Best to let people try different things

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for October 6, 2021)

The best survival strategy for a society, a civilization, or a species is to let individuals try different things. Get out of their way, even when you believe their choice will lead to certain doom. The only legitimate limit is when an action would violate the life, liberty, or property of another. In that case, the intended victim has the right to stop the violator, but otherwise, step aside.

Every choice is a fork in the road. You can't see what's ahead along either path. You may strongly believe one thing is, others may just as strongly believe something else is. It's wisest to let everyone choose their own path.

The fork usually has more than two options and no expert can know which is the best path. In fact, what would be trouble for some might be perfect for you. Don't let political authorities dictate your choice. Yes, you may choose poorly. Others will make a different choice which works out well. The more free we are to choose, the better our species will fare.

So, let some get vaccinated and let others decline to do so. Let some wear masks, let others breathe free.

Let some people use Bitcoin, let others trade in precious metals, let others trust government fiat money, while others diversify.

Let some people work with solar energy, let others provide petroleum, and let others develop Generation IV nuclear energy.

Let those who embrace risk emigrate to Mars and let others stay on Earth.

The more variety in the paths taken, the better off we'll all be.

One size does not fit all. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. Let people choose what they believe is the best path, even when you're sure they are wrong. Feel free to give them your reasons and then step away and don't force them to do what you believe is best. You could be wrong. I could be wrong. It's not good to make everyone do the exact same thing.

This is why government legislation is such a bad idea for humanity as a whole. It limits options and forces everyone down a funnel which might lead to a really bad outcome. Even if it allows a couple of choices, those choices are artificially limited to the ones politicians like. Do you trust politicians to run your life? I don't. Just as I don't trust myself to run your life.

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Dark humor?

I drove past this accident about 5 or 10 minutes after it happened yesterday. I found perverse humor in the billboards above one of the wrecked vehicles. 

I was relieved to find out no one was killed, because I figured someone died at the scene (the other wrecked pickup was a little farther down the road and was pretty much destroyed).

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"Any encounter you have with an armed gang member has the potential to turn deadly -- sometimes accidentally. You don't have to be an idiot who demonizes all MS-13 members for the abuses of some to understand this."
Oh, wait, she was speaking in support of cops, not MS-13. ALL cops are evil scum. (Yes, that one, too.) Recognizing this truth doesn't make one an idiot. Trying to justify cops, because you are too cowardly to live without them, just might.

Pouring water into a full cup

If you have a cup that is filled to the brim with good water, have you gained anything by pouring in another cup full of water? Well, as my daughter pointed out, you've gained a mess.

In reality, there's nothing worthwhile to gain by adding more to that full cup. 

What if you aren't even the one choosing what will be poured into your full cup? Can you trust the one adding something to your cup? If what is poured in is not what you want in your cup, there's still a way to lose but no way to gain.

If having caught and survived Covid filled your bodily "cup" with antibodies-- natural immunity-- does a "vaccine" add anything helpful? Is "more" better? Not if you are already filled to the brim. 

Plus, you've added the risk of something you might not want ending up in you since you have no control of what's being added.

You do what you want, but that's just something to think about.

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Hail to the teapot

There are plenty of bad things you can say about Joe Biden, but at least he's made it obvious (to anyone who didn't already get it) that the presidency is pointless and unnecessary. If he can hold the job, anything can. 

Any mystique is gone. It's just a figurehead; a placeholder. A face for the bureaucratic tyranny and for the "authority" worshipers to focus on. Any face would do; alive or not. For that matter, a teapot would probably do.

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Silence-- the best policy?

I probably get a stupid look on my face.

When? Any time someone starts telling me some "wonderful" thing a politician they like is doing. Chances are, I don't think it's wonderful. I probably don't like their politician, either.

It happens pretty often.

One topic from this category I encounter often is people gushing over border control.

I got an email from someone just a couple of days ago. He invited me to join his trip to the border to thank the border control agents, the National Guard, and the sheriffs for "keeping us safe". I'm not going to do that. I'm against Big Government every time.

Why would I thank the jailers who are keeping the cell doors locked? Which side of the cell do these borderists imagine they are on?

