I only saved it because the person came completely unhinged that someone might oppose mandatory masking, which I thought was weird. And he was flipping out over the suspicion that masks might reduce the blood oxygen levels in wearers. It was interesting at the time. Maybe more so now, in hindsight.
I did my own breathing experiment later, so that wasn't what triggered him, but his outburst is probably what inspired me to test it for myself.
I have saved other things of this sort over the years, and when I run across them, I always wonder if the person stands by it, if they changed their mind, or if they've rewritten their personal history to remove the insanity. "That was my position all along!"
--
*I found him on FB. He apparently now hates all of us because if we aren't on board with the Left-wing authoritarianism he prefers, then we are Right-wing authoritarians. Wingism is terribly seductive. So he probably still stands by it.
It’s not good for me when the US government assists the Israeli government in its war.
It might be good for me if the US government negotiated an end to a war, or chose to stop being involved with these regional wars in any capacity.
Might.
If wars keep government focused outwardly, and an end to these distractions caused it to shift all that attention domestically, it could end up being bad for me. And all of us.
I still want the US government to stay out of other people's wars. And everything else. And disband.
Government is such a loser institution.
I don't like crowds. I don't feel the need to wear a pin proclaiming this "problem", nor to discuss it with strangers, or to expect everyone to coddle me because I don't like crowds.
The same with heights, big dogs, and most carnival rides.
It is what it is, and I adjust. I either avoid those situations or I suck it up and deal with it, knowing the problem is mine, not yours.
The same goes for everyone I've been around most of my life. Everyone has their preferences and they adjust, too.
This isn't good enough for so many (generally younger) people now. They want you to know every issue they have. They have no intention of working them out, but they want the world to bend to accommodate them.
If it does, it's not doing them any favors. In fact, treating them this way is probably only going to make their anxieties grow bigger and more numerous. They're never expected to grow up, so why would they? It's easier to wear a pin and talk about how awful it is that they have to have this issue.
And, if you hang out with a crowd that makes you believe wearing a pin that says "Ask before hugging" is necessary, then you're obviously hanging out with the wrong people. Maybe not wrong for everyone, but wrong for you. You have the right to be that way, but why would you?
Push your boundaries a little. Allow yourself to experience discomfort. It will be good for you.
It's never right to violate the life, liberty, or property of another, but I can't deny it "works" if you don't worry about doing things you have no right to do. If you want to be the bad guy.
Things, both good and bad, get funded through taxation. Funded inefficently and in the wrong way, ignoring market factors, but "funded".
If you want to look like you are doing something against criminals, you can find "gun crimes" to cage them over when finding actual wrongdoing would be harder. Then you can cage them to keep them contained for a while.
And, speaking of imprisonment, at least while that one person is caged, he won't be violating anyone outside of his punishment facility. In the long run, it probably makes things worse, but statists don't worry about the long term.
Governments can threaten other governments into doing what they want by holding the population of the entire world hostage. Sometimes, the outcome might be good. Sometimes it isn't. But using innocent people as pawns does often work.
You still have no right to use archation to get your way. Governments have no rights at all. That's the whole point of archation as a concept: doing things you have no right to do. Does it work? Sure. Sometimes. It's still evil and it puts you on the wrong path.
In the past 10 minutes, I've seen all the following:
I saw some creepy political criminal insisting that the Bible says to steal from people and give that money to others in the form of services.
I saw someone who considered himself a "patriot" saying it's essential to indoctrinate children to chant a nationalist socialist pledge to Holy Pole Quilt so they'll grow up to be good people.
I saw people cheering on government committing crimes in order to "fight criminals".
I saw them demanding that government ignore the Constitution to protect a "country" that doesn't even exist without that Constitution.
Politics makes people stupid, and at least a little bit evil.
Anything you mix some politics into gets destroyed; replaced with only politics. Including human brains.
Then, a couple of them kept alerting me to more mice in the A/C closet, and I managed to trap two more. Now the cats are indicating there are no more. We'll see.
It's a good thing they are cute, because they are quite expensive for the contributions they make. Kind of like me.
No form of statism is.
I've seen several examples of Leftists counseling each other on how to make it through "difficult times like these". Poor babies!
