Be considerate-- Prep

Do you want to be considerate of others? Then you need to be a prepper.

Prepping is most considerate. 

In the early days of the panic-demic, do you know who wasn't out there competing for the rare roll of toilet paper? Preppers. 

Who wasn't fighting with karens in the grocery store aisles for a can of corn or a bag of dried beans? Preppers.

Prep now so you won't be a burden on society-- on your friends and neighbors-- later. Prep so you leave more goods on the shelf for others. Prep so you aren't adding extra demand and pushing prices higher than they'd otherwise go.  Prep so you can watch the collapse in relative comfort.

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You have to pick one or the other

I saw a quote by a right-statist who said "conservatives" want "secure borders and small government". That's so cute, it's hilarious. You can have one or the other, but not both at the same time on the same tax farm.

It's like those left statists who want to get rid of guns with anti-gun legislation and want government-- the same government they admit is a gang of thugs (depending on who they believe is "in charge")-- to enforce "gun control" [sic]... with guns and violence. And they hallucinate that this will save lives! The idiocy is astounding!

Politics makes people stupid and makes them agitate for things that are contradictory; for things that can not coexist.

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How much risk is too much?

The amount of risk I'm willing to take depends on how bad the alternative is. And it's completely subjective.

If the danger (or pain) is great enough, I'm willing to do extreme things-- even really risky things-- to alleviate it. It's pure desperation.

If a fireball is chasing me down a hallway I might be willing to jump through a window, not knowing what's on the other side.

Similarly, I would be willing to try experimental mRNA treatment for something like cancer, but not for an over-hyped cold. The risk/reward in the Covid-19 situation is completely upside-down in my subjective opinion.

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Skewed, self-selected data

Back in February, I had a routine annual medical check-up. During the course of the questioning, I was asked if I was interested in getting the Covid-19 vaccine. I said I wasn't. 

The doctor asked, "Do you mind telling me why?" My answer was that I just wasn't worried about Covid-- everyone around me has already had it and it wasn't that bad for any of them. 

His response: "Well, my experience has been different. I've seen lots of bad outcomes."

I'm sure he has. Think about it. 

Who is going to come to the hospital emergency room? Those who aren't having problems, or those who are? Which group of people is more likely to have a bad outcome? His data is self-selecting. It's going to give him a skewed view of reality. 

I know someone else who worked in a nursing home during the first several months of the panic-demic, She also is convinced this virus is a really big deal-- and in her limited sphere, it probably was. But that's not representative of the world at large.

Of course, neither is my experience. But it is still my excuse for not being interested in a vaccine experimental gene therapy that won't prevent the disease it is being advertised for fighting, won't prevent those infected from transmitting the virus, and won't confer herd immunity (according to its advocates)-- so getting it won't eliminate antisocial social distancing or masks. Remind me again... what is the point of a vaccination that won't do any of the things normal vaccines are expected to do?

Other people have other reasons, both for getting the vaccine and for refusing to do so. I'm fine with that. I'm not anti-vaccine, but I am anti-mandatory vaccine.

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What are your chances?

I don't have any statistics to prove it, but I'd bet most people have a greater chance of being killed by cops than by freelance thugs-- as long as you do your best to avoid sketchy people, places, or activities.

What do you think?

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NM fumbled on legal marijuana

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for April 7, 2021)

Leave it to government to fumble a chance to do the right thing.

New Mexico has finally decided to legalize Cannabis. This could have been a win for liberty, but they did it wrong. Instead of letting the market handle it, as they should have, they wanted to get their fingers in as deep as possible.

It's good when a government backs off on violating natural human rights, but the state never had the right to criminalize or control Cannabis to begin with. Neither did the federal government, since no constitutional amendment was ever ratified to give them this power.

Cannabis should only be as controlled as parsley; neither should be controlled at all. Plants-- and who grows, sells, possesses, or consumes them-- are not government's business. Quality issues and fraud are the business of the market, and that's where this should be handled.

