Nothin’. Well, mostly nothin’. I did use up the rest of last year’s amazing apple crop making two kinds of chutney and lots of applesauce (some of which will turn into apple butter). But I’m done with that phase of my life now. The dogs are glad it’s over. Boiling chutney makes them sneeze. The tang of fruit cooked in vinegar with pungent spices makes the house smell really nice for days (IMO; NSM in the dogs’ O). Other than that, nothin’. —– I did start re-reading Atlas Shrugged, which I got last Christmas. Hadn’t visited it in maybe 10…
Category: Mind and Spirit
Spirituality, moods, feelings, and thinking free to live free.
Fifth question: Envision the state of freedom in your world (or your children’s world) 25 years from now. Some possible things to consider: What will have improved? What gotten worse? Will people be happier with their lot or more miserable? More prosperous or poorer? Will government be more dominant or will it have been forced to retreat? Will people be in a numb, controlled, frightened, surveilled condition, or will they have declared overt or covert independence? What key events will have led to whatever state of freedom you envision? Define “your world” any way you like. It could be the…
The following is a question I know we’ve all pondered. Yet in a way it’s imponderable. So we tend to come up with glib, macho, chest-thumping answers. Or we don’t answer at all because silence is the wiser choice. Still, it’s on a lot of minds. UnReconstructed asked the question in its fullest, most individual (and most ironic) form. I’ll try to paraphrase it into more mundane, more cautious, reality. Fourth question: At some point, political Intolerable Acts become truly, personally intolerable. The long train of abuses has to halt. We’ve already seen people (including perhaps ourselves) submit to more…
Even as the armed individual remains the key to self and community defense, sophisticated societies inevitably develop specialization. It seems likely that even Libertopia would end up with a professional class of protectors, bounty hunters, or armed “insurance agents” (ala L. Neil Smith’s North American Confederacy). Which brings us to the ancient dilemma, “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?” Third question: In this or any other society, is it possible to ensure that armed, organized enforcers respect the rights of individuals and hold themselves to the fundamental rules of civil society? If so, what would put such a check on their behavior…
I’m borrowing this idea from puptent and Pat, who posted similar, but not quite the same, questions: Second question: Is it possible to make freedom (including the aspect of personnel responsibility) attractive? Is it feasible to inspire people to see that the free will of a thinking individual is more noble than obedient citizenship? If so, what are some ways this might be done?
Thanks for all the input on the “five questions on the state of freedom” project. I’ll be laying low this week (though I will be checking in to approve comments that slip into the moderation queue). So here you go, Commentariat: solve the problems of the world. 😉 First question: Now that tyranny and its accompanying economic destruction have come so far, do you believe that there is likely to be any peaceful solution for restoring freedom? If so, what solutions do you envision? And specifically how do you see them working? I’m talking about political freedom here — not…
I apologize for the “lite” blogging. As you may have noticed, I’m suffering the worst case of winter blues I’ve ever had (compounded by daily doses of the bad news I’m always recommending that everybody else avoid). I’m beat and need renewal. So I’m going to spend next week mostly away from the computer. Rather than let the blog go dark, I thought I’d preschedule some blogitude every day from Monday through Friday of next week. Here’s what I’d like to do: Pose a different question each morning about the state of freedom today (personal, political, global, First-Second-Fourth Amendment, whatever)…
… or better yet, a control that powers down all the neurons, snyapses, and whatnot and reactivates them only when something really important happens in real life. Lately, I could use something like that. Power me down to standby mode just like my DVD player. Yeah. It’s been a depressing winter. Not only for the standard seasonal reasons but because the darkness and cold of the real world feel so much like a metaphor for the darkness and cold that are descending on freedom. I had a plan to get temporarily to someplace warmer and lighter than the NorthWET. But…
Victor Davis Hanson: Why once-successful societies decline and die. (H/T S) Ewwwwwwwww! Ewwwwww in a beautiful sorta way, but still ewwwwwww. (H/T S — a different S) For the serious dog walker. (H/T MJR) Ending the police loophole. Great site for keeping track of the great companies who refuse to sell to governments that don’t allow their citizens to own the same equipment. (H/T to J and not sure who else.) This dog can fetch. You might not think that’s newsworthy. But … The Department of Homeland (Achtung!) Security steals Michael Arrington’s boat. And gives it back, but only with…
Both these came from recent comments sections. But they’ve just got to have more visibility. From Larken Rose via MamaLiberty: From the NRA via Pre-Press Veteran (great, great spot; too bad the NRA doesn’t actually mean it):