05 August 2012
Gun control won't work
We have to raise the bar in this country. We have to strive to be better people. We have to use our brains and not our brawn to rise above material impermanence to the merciful permanence of doing good by one another. Not by force. Not by legislation. But through working together in a concentrated, collaborative manner. But do so by putting aside our biases and prejudices because it is the right thing to do and not because some woefully bankrupt government told us.
Anything short of this will lead to more and more grisly scenes such as Denver and Wisconsin. Anything short of this will lead to the next generation being intellectually diluted versus the current one. That is where we must apply the proper self-control.
As always, be thankful for what you have, buy only what you need, and work diligently for peace.
08 June 2012
The leak is bigger than you think
As always, be thankful for what you have, buy only what you need, and work diligently for peace.
18 May 2012
Choose liberty...it's simpler than you think!
Why does it scare you? Because you are so used to being coddled that not being in the loving embrace of the government means...wait for it...you have to be accountable to yourself and to everyone else. It does not mean that we all carry guns. It does not mean that we all hit the bong. It does not mean that we are for abortion. It does not mean that we are pro business, where business always wins out against consumers. It means:
"...we seek a world of liberty; a world in which all individuals are sovereign over their own lives and no one is forced to sacrifice his or her values for the benefit of others. We believe that respect for individual rights is the essential precondition for a free and prosperous world, that force and fraud must be banished from human relationships, and that only through freedom can peace and prosperity be realized.
Consequently, we defend each person's right to engage in any activity that is peaceful and honest, and welcome the diversity that freedom brings. The world we seek to build is one where individuals are free to follow their own dreams in their own ways, without interference from government or any authoritarian power."
Most people want government on a pick-and-choose basis. If it's something I disagree with, then government is welcome to come to my rescue and curtail the offending action. When it's something I agree with, then hands off, G-men! Life simply doesn't work that way, folks. The parties in power are all about coddling you. "Don't waste your vote," they say. Ask yourselves: what have you been doing this whole time? Where's the progress? Where's the peace of mind that tomorrow will be better than today?
I am often told that we of the Libertarian faith are unproven. True. Very true. The other guys are proven. They have proven that they can't handle it, that they are out for themselves, and that they have shirked responsibility and character for a quickie and a baby's kiss. I agree. Don't waste your vote. Vote for someone else this year. Vote for liberty and freedom. Join the good guys and gals.
Man, I feel better already.
As always, be thankful for what you have, buy only what you need, and work diligently for peace.
27 January 2012
You know...I really don't care how you lean
07 August 2011
A don of another day
"I have murdered sleep."
I read these words so many years ago I hate to consider how time has changed me, changed the world, and changed how time itself treats us both. Though there are many interpretations of this now hallowed line from Shakespeare'sMacbeth, I received yet another one today.
During a discussion this evening at a spiritual class, a nice lady asked the teacher who or what decides justice? Who makes that final, fateful decision? "God?" she asked. Our teacher is a funny man, but a very, shall we say, straightforward man. His brow ruffled and everyone knew there was a major dissertation coming down the pike.
I'll spare you the details, but it came down to this: the ultimate judge and jury is the tandem of cause and effect. For every cause, there is an effect. In the case of Macbeth, in a figurative sense of course, he murdered his own sleep even though he vaulted to royalty by murdering another. He can no longer rest peacefully. He will always feel the burden of guilt. He will always be dead even when he is alive. Cause and effect. Whether we like it or not, our actions today will face an increasingly hard or beautiful action at some point. Our ignorance of and desire for peace throughout the world will nullify much of the good that we sow. Our demand for things will far outstretch our ability to provide for those things. Our tradition and ritual only take from the earth and from each other time, energy, and intellect with the resulting reality only wanting more. "Chasing the high," as Tony Schwartz, CEO of The Energy Project, puts it, will get us nowhere but to the next high and the next one.
As the discussion climaxed, our teacher explained that we were, indeed, very lucky. Though we may not have much, as say compared to a mafioso, we had peace knowing we could get up, walk gingerly to our vehicles, and drive home in absolute safety. A don does not have that peace. That simple bit of heaven on earth is gone. "Even sitting here, under this window," teacher said, pointing to the transom above, is too much. Who has his aim on me, thinks the don? Who wants me dead? He has murdered sleep, too. His peace is gold-plated, perhaps, but it is fleeting.
05 August 2011
Troubling week
- The tea party folks certainly stood their ground. As a libertarian, I'm a little put off by the tea party crowd. But that's just me as many in my party appear to be moving in that direction. I do see their influence growing, not ebbing, as we approach 2012. That spells danger for centrist Republicans. Splinters in the offing?
- Obama further distanced himself from his core, or did he? He managed victories in the weeks and months prior: gays in the military (what a waste of breath...like we didn't already know that to be the case) and Osama's demise. Though the latter is not a core ideology closer, it certainly doesn't detract from Obama's role as commander-and-chief.
- There seemed to be very little noise from Republican presidential candidates. They all pretty much said the debt ceiling raise was dead on arrival, but then, well, even they had to relent when their fellow Republicans voted for the increase or shuck and jive to kowtow to the tea leaves.
- Tim Geithner continues to leave me unimpressed. Well, perhaps that one's not really new.