Falsifying liberty

I believe liberty to be worthwhile, to say the least. I also believe it is objectively superior to any alternative. This means I should try to falsify this hypothesis to myself. If I can't think of ways which-- if they held up-- would prove my belief is based on a falsehood if it is, my belief is worthless.

How could liberty be falsified? If I could find one example where liberty-- freedom tempered with responsibility-- fails, that would do it. So far I keep coming up empty.

People have given me lots of examples where they imagine liberty fails: drugs, sex, "immigration", etc. (and even the post office!) In every case, they weren't thinking their position through very well or were trying to argue against liberty by artificially keeping The State a part of the scenario.

Sure, some people neglect their responsibility. This simply means humans are flawed and since they can't always be responsible for themselves they certainly shouldn't ever be put in charge of others.

Sometimes, people want to argue that because exercising your liberty in some essential ways is illegal, it can't work even if it weren't illegal. They imagine this rights-violation shows that liberty would fail even if the artificial barriers they refuse to reconsider weren't there. The "we can't get rid of government border controls because of democracy and welfare" people fall into this category.

That's just dumb. If you want to argue against freedom of movement, you've got to at least discuss it without the artificial constraints of keeping other Big Government programs propped up to make sure liberty fails the way you want it to fail. And if you can get rid of one facet of tyranny you can get rid of the others-- don't pretend otherwise.

Yes, I am biased. I am pro-liberty and I am against theft, aggression, and slavery. I think I am able to consider all claims, however, I don't need to wake up each day and decide anew whether I would be within my rights to go next door and start slaughtering people so I can take their stuff. You can ponder that question with each new day if you believe it's necessary, but I'm done with it. No one has the right to archate and nothing can change that fact.

If, in the course of pondering this question yet again, you come to a different conclusion for reasons no one has presented before, try to convince me you aren't just wallowing in statist superstition. Maybe you're on to something and have discovered a way to falsify liberty, but I wouldn't bet money on it.

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Holster aggravation peaks

This is a topic I don't discuss much... or ever. I've had enough of my current holster. Actually, I'd had enough of it years ago, but I can't design, find, or afford to try something that might be better. But I'm finally reaching the breaking point, to the point that I'm not sure it's worth the pain and aggravation of carrying anymore.

This is what I'm wanting to try:

The link is here: Urban Carry G3

You might be noticing the price and figuring out why I haven't bit the bullet and bought one. My current one is homemade-- as have been the last several. Nice and inexpensive. The commercial ones I've used in the past weren't even as tolerable as the current abomination.

If people would like to chip in toward this new holster, just make a note that this is what the donation is intended for. If not, I'll make do or do without.

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Thinking isn't their superpower

Government-supremacists aren't good at thinking. They imagine they are, but the evidence is clear that they aren't.

Here are some examples:

1-- Chicago has strict anti-gun rules and high crime rates. Does this mean "gun control" [sic] isn't effective, or that high crime rates cause political bullies to impose strict anti-gun rules in response? Which is the cause and which is the effect?

It doesn't matter. It is unethical to impose anti-gun rules no matter whether you believe it "works" or not. No studies needed. No one has the right to impose or enforce anti-defense/anti-tool legislation.

2-- Do police murder more "black" people or more "white" people? We must argue over who they murder more-- and why it might be so-- in order to prove a point.

No, we don't need to. It's not about "race"; it's about police and policing. Police are a criminal gang even if you are scared to live without them, and this fact matters more than who they are murdering, what causes them to murder, and at what rates the murders occur.

3-- Should schools be allowed to re-open in spite of the risk of Covid-19, or should they be kept closed for safety? What does the "science" say?

Wrong approach. Schools shouldn't be part of government, shouldn't be theft-funded, shouldn't be compulsory, and shouldn't be confused for educational facilities. If someone wants to fund a school, they can decide how to run it. Anyone who doesn't like how it is run doesn't have to chip in and doesn't have to subject their kids to that institution.

In each instance, the statists have erected blinders to keep the questions within parameters that limit the possibilities considered in a way which results in a false "answer". An "answer" that empowers them no matter which way it goes. This isn't so much thinking as plotting against society. Apparently, unethical plotting is easier than doing the hard work of rational thinking.

I could keep going with endless examples but you get the picture. Government-supremacists aren't good at thinking, but they imagine they are. That's a dangerous combination.

