Here is an article by Jay P. Hailey which first appeared in the newsgroup used_kharma.politics which bears some careful thought...
On Sunday 07 November 2004 10:34 am, Jay P Hailey ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) opened up a large can of worms and wrote in used_kharma.politics: > The Death of a Libertarian > By Jay P Hailey > > > Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and > deserve to get it good and hard. - H.L. Mencken (1880-1956) > > Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, > diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies. - Groucho Marx > > Political tags -- such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, > fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth -- are never basic criteria. > The human race divides politically into those who want people to be > controlled and those who have no such desire. The former are idealists > acting from highest motives for the greatest good of the greatest number. > The latter are surly curmudgeons, suspicious and lacking in altruism. But > they are more > comfortable neighbors than the other sort. - Robert A Heinlein > > Barbarian invasions would be superfluous: we are our own Huns. - Bertrand > de Jouvenal > > "American pulled its trousers down, bent over, spread its cheeks, and > whimpered, 'Please, sir, may I have another?' " - Rylla Smith > > "Somewhere around 400,000 Americans will fairly consistently cast their > votes for a Libertarian Presidential candidate.... It doesn't seem to > matter so much what sort of candidate the LP runs, at least at the higher > levels. Whether it's a buttoned-down corporate attorney such as David > Bergland, a loaner from the GOP such as Ron Paul, a 'pragmatist' such as > Andre Marrou or a 'purist' such as Badnarik, the results are pretty much > the same in every cycle" - Scott Beiser > > > On November 3, I learned a harsh lesson. It went down hard, like > swallowing > a bone. But there is no getting around it. > > I used to be an anarchist. I thought that humans are perfectly capable of > creating ad hoc social organizations to handle their needs. > > A friend of mine once said "Under what conditions would this work?" > > I answered "Well, the Majority of people in this system would have to > understand it and want it to work." > > My friend nodded. "Okay. What system wouldn't work under those > conditions?" > > My conceptions changed. I felt that the idea that people didn't need any > interference needed a frame work, and a mechanism for dealing with that > minority of people too selfish, stupid and anti-social to behave right. > > In time I learned why I felt this way. It strikes me as intrinsically > right > and correct that each person is his own property. It strikes me as > intrinsically true and right that each person owns the fruits of his labor > and time. > > It also struck me as true and right that each person is the best arbiter > of > his own interest. That, given clear enough information about his > position, any given person would choose the right and constructive choice. > > This last week sixty million people (Give or take) proved me wrong. > > With evidence of lies, brutality and mass murder in their face, sixty > million people voted to leave a lying murderer in office, condemning more > human beings to needless death. > > Sixty million Americans looked at sixty million different transparent, > obvious lies and manipulations and geeked for them rather than surrender > their safety blanket. > > I have always maintained that you can either trust people to handle their > own affairs, or you're a fascist. If people are too stupid to handle their > own affairs they'll find a dictator to tell them what to do. If you > support finding, promoting or electing a dictator to make sure the stupid > people behave, then that's dictatorship, tyranny, fascism. > > In the words of William Shatner "I can't get behind that!" > > But... Sixty million people... They just did it. > > Liberty won't work. People are too scared, too ignorant, or maybe just > too stupid. > > A system that demands that you find or create your own solutions to your > problems isn't ever going to fly. > > These people will vote for any tyrant who happens along just so long as he > can be spun as being "Strong Enough" to keep them "Safe" > > I love the idea of Liberty. I love the idea of Freedom. I must concede > now that in this day and age these are not real living conditions, but > ideas. Fantasies of what might be. > > And these fantasies will never happen for these American people. > > I like Scott Beiser's idea of trying to promote a Liberty culture, a > culture of Freedom. > > I hope I can add something to that. Sadly I suspect it's a fantasy. > > I must find a philosophy that reflects these truths. The only one that I > can think of is a small "a" anarchist. Screw 'em, to hell with them all. > If the lemmings want to jump off the cliff, let 'em. I will leave free in > my heart, and as well as I can in an insane world. > > This world's civilization, a sad, twisted, almost stillborn effort, > riddled with its own birth defects and wallowing in awful crimes, but > somehow trying > to rise above itself... it's doomed. It's heading over a cliff, pulled by > sixty million people who said "I don't care what the papers say about the > WMDs, He makes me feel safer." > > Are there dark ages coming? What will rise after? I don't know. > > I am pretty sure it will be characterized mainly by people who look to a > "Big Man" in a big seat in an opulent office somewhere to protect them > from things they ought to be taking care of themselves. > > The evidence is plain. Someone had a tagline that I can paraphrase "When > an honest man finds himself mistaken, he either chooses to stop being one > or stop being the other." > > The vast majority of people don't want to be free. They probably won't > ever be. > > Is there a spot of light in this? I don't know. I know there's a > consistent minority of people who sound like Tom Paine, Samuel Adams or L. > Neil Smith. > > What does that mean? What does it portend for the future? > > Probably not much. I like 'em anyway. > > L. Neil Smith points out that in 2008 there will probably be a lot of > hysteria about "anyone but Hillary" > > But it will be bullshit. Hell it already is. All I know is that it'll > look about the same as it did this time and some tens of millions of > people will stick their heads on the sand and wail about how things aren't > getting any better. > > No, I am wrong. Like the 1996 and 2000 elections, 2008 will be more of > the > same but incrementally worse. 2012 will be worse still, but it'll be all > part of the same deal we've been watching forever. > > I am bailing out of politics as a watcher and a thinker. It's too insane > and the large majority of people involved are too stupid. It makes me > crazy for no good reason. > > Time to start charting my own course and living free inside. Well, no I > have > been doing this as well as I can already. It's time to cut myself loose > from this particular patch of dirt and this particular batch of angry > monkeys. They don't matter any more. If they ever did. > > Dave -- Dave Laird ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) The Used Kharma Lot / The Phoenix Project Web Page: http://www.kharma.net updated 10/31/2004 Usenet News server: news.kharma.net An automatic & random thought For the Minute: Yow! Now I get to think about all the BAD THINGS I did to a BOWLING BALL when I was in JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL! _______________________________________________ Libnw mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] List info and subscriber options: http://immosys.com/mailman/listinfo/libnw Archives: http://immosys.com/mailman//pipermail/libnw
