Discomfort and Agony

Physical discomfort can be a problem. It really can. I have slept lying in cold, standing water. I’ve had a kidney stone so painful I was curled into the fetal position on the floor. And don’t even ask about the bike wreck when I was 12, and its aftermath! Makes me shudder to remember! And there have been various other painful or uncomfortable times besides those. But the psychological pain of being violated on a daily basis by statists and other archators is just as real. But statists can’t see any possible way they are causing pain, and if they do, they don’t care. It’s “worth it” to them.

Valuable Things Should be Free?

As of today, subscriptions to my blog are voluntary. You can pay, or spend the rest of your life in a cage (or die if you resist). But since you have that choice, or you can choose to move to North Korea instead of paying, it’s voluntary. Right? I mean, the “tax” collectors at the IRS wouldn’t lie about what “voluntary” means, would they?

Don’t Help Cops Feel Useful

I don’t want cops to feel useful, wanted, or needed. I’d rather they struggle to walk the boredom tightrope between donuts and steroids without anyone inviting them into their life. If they are going to be collecting their ill-gotten paychecks anyway, I’d rather they be sitting in the donut shop than out “on the streets.” It keeps the harm they do to a minimum. I don’t want them “earning their pay” by committing acts of enforcement. Not even against my worst enemy.

Setting Myself Up To Fail?

I’m doing it. I’m making a New Year resolution. Unfortunately, it’s not the kind that I find easy to make stick, but the other kind. I’m still going to give it a shot and, toward the long-term goal, I give myself permission to slip sometimes (although I will expect to be scolded if I do).

Relax. Just Breathe.

I need to remind myself – over and over – that I don’t control what others do. Not even close relatives. If they do things I consider shameful, I shouldn’t let it get to me. Their choices are not mine, and I am not some dictator who gets to allow or forbid their actions.

Are Free Riders Really a Problem?

A common objection I have seen is that in a free society, where one would contract voluntarily with a private fire department, if your neighbor’s house catches fire and your fire contractor fights it in order to save your house from damage, the neighbor has benefited from your contract without paying anything. Your neighbor is a “free rider.”