I think it's time we give their opinions all the consideration they deserve.

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Respecting liberty will still work

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for June 17, 2020)

The world's a bit crazy. Not as bad here as in other places, but we see the effects of those crazy paces even here. Pandemics, riots, gangs of trespassers setting up their own governments... what's next? A volcano spewing out zombies?

Whatever happens next, you can rest assured that respecting liberty will still work. It always does. It would even work against the volcano zombie invasion.

No matter how crazy the world gets, you don't have to be crazy with it.

Aren't you glad to know we had the cure for Covid-19 the whole time? Who knew all it would take to solve the pandemic were riots? Oh, sure, some has-beens are trying to keep the pandemic panic alive. Few people are still listening to them. Their fifteen minutes of fame was over before they were ready. Maybe they'll be happy if the virus comes back for round two this Fall.

Speaking of riots, don't confuse the riots with the peaceful protests. They aren't the same thing and didn't involve the same people. They only happened alongside the protests because parasites saw their chance to make trouble and latched onto an important issue. It seems to have ended when the protesters realized most of us were already on their side, but the rioters were driving away support.

Then the rioters became squatters taking over property they didn't own. Much of the national mainstream media misidentified them as "anarchists". Will they be calling horses "dolphins" next? It would be as inaccurate.

They aren't the only ones who think of socialistic nihilists as "anarchists". This is what they've been taught. Yet, anarchy only means you accept no human master. It doesn't mean chaos, theft, destruction, or aggression. Those who seek to misinform you never define things correctly when a scary lie works better for their purposes.

How can you know the squatters aren't anarchists? They set up a political government in the stolen territory-- this is not "anarchist" by definition. Anarchists wouldn't set up political institutions, nor do ethical anarchists steal property from others. I know this from personal experience.

What's a person to do?

Liberty, which is freedom tempered with responsibility, could solve all these problems to the extent they can be solved. Exercise your freedom to do whatever you want as long as it doesn't violate the equal and identical rights of any other person. There's no better way to live among others. Try it and I think you'll agree.

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Freedom is subjective

If you live in a cage, eat only the slugs and rats you can catch, wrap yourself in newspapers the wind blows in (when the wind brings you newspaper), sit in your own waste, and totally rely on someone else to decide everything that happens to you, and this is exactly how you want to live, you are completely free.

It's not the life I would choose. I wouldn't be free in that situation. But freedom is doing what you want so whether you are free or not depends only on what you want.

Many people are free in a police state. They don't want liberty because the responsibility scares them, or they are too lazy to handle it. This is why they crow and celebrate "freedom" while smarter people look at them in stunned silence, wondering what they've been smoking. But, by their measure, they are free.

So they keep v*ting. They keep supporting cops. They don't mind "taxation" and legislation-- at least in concept. They are OK with anti-gun legislation and policies. They don't think about the licenses and permits they are told they must rent. They don't care about their privacy because they've been convinced that as long as they have nothing to hide privacy doesn't matter. All those liberty violations are fine with them-- they are living the way they want to, so they are free. And they will do whatever it takes to prevent changes they don't want.

Maybe you can convince them to be unhappy in their chains, but maybe you can't. You may need to leave them behind; leave them fighting for their chains and against those who can't live their way. Your destiny may not involve them.

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Masks and oxygen

With all the hysteria over face-masks; those who say masks are starving people of oxygen and those claiming masks can't impede oxygen flow-- and the anger boiling up from both sides-- I decided to do my own experiments.

The argument from the pro-mask cultists is that there is no way the fabric weave of a mask can block the exchange of oxygen or carbon dioxide molecules. They are much too small compared to the weave to be hindered. Which may be true... but I don't believe the flow in and out is instantaneous. This delay does have an effect, which I can feel. The hot, exhaled air lingers long enough to be re-inhaled. Is this a problem?

I bought an oximeter (an over-the-counter unit) right after I was exposed to The Corona. I know wearing a mask causes me to do the face-mask gasp every so often, but is it just due to the heat or due to a lack of oxygen.

I thought I should test this for myself (and for you). So, I did.

