Losers become cops

Just in case you ever wondered what kind of damaged person would ever want to become a cop, here is the answer in full color.

Pathetic "Jay Gee" is bullied (and not too terribly literate), so he (?) intends to grow up and turn the tables. How often do you think he'll fear for his safety, because he just wants to make it home at the end of his shift?

Cops are losers, and losers become cops.

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Encounters with bureaucRats

I recently told you about the town "tax" collector's issues with me when I owned a shop. Here are a couple of earlier encounters which happened when I was only an employee.

This was at a pet store. Every year the State tried new ways to make it too hard to comply with all the rules in an attempt to shut down pet stores. One year the State decided that customers who bought certain critters, like parakeets and iguanas, needed to fill out a State form. We also had to give them a State-mandated sheet detailing all the ways the animal could infect them with horrible diseases. So I would hand the customer the sheet and tell them "This lists all the reasons the government doesn't want you to have this pet. They require me to give it to you as a warning. You can read it or throw it away." Then I'd pass them the State's record book and say "The State says you have to fill out this form. I won't know if you use your real name." Most customers just laughed. I sold several pets to Mickey Mouse over the years.

Another time an inspector from the state department of agriculture came visiting. The shop owner wasn't there at the time. I can't remember now what his issue was, but he was trying to make me do something I wasn't going to do, possibly because it wasn't my store. (I wish I could remember what it was!) I just kept saying "no, I won't". He didn't understand why I wasn't bending over backward to comply. He made the mistake of saying he just had to enforce the law, and I wasn't against laws, was I? That BalderdaSh didn't improve my desire to cooperate with him. He ended up fleeing to the front steps, to talk to his boss on the phone, trying to figure out what to do about someone who wasn't in awe of his "authority". He ended up driving 200 miles back to the state capital, empty-handed. I guess he should have waited for my boss to be there.

I'm not rude. But if you try to threaten or push me using "laws" as your justification, it may not go according to plan.

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"Happy" Blowback Day.

We were told they hated us for our freedoms (instead of for the US government's crimes). Now those freedoms are all but gone; attacked and shredded by the US government, continually, without a break for the past 17 years.

So, do they love us now? If not, that must not have been the real reason.

Government is the only terrorist organization capable of doing such society-encompassing harm. So why do "we" continue to negotiate with these terrorists? Why do we continue to comply as they criminalize more and more liberty? Why doesn't everyone see them as the true bad guys? They'll never stop until they are stopped. Why would they? They are getting just what they wanted.

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Must be "opposite day"

I read a blog post where the act of v*ting was characterized as "prosocial" behavior.

Really?

When someone v*tes they seek to exert political power over others. Either to get a cut of other people's stolen property, to impose "laws" which violate the life, liberty, and property of other people, or to choose someone to rule over them. That certainly sounds like antisocial behavior to me.

So where does this idea that v*ting is "prosocial" come from?

Maybe it comes from the idea of "civic duty". Where you are expected to participate in, or at least endorse, society's worst behaviors so that no one else feels bad about the nasty things they do to others. Or, at least that's how I see it.

I know I absolutely don't see v*ting, or otherwise participating in politics, as "prosocial" in any way.

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Just Believe? Even if you don't really?

In a list of things you can control, I saw "What you believe" listed.
I don't believe that's even slightly true.

I don't think belief is a choice.

If I truly believe something, to change that belief I'd need reasons. Reasons that change what I believe. Reasons showing why my belief is wrong. Not just reasons to believe differently. I could pretend to believe differently, but it would be a lie.

I can't believe I have a right to archate just because it would be convenient, or because I can't get what I want otherwise. I believe if I have no right to do something I shouldn't do it. Unless something changes my belief, that's what I believe. And the belief doesn't change just because I choose to change it. I would know I was only lying to myself.

It's like if I "decide" to believe rain is dragon urine falling from the clouds where the dragons live. I know that's not true, so I couldn't really believe it even if I tried to convince myself I do.

Same thing with the "(political) government is good" lie. I know it's a lie. I believe it's a lie. I can't believe what I don't believe, even if it would let me fit in better. My beliefs aren't arbitrary. Are yours?