Then, just a day or so later, I was treated to a glowing report of some politician-- the Texas governor-- taking it into his own hands to build a border wall without the US feral government's help, and against their wishes.

Look, I get why people want borders, I just don't agree with them anymore.

Those aren't the only topics. I've had the same reaction to government-supremacists talking about schools, gun legislation, cops, drugs, taxes, social media, property codes, and just about everything else governments screw up.

Anyway, at times like those I've found it's best to just not respond. At all. Or change the subject. They aren't going to listen to the other side-- even from someone who was once on the other side. So, I probably sit there with a blank expression for a while, until the topic changes to something more civilized. Silence is (or can be) golden.

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When the criminals run the show

A local doctor has been sentenced for "parading, demonstrating or picketing in a capitol building" in Washington, District of Crooks, on this past January 6th. (Notice, no charges for "insurrection".)

I would probably disagree with him on just about every contentious topic that forms an excuse for committing political acts against others, but he had more right to be in that building than the vile congressvermin who cowered under their chairs that day. The building belongs to him, not to government employees.

He is not the criminal; those punishing him are criminals.

If I couldn't side with people I (probably, or for sure) disagree with when they are victimized by thugs, my principles would be worthless. What use are worthless principles? Why bother?

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In most cases, it seems as pointless to say "the government" as it does to say "the cancer". The disease is bigger than an individual case. It's not enough to cure one specific instance, you want to cure the whole category so it doesn't come back. If one person has cancer wouldn't they prefer all versions be cured so they don't get a different one later?

They could have solved politics

I know it's dangerous to say this, but the only way the US Constitution wouldn't have been a failure from the very beginning is if it had made the assassination of politicians explicitly permissible for any reason.

Yes, there are rare cases where that would be a clear violation of the ZAP, but so is establishing a state. If they can do one, they can do both.

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Ignorance as social lubricant

When I was a kid and teen, I pretended to not know a lot of things I knew. I did this in self-defense. 

I had figured out at an early age that people didn't like it when I knew things they didn't know. Especially people who were older than me and thought of themselves as "authority". So I feigned ignorance a lot to survive socially. 

It was a hard habit to break, even once I stopped caring so much about what others thought. I still sometimes catch myself self-censoring for the same reason. 

I've also learned that it can be fun watching someone digging themselves into a deep hole. And, I'll admit I sometimes toss a little fuel on the fire by pretending to not know something, asking strange questions, and seeing where they go with it. We all need hobbies, right?

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Try for a normal without tyrants

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for September 29, 2021)

Are you enjoying this "new normal"?

Neither am I. What can be done about it?

Consider:

Those who gained power or prestige by using the Covid panic will not willingly go back to the way life was before. They will have to be forced out. They'll probably make this a crime before you get the chance. Try anyway.

Even if you do successfully force them out, things can never go back to exactly the way they were before.

Covid-19 is a new cold virus, added to over two hundred cold viruses-- rhinoviruses, coronaviruses, and others-- which are already out there. You could get lifetime immunity from each cold virus you catch (as is usually the case) and still get two colds every year if you lived to be one hundred years old. Future generations-- until every cold virus is cured-- probably won't know or care which specific cold virus they caught.

Another change which will probably be permanent is how many people lost trust in "experts". My trust in the medical profession has been almost completely destroyed by the events of the past year and a half and I'm not the only one.

Some of your neighbors have also been inspired to become snitches or enforcers for the state-- enforcing the opinions of politicians against their fellow humans, both as business owners and as freelance "Karens". Will they go back to a healthy way of interacting with others once the silliness ends? Don't count on it.

Governments also got new visions of what is possible; more understanding of what the population will allow them to do. They will take advantage of this at every opportunity.

Things change. You can never go back to the way things were in the past. However, you don't have to allow bad changes to stand unchallenged; you can turn them into opportunities to change things for the better. You can now see cracks in the wall of political authority. Grab a crowbar and sledgehammer and get to work. This wall, like the Berlin Wall before it, can-- and should-- be brought down.

Yes, we will settle into a new normal, different from the one we lived before. That's not necessarily a bad thing. The "new normal" doesn't have to be the one authoritarian politicians want. It can be a normal where tyrants have no place among those who choose society over politics. It's up to you.