I guess they mean times when not everyone wants to follow the same brand of statism they prefer. They can't believe some people don't like their brand of tyranny. This hurts their feelings terribly! They need a safe space where they can plan what they'll do to everyone who isn't 100% on their team on every issue, as soon as they can do everything their way again. They are so scared right now!
Oh, please.
As if they aren't murderous, bigoted, hateful liars.
They'd completely lose their minds if they were capable of understanding that some of us don't want any statism at all. That we know we don't need to be governed. Not by them or by their loyal opposition, with whom they share so many personality flaws.
Their absurd "we're the reasonable people" schtick has run its course and is out of fuel. It's burning in the ditch. And they are still trying to paint it as it burns.
If they want to know how to "make it through times like these", they should see how you and I, and people like us, have been making it through the past 6000+ years, surrounded by people who would rather rob and kill us than let us live without their control over everything we do. They're just whiny because their team isn't the one with the power, on paper, at the moment.
Spoiled babies.
Isn't it funny how often things turn out that way?
I see examples like this all the time.
I see it in people of every political persuasion. Of every religious background. Of every ethical foundation.
“Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster... for when you gaze long into the abyss. The abyss gazes also into you.” ― Friedrich W. Nietzsche
It's not that I trust everyone with weapons, but that the last person who should be making the determination is anyone who believes there's such a thing as a "right" to govern others. Even if it weren't illegal for them to do so.
That's the end of it as far as I'm concerned.
As long as you still have to fill out forms and have a background check to buy a gun, and you can't have it routinely shipped to your house, there's no government shutdown.
As long as you have to run the TSA's rape gauntlet to fly on a plane, there's no government shutdown.
As long as launch providers have to wait for a launch license to launch a rocket, there's no government shutdown.
As long as you can't order ivory pistol grips from overseas, there's no government shutdown.
As long as there's any US military activity anywhere in the world, there's no government shutdown.
As long as there are any federal offices, agencies, or bureaus of any kind operating anywhere, there's no government shutdown.
There is no government shutdown.
But it would be a great improvement if there were.
There's one party that promotes and depends on racism, and it's the Democrats.
There's one party that insists on being sexist, while saying sex is less important than "gender", and that it is all a social construct, and it's the Democrats.
There's one party that engages in more fascism and downright Nazi tactics, and it's the Democrats.
There's one party that can't abide the slightest criticism or disagreement, and it's the Democrats.
There's one party that encourages and celebrates the murder of people with different opinions, and it's the Democrats. It's the party of lies, hate, and murder.
There are plenty of positions where the Republican Party is equally as bad, but Democrats don't get extra points for not being worse than Republicans on those.
But, to hate people for belonging to such a party is the same as hating someone for being a Moonie or in that Tom Cruise cult. They are a victim. They're brainwashed, and it short-circuited (or destroyed) their rational brain.
I'm sure there must be some areas where the Republicans are worse than the Democrats. Support for police and the military, and opposing property rights, are examples I immediately think of, but then I realize Democrats are still right with them in those areas, they just express it in slightly different ways.
All of these things are within his rights. The State had to commit a crime to find an excuse to molest him.
There's no such thing as a legal anti-gun "law". Nor legitimate drug prohibition. Nor any ethical rule against having cash on hand. If government goons can't find a real violation, with a real, individual victim, then they need to leave someone alone.
To use illegitimate "laws" as an excuse to target someone they want to "arrest" is lazy and dishonest... at best.
He may or may not be a bad guy (and it sounds as though he is), but if you have to commit crimes in order to charge him with something, you're a failure. It makes me angry when these failures then publicize their failures as if they want my applause or something. No, cops: you are failures and you deserve to be treated as pariahs for being proud of your crimes. Even if your victim is just as bad as you are.
This is why I have nothing but contempt for cops, and for those who hold their leashes.
It doesn't look good.
In the short-term, probably.
In the long-term, I don't know. I hope not.
This has been building for years. Thousands of years, with bumps and dips along the way. It's been building as long as the sick idea of governing others has existed.
No matter who controls government, they work tirelessly to install police state infrastructure and policy. This is how you know government is the problem, not who runs it.
It becomes more and more "illegal" to resist the police state policies and "authorities". It's already "illegal" to defend yourself from them.