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3D printed guns might actually help

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for August 8, 2018)

Why all the uproar over 3D printed guns? It has always been fairly easy to make guns at home. Having the computer code available online won't change anything. People enjoy weeping, wailing, and gnashing their teeth over the silliest things.

For now, 3D printers are too expensive for common muggers to bother with; guns are cheaper to buy and easier to steal. Even if thieves start stealing 3D printers as well as guns, I doubt it will be much of a problem. Few burglars would be smart enough to figure out how to operate 3D printers-- stupidity, along with poor impulse control, being an almost universal trait of thieves.

3D printed guns will end up being occasionally used in crime. It's inevitable. Yet, this will usually be a case of the 3D printed gun being used instead of some other gun, not a crime which wouldn't have happened without 3D printed guns.

Those who believe they should control the content of our pockets are worried these guns, being made of plastic, might end up in places where they don't want us to have them. Even if plastic guns were undetectable (and they aren't), the ammunition isn't. Without ammo, any gun might as well be a brick.

I see this as evidence that 3D printed, non-metallic ammunition is the next essential innovation. At least until reliable electronic weapons, like those in science fiction, are perfected and available for common use.

Home-printed guns may have signaled the death of "gun control" as anything other than the tantrums of political control freaks. I can hope.

As long as government employees are armed, guns will be in the wrong hands; an angle which isn't even seen as an issue by those most adamant about disarming the rest of us. Tell that to the homeowner killed by the responding police officer in Aurora, Colorado last week. If he had survived the encounter he might disagree.

I doubt 3D printed guns will ever become anything more than an imaginary crisis for those who don't want you able to resist them doing things to you which you wouldn't permit if you were properly armed. Murder will still be illegal for most of us. As will theft. It will still be (unconstitutionally) illegal to sell printed guns without government approval. If laws could solve anything, there would be no crime. Since they can't, 3D printed guns aren't going to do any harm, and they might even help.

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Upsetting thieves with truth

Unwanted

Years ago, long before I had a blog, I had a retail shop. I hated robbing my customers in the name of "sales tax", but if I didn't, armed goons would have come and murdered me. Insanity, I know!

But every time I wrote the check to the town's "tax" collector, on the memo line I wrote something like "sales 'tax' extortion for August". The "tax" collector called to question me about that-- or to whine-- a few different times. It drove her mad.

I wasn't rude to her, I simply said I didn't appreciate being recruited to rob my customers on her behalf-- that if she wanted to rob them she should go do it herself.

She would object, "but it isn't robbery, it's a tax!" Same thing, I'd tell her.

She would sputter, "but don't you want police and paved roads?" No, I really don't. There's nothing the stolen money buys that I want that bad. Can I stop robbing my customers now?

She actually showed up in person once, just to get me to stop writing that on the checks. Why did it even matter to her? I paid the extortion, but I never stopped editorializing on the memo line.

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If you're only decent when threatened...

Then you aren't really decent at all!

I can get along with others without going to war. Even when I don't agree with them. In the absence of government, I'll not change into a monster. And I believe I have a good chance of fending off those rare pathetic losers who do.

I'm not that different from others, am I?

So why does everyone seem to always assume war, murder, and aggression are the default if there's not someone acting as a Big Parent to make them behave?

I think it tells a lot about a person if they believe that without a big bully making them behave, they'll go all "Lord of the Flies" or Mad Max on everyone around them.

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Why all the socialism?

If it seems I've been talking too much about socialism lately, there's a reason.

I've been listening to someone who deeply believes in government. Believes it has the best interest of the people at heart. Believes it has a place in society. Believes it is necessary and usually good, even if it sometimes messes up. It's painful for me. The mental gymnastics it takes to believe such nonsense staggers my mind.

It's disappointing because I usually enjoy listening to Scott Adams, but his recent socialism kick is extremely misguided and dishonest. Wrong is wrong, no matter who says it, just like right is right, no matter who you're listening to.

He constantly talks about how it isn't helpful to call anyone a socialist, not even if they are loudly advocating socialism. (I consider most Republicans to be socialists, too, promoting their own vile socialist programs, so I'm not picking on Democrats. To me, they are all DemoCRAPublicans.) As I've pointed out, you can call me an anarchist and it doesn't bother me, because that's what I am, and I know it's the right way to live. There's no shame in being called what you are if you really know it's right.