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Halloween fiction: The mutants are coming!

I'm hiding in the corner of an old dusty barn. Trying to be as quiet as possible while breathing hard from running. I wipe some blood out of my eyes; don't worry, it's not mine. My heart is pounding in my ears, and I need to calm it if I am to hear anything coming.

Feeling around to see how much ammo I still have with me; wondering if it will be enough. I couldn't possibly carry as much ammunition as I'd like, to use against what I'll face when I do make a run for it.

I've got my AR-15 with a full magazine; two more full magazines and a "partial" in my bag. I just counted what was left-- nineteen in that partial magazine. I swapped it out for a full magazine after the last encounter a couple of hours ago, just in case. Could I have fired fewer shots than I did last time? Did I waste ammo? It's a nagging question I'll never know the answer to.

I also have my 9mm handgun, with a full 10-round magazine in it and two 15-round magazines in the bag, besides the 12-rounder clipped inside my waistband. I haven't fired this gun since I ran-- fortunately, I've kept all encounters to a distance.

And that's all I've got as far as guns go... unless you count the .22 LR mini-revolver I always have as a last resort, which I don't.

Are the guns pointless, though?

I'm not even sure where to run. 

The towns and cities are obviously not safe, but neither is the wilderness. Not the mountains, the plains, the deserts, or the oceans. Sure, the places farther from concentrations of people-- or where concentrations of people used to live when this hit-- are slightly less dangerous. But any difference is small and shrinking fast. They are spreading faster than seems possible.

How did the world get into this mess?

A few years ago most people all over the world got a new vaccine. A different sort of vaccine against a disease that in hindsight was a picnic compared to... well, what the vaccine has wrought.

It didn't seem that dangerous at the time, but I didn't really see the need so I didn't bother getting vaccinated.

As it turns out, not getting the vaccine made no difference to my safety. It only bought me a little time. But for what?

Even months later there weren't that many serious side effects. Anyone who had decided against the vaccine was ridiculed and often shunned because it was "obviously safe". That was then. 

Later everyone stopped caring either way, and it was too late.

Before everything shut down it had become apparent that this vaccine, by getting into the recipient's DNA, made it possible for the genes of unrelated mammals to merge if they mated, resulting in hybrid offspring. No matter that they had different numbers of chromosomes or previously had immune responses to each other to prevent crossbreeding. I don't know the exact explanation of how it did what it did, and I guess explanations are pointless now. Who would I explain it to even if I knew?

If this had been the whole story, it wouldn't have been a huge issue outside some backward communities. 

Unfortunately, it also turned out that in a small, but still too large, percentage of the population-- both human and non-human-- this change coincided with the total elimination of any reluctance to mate with anything of any species. Worse, the offspring aren't sterile and can-- and will, with enthusiasm-- breed with each other, passing along the worst traits of the line. Now it's hard to guess what the parentage of the... thing.. about to rape or eat you (not even sure which fate is worse) might have been.

These things have higher intelligence than the animal part of them would have had (the ones which have some human in them, anyway), more stamina, and higher aggression than any normal lifeform. And most of them have shorter gestation periods and mature in only a year or so. Some mature in weeks-- thanks, mouse DNA. Plus, they all have the survival skills and abilities of the wildlife genes they contain. And their appearance. I promise-- you don't want to see them. They are like walking cancer made up of the worst sick taxidermy you can imagine, multiplied by infinity.

It's like some perfect nightmare. I wonder if my horror-fan friends are enjoying this-- if they are still alive.

Now I feel like it's time to run again. I'm as rested as I'm going to get. I need to find somewhere to sleep for a little while, but there's no bank safe handy to lock myself in to feel protected enough to sleep. 

Some food would be nice, too, but honestly, I'm scared to eat one of those things. Would cooking really destroy the DNA enough to make me safe? And what about handling the raw meat and blood while butchering the things? I do have a few nitrile gloves I shoved in my bag as I fled my house just as something with giant curled horns blasted through my back door, but would I trust them? I don't know. 

But I'm getting hungry enough that I'm caring less. I mean, yes, a few hours ago I did make the mistake of shooting that hairy winged thing as it swooped toward me, and a little blood sprayed down on me as it fell to the ground. Just a little splatter. And I feel fine. Great, in fact. Stronger than ever. But hungry.

