Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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How much is enough? When it turns out stronger anti-drug laws don’t prevent addiction or tragedies, how much are you willing to expand prohibition? How far are you willing to have armed government employees go — on your behalf — to impose your opinions? Would you approve of permanent checkpoints on all roads? Do you favor banning the manufacture of any and all chemicals that could possibly be combined to make substances you are willing to kill people over? Are you willi...
It’s time to take a hard look at America’s gun laws. In fact, it’s over a century past due. How many more innocent lives will be snuffed out before people demand change? Before they demand politicians stand up and do what’s right? I’m talking about common-sense gun deregulation. Anti-gun “laws” can’t make anyone safer — except those who prefer victims who can’t fight back effectively. Every gun regulation is a violation of the rights to life, liberty, and property. America h...
A defining trait of libertarians is our opposition to all slavery; we are abolitionists. Libertarians were among the loudest of the 19th Century’s voices against the enslavement of people of African descent. Libertarians are the lone voices against slavery today, because most people believe slavery was abolished rather than realizing it was expanded to include everyone. Slavery violates life, liberty, and property. No one can have the right to own another person. No one can h...
Space exploration thrills me. I’ve followed Apollo moon landings, Skylab, various Martian landers and rovers, Space Shuttle launches, and every other manned or robotic mission I could watch. So I got even more excited when private individuals became serious about going to space. The latest feat — last week’s launch of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, carrying Elon Musk’s Tesla Roadster and “Starman” to the asteroid belt — was amazing. Many people dislike Musk for making deals w...
Laws can’t solve anything, and often destroy things that worked. Sometimes this is due to the unintended consequences of trying to stop something that might actually be harmful, but more often it is due to the person who made the rule simply not understanding how things work in the real world. Being harmed by laws is probably more common than being helped or protected by them. It’s a consequence of meddling; one I have personally experienced. Years ago I was looking for a job...
I am not libertarian because I expect to get anything from it. Well, that’s not completely true. I should say I am not libertarian because I expect to get anything from you because of it. I don’t even necessarily expect civilized behavior from others. Respect for life, liberty, and property — without excuses — is the hallmark of both libertarianism and civilization. I expect civilized behavior only from other libertarians, and not even all of them manage to deliver. After a...
Like most people, I enjoy fiction; books, movies, and television programs. Fiction can be entertaining, educational, and inspiring as long as you don’t confuse it with reality. As a child I loved re-runs of “Gilligan’s Island” and dreamed of being marooned on a deserted tropical island. The older I became, the less realistic their situation seemed. The lack of variety in their diet, the constant parade of accidental transient visitors who never sent back help, the clothin...
A great many people are upset because President Trump is claimed to have observed that many places around the world are, shall we say, “less than ideal.” Of course, being Donald Trump, he is claimed to have used a colorful metaphor to describe those places. It is honest, but not polite. His detractors see racism in this observation, which isn’t surprising since they are the same people who see racism around every rock and hear it in every word. I don’t see racism, but I do see...
When Ronald Reagan began his first successful run for president, I wasn’t quite old enough to vote. I liked what he said and I put a Reagan campaign sticker on my car. During his first term, I felt Reagan did a good job as president, and I voted for him in the next election. Then he did something unforgivable: he colluded with Congress to further regulate guns. This was one of the main reasons I had never supported the other side. Gun laws were a non-negotiable betrayal in my...
After almost a year of President Trump, half the country is in an absolute uproar over the ruination of America being caused by the man. Exactly like the other half of the country gnashed its teeth for eight straight years over the way President Obama was destroying the country. I wish both halves weren’t so close to being right. I also wish politics could be kept in a virtual world, like fantasy football or Pokemon Go. It could exist in apps for your phone or computer, and no...
As 2017 draws to a close, it is disappointing to see America more divided than at any time since the 1860s. The main cause being government. Almost everyone complains about government, at least sometimes. It’s a natural thing to do. The reason is, with political governance, one side only wins at the expense of the other side. This leads to a fracturing of society, where the winners and losers — the Right and the Left — hate each other. It really is that bad. Government is co...
Christmas is a good holiday for outlaws. No, not for criminals. For outlaws. What? You don’t know the difference? Let me explain why outlaws are not your enemy and why Christmas is a great outlaw holiday. The difference between an outlaw and a criminal is the outlaw breaks bad laws, never throwing the first punch and never taking or damaging anyone else’s property. Everything is through mutual consent. Criminals, on the other hand, attack the innocent and steal, van...