But he also constantly conflates socialism with sharing. It's bound to be on purpose. "You're not against sharing, are you?" Every time some socialist idea comes up in his podcast, he'll call it "sharing", totally ignoring the coercive nature of the act. In a recent example he claimed Uber is sharing, just like socialism, so if you're opposed to socialism, you must be against Uber, or any sharing. No, it's not the same at all. Uber is mutually consensual and voluntary, and you won't be forced to pay for my Uber ride. If I decline to use Uber, an Uber driver won't come to my house and murder me for not participating.

And that's the difference between ethical behavior and socialism. And, yes, ethics matters. It's not only about being pragmatic or utilitarian.

I'm not even against socialist (or even communist) societies as long as they let anyone opt out. I believe they will collapse, but let them. People have to be free to make their own mistakes, even if they die as a result. Otherwise, they aren't free at all. Let the socialists try socialism as many times as they want, but keep your filthy government-- socialist or whatever-- OFF my life.

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The truth is too harsh for some to handle

I have come to see that the truth is unwelcome.

Anymore it's "wrong" to call self-avowed socialists socialists. It's not "helpful" to call them something they are proud of being. And their actions and preferences which confirm the label don't matter either. All they are advocating is "sharing"... right? Who could object to that?

It's "wrong" to call clear and obvious theft theft. As long as the thief calls it "taxation", a "fine", "eminent domain", "asset forfeiture" or some other made-up name, calling it "theft" is just being mean to those who support the thieves and their acts of theft. How else do I expect the thieves to survive? (I'd actually rather they didn't.)

It's "wrong" to hurt the feelings of people who live as parasites, because without them... what? Other freelance parasites would replace them?

The truth is "unhelpful". It's not polite. Those who point out the truth are Big Ol' Meanies! They hurt the feewings of the people who are trying to molest people instead of doing honest trade. I have a long history of hurting these people's feelings. But it's their choice. They are free to stop molesting any time.

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Voluntary or barbaric?

There are some terribly confused people out there. I've been hearing some ideas expressed lately that show just how bad this confusion is.

Here are some hints that could clear it up, if they'd listen:

If it's voluntary, it's not taxation. It's giving.

If it's voluntary, it's not socialism. It's sharing.

If it's voluntary, it's not political government (the State). It's cooperation.

Taxation, socialism, and political government are not voluntary but are barbaric offenses against humanity. You can't hide this truth by calling the coercive act by the voluntary act's name.

Why does this seem so hard for government supremacists to understand?

Because understanding these simple truths doesn't advance their agenda. It's so much easier for them to have their way with you if you don't understand, either. That allows them to pretend they have the high ground. It allows them to pretend to be the "adult" in the room, scolding you for being hysterical and unreasonable.

Yet, the reality is simply this: Being against the coerced version of something doesn't mean you are against the superior voluntary version. And that's the reality which will be ignored, minimized, and poo-poo'ed if you allow it. They'll demand you allow it in the name of being reasonable and civil. How do you like that? Barbaric behavior as "reason" and "civility". No thanks. I won't cooperate with that nonsense.

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XII

This blog is 12 years old today. Twelve years!

I can't even believe it.

There is a term I've seen repeatedly used to describe this blog: "under-appreciated".
Occasionally I've seen the phrase "undervalued" used instead.

It's nice to hear, but I'm not sure it is true. How can something be under-appreciated? Either it has value and people know it and appreciate it, or it doesn't. I'm not even sure how you could measure such a thing.

It is a nice sentiment, though. And I take it to mean I'm producing content (what a pretentious word!) that people believe is worth more than the recognition I get for it. That's a nice thing to hear.

So, thank you to those who have said that about my blog over the past 12 years. And thanks to all of you for reading and putting up with me.

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This blog is my job.
YOU get to decide if I get paid.

New tariffs nothing to cheer about

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for August 1, 2018)

Some American workers are cheering President Trump's new tariffs. They know not what they cheer. Tariffs are as bad for you and me-- economically-- as taxing corporations. It's a great plan-- if your goal is to economically cripple America.

No one who truly understands economics would ever try to make the case otherwise.

When you tax a corporation, it never pays a cent of the tax, but passes the expense along to the final consumers-- you and me.

