My Police State, Right or Wrong!

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Mon, 07 Jul 2003 12:00:00 GMT
From smith2004, a bumper sticker idea:
"My Police State, Right or Wrong!" -- Dr. Julius No

From tle:

"So the cost of government is the life you would have had if you had been able to keep the full value of your work. A simple way to hold government partially accountable for this cost is to tell your children the real reason why they can't have things. When your daughter asks for a pony, don't tell her that it's too expensive; after all, if you had your last twenty years of tax money back, she could have ten ponies. Tell her the truth: that the IRS has taken her pony and given it to an evil dictator in North Korea who will probably eat it. While you're at it, remind her that every time you go to work, you are helping pay for all the dictators in the world to buy more barbed wire." -- Bill Walker

The 3rd Annual Nigerian EMail Conference - how's a Nigerian scammer to earn a living now that everyone is on to their scam? Easy, pay $995 to go to this conference. Hehe. It's a joke, folks. A well done joke. [smith2004]

Like most Nigerians, you're probably finding that it's increasingly difficult to earn a decent living from email. That's why you need to attend the 3rd Annual Nigerian EMail Conference.

"This conference is an investment in your future. Learn to take advantage of modern technology, and make a great deal of money with very little effort. If you have any question, please contact me and I will send you a proposal that may be of interest to you. I await your response by return while assuring you that the transaction is absolutely risk free."

- Dr. Collins Mbadiwe

William Stone, III at The Libertarian Enterprise - What Is There Left to Celebrate? - in response to L. Neil Smith's question, Mr. Stone reminds us that there is something to celebrate. The state is rapidly following the dinosaurs into oblivion. Something to celebrate indeed! [tle]

William Stone, III at Syl Ranch - The Free Mind - to be free requires nothing except realizing that you already are. Also a good story about how power corrupts, so the only way to prevent corruption is to prevent anyone from getting in a position of power. In particular, avoid positions of power yourself, like the plague. [tle]

Free individuals shouldn't be concerned with the "rules" of freedom, or "working toward" freedom. The "rules" of a free society are unpredictable. Having never seen one, I personally can't imagine what a free society would even look like. I have ideas as to how one would look (L. Neil Smith's "> books comes to mind), but these are just guesses. All I know for sure is that a free society would certainly be a surprising, exciting place in which to live.

A "free society" is simply defined as millions of individuals thinking and acting as free individuals rather than slaves.

No political party or individual leader can suddenly and decisively bring about the change in mindset from slave to free individual. It is a personal decision on the part of the individual.

If free individuals wish to "work toward a free society," we must abandon political parties, causes, governments, bureaucracies, and collective action. Free individuals simply wake up, decide to be free, and show our neighbors what a free individual is through our actions and attitudes.

If free individuals do that, some of our neighbors will decide to wake up and be free one morning. Through their example, some of their neighbors will wake up and be free one morning. Eventually, there will be enough free individuals that we can laugh at the toadies --- or kill them, if need be.

Though I suspect that some of the toadies will decide to be free individuals, too.

Fred on Everything - The American Circus - On thinking about a proposal by Annapolis, Maryland Alderwoman Cynthia A. Carter to ban toy guns, Fred looks at this kind of thing as entertainment. Maybe he's got something there... [smith2004]

Lie Back And Enjoy It, semi-literately. You Can't Change It, And It's A Fun Show. Have Passport Ready.

...

Cynthia is a co-mother of the Political Redskins Effect, which is the aesthetic appreciation of really good catastrophe. I used to follow the Skins when they were having a good year. When they had a mediocre year, I slacked off. But when they had disastrous years, when the running backs went in the wrong direction and the quarterback threw only interceptions and every other play was a fumble--I followed them again. It was fun to see how bad they could be. I longed for more-humiliating mistakes, for impossible errors. Maybe it was sadistic, or traitorous, or maybe just a joy in parody.

I've come to feel the same way about American society. Slow decline is draining, but spectacular collapse invigorates. It's no longer anything to be upset about. It's entertainment. The season's lost anyway, no hope of the playoffs, so enjoy it. I fire up the computer every morning in hopes of finding some new and unexpected form of daft behavior, a new chuckle, some form of social self-parody that I never dreamed of.

My political philosophy these days is to favor the funniest candidate and the most absurd policy, just to watch what will happen. Don't delude yourself that this is an easy course. The principle of Greater Comedy does not make for casual choices.

If Hillary ran against George, for example, I'd be hard pressed to choose. On responsible terms, Hillary would easily be my choice. She would socialize the country, but George is Stalinizing it; she's lots brighter, less embarrassing, and doesn't want to be Arabia's mother. She doesn't want to put a camera in my bathroom.

But in terms of amusement, George wins. Hillary is just an old-line big-government Democrat, and boring. She would take the country in bad directions, but not interestingly bad ones. George and his buddies are turning the United States into the first state of total electronic control. It's a first-rate show. Face it: Watching the destruction of the world's greatest free government is much cooler that watching the snoring growth of federal departments.

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