Happiness- pursue it with the proper tools

Happiness- pursue it with the proper tools

There is something I have been meaning to address for a while. That is the fact that happiness is more important to me than freedom. In a reply comment on her blog, Tessa Rose had this to say:"...freedom is not my highest value..."...More...

Posted using ShareThis

'Laws' cause behavioral flaws

'Laws' cause behavioral flaws

"Laws" enable and encourage bad behavior. Rather than judging acts as "right" or "wrong" I think a majority of people today only consider whether their actions are "legal" or "illegal". I see this all the time, especially among drivers. They will drive just within the bounds of "the law" but without courtesy...More...

Posted using ShareThis

'Hate crimes'

'Hate crimes'

"Hate crimes". Is there any more ridiculous concept? If something is wrong to do, your hatred as motivation for doing it doesn't make it worse, just like any possible good intentions as motivation don't excuse any harm that you do. If "hate crimes" must become a "legal reality" then the flip-side, mass-murder with the "best...More...

Posted using ShareThis

Get past the past

Get past the past

One excuse that a lot of people use to avoid living free from this moment on is "injustices of the past".
I understand this in a way. It is horrible that certain races have been marginalized, enslaved, or exterminated throughout history. It is tragic that genocide against indigenous people has been more-or-less the norm...More...

Posted using ShareThis

For those who claim "Atheism is a religion"

I got a comment in connection with my Examiner column on Freedom of Religion that said, in part:

No matter what religion you ascribe to (including atheism)...

I hear this all the time, and it is a sign of some really faulty thinking. However, I know from past experience that this is something that is taught in some churches, so it doesn't surprise me that it gets repeated. But if you want to be taken seriously in your argument you need to let that notion go.

Seriously, if atheism is a religion, then good health is a "disease" and an empty dog house just contains another breed of dog. A lack of something is not a different type of something.

Does government ever do good?

Does government ever do good?

I come down pretty hard on externally-imposed coercive government all the time. Am I being fair? Am I being honest about what government is and what it does? Perhaps a better question is, is anything that government does "right" or "ethical"? Are the final results ever good even if the government's methods and reasons...More...

Posted using ShareThis

'Poaching' is not wrong

'Poaching' is not wrong

"Poaching" is the act of not recognizing government's claim over something it does not own: the wildlife that lives within the country's imaginary borders. I suppose it is not surprising that the government employees think they own the deer, since they also think they own the humans, but it is a concept I will continue to correct when I run across it....More...

Posted using ShareThis

Is it 'libertarianism' or is it 'anarchy'?

Is it 'libertarianism' or is it 'anarchy'?

...Libertarians seek to maximize personal freedom while minimizing government interference in the lives of individuals. Zero is the absolute "minimum". Nothing achieves that better than anarchy, in fact, nothing else even has a chance...More...

Posted using ShareThis

Right makes might

Right makes might

One common excuse for keeping government around is that otherwise "we will go back to a society where 'might makes right'". You mean, kinda like what happens when government decides that it will back up its unethical counterfeit "laws" with kidnapping and murder?...More...

Posted using ShareThis

Freedom of religion

Freedom of religion

"Any government powerful enough to 'promote' your religion today, is powerful enough to prohibit your religion tomorrow. Judge a politician's actions; not his cheap words and pious pretense."Those words are from my 2008 presidential campaign platform. I know there are a lot of people who are afraid of Muslims taking over...More...

Posted using ShareThis

Statism is too overly complex to 'work'

Statism is too overly complex to 'work'

Some people have claimed to me that libertarianism, anarchism, or "individual sovereignty" (or whatever you prefer to call the philosophy of freedom, responsibility, and non-coercion) is "too simplistic". Normally this is the excuse pulled out when all others have failed. When they say this I immediately realize that they...More...

Posted using ShareThis

Ft. Hood: convergence of tragedies

Ft. Hood: convergence of tragedies

Now that a week has passed since the massacre at Ft. Hood I'll weigh in with my observations. It isn't shocking that I reach very different conclusions than do the blood-dancers of the Mass-Murderer Fan Club.I'll leave out the obvious points about the drawback of having a government-owned military rather than...More...