This change is driven by a hunger for more money rather than any new respect for human rights. Greedy governments get excited over any new source of money. Taxing Cannabis, or anything else, is wrong because taxation is always theft. I don't want Cannabis taxes to help pay for more government-- we already have far more government than any civilized society would put up with.

Like other states which legalized marijuana, New Mexico's government is sneaky. They legalized the plant while setting so many traps with new rules that the chances of committing a crime under the new system will increase. Marijuana will be "legal"-- if you dot all the "i"s, cross all the "t"s, jump through every arbitrary hoop, and hold your mouth just right while hopping on one foot.

In other states where similar plans have been put in place, people have noticed it was less legally risky to use Cannabis before it was legalized, regulated, and taxed.

On the prohibitionist side, there's the fear of more impaired drivers on the road. A reasonable fear, but unnecessary.

If you harm someone's person or property in an accident it doesn't matter if it was because you were drunk or stoned, sleepy, texting, or speeding to the scene of an accident. The responsibility is still completely yours. No regulation is needed to make you extra responsible.

I wish, instead of finding new ways to have more control, government could keep its hands off our lives for a change. This was a chance to lead the way, and it was squandered on politics.

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The evil stupidity of government "authority"

Politics makes people stupid. Government "jobs" that come with any "authority" will make them evil.

An early event that drove this home to me was when I was attending a mountainman rendezvous in the Rocky Mountains years ago. It had been a dry year, so the forest was under a burn ban. No fires for cooking, warmth, blacksmithing, or anything. 

Now, I understand the danger of fire in a tinder-dry forest. I understand that some people are irresponsible with fire (and everything else). I am not opposed to reminding people of dangers inherent in such situations, even though I don't support edicts and mandates.

But, a few days before the rendezvous began it started to rain. And rain and rain. Like it couldn't stop.

The Forest Circus goons invaded our camp, wading through standing water and mud in their uniforms, to remind us that the burn ban was still in effect.  Threatening "legal" action if anyone dared light a fire.

There was no way to start a forest fire under those conditions without a nuclear bomb. Only the best woodsman would have been able to make a campfire anyway. It was the first (and only) time I ever actually slept in standing water. Thank goodness for wool blankets!

A few days later the goons relented a little, allowing the blacksmith to light his forge for a certain number of hours per day, and allowing some cooking fires, but for me, it was too late. My wife-at-the-time demanded we leave.

A little bit of imaginary "authority" ruined rendezvous that year for me and for a lot of others; more than any amount of rain could have done. Political stupidity plus political "authority" equals government evil.

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Statists' imaginary friend

For a lot of people, government is their imaginary friend. In more ways than one.

"The Government", as many people seem to think of it, is imaginary. It is not something above and beyond the sick people who populate its buildings and agencies. It is no more powerful than the gang of people who work for it. It is not wise. It is not helpful. It is not one monumental block.

Also, it's an imaginary friend because it is not your friend. If you act as though it is, you're going to be taken advantage of and you will be hurt. It doesn't care about you. It cares about its own power and position over you. The individuals who make up government are more concerned with keeping their paycheck coming than with doing the right thing. Keeping that paycheck coming means keeping government running, which means violating you in whatever way is necessary to that end. It means "nice" government employees will kill you to protect government.

Government is the imaginary friend it's most harmful to believe in. It's long past time to grow up and stop believing in it. You don't need it like you may have when you were immature.

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Non-political politics?

Can there be any such thing as politics that is divorced from the political means? How would that work, if possible?

I get it that many people really like politics. Some feel the need to participate, rather than just observe. Some of these believe they are being self-defensively political. But is that really a thing? Isn't that like setting off a bomb in a crowded store and saying it was in self-defense?

I get protesting against some anti-liberty scheme. But is v*ting ever really a purely defensive protest?

How can you "be political" without violating the life, liberty, or property of anyone else in any way-- without archating?

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A debt you don't owe

What do humans owe each other? Lots of clashing claims get thrown around, but most of them are complete nonsense.