Without a face mask, my %SpO2-- oxygen saturation percentage-- runs between 95 and 96 rather regularly. After a few minutes of wearing a mask (an actual face mask and a silk bandana were used separately with the same result), that drops to 93-94. Not a huge difference, but a difference. After a couple of minutes of this I do the face-mask gasp and bring my oxygen back up to maskless levels, but it won't stay there.

Is this really due to the mask? I don't know. Here are some alternative hypotheses...

Maybe I breathe differently while wearing a mask; shallower or less frequent breaths.
Maybe I am too self-conscious of my breathing while wearing a mask.
Maybe the effect is due to the heat build-up.
Maybe this was a fluke and a coincidence that my %SpO2 fell a little just at the time I was wearing the masks.
Maybe my bias skewed the results.
Maybe it was magic, elves, or faeries.
Maybe there's more than one cause.

It seems to me, the claim that masks can't reduce your oxygen levels has been falsified. It's not a big difference, and maybe not enough of a difference to even notice or cause harm. But there was a difference. I now believe all of those saying it can't happen are either lying or are mistaken.

Don't trust me; do your own tests. Listen to your own body.

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"Why have masks been politicized?"

How amused are you over the karens whining about masks and the coronavirus having become politicized? How clueless can someone be?

They politicized it by getting government involved-- forbidding and mandating things-- and then when things don't go exactly their way on every tiny issue they get upset about it being politicized. Looking to shift the blame elsewhere.

It's as though they don't understand what they are talking about.

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Opinions and "opinions"

On Twitter and elsewhere, I see people who express opinions I disagree with. Sometimes opinions I disagree with very strongly. But opinions based on credible information which they interpret in a way I believe is wrong.

I see other people expressing opinions I'm certain are based on fake news, lies, emotionalism, and delusions.

Guess which people I take more seriously.

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Balanced imagination

There are people who have no imagination. They can't imagine anything but what is right in front of them right now.

Then there are those with overactive imaginations. They imagine-- or fall for-- everything, regardless of whether it's possible or realistic.

And many people exhibit both conditions simultaneously, but it depends on what you're talking about at the moment.

Statists can't imagine any way beyond how it's done now. Or how they mistakenly believe it is done now. "Who will build the roads?" is just one example of this trait.

Statists also have overactive imaginations-- they imagine that government actually builds those roads for example.
They imagine just about anything is permissible if it is "legal".
They imagine "taxation" can be ethical.
They imagine that warlords are lurking under every bush, and they imagine the government they support is somehow different than these imagined warlords in an important way.

As with all things, there's a proper balance. You need to have enough imagination to see beyond what is to what could be. Otherwise, you'll stagnate and die.

But your "could be" needs to be based on what's possible. I know some statists will argue that it's "not possible" to get rid of institutional archation... but that's just a lie. Of course it's possible, but you've got to exercise your imagination to find ways which could work without doing wrong to anyone's liberty, then test them. A lack of balanced imagination could make you give up or seek unicorns.

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Encountering a dangerous lunatic

Suddenly last night the above militaristic anti-gun meme started popping up all over Twitter.  Everyone was filling in the blanks with their own fake credentials and acting as though it gave them credibility on the issue of anti-gunism. (Even though, being "copy and paste" I'd be willing to bet money it was all a lie.)

I responded that it was good that no one needed his permission to have a gun. His reply?

"Little NRA punks like you never have the balls to answer the Fatherland's call"

Honestly, I am still bewildered. I keep looking at that tweet and shaking my head.

Does this guy think this was an insult? Could he really be that delusional? Yes. Yes, he could. How did he imagine it made him look? Well, to the festering boils on his side, I guess he looked like a hero because they liked his reply in droves-- just like a good drone should.

But, seriously. "to answer the Fatherland's call"? What is this guy? Yeah, that's a rhetorical question, because he made perfectly clear what he is.

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You can do it!

I have a dreadful flaw: I consider people more capable than they give themselves credit for being.

I don't believe anyone is so pathetic that they "need" political government or its armed thugs.

Really, for me to concede that you need government or police is the worst insult I can throw at you.

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Rioting is wrong way to protest

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for June 10, 2020)

There's a correct way to protest injustice and there's a wrong way. You may have recently noticed people in several big cities doing it the wrong way. Although, perhaps people pretending to side with the protesters were intentionally making the protesters look bad-- it's hard to know which.

