Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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Frequently, people see a problem and demand government step in to solve it, without noticing government is the cause of the problem in the first place. Adding more government to a problem is like trying to fight a fire by piling dry wood on it. Public school is one of the most stubborn cases of mistaking a problem for a solution. Even among otherwise sensible people, as soon as you bring up public schools, reason flies out the window, and is instantly replaced with emotion....
Why has everything become political? It’s a tragedy. Politics drives people apart. It makes people miserable, angry, and sad. Politics makes people believe crazy things and gets them to defend the indefensible. It turns regular people into bullies and scapegoats. Politics distracts people from doing productive things and keeps them too occupied to do pleasant things. I understand. It is said that even if you don’t have an interest in politics, politics is interested in you...
You might be shocked to learn how little regard I have for the law. Or, maybe you wouldn’t. This doesn’t mean I approve of harming others, their property, or their rights; quite the opposite. It just means I recognize the law for what it is. Instead of being protective, the law has become the most common excuse used to violate people. Laws, and the state that imposes them, are the opposite of civilization; they are anti-social. As Lao Tzu observed over 2,500 years ago: “Th...
Most of the political left, following the lead of the mainstream national media, is focusing on what they characterize as President Trump’s incompetence and the chaos that surrounds his administration. He told you he was going to stir things up. Anyone with any sense should know stirring things up is going to cause chaos. Especially so when it affects those who were comfortable with the way things were. While spring cleaning, or draining the swamp, chaos is a sign you are a...
Whatever else it might accomplish, President Trump’s border wall has already divided America. I oppose the wall, believing it’s a bad idea, but mine isn’t a popular opinion — even among libertarians. Some wall supporters make the analogy of fencing your property, saying fences make good neighbors. I agree, but it doesn’t apply. The U.S. government doesn’t own all the land within the borders drawn on the map, even if it believes it does. If I decide to fence off my own propert...
On many college campuses, the students and faculty are so opposed to hearing anything other than leftist, “social justice” speakers, that they’ll threaten violence to keep other speakers away. While the freedom to speak doesn’t obligate anyone to listen, nor to provide a platform, you have no right to prevent others from listening to ideas you hate. An echo chamber is a poor substitute for education. Sure, as long as a school doesn’t accept one cent of tax money, it is privat...
Another election, another president. Some people are optimistic; others are wringing their hands in apparent horror. As with every president, I’m a disinterested observer. Presidents and other such political creatures haven’t mattered much to me since I was in my 20s and began to grow out of my desire for a leash. There has never been a president who had much impact on my life, unless I foolishly paid more attention to him than was warranted. The longer I live, the less fre...
Life comes at you unexpectedly. Risks are always near — from aggressive people, the weather, or simply from Murphy’s Law. No matter where you are or what you are doing, expect the unexpected, but don’t let it consume your life. You could worry yourself to death over dangers, or you can let awareness and preparedness become a game. Yes, it can be fun. Plus, it will make your life richer because you’ll notice more. Pay attention to your surroundings. Notice people acting...
I want your life to be better. I want you to be happier. I don’t know your individual situation so I can’t tell you what to do to make yourself better and happier. Nor do I have the authority to impose my ideas of what might help in your life, anyway. No one does, although some seem to believe they do. I believe liberty is always better than slavery, voluntary is always better than coerced, and trade is always better than theft. If you believe something different, I have the...
Although the start of a new year is completely arbitrary, it's still a good time to reflect on the past year, and look toward the future. Of course, any day is a perfect day for doing so. Just remember: It's easy to look at the past and see only the good, or only the bad. Every year holds both, just as does every era in history. I understand people looking back at parts of their own life with nostalgia. I do it, too. "If only I could go back and ..." seems to be a universal...
Did the Russian government affect the recent U.S. presidential election? Maybe, but remind me again why I should care. You already know every election is rigged, because “abolish the office” isn’t among the options you are allowed to choose from. Until every election has this outcome as a very real possibility, the status quo is in no serious danger. It wasn’t “our election” unless you’ve sold yourself into bondage to this strange cult called “government.” Treasure your rightf...
Why the sudden uproar over “fake news?” Apparently, because many on the political left blame so-called fake news for Trump’s election. There has always been fake news. Nineteenth century newspapers were peppered with delicious tales of sea monsters, mysterious airships, and ape men presented as news. Today, press releases from government agencies are routinely presented without disclaimers. Both are likely to be outlandish fiction. If a story confirms what you want to belie...