You don't automatically owe others housing, medical care, safety, or food. Not without a prior, mutually consensual, agreement.

Recently, I've seen more and more claims saying "we" also owe each other respect.

There is only one kind of respect you owe others, and it is very specific.

You are obligated-- you owe it-- to respect the natural, equal, and identical human rights of every individual. Not a generalized "respect". You can't owe something that hasn't been earned by a consensual agreement or by a debt your actions created.

You owe it to others to not violate their life, liberty, or property-- including by trying to prevent them from securing those things for themselves. Your primary responsibility is, always has been and always will be, to not archate-- this is how you show the respect you actually owe to others. You owe it to them to not stand in their way of providing housing, medical care, safety, food, or respect for themselves.

But respect for their opinions? Nope.
Respect based on the color of their skin, their sex, their sexual proclivities, their culture, or their political/religious beliefs? Nope, again.

You owe others respect for their human right to be who they are, as long as they don't seek to use government violence to impose themselves and their opinions on you. 

The quickest way to show yourself unworthy of even that level of respect is to try to force others to give you "respect"-- or else the State will use violence against them on your behalf.

Don't be guilted into taking on a debt that isn't yours. You owe what you owe, and not a bit more.

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Just crazy enough it might work

Hey, here's a great idea! Let's form a gang! Only, we'll call it something nicer than a "gang". A "safetisnug", maybe. That sounds nice, right?

We'll claim we have recently discovered (through revelation) that we have the right to tell others how they are allowed to live, and the right to take a cut of their property so we can afford to keep telling them how they are allowed to live. And we have the right to beat up, rob, cage, or kill anyone who resists our help. But it's to keep them safe and snug from other dangers out there, so it's better than the alternative.

If anyone objects, we can say "Yoda said we have to do this or you'll live wrong because you are evil and stupid, and we aren't because He guides us with his infinite wisdom". 

Or, we can just write a document saying we are going to do this, claim that everyone says it's OK if we do, and point to it as proof that we have a right to do this. 

If anyone knows what rights are and points out that we can't have such a right, we'll just make up some magical quality with a new name-- I propose "powerness" -- that would lead to the same result. "You are obligated to comply with my document-sanctioned (and society-approved) requests or I have the powerness to rob, cage, or kill you!" See how that would work?

Yeah, it might be hard to talk people into going along with this crazy new idea. People aren't just going to roll over and give up their lives to a gang that says they have to.
Maybe that's why no one has thought of doing anything like this before.

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Rebel, but make it responsible

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for March 31, 2021)

This past year has been hard on liberty.

It started with world-wide government overreaction to a pandemic. This was still going strong when some focus shifted to choosing a politician to run your life. 

Recently, as the pandemic hype began to fizzle in many places and after most of the post-election drama had faded, the push to further violate your natural human right to own and to carry weapons was triggered by the horrible crimes of a few evil losers. Making good people helpless won't make bad people harmless.

If it wasn't one thing it was another.

This has probably always been the case, but sometimes it feels worse. This has been one of those times.

Did the past year signal the end of liberty, or just put a few more nails in its coffin?  Is liberty under a greater threat these days or is it only a matter of perception? I hope it's the latter, even though I suspect it's the former. I plan to pry some of those coffin nails out before it's too late to salvage what we're losing. I hope you'll help.

The question is, how can this problem be fixed?

Most people don't think about liberty very often. It may even scare them if they do. They won't miss it until it's so far gone it will be hard to win back.

Liberty is responsibility and people don't like responsibility. Too many people want to believe someone else is protecting them and doing the thinking so they won't have to. I hope you're not among those who want to be treated like a child, needing 'round-the-clock supervision and care. But if so, government is happy to oblige.

It's easier to control a population of people who won't think for themselves and who feel dependent on you. Those who don't want to be shielded from the real world are a danger to those whose plans require mindless compliance.

Most people comply too quickly.

It's going to take commitment to win back the liberty which has been lost. Part of that commitment will involve standing against politicians and the legislation they impose.