I've been writing about, and opposing, police brutality for years. It's an important topic. When someone commits wrong while using the defense "I was just doing my job", I'm among the first to reject the excuse. Don't hide your contempt for human life behind your job. A badge can't grant extra rights and shouldn't shield bad guys from consequences.

Fighting against a wrongful kidnapping-- whether by a freelance kidnapper or by someone committing the ritual euphemistically called an "arrest"-- is not a legitimate reason to be killed. Any protest triggered by such a death is justified.

However, if your protest targets the wrong people by violating the life, liberty, and property of people who weren't the problem, you are behaving no differently than those you protest.

Rioting is the wrong way to protest. Looting, arson, and vandalism are even worse. Blocking traffic will also turn opinion against you. At that point, you're no longer on the side of justice and I want nothing to do with you. I might agree with every point you are protesting, but I will stand against any rioting or looting. You'll lose your chance to have another person on your side. Multiply this effect by thousands and you might see why it's a bad idea to treat everyone as your enemy. 

Don't harm your own cause. Don't drive people away if you want them to agree with you.

You'll also risk wasting your life by forcing people to defend themselves and their property from you.

Your life matters. Act like it matters to you. To be treated as though your life doesn't matter is wrong, whether or not your treatment is recognized as a crime.

Other people's lives matter, too. For someone to take a life when the death wasn't necessary to defend the life, liberty, or property of innocent victims is wrong even if your job allows it or you believe your cause justifies it.

I have no love for police, but they are no worse than the rioters, vandals, and looters. I won't choose sides in that battle but will stand with those who refuse to violate other people in any way. It's the right thing to do.

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Statist preferences aren't necessarily crazy

... it's just how they want to impose them on everyone else that's crazy.

Some of my personal preferences are the same as the personal preferences of most statists. Like them, I prefer peace, comfort, and safety. I don't like chaos, problems, theft, or aggression.

However, I'm not willing to impose my ideas of peace, comfort, and safety on others by breaking their peace, comfort, and safety.
I realize my ideas of what constitute chaos and problems may not be the same as other people's and I'm not willing to impose my standards on them.
I won't endorse institutionalized theft and aggression in order to combat freelance theft and aggression. Not a chance!

While they believe one form is OK, to the point where they often even deny what they advocate is theft and aggression, I don't.

I don't believe it's possible to throw an orgy to promote chastity. They seem to believe it is. I consider this convincing evidence that statists are delusional.

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Obsolete and decaying before our eyes

Politics is obsolete.
Conservatism/liberalism, Right-Statism/Left-Statism are obsolete.
Statism is obsolete.

Those who continue to live in that world are clinging to an obsolete way to live among others. They are tragic.

Their archaic "system" is rotting before our eyes. It has been failing for 5000+ years, and the decay has accelerated in the past couple of centuries. Yet they keep pretending it's salvageable.

Statists remind me of those pathetic monkey mothers who will carry their dead infant around until it falls apart in their arms. They aren't to be hated, but to be pitied.

It's only when they try to force others to hold the rotting corpse and coo over how beautiful it is that I feel hatred for them. I don't want the diseased corpse in my life or in the lives of those I care about. I don't even want it in the life of anyone I might hate, unless they beg for it. You don't have to give it up, but keep it to yourself.

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Personal Covid-19 updates

If you're interested in following my family's coronavirus adventure, I keep updating the original post: link

All is well, and no further developments. I guess that is all unless something else happens.

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Politics (still) makes people stupid

Politics makes people stupid.

So stupid, in fact, that those engaging in politics can't tell the difference between their old run-of-the-mill obsolete "left vs right", "your side is killing us all" politics and warning people of the dangers of engaging in politics while refusing to engage in politics yourself.

Those are not the same things.

If warning people of the dangers of engaging in politics is politics, then-- to paraphrase a saying from another sphere-- not collecting stamps is a hobby.

They can do what they want. They don't even have to care how stupid it makes them look (or, actually become). It's their life; their choice, but the facts remain the same. They'd be smarter if they paid attention to the facts instead of having a knee-jerk reaction to being called out for ignoring them. No one can force self-awareness on them.

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Mask hysteria

As I've repeatedly said, I'm agnostic on masks. Wear one or don't, I don't care. Even though I usually wear one, I don't get bothered in the slightest by those who don't. Or by those who do. It really doesn't bother me either way. I'm always against "mandatory" anything-- either requiring masks or forbidding them.