A tariff is a hidden tax which makes everything you want to buy cost more. Yes, even the things made in America. When foreign goods are artificially inflated in price by tariffs the American producers have less incentive to keep their prices down. I can't afford higher prices, can you? If you can, why not volunteer to pay more on every purchase without raising prices for everyone else?

I realize the American workers may believe their jobs are being protected by tariffs, but if everything they try to buy with their subsidized paychecks costs more, and less of the things they produce are being bought by consumers who can't afford higher prices, how have they gained anything? It's a comforting suicide pact between the workers and the government. But the government won't keep its end of the bargain.

There is a way to help American jobs-- kill the taxes. All the taxes, by whatever name.

Some people would worry that this starves government of funds it needs to carry out its programs and its mission. I call this a feature, not a bug.

This one act would boost the economy to levels never before imagined. How much more money would you have if there were no taxes on your income, on your purchases, nor on the production of anything you buy? You can't even begin to imagine.

Yes, you would still end up paying for some services you are currently taxed for. So? You're already paying, and paying the most wasteful, unaccountable organization ever created. Wouldn't you prefer to choose between offers, pay someone who provides the service you want, at the price you find comfortable, without being forced to pay for things you wouldn't pay for if someone weren't forcing you? I'll take competition and free choice over a coercive monopoly I'm not allowed to opt out of any day.

Taxes, even when you call them a tariff, always cost the little guy. Support them if you feel you must, but don't expect my help.

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"What if?"

It shouldn't surprise me, but it does, how many people want to rob and enslave others based on "what if?".

Yet, that's what I see every day.

They believe in the DMV's "job" because, otherwise, "what if" someone doesn't know how to drive? Or steals a car? Or doesn't have insurance?

Gotta love those cops, because without them, "what if" some freelance bad guy steals a fraction of what is stolen to support the State? "What if" you tried to use your property in a way the town council decided you can't be allowed to? Or "what if" someone (who isn't a cop) physically attacks you? Or "what if" someone wasn't there to take pictures of your murdered corpse? "What if" you drove as "irresponsibly" as the police do? Who could force you to pay the government for this crime?

Prohibition, anti-gun "laws", speed limits and seat belt "laws", are all supported because "what if" someone got hurt because no one was there to force you, at gunpoint, to do things the State has decided you should do, or to stop you from doing things the State has decided you can be murdered for doing?

To me, it looks like ethical weakness and cowardice. In every case. It's all I see in "laws" or government.

I will never advocate robbing or enslaving you for a "what if". I'm not that pathetic.

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YOU get to decide if I get paid.

Ignorance of "the law"

What's one of the most ignorant things a statist can say? "Ignorance of the law is no excuse." That's just about the dumbest thing that can ever come out of someone's piehole.

It's completely wrong. It has zero truth. It has no merit whatsoever. It is a lie told to justify molestation.

Not only that, but police are always enforcing "laws" which only exist in their own minds. If that's not "ignorance of the law", then what is? And they seem to always get away with it, so it must be a very good excuse-- at least for the Blue Line Gang.

Instead, making up a "law" is no excuse. A "law" can never give anyone a real excuse to molest people.

It doesn't matter if it's "illegal" to not wear a seat belt. That "law" is no excuse to stop and rob someone for not wearing one.

It doesn't matter if a particular weapon is "illegal" somewhere, or that carrying it in a certain way is against the "law". The "law" is no excuse to violate the natural human right to own and to carry weapons.

It doesn't matter if it's "illegal" to ingest certain substances. No "law" can ever give someone the excuse to behave as though they own your body.

It doesn't matter if it's "illegal" to fight back against molestation by armed government employees. No "law" can ever abolish your natural human right to defend your life, liberty, or property.

Ignorance of the "law" is not only a great excuse, it's the only excuse needed when the "laws" are almost all counterfeit. Ignorance of ignorant legislation which violates natural law can never be a real crime. Anyone claiming otherwise is looking for an excuse to molest you while pretending to be the good guy. You are not obligated to allow yourself to be victimized by that person.

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This blog is my job.
YOU get to decide if I get paid. Or not...

Disasterama

Why are socialism and other horrible, destructive ideas so popular?