Rebel, but rebel responsibly. Good people never intentionally harm another's life, liberty, or property as a way to show they can think and act for themselves. They rebel only as a way to responsibly exercise their rightful liberty. Do you have it in you to stand for liberty?

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Don't follow the crowd unless you really think they're right

One thing that DemoCRAPublicans commonly do is to follow "their" crowd no matter how dumb the position is. In my experience, libertarians are less likely to do this. 

This is why you'll find libertarians disagreeing so strongly over certain issues.

Sometimes, there is a way to see something from multiple angles that seem incompatible with each other, and a good case to be made from multiple sides.

I have no doubt that consistent, smart libertarians can be on both sides (or perpendicular to those sides) of the abortion debate, because I've talked with them. 

Some think of "maximum liberty" as only achievable with a "night watchman" state; others think any state is necessarily less liberty than is optimal. 

Some think liberty relies on morality, some think it only requires individual ethics in those willing to live by them.

Other topics are much the same. 

Yes, sometimes someone is wrong and someone is right-- and you can't tell by which side has more popular support. Sometimes there's no way to know for sure which is which, and sometimes there is. As long as we don't sink to using (or threatening to use) government violence on each other over differing opinions, I think we'll work it out eventually. Or, keep arguing over it into the distant future. That still seems better to me than some elite declaring "The science is settled!" as if that makes it so and delegitimizes further discussion.

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Sacrificing the innocent for "safety"

Why is it that the first reaction of government-supremacists when there's any real or potential danger is to violate natural human rights-- to violate liberty-- in the name of "safety" and saving lives?

Are they really this clueless and ignorant of history.

Yes. Yes, they are.

Violating liberty never saves lives in the long run. Not ever. It always ends up costing lives-- more lives than are lost by respecting liberty completely. Liberty is messy-- but violating liberty is evil.

To violate liberty for "safety", saying it is because you want to save lives, is one of the dumbest public positions you can take. This is what anti-gun bigots are doing with their calls for "gun control" and "common-sense gun reform" or whatever new anti-gun owner scheme they are pushing.

It's never going to increase safety-- except in the short term, for bad guys like thieves, politicians, rapists, kidnappers, and murderers. Why make them safer? Why sacrifice innocent people for the sake of the bad guys? Makes no sense to me. But, then, I'm not political.

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Painful truth about police

"Police officer" isn't an occupation; it's a gang affiliation. 

They are automatically guilty just by joining such a gang, even before they use this gang membership as justification to violate life, liberty, or property-- which happens as soon as they get their first paycheck, if not before that when issued theft-funded equipment that the population fleeced to support them isn't "allowed" to own and carry and use in the way they are.

Yes, that's a very unpopular truth that those who imagine cops to be "necessary" or even the good guys don't want to hear. And they'll shriek about it, doing all sorts of mental gymnastics to counter it.

It's still the truth.

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The Chauvin verdict

As you might have guessed since I didn't rush to post this, I was neither upset nor happy about the Chauvin guilty verdict. I don't really care one way or the other.

As I explained earlier, I'm completely hostile to both sides. I consider police to be the worst criminal gang there is and consider them guilty of evil behavior from the moment they take that "job", but I don't like to see the prosecution "win", either. This was just one evil creep vs. an evil "system"-- I wish there were a way both could lose hard.

I don't believe in imprisonment, or even punishment. I prefer justice, and that was never on the table. (It never is in government courts.)

Let the guy run free among people who know who he is and let him live with the consequences of his actions.

I see some copsuckers worrying that this accountability will cause people to reconsider becoming cops. If so, maybe there could be a positive from all this monkey-business.

PS: If it is being reported accurately, and if the situation was as it seems to have been (all big "ifs", as you know) the Columbus, Ohio shooting death of the girl-- who is on video attacking another girl with a knife when she was shot-- is an example of a justified shooting. No matter who pulled the trigger it was a good shooting. That shooting probably saved an innocent life or two. If you make the choice to archate, whatever happens due to that choice is on you. Trying to make it fit the "racist" narrative and make the attacker out to be a victim is just dumb. Do you think the girl who was being attacked believes it was a racist shooting?