Those who equate not wearing a mask to shooting randomly into a crowd are hysterics. Maybe it's more like shooting a marshmallow gun into a crowd of people who have gathered for a marshmallow battle instead of choosing to stay home. Sure, if someone is deathly allergic to marshmallows they might die if hit, but shouldn't those people have stayed home in the first place? Reasonable people aren't going to lose their minds over the perceived risks. But hysterics? Even if this virus is highly contagious, it just isn't that deadly anymore, and it's getting less so as time goes by. Getting the vapors over it is like having a conniption over rain. Yes, rain can kill you, too, and it almost took my house out once, but it's just not that big a threat.

People are also getting bent out of shape over whether or not masks can starve you of oxygen ("cause hypoxia"). They cite tests and quote "experts". I don't need tests, I know what my body is telling me-- too much mask wearing makes my body crave oxygen in many situations. It's just like hiding under the covers in bed when you're a kid trying to hide from monsters (or siblings). You know you'd eventually get low on oxygen and need to come up for air. Masks have the exact same effect.

Maybe it's mainly due to the cloth causing the temperature behind the mask to rise. The warmer the air, the less oxygen it contains in a given volume. It's just the way it works. Only someone religiously devoted to the cult of masks could deny this reality.

As with most things, masks only become a problem when politicized. I'm non-political so I can be more objective about it.

Yes, my dad has the Covid-19 coronavirus. His tests came back positive (I am aware of the false positives, but he is sick with something). Everyone in the family, with few exceptions, has now been exposed. How many of us will come down with symptoms severe enough to be noticed? I don't know. Either way, it's not worth being a jerk over masks. That is just stupid-- it's politics.

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Life on the border

Cars with Texas slave-plates are suddenly unwelcome in New Mexico due to "The Corona". Armed and masked state police are now stopping cars and asking why the occupants are coming into New Mexico.

That's not a huge problem for people who don't have to cross imaginary government lines routinely and who imagine that cops are not a criminal gang, but living on the border like I do makes it a problem for me. I'm less than 7 blocks on the Texas side of the line.

I avoid badge-thugs of any variety if at all possible, so I don't really feel like risking an encounter. Any encounter with a cop is a mortal threat. But everywhere I go on a regular basis is on the New Mexico side of the line. This small town doesn't have many businesses-- there are some real gaps. The closest stuff in Texas is much farther from me than the closest stuff in New Mexico.

But it looks like I'm going to have to deal with the added expense and inconvenience of doing all my business in Texas, since the New Mexico political gang has declared me and others unwelcome on their side of the imaginary line.

Government-- making life harder and more expensive since at least 3000 BC.

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Setting people at each other's throats

Anytime you politicize anything-- by letting government dictates and legislation force a one-size-fits-all path on everyone-- people get angry. And who can really blame them?

People on both sides are likely to flip out instead of being civil and letting people make their own choices.

Then you'll have the clueless ask "why are people so partisan?"

Well, if you didn't threaten people with the guns of the state they wouldn't feel they have to be partisan. It's viewed as necessary for self-defense... by both sides.

If you have a good idea, talk people into going along. And if you can't, let it go. Don't demand "a law". Don't demand stronger enforcement. If your idea relies on either of those your idea is probably garbage and you-- by insisting on government intervention-- are a failure.

I have room in my Being to not try to control other people, even if I think they are doing something stupid. I may say something, but I won't force them to adopt my path. If I think it might harm me, I step back to a safer distance, and I may warn others, as well. I won't try to encourage others to molest you with "laws".

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President Kanye West?

Kanye West can't fix the presidency. Neither can anyone else.

It's not who holds the office that's the problem; it's the existence of the office that's the problem. Along with the existence of the political system which necessitates or enables something like that office.

If the person in the office mattered, you'd want me there. But it's not nice to place anyone into any political office (even if they believe they want it).

If I were inclined to v*te, I'd try to choose whoever I thought would collapse the political system the hardest and the fastest. I'm not sure Kanye would be best for that purpose, and I know Jo, the LP candidate wouldn't be.

At this point, it's difficult to justify dragging the collapse out longer. Or, at least the excuses don't convince me anymore. We'll never be better prepared than we are right now.

Get a chair, pop some popcorn, and watch it all burn.

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