I'm starting to feel like I don't even need the guns. 

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Happy Halloween!

Supply chain failure-- the common denominator

For weeks-- maybe months-- now, I've been hearing people giving the reason behind the supply chain failure. But I'm hearing many different reasons, not one. All of them sound plausible, even when they are different.

Ordinarily this would indicate that they are all probably wrong.

But not this time. Not if you dig a little deeper.

Every reason I've heard comes down, at its root, to government caused this problem. 

It's been a long time coming, but the Covid overreaction brought it to a head.

Regulations, rationing, licensing, legislation, handouts... they all came together to cause this mess. It won't be solved by mixing in more of the same. Getting government out of the way is the only permanent solution, but it's one you'll not hear from the mainstream or from government (but I repeat myself).

I hate to sound like a parrot, repeating the only phrase he knows. But, yes, government caused this problem. Government is the problem so often it can't be coincidence.

(After writing this, I decided I might expand it and turn it into a newspaper column. If so, I apologize for the repeat.)

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The problem may be theirs

How rude!

Thinking back on a previous post, I got to remembering how many times in my life I've been called "rude" or something similarly negative because I asserted my autonomy. And it's a lot!

One person has repeatedly told me that by not allowing them to control me, I am forcing my will on them. I am being rude and should be ashamed.

Once I was working for a staffing service-- which was my actual boss-- when the job-site boss told me to move a stack of long metal poles from one location to another, outdoors, in the middle of a severe thunderstorm. Following the staffing service's explicit directions to not do anything I considered dangerous, I refused. I explained why I couldn't do that. I was kicked off the job after being screamed at for being lazy and useless. The staffing service supported my decision, though.

Because I don't fawn over police and military-- I don't thank them for their service when I encounter them in the wild-- I am told I am rude. I don't slam doors in their faces, spit on them, or even give them the evil eye. As long as they aren't actively doing wrong right now, I treat them as I would treat any other random stranger. But neglecting to fawn over them is "rude".

I don't often give anything to panhandlers, nor take flyers from anyone handing them out. If I say anything, I keep it to "No thanks". There have been a couple of occasions where the person wouldn't take "No" for an answer and I was more assertive, but I only push back as hard as I have to. I won't be bullied. I've been told this, too, is "rude".

I've been called "rude" for ignoring statist rituals to worship Holy Pole Quilt. So be it.

I have no respect for your favorite politician or bureaucrat. I'm not going to fake that I do. Don't press me to give my opinion unless you're strong enough to hear it. And don't call me "rude" if you don't like what you hear; what I didn't want to say in the first place.

I prefer to be civil. I like to be nice. But not at the expense of liberty or truth. You've got to have a line-in-the-sand somewhere. A line no one can push you across, using your desire to be nice as a weapon against you. If standing up for yourself (or someone else) makes you "rude" in another's eyes, the problem is theirs.

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Suddenly YouTube is suggesting lots of videos for me on stupid people (their terms)-- what makes them stupid, why facts don't convince them, and why they don't know they are stupid. I didn't go searching for these and it makes me wonder if the Googleverse is trying to tell me something.

Time keeps rolling on

My mom's last uncle-- the last of a set of 11 couples (my grandmother was in a big family)-- died Monday. He was married to one of my maternal grandmother's many sisters. 

I've mentioned him here a couple of times; when his house got robbed (I believe, 3 times), vandalized, and then set on fire by a worthless dirtbag (that's the one dumb enough to get caught). 

Uncle Jay was distantly related to Daniel Boone (not a direct descendant) and looked like an old cowboy. Especially in his hat.

I have to admit, it was time for him to go. He hasn't been doing well for the past year, mentally or physically. I wasn't especially close to him most of my life, but did spend more time with him in the last 5 or so years. I'm not terribly broken up over his death. Still, it is the end of an era. 

Today would have been his 98th birthday. 

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All it took was for an outspoken anti-gun bigot to "accidentally" shoot and kill someone (the gun "went off") for all the people who know nothing about guns to start giving their ignorant opinions with grandiosity. I've never heard so much gun ignorance in my life-- and I'm accustomed to hearing a lot of it.