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The Canary in the coal mine

Why do I care so much about guns and the right to own and to carry them? 

Because I see it as liberty's canary in the coal mine. It's one of the first things evil control freaks want to control, and it's one of the easiest things to brainwash non-aware people into going along with... "for safety".

If gun ownership weren't singled out so often by evil people I wouldn't single it out either. I don't think it is inherently more important than any other natural human right, but other natural human rights aren't as often targeted for destruction. That makes gun rights special.

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Advice to one faction of The Dark Side

I'm not on the side of any branch of the DemoCRAPublicans, but I'll send this warning to the Democrats: It's almost surreal watching you become what you claim (or imagine yourselves) to be fighting. 

In their zeal to rout all vestiges of Trump and his supporters, they are acting like Nazis. They are also working to rig the system so they'll never again lose power, and not even hiding it. 

It's interesting to watch them self-destruct. I've never seen any group doubling down on its own doom so hard-- and I've watched Republicans doing their best to do the same. 

I'm sure the Democrats believe they are winning since they seem to have all the power at the moment. They have control of almost all media, corporations, and universities. Even most of the most vocal public...for now. They'll lose it all if they don't wise up fast. 

Hopefully, they don't change course, and hopefully, the Republicans follow in their footsteps right over the cliff. 

The tighter you squeeze your fist, the more of us will slip through your fingers.

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Never give anything to government

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for March 24, 2021)

It is disappointing to read that the Bill Dalley windmill collection-- which had been entrusted to the Roosevelt County government-- is being split up. Let this be a lesson: if you want something protected and preserved for the future, don't give it to a government.

I spent some time exploring those windmills several years ago. I love the ingenuity shown by their various designs. I like seeing mechanical devices, especially if they still work and work well. I also appreciate the history they represent, and the years of love, expense, and effort which went into collecting and restoring them.

I wish they were still in the hands of someone who appreciated them as much as Bill Dalley obviously did.

You can't take it with you when you go, but if you want it preserved for posterity it would be better to hand it over to someone who values it as much as you once did. At least those windmills scheduled to be auctioned off may end up in good hands.

Never give anything to government. Government owns-- legitimately-- very little. Nearly everything government has was bought with money stolen by a taxing agency or counterfeited by the Federal Reserve-- if the property wasn't flat-out stolen from the rightful owner in the first place. This case is the exception since the collection was donated in good faith. The faith was misplaced.

I would rather see the windmills in private hands, even charging admission to see them, than under the control of some institution which didn't care enough to take care of them. I'll gladly pay a little to see things I'm interested in, while I don't want a single cent taxed from anyone else to fund things they might not appreciate as much as I do.

Anything voluntarily handed to government should come with strings attached. If it isn't properly taken care of or it is going to be discarded, ownership automatically reverts to the donor or their heirs, or someone else of their choosing-- unless they clearly say they don't want it back. Then it should be offered, without cost, to anyone who'll take it. Even if the new owner uses it for scrap, this is better than leaving it in government's hands.

Whether it is your windmill collection, your security, or your liberty, never entrust anything you value to government. They will never take care of it as well as you did.

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"He had a gun!"

Even supposedly gun-friendly Republicans have a large anti-gun blindspot. And it's where their idolatry comes into play: cops.

They'll frequently excuse a murder-by-cop by saying "Well, the guy had (or the cop imagined he had) a gun!"

That's no justification for murdering someone... unless cops would like all of us to adopt the same standard with regard to them. "I had to shoot the cop. I saw he had a gun and I feared for my life!" If it wouldn't work for you or me, it doesn't work for them.

If you're a cop and you believe that seeing a gun justifies shooting the person, you need to be locked in a padded room without access to any sharp objects. You are unfit to live among the rest of us.

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