To get the most out of this holiday season, and to finish out 2017 on a high note, I recommend avoiding outrage fatigue. What is outrage fatigue? It’s the exhaustion, cynicism, apathy, and hopelessness that comes from exposure to too many outrageous crises at once. Whether your outrage is over your belief that President Trump has been caught plotting with Russians, yet faces no consequences, or from your belief that the politically motivated investigators probing him are s...
Most people enjoy helping others when they can, and when they see a deserving opportunity. It’s one of the best things about human nature. Yet it’s easy to fool yourself into believing you are helping while doing the opposite. It’s not “helping” if it’s unwanted. For example, I don’t want you to hire police to protect me from crime. I certainly don’t want to be forced to pay for them, nor let them interfere in acts that have no individual victim. If I see you stabbing yourse...
Everyone likes to be comfortable and avoids discomfort when possible. It’s human nature. Yet your quest for comfort doesn’t give you the right to make everyone else uncomfortable. If you are uncomfortable, change your own situation; don’t demand others make themselves uncomfortable for you. While the world is under no obligation to change to make you happy, it also has no right to impose its own version of what’s best on you. As long as you aren’t harming anyone, you have...
When something has been around a long time, it’s easy to take it for granted and stop seeing it. Sometimes you need to look at familiar things in a new way; from a different perspective. If you don’t like what you see, you can always go back to overlooking it again. Maybe it’s time to change your perspective on the day called Thanksgiving. The word “thanksgiving” has come to mean — to most people — turkey, big meals, and football, with any actual thanks being given as almo...
How different the news of recent weeks would be if more people understood their rights and responsibilities. Some say people who care about rights are trying to downplay responsibilities. For anyone who actually understands what rights are, nothing could be farther from the truth. A right is anything you can do without crossing the equal and identical rights of others. If it violates someone or their property, or obligates others to provide you with something at their...
The witch hunt swirling around accusations of sexual misconduct and rape in the entertainment industry exposes the worst in people. Both those who may have done wrong, and those excited to join the dog pile to tear the accused to shreds. I understand that few people want bad guys to get away with their crimes. Neither do I, although I probably have a different idea of what “justice” means. I probably also have a different idea of what constitutes a crime. Those calling for...
Are you tired of watching government make the same tired mistakes? At least they could have the decency to make some new and different mistakes for a change. Which recycled mistake caught my attention this time? The government has decided opioid abuse is a “public health emergency.” I haven’t seen much mention of making new criminal laws yet; just suggestions to use this as an excuse to throw away more of your money. The implication being this prodigal spending will magic...
In the aftermath of any mass shooting, it is disheartening to see well-meaning people express their outrage over innocent people being violated by immediately demanding politicians violate innocent people. I understand feeling “something must be done,” but I can’t support any plan that violates people’s indispensable rights. The horror of someone violating people can’t justify violating more people. No one has the right to murder, and very few gun owners commit murder. N...
From time to time someone will tell me they really like the idea of libertarianism; they only wish it could work in the real world. This reminds me of someone confessing they like the idea of electricity, if only it could actually work. Because not only can it work, it does. Libertarianism doesn’t just work; you are surrounded by it all the time. In fact, you practice libertarianism yourself, even if you never realized it. And so does everyone else — other than the not...
People are always wanting to know the meaning of life. There is probably more than one, but a very good one is: Make your world a little better every day. You don’t have to think big. Start where you are, doing what you can. Begin with easy stuff, but push yourself beyond the edge of your comfort zone. If you are hurting an innocent person, stop hurting them. Instead of staying silent while someone else is hurting an innocent person, get up, speak out, and don’t let it continu...
It’s a human tragedy that most of us lack real appreciation for life’s necessities. We don’t appreciate things until it’s too late. Water is overlooked until you have to scrounge for every drop. I’ve been thirsty enough to sip water from a rotten stump’s hollow, filtering it through a bandanna against my mouth to avoid swallowing mosquito larvae and globs of algae. I’ve been thirsty enough to drink water, peppered with rabbit pellets, from holes in rocks. Yet, even I can ta...
People often describe the things I write as “political.” They may not even intend it as an insult. I prefer to think of my views as post-political; beyond the obsolete sphere of politics. I wish people would recognize politics as the enemy; the opposite of how they should view the world and interact with others. It would be nice if they did, because politics ruins everything it touches. Politics makes people see the world through the fake “Right vs. Left” lens. It’s a distort...
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” — Thomas Jefferson, in the Declaration of Independence Those are some of the wisest words from American history. Sadly, they are almost entirely ignored today, other than occasional lip service to keep up the charade. As stated, all humans are born equal; with identica...
