recognizing natural human rights.

If I pointed this out to them they might object that "their" government doesn't hate them nor want them to die; that it is only looking out for their best interests. Judging by the actions and the results of those actions, they sure could have fooled me. If they want the best for their subjects, that is.

It's a sad thing to see. I don't want to see people enslaved, especially when they do it to themselves. I don't want them trusting a gang of thugs to tell them what their rights are, or fooling them into believing rights are only privileges, and that only Neanderthals like me would expect anyone to respect rights.

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Someone is confused

Terribly confused. (And I don't believe it's me.) He even stated it for the record, too!

How can he be a lover of Big Government, while being a hater of government? He can't.

On the "Hates government" side he has:

• Taxation is theft. (Yes it is. Even if you like what it pays for)
• "government hating" (which seems a dubious claim, considering)

On the "Loves government" side he has:

• "military and law enforcement supporting" (HUGE welfare programs, and what other molesters does he support?)
• "illegal immigrant hating" (it takes a government to declare something "illegal" and to decide something is "immigration")
• "border security" (HUGE welfare program, and why does he hate property rights?)

On the "irrelevant to the topic" or "insufficient information" side, he has:

• "Gun waving" (Cops wave guns. Troops, too. Government extremists love guns-- as long as they control them. Guns are just tools and it depends on who you are pointing them at)
• Free speech (speech can be pro-liberty or against... but where is he throwing it?)
• anti-abortion (I know people who are pro-liberty, and reasonable, on both sides of the issue)
• school choice (is this school I'm allowed to choose regulated and funded by government? Does my choice include not funding schools at all?)
• anti-handout (except when he's handing other people's money to military, law enforcement, ICE employees, etc. apparently)

So, yes, this guy (who I probably should have redacted, but I'm not going to) is mighty confused. That's why he's a "conservative".

No, "liberals"/"progressives" (who are neither) are not more consistent. I laugh at their confusion and hypocrisy just as much. And when I find a comparable hilarious example, I may share it as well.

Statists-- they don't get that way by being smart or consistent.

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Don't archate, part 2

More accurate; too wordy

So, why shouldn't you archate?

The biggest and best reason is that you have no right to do so. Admittedly, most statists and kriminals (archators by another name) don't care. That doesn't change the reality, though.

And if someone is doing what they don't have a right to do, anyone has the right to use force (or whatever it takes) to stop them. If you don't like the consequences of archating, don't. This is a utilitarian reason, so not really the best, but it is still true.

If everyone archates constantly, a functional, positive society isn't possible. Trade wouldn't be possible. "Don't steal the stuff I stole from others" just doesn't work in the long run. Once again, this is too utilitarian for my tastes. And again, statists and kriminals won't care anyway.

But that's the thing, statists and kriminals don't care about a lot of things. If they did care, they wouldn't choose the path they chose. If someone isn't going to care about right or wrong, it's pointless to try to convince them an act is wrong, expecting it will make a difference to them. It won't matter to them. You're not going to talk them out of their wicked ways. So don't waste time trying. State the facts, then let the chips fall where they may. Facing unpleasant consequences is all that will matter, and it will matter most when they lose. Make them lose.

The fact is, "Don't archate" is just what I tell myself. I hope it's what you choose, but I'm only responsible for my own choices, not yours.

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Statism isn't working?-- redefine "working"

I notice a lot of people have a hard time admitting when something isn't working.

They'll pretend it does work.

They'll redefine what "works" means to them-- in a way that often goes against how they originally defined it.

They'll ignore the failure as long as they don't have to change what they are doing.

It's probably smarter to stop as soon as you notice something isn't working, or if you feel the desire to redefine "works" in the situation. Think about how else you might approach the problem. Try something else. Don't keep doing what you've been doing just because it's what you've always done.

And, even if it does work, there's probably a better way just waiting for you to discover it. See if you can.

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