You can pick and choose the bits of liberty you personally exercise, but not which bits you unconditionally respect and support. Not and still value liberty.
Author: Kent McManigal
I Will “Appropriate” Your Culture!
You have an entire planet, and hundreds of thousands of years (at least) of ideas and clothing and art to choose from. Pick the good. Reject the bad. Make yourself the best you can be.
Writers Are Gang Members!
Writers, by the act of writing, don’t violate anyone. I can’t force you to read anything I write–nor would I ever consider trying to do so. I can’t force you to shell out money so that I can afford to keep writing—again, why would I do such a disgusting thing?
Warning The Innocent
Do you flash your lights to warn other drivers of a cop ahead, waiting to molest them? If not, why not?
Statists Have it Upside Down
Those who use the political means are the cheaters. The cancer. Sure, civilization can survive a certain number of them, but not too many. When the percentage of archators gets too high, that’s the death of civilization.
Fighting The Urge to Help
Many times I find myself watching someone fumbling with something and must repeatedly remind myself of a fact of life: I have to fight the urge to help, because help isn’t always welcome. In fact, it seems it is rarely welcome. And, it isn’t “help” if it is forced.
Abusing “Amber Alerts”
Years ago I signed up for Amber Alerts on my cellphone. It seemed like a small, crowd-sourced step I could take to help watch out for the safety of others. But, things have changed.
Stop Poisoning Yourself First
There is nothing else you could do that will help you as much as this one simple act. No antidote, no alternative, nothing. Just stop ingesting the poison.
Run All You Want
Telling kids “Don’t run!” is a waste of breath, and causes frustration for everyone. I understand the reasons for it, but I also see that it is completely pointless, and probably counter-productive.
At Someone Else’s Expense
You can’t seriously make the point that stopping theft or an attack on the innocent costs the archator. He might wish you believed that so he could guilt you into staying out of his way, but it’s simply not reality. Stopping someone from violating you doesn’t burden them.