Posted using ShareThis

'Money' requires no government

'Money' requires no government

Twice in the past two days I have run across people who claim we "need" government to create "money" for our use. This is not correct."Money" is anything that is used as a placeholder for things you want. A few people actually want the money itself, which is fine, but most of us want what we can trade the money to get. ...More...

Posted using ShareThis

The 'libertarian approach'

The 'libertarian approach'

Many times I feel that I am in a time-loop; doomed to repeat myself eternally. I can't count the number of times I have addressed such things as "national borders" or "taxation". The answers don't change no matter who is offended, although I may refine my argument over time. Don't misunderstand me, I'm not complaining since...More...

Posted using ShareThis

A word to non-libertarians

A word to non-libertarians

If you are not a libertarian (under my understanding of the concept), it means one of two things-It could mean that you are not aware of what is going on. The mainstream media works very hard to keep you in the dark. They hide facts that would be embarrassing to their version of authoritarianism, while skewing...More...

Posted using ShareThis

Age and responsibility

Age and responsibility

Once we finally turn our backs on coercive "government", who will protect the "minors"? I have heard people claim that there needs to be some way for society to decide who is a "minor", in other words one who is not responsible for his or her own safety and actions, and who is not a "minor". I have heard them insist that age is the best way to uniformly do so....More...

Posted using ShareThis

Repairing the 'justice system'

Repairing the 'justice system'

"Justice" is what we call the attempt to take an individual who has been harmed and correct the damage. It has nothing to do with "punishment" except in the sick minds of statists. If the aggressor himself can correct the situation, that is great, but it is not the necessary end-purpose of "justice". ...More...

Posted using ShareThis

One final look at the 'bubble' of personal property

One final look at the 'bubble'

I think that one reason I am so highly skeptical of the claim that a concealed weapon can be legitimately prohibited by a property owner who otherwise "invites" visitors or customers onto his property is because of the similarity between this and the "if you don't like it you are free to leave" argument that statists continually...More...

Posted using ShareThis

The ZAP- essential, but not sufficient

The ZAP- essential, but not sufficient

I see the Zero Aggression Principle as essential for ethical behavior, but not sufficient. I "really believe" in zero aggression, but I recognize it is...More... (yep, it's a short one!)

Posted using ShareThis

Proud of America in my daydreams

Proud of America in my daydreams

People often talk about feeling "proud of America" when they watched Neil Armstrong step onto the moon. Or when the people of the country pull together to help someone who has been hurt. I can understand the desire to feel proud of "your country".
There is one thing that would truly make me proud of America. I don't think...More...

Posted using ShareThis

Texas 'election day' reminder

Texas 'election day' reminder

For my friends and readers in Texas- November 3 is election day. Before you head out to the polls I ask you to remember this: Voting is just another manifestation of "might makes right". Instead of directly having a warlord killing off his rivals (the standard excuse against self-responsible, non-coercive living- "anarchy")...More...

Posted using ShareThis

When an invitation is not an invitation

When an invitation is not an invitation

In discussing my "Bubble Theory" of property rights, the main issue that comes up is concealed carry of weapons. That is only because that is the primary area where even freedom oriented people think it is OK to violate the "you-shaped bubble" of your personal property, and assert ownership of the space between your skin and...More...

Posted using ShareThis

Another examination of property rights

Another examination of property rights

Sandusky County Politics Examiner Michael Stahl recently wrote a column examining property rights. His premise is that any property you set down can be ethically taken by a passerby. Something always seems fundamentally wrong with this argument, but other than "We'd die without property" I can't find good reasons to disagree. ...More...

Posted using ShareThis

Privacy or a lack thereof

Privacy or a lack thereof

I was reading an entry on The Dilbert Blog, where Scott Adams was talking about the end of privacy. He was making the case that it might be liberating to have all your quirks exposed to the world. Suppose, as in the hypothetical world he proposed, a desire for broccoli were stigmatized. If everyone knew this information...More...