"Not guilty" should be the default

Someone in my family got a jury duty notice again, but the trial was canceled before they met. But this is a good time for a reminder.

If you were a juror and had a bad feeling about the accused, but the government didn't prove its case against him, what would you do?

You should render a verdict of "not guilty" anyway.

"Not guilty" should always be the default. It's the government's "job" to prove their case to move you away from that position, but you aren't obligated to move an inch.

"Not guilty" doesn't mean you're sure he didn't do it. It doesn't mean you think he's a great guy. It doesn't mean you don't believe he's ever done anything else wrong. It just means the government didn't prove its case to your satisfaction-- or that the legislation he's accused of violating in this instance is counterfeit.

I could be on a jury and say "not guilty" but still feel the accused isn't trustworthy. I might still warn people to stay away from him because I think he's a slimeball. But I'm not going to hand the government a "win" based on my feelings and suspicions. Especially if they don't prove their case or are trying to enforce counterfeit "laws". It's your responsibility to hold them to a higher standard when you have the power to do so.

Besides, court isn't real life. It's just a ritual. Your life decisions shouldn't hinge on what happens in a court. If you don't trust someone, don't take a court verdict into account when considering whether you might be wrong about them.

There are people on death row (often for killing home-invading cops) I would gladly hang out with and there are people who have been acquitted that I would only be in the same room with if I were pointing a gun at them.

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"That was rude!"

Saturday my daughter and I went to a pet expo over in New Mexico territory. One of the booths was the local city animal shelter. As I passed, they asked if I would sign a petition to have the city "improve" the shelter.

My signature wouldn't have been valid, since I'm not a resident of the state, and I don't think government should be running animal shelters anyway. I've repeated over the years that nothing should be "tax" funded, not even if I like it.

So I said, "No, thanks".

The shocked faces should have been a warning. My daughter tells me that a kid in the booth said "That was rude" as we walked away, and someone else said "Wow!".

I was told by someone in my family that I should have just signed. 

I never claimed to have the best social skills, but I don't like being deceptive. I suppose I could have gotten into a conversation to explain my choice. I could have pointed to the cat my daughter was carrying and told them the story of his rescue, as evidence that I love animals. Would it have made a difference in their opinion of me? Does their opinion matter? 

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Taxing rich discourages productivity

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for September 22, 2021)

Tax the rich? It sounds like a great idea... to people without a grasp of economic reality. For the rest of us, it looks like national economic suicide.

If you punish people for being productive, you'll discourage productivity. Yes, there are some people who would keep working hard to create value even if the IRS keeps stealing it, but many would throw in the towel and live on the bare minimum they are allowed to keep. They wouldn't start businesses to benefit society or to employ people. They wouldn't buy luxuries that people create, build, and sell to rich people. There's no faster way to cripple the economy-- other than a pandemic shutdown.

You could confiscate all the wealth of every rich person in the country, even redefining "rich" so you can take more, and it wouldn't put a dent in the debt Congress has racked up. A debt they pretend is yours to pay. "National debt" is a lie.

If Elon Musk had most of his wealth confiscated to fund government, the future of space travel would be in peril. In fact, it would probably be crippled for the next generation or two, at least in America. It's too great a risk.

Even the rich people I don't like have a right to keep the money they or their parents earned. The only people who don't have the right to keep "their" money are those who get money from politics or other criminal behavior. That money should be returned to the victims, not handed to government.

"Tax the rich" is a trendy thing to say. It demonstrates how "woke" you are. As with most "wokeness" it also declares your ignorance in a loud voice.

I don't want rich people taxed for the same reason I don't want poor people taxed. It's unethical to take money which doesn't belong to you, no matter your justification. Taxation is theft, even if you would rather pretend it isn't. If your plan relies on theft, It needs to be scrapped.

Plus, I don't want government to have money. I'd rather shut off the supply and starve the beast. Taxation is apparently not even necessary for government finances since government has shown it will print whatever money it wants. Yes, this will eventually destroy the economy, but so will taxing the rich. If they are going to destroy the economy anyway, I'd rather they do so without taxation.

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