{"id":1601,"date":"2010-06-11T03:37:42","date_gmt":"2010-06-11T10:37:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.backwoodshome.com\/blogs\/ClaireWolfe\/?p=1601"},"modified":"2010-06-11T03:37:42","modified_gmt":"2010-06-11T10:37:42","slug":"about-those-cockapoos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.clairewolfe.com\/blog\/2010\/06\/11\/about-those-cockapoos\/","title":{"rendered":"About those Cockapoos …"},"content":{"rendered":"

Monday, I posted about Freedom Outlaws<\/a> and was overwhelmed with intriguing responses. (I swear, this blog has the best comments section.) <\/p>\n

One surprise: Very few people objected when I added “Cockapoo” to the list of Outlaw types. True, long-time reader Jim B. accused me of insulting the adorable dogs<\/a>. He may have a point there. And a couple of folks made cogent arguments against the Cockapoo strategy. But to my surprise, most seemed even to consider it not even an issue — and one person chimed in to proclaim his own Cockapoo identity. <\/p>\n

When RagnarDanneskjold asked whether the Mental Militia Forums<\/a> should add Cockapoo to its activist topics, early responses came from people who “got” the concept of bleeding the state dry by taking everything it has to offer. (I won’t be surprised if more people chime in on the negative side eventually, if they’re moved to chime in at all.)<\/p>\n

Still, I think I should speak a few more words in explanation and defense of the Cockapoo as a type of Freedom Outlaw.<\/p>\n

First thing to know: I’m not advocating that anybody adopt the Cockapoo strategy — certainly not ever as a first choice. (I don’t advocate any particular strategy; the best strategy against a centralized, top-down tyrannical structure is to do your own thing and be impossible to predict. It drives ’em crazy.)<\/p>\n

As a Freedom Outlaw, the Cockapooo is a person who takes every “entitlement” he can get his hands on and contributes as little as possible to the mainstream economy. He (or she, of course; I just hate the tortured clunkiness of some “inclusive” language) becomes the government’s papered pet — but with a sense of purpose.<\/p>\n

The classic objection (and I really can’t argue with it, morally) is that anybody who does that is simply stealing from his harder-working, more productive peers. Another objection, from the strictly freedomista viewpoint, is that it would be very, very easy for somebody to fool himself into believing he’s a Freedom Outlaw when he’s really just a plain old garden variety moocher. <\/p>\n

Goethe said, “None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.” Well, none are more hopelessly deluded than those who think they’re Freedom Outlaws when they’re actually doing nothing useful.<\/p>\n

Becoming a Cockapoo can be morally dubious and carries distinct risks of self-delusion.<\/p>\n

That said, however, there’s another side to the story.<\/p>\n