Posted using ShareThis

'Do no harm'

'Do no harm'

In a recent comment, "Mike" suggested that the "operating principle" for life, rather than being the Zero Aggression Principle with my addendum of the "Principle of Zero Initiated Deceit" might be simplified to "Do no harm".
"Do no harm". "DO" as in "cause an action"; "initiate". Don't initiate harm. Harm may still happen that you are not able to prevent, but that is not your fault. If you are able to prevent harm, yet you refuse to act, I might question your integrity and courage, but I would not blame you for the harm as long as you didn't "do"it. I shouldn't second-guess your choices in this case. ...More...

Posted using ShareThis

The best course

The best course

Contrary to my youngest sister's childhood opinion, I don't know everything. But I do know certain things quite well. One thing I do know, without a shadow of a doubt, is that it is possible- not only possible, but imperative- to live a life of maximum freedom for yourself, protecting your life and your freedom as if it were...More....

Posted using ShareThis

My approach

My approach

I was recently asked about "my approach" to freedom and life. It isn't that complicated. My main goal is to increase my own personal freedom. Secondary to that is to increase freedom in society, which obviously includes everyone I deal with regularly. Living by the ZAP and by not initiating deceit is how I attempt to...More...

Posted using ShareThis

What freedom is up against

What freedom is up against

I hesitated and almost didn't post the column that I wrote yesterday. It was a little more personal than most. I finally decided the benefits outweighed the drawbacks.The main reason is that I feel it is necessary to answer those who try to criticize the ideas I present here. If readers do not see the criticisms, they ...More...

Posted using ShareThis

Who achieves what?

Who achieves what?

I got a comment on an earlier post that I thought I'd share, since it probably won't be seen otherwise. I shouldn't give the commenter the honor of calling attention to his comments, but they illustrate the poor reasoning skills of some people so clearly.
This person, calling himself "john jones", says...More...

Posted using ShareThis

Freedom odds and ends

Freedom odds and ends

Here is a collection of random bits and pieces I have written or collected that don't fit anywhere else...More...

Posted using ShareThis

Chaos- the definition

The condition where actions cease to have reasonable consequences. Evil is rewarded, and honor is punished. Nothing makes sense. This is the chaos that results when "laws" make a thing both mandatory and prohibited at the same time. Rather than being due to physical laws, it is dependent upon people committing evil acts. In other words it is the result of government.
(This is separate from the mostly benign but annoying scientific "chaos" where Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle combines with a lack of "all the facts" and "unseen initial conditions" leading to unpredictable outcomes.)

Accepting your responsibility

Accepting your responsibility

In my previous column I spoke of "fraud". Some seem to place the blame more on the gullible victim, others blame the deceptive liar. It could be the fault of either, or even some combination. However, don't think you can go through life cheating people and then remaining blameless and pure...More...

Posted using ShareThis

Fraud- the definition

When I talk about "fraud" I am referring to the use of lies or other forms of deception in order to facilitate an interaction when the truth would have caused one party to refuse to participate. It may not "initiate force", but it is still wrong. It is something I know I should not do to other people, and if I do I deserve to have the same done to me.

Fraud- however it is classified, it is still wrong

Fraud- however it is classified, it is still wrong

I understand that fraud is not nice. It is one of those things which I realize that I should not do to other people because I don't want it done to me, and that by doing it I open myself up to justified retribution. Now, I also think it is fine and noble to lie to someone who has initiated lies, or is credibly threatening... More...

Posted using ShareThis

The road to freedom is not paved with politics

The road to freedom is not paved with politics

Freedom is not to be found in "politics". If you enjoy politics, then by all means play the game, but don't make the mistake of thinking that those who don't share your interests are "not doing anything" for freedom. The case may be that they are doing more by simply living free than all the activists combined will ever achieve...More..

Posted using ShareThis

The truth hurts, but denial solves nothing

The truth hurts, but denial solves nothing

The truth may hurt and it may go against your cherished beliefs, but that doesn't change the fact that it is the truth. When you are faced with facts that you don't like, it doesn't help to attempt to reinterpret them to make yourself feel better.
As an example, "laws" are passed in vast numbers in order to avoid "anarchy"...More...

Posted using ShareThis