Police state policies are popular with statists of all stripes. They only differ in which police state policies they approve of and who they are aimed at.
I suppose the question could be asked if police states are invariably dystopian. I don't believe they could be anything other than dystopian, but this is because I value liberty. To people who prefer to be kept as pets, I can see how they might feel better under a police state. At least temporarily.
Nor, I suppose, are all dystopias strictly police states, but that's another subject.
I'm on the outside- I don't approve of any police state policies whatsoever.
I only hope liberty can come out the other side and be reborn.
People who may actually want me dead.
They can choose to not attack me or others. If they don’t, the consequences are on them.
All human rights apply to all humans. Everywhere. No legislation can change that. No constitution can change it.
The only thing such a "conservative" is conserving is illegitimate (and illegal) government power. They can shut their yaps about supporting the Constitution or being for "limited government". Their other words prove it's a lie.
TDS is killing people.
Being immune to either type of TDS is a superpower. I highly recommend giving it a try- at least to see whether it's a choice.
But... I've seen statists complain about it. Turns out a lot of them don't want to be "left alone". They are fearful and feel weak. Being left alone feels like abandonment to them. It feels like being ignored.
Yeah, that's pathetic cowardice, but it's how they are. It's why they are statists.
They are willing to trade almost anything to hold onto the feeling that someone is protecting them, no matter how ridiculous this feeling is. No matter how much evidence accumulates to show that government is the biggest danger they face. Being left alone is their nightmare.
It's too bad they can't compromise and have a government that coddles them and leaves me alone. But, no, all the "compromise" goes in one direction only: me giving up what I want and them giving up nothing.
I would rephrase the meme to say "Libertarians- diligently plotting to take over the World and respect your rights."
The only issue is that statists try so hard to not understand what rights are. They either want things that aren't rights to be rights, or they want rights to be reduced to mere privileges.
Still, the offer is there, and it's real. I want their rights to be respected, and if they want to be slaves, who am I to stop them? I draw the line at my right to not be enslaved for their convenience and feelings.
He’s rude, angry, twitchy, and appears to have something unfortunate happening between his ears.
The more he speaks for the Left, the worse the Left looks.
If I were conservative, I'd want more of that, not less.
Being libertarian, I want the worst statists imaginable talking all the time.
Don't stop your enemies from talking themselves into trouble. Encourage them to speak more. If they're digging themselves into an inescapable pit, toss them a bigger shovel.
That's why censorship is stupid, as well as unethical.
I've seen people make entire videos debunking things that are the opposite of what the "official narrative" says, in a strange attempt to debunk the "official narrative". Talk about a waste of effort! I'm guessing these people misunderstood something they had heard and ran with it before double-checking. Or, someone is behind this who wants to make the "official story" look more plausible by comparison.
I get it. I don't trust government or "official sources", and certainly not the Feral Baby Incinerators. They lie as easily as they breathe. But that's no reason to go completely off the rails.
There are always questions. People act in odd ways when they don't think about the cameras recording them. The world is stranger than we can imagine. Bullets do strange things.
But...
Lee Harvey Oswald wasn't the whole story.
The "last word" on the Roswell UFO crash has changed several times over the years, to the point where the "official story" now involves things that couldn't have happened until years after 1947.
Operation Mockingbird.
Gulf of Tonkin.
The origins of NASA.
Grusome and cruel "medical" experiments conducted on trusting Americans- without informed consent- by the US government.
Most old "conspiracy theories" have ended up being at least partly true- or worse than was suspected.
Do you expect anything better from the government goons this time?
Here's the unpleasant truth:
You and I will never know the whole story. At best, we'll be fed a mix of truth and lies told to protect certain people or groups. Not only concerning the details of this murder, but concerning anything that can be used to manipulate and increase their power by the political criminals with power and the media they control. You knowing the truth isn't good for them, even if they didn't pull the trigger.
As has been pointed out, "conspiracy theorists" are sometimes just people who are a little ahead of the curve in figuring out how evil government employees can be. The rest of the world will eventually catch up.
When those who are on the "Right" push some statist nonsense, and they do, I can push back. It doesn't cause friction even though we disagree.