When you ignore the rules of reality, you get hurt. Notice I don’t say when you break reality’s rules, because those rules can’t be broken. They can only be accepted or ignored. Ignore them at your peril. Take gravity, for example. If you ignore gravity you will suffer, and you may even fall to your death. Once you accept the reality of gravity, you can use the rules governing it to fly or even to experience “weightlessness” in orbit. Neither is a case of defying gravity, but...
It is once again the season to remember the less fortunate. On one hand, you shouldn't need an annual reminder to be good to other people, but on the other hand, sometimes it's fortunate the calendar has a few such reminders built in. If someone wants to help those in need, there is nothing stopping her from freely giving her own money and time to those she feels deserve help. Yet most who feel more money should be spent on their favorite government programs are never content...
How often do you change your opinion about anything? When you do, what causes the change? With the reluctance toward changing an opinion, it's amazing anyone ever does, on anything. Yet, it is possible, and it does happen. I have changed my opinion on many things over the course of my life. When I change my opinions, I would like for truth, reality, and reason to be the catalyst. When I'm wrong, I want to know, and I want this knowledge to change me. I am suspicious when...
Most libertarians would be perfectly happy to stand aside as you form any society your little heart desires. You could form a democracy, republic, theocracy, dictatorship, or even a nostalgic "Communist Utopia." Whatever melts your butter. It's none of my business how you organize your community, as long as it is consensual. As long as you give the rest of us the same respect. Therein lies the problem. Most forms of government don't permit any competition, or even any real variety, in their vicinity, and the true believers...
Can you give me an actual living, breathing tyrannosaurus rex? No. Why not? Because you don't have one to give. You can't give away something you don't possess — especially if it doesn't exist. So how can you pretend to give government employees the authority to do things on your behalf that you never had the authority to do on your own? Things such as to forbid guns in some circumstances, some methods of carry, or to certain people. Or to kick in doors to get drugs. Or to require licenses for driving or conducting b...
Federal employees must read my columns and use the warnings therein as a blueprint for future schemes, just as Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" and George Orwell's "1984" seem to have been adopted as suggestions for governing rather than as the dire warnings they should have been. Recent news that the National Transportation Safety Board is seeking to further lower the "legal standard" for the blood alcohol content that would be called "drunk" — to 0.05 percent — echoes a warning I gave in a previous column. I cautioned about a h...
Humans have always created tools to give them more power than would be available with bare hands. Hammers, can openers, computers, and guns are tools. The state — what most people mean when they talk about the government — is also a tool. Any tool can be used in ways that could be said to be good and bad. However, only one tool — the state — can't be adequately aimed and can never be used without creating victims. Some people compare my desire for the end of the state with the demands of anti-gun advocates for the end of...
I find it sad that whenever someone wants to do something, the first question most people ask is whether government allows it, requires a license, or forbids it. That's truly tragic. I take it as a sign that people have been successfully indoctrinated into the socialistic belief of government supremacy. That's a perversion of how life really is, of course. The reality is that the individual is supreme, and every other social construct, real or imaginary, is built — from the b...
I find it sad that whenever someone wants to do something, the first question most people ask is whether government allows it, requires a license, or forbids it. That's truly tragic. I take it as a sign that people have been successfully indoctrinated into the socialistic belief of government supremacy. That's a perversion of how life really is, of course. The reality is that the individual is supreme, and every other social construct, real or imaginary, is built — from the b... Full story
I have heard people say there is no point in being libertarian because there will never be a libertarian society. Or because there will always be bad guys who will take advantage of others. Or because someone will always be setting up some form of government. That seems to be a myopic view of the situation to me. I'm not libertarian because of a belief that the future won't have problems. I am libertarian because I know it is always wrong to initiate force — to throw the first...
Civilization depends on unwavering respect for property rights, and the recognition of the right to defend property. Without the ability to own property, use it as you see fit, and defend it from those who wish to steal or destroy its value, we would still be living a nomadic stone age life. I don't know about you, but I enjoy some of the trappings of civilization, and I don't appreciate those who are tirelessly working to roll them back. If you can't feel confident about your ability to hold on to what is yours and use it... Full story
How much freedom do you have? How much freedom do you need? You are free to vote for people to take money from your neighbors on your behalf. You are free to vote to prevent your neighbors from using their property as they see fit. You are free to support violent early morning home invasions in the name of protecting people from plant leaves and unprescribed chemicals — for their own good, and "for the children," of course. You are free to travel where you want, as long as you pay for permission to own a vehicle, and pay f...
Why isn't liberty attractive to most people? It is a question that crosses my mind frequently. Thomas Jefferson said "Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others." He went on to state "I do not add, 'within the limits of the law,' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual." Jefferson knew that "laws," even in his day, were often wrong. They have only gotten worse today. The protection of...