Much of the national news media, social media elites, and "entertainment" figures seem to want socialism and other manmade disasters because of the drama they create. Lots of people love drama. It's not boring. It can make them feel important.

A nice day with good weather and no major attacks by evil losers? Boring. Who will listen to your belittling sermon about what they should give up if there's nothing to be worked up and scared about?

Hypertornadoes and a volcanic eruption causing "civil unrest" with riots, looting, and killing? "Tune in to the Breaking News to find out what you need to know! Brought to you without interruption by our sponsors and FEMA."

Archation-- both freelance and State-- create drama. If you won't freak out on your own, they'll hand you a State which will prod and poke you until you snap. It's good for business.

Politics is the failure of society and socialism is the Sharknado of politics.

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Be the weed

We've had an unusual amount of rain this summer. Where I had sand dunes starting to form a few years ago, I now have a lush growth of various weeds*. And some grass, but mostly weeds.

One weed in particular, amaranth, is driving me crazy. Yes, I know its leaves and seeds are edible and nutritious, but just like I wouldn't want every square inch of my yard covered with pumpkins or parsley I'm overwhelmed with amaranth to the point of near-hatred.

Two kinds (maybe more) grow here. One is soft and doesn't hurt when I try to pull it up, the other kind is spiny and leaves my hands stinging for a while if I grab it by accident.

I won't spray it, because I just don't do that, and it would kill off the stuff I want growing there. So I keep fighting it physically.

It has been a daily battle this summer. I mow it, and the next day it looks like I did nothing. I use the trimmer to cut it off at ground level and it takes several days for it to recover, but it does recover. Then, instead of growing tall, as it does where no one bothers it, it spreads along the ground, going every direction out from its stalk. You'd think this kind of abuse would stop it from going to seed, but you'd be wrong. No matter how tiny the plants are, when they are ready to seed, they seed. I've never seen anything so resilient.

And I want to be like that.

Be the weed. If they keep chopping you down, keep coming back. If you can't grow as tall as you'd like, go to seed right at ground level. Just don't let them win.

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*"Weed"-- a plant growing where it isn't welcome. Don't be that. Just be resilient and anti-fragile like a weed.

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Mollie the racist tweeter

Maybe Mollie would have been better off to not judge people by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

Maybe we all would.

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Hero of the Proglodytes

I am not "pro-Trump".
I am not "anti-Trump".
I'm not impressed by anyone's stance on Donald Trump.

I'm completely opposed to the office of "president" existing, just as I am opposed to every other political office. I don't want anyone holding those offices and using them to molest anyone or their liberty. I don't think decent people hold political office. If a decent person finds himself in a political office, they won't stay decent for long. And I'm talking nanoseconds or less. I also believe that holding a government "job", even of the most benign variety, causes ethical (and perhaps, moral) damage to the employee in that "job". I would never wish that on anyone I like.

For these reasons, I get indigestion hearing people going on and on about Trump, either for or against. He simply doesn't matter to me one way or the other. No "president" would.

And this brings me to today's aggravation:
The ONLY reason the dead dirtbag anti-liberty bigot John McCain is being treated like he was some kind of hero is because he was vocally anti-Trump. That's it. If he hadn't come out of that particular closet none of the national mass media proglodytes would have spent the past couple of days praising his corpse's "legacy". In fact, they would probably have taken the position that his being dead is a good thing. But because he was anti-Trump while being "Republican" he is praised. No, his status as a former troop isn't the reason, nor is the fact that he was a POW. Those are used as justifications, of course, but they aren't the real reason. His greatest value was in being anti-Trump. Well, la-dee-dah. Anyone can do that.

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Evil plus evil equals doubly evil

From here. Tip the artist if you can.

"Democratic socialism" isn't better than other kinds of socialism because it's democratic; it's worse because it's democratic.

Democracy is horrible. It is mob rule made "socially acceptable".

Socialism is horrible. It is the attempt to make a society stand on a foundation of envy, theft, parasitism, and entitlement.

Who could possibly imagine that combining these two nasty concepts could make something good?

Politics isn't like chemistry where you can combine two deadly poisons like chlorine and sodium to make something beneficial and necessary like table salt.
Politics is already the path of failure and evil, and when you mix those two political toxins it makes something even more deadly.

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