Those in my family who are on the "Left" are not so easy to talk to. When they express some statist nonsense, I've learned to just let it go. They can bring it up, but don't push back against it. You've got to walk on eggshells around every topic. (And they find a way to blame Trump for every problem, real or imagined.) It feels like they can't handle disagreement. It hasn't gone well in the past, and if nothing else, I learn from experience.
Family harmony is more important to me than correcting people when they are wrong- especially if it's going to be a big problem.
This is probably why I generally have a better opinion of the "Right" than of the "Left", and believe the "Right" is more open-minded, even though they are both whackadoodles on many topics.
Don't do that.
Instead, incite liberty.
Yes, that can still create danger, too, but only for those doing things they have no right to do. Recognizing the natural human right is only dangerous to those who are violating it.
For everyone else, it's the exact opposite of dangerous, even though it can appear dangerous (and feel scary!) to people who have been trained to be fluffy pets. It's time for those people to grow.
You are never obligated to enslave yourself because of people like that.
(The picture has nothing to do with anything; it just felt like it fit my inner mood.)
I can't be on a side, since I know it's unethical to govern anyone. But if someone on either side were violating my life, liberty, or property, I have the right to fight back. I also have the right to defend others, and to join with them in mutual defense.
I've seen people saying that civil war is now inevitable. The divide is too deep and wide, and it's simply not possible to live in peace with people who want you dead.
I've also seen people saying a civil war is impossible because there's no clear geographical line to split things along; the sides are too intermingled. Of course, I think that assumption is encouraged by the misunderstanding that the 1860s war was a "civil war" when it wasn't. I don't think a clear geographical division is necessary.
I don't know who's right.
I don't think anyone smart or ethical ever wants a war. I certainly don't. It would unleash horrors I don't want to experience, and that I absolutely don't want my kids to experience. I am 100% opposed to the things a civil war would spawn. Besides murder, there would be martial law and other crimes.
But I also don't see how this could be worked out peacefully. You've got two statist factions, which each seem determined to control the other- and control all the population as well, according to their side's fetishes.
Maybe things will cool off soon, and we'll settle back into the American cold war we were living in before recent events heated things up. Not that this is much better. And, not that I believe it is limited to America.
One-- Any legislation named for a person ends up being a bad idea, used to grow government and destroy liberty. It will be misused, if the intention is to solve a problem.
Two--"Hate speech", if it's even a real thing, is free speech. It tells the rest of us who the evil losers are. I don’t want them censored; I want them free to loudly proclaim their evil to the world so that the rest of us know who to watch- who we might need to defend ourselves from. “Hate speech laws” [sic] short-circuit this vital source of information just to make statists feel better.
You were warned about anti-liberty bigot, Pam Bondi. Anti-gun bigots aren't going to respect your other rights, either. Not unless it's really convenient.
Here was a recent exchange I found myself in:
S: "It is literally illegal to make death threats or call for the death of people."
“Illegal”, but the “law” is unconstitutional (if you care).
S: "Show me where it says it is legal to threaten peoples lives in the Constitution. The House and Senate pass Laws, it literally isn't Unconstitutional"
You’re doing it backward. It’s not what government allows, it’s what government is allowed to do.
Again, it doesn’t matter what “laws” they pass if those “laws” aren’t permitted by the Constitution. And “hate speech laws” [sic] are not.
By this person's illogic, all anti-gun "laws" would "literally" not be unconstitutional, because "The House and Senate pass Laws". Nice mental gymnastics, if you can manage it.
Now, if you call for someone to be murdered, self-defensive action is then ethical, and you might not like that outcome.
I had one guy telling me, from what he seemed to believe was a "libertarian" perspective, why I shouldn't be criticizing those celebrating a public murder. When I was able to knock down every one of his points, he retreated to pure statist drivel. He got a participation trophy; I walked away and left him to his pit of hatred.
I've done that a lot, recently.
I've been called a "Groyper", "Far-Right", been told I'm lying, and various other things in an attempt to insult me. I've been told to provide evidence for things that are self-evident. I've not responded to the vast majority of the trolls. I don't need to. Like the guy above, I let them stew. If they're that bad at thinking, what could I say to them anyway?
It's amusing how often I'm criticized for defending someone with whom I have major disagreements. It happens constantly, but it's the price of principles.
