Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
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There haven’t been many years where, as New Year’s Day approached, I thought “I’m glad I survived this one; I wasn’t sure I would.” This has been one of those years. It was a year marked with unrelated random health emergencies, financial crises partly caused by those health emergencies, and general trouble. I’m glad to see the year end and I’m hoping next year will be better. If your past 12 months were rough, I hope the coming year is smooth sailing. If the past year has b...
Just about the most valuable gift any human can give another is to fully respect the other person’s liberty. As long as they aren’t harming anyone else’s life, liberty, or property you don’t interfere. Live and let live. You can do this for those you love and for those you only tolerate. You can even give this gift to people you don’t like at all; people whose way of life or politics is disgusting to you, as long as they aren’t victimizing anyone. The hardest part is being ho...
Most people don’t seem to want liberty. Many of them want freedom, but they aren’t interested in the responsibility that comes with liberty. A majority want to feel safe and comforted. They want guarantees. They want the familiar, even when the familiar is guaranteed to be harmful to them. They don’t want the uncertainties that come with liberty. Uncertainties are a fact of life, like it or not. Some of them would like liberty for themselves but are terrified of allow...
It would be nice if you could set liberty in motion and forget about it. Unfortunately, like a clock, you will at least have to keep winding it or replacing the battery. Or, if it has a cord, you must rely on someone else to keep the power flowing. As long as others insist on keeping government around, liberty will have to be maintained. Some consider this a flaw. I wonder if these people took one shower years ago and expect it to last. Entropy happens. Things tend to crumble...
Like almost everyone, there are certain things I like to collect. Kerosene lamps being among my favorites. At one time I only wanted enough oil lamps to light the house in case of a power outage. They are useful to have around, even though power outages are rare. Then I started liking them just for how they look. Once I had a lamp for every room of the house, plus a few spares, I realized it was time to stop collecting them. This is when I learned that collecting has an...
How long has it been since you heard someone say “It’s a free country?” I used to hear it almost every day. I haven’t heard anyone say this for years now. Another thing people no longer say is “This mammoth steak is delicious.” No one says either phrase anymore for the same reason. No one is eating mammoth steaks and America isn’t a free country. Sure, if all you want to do is agree with government opinions and be obedient to its edicts, you’re still free. A slave is comple...
If you aren’t against the institution of government yet, you will be. If you’re still taking government’s side, you haven’t realized government considers you the enemy, and treats you as such. Actual criminals and terrorists are not government’s top concern or seen as a real threat -- you and your liberty are, and have been far longer than you’d be comfortable admitting. Just look at a couple of things the omnipotent State has planned for your future: car shutoff switches an...
All sides that don’t prioritize liberty are the same. Excuses don’t matter. If you’re angry about the other side doing something that violates liberty, but you justify your side violating liberty in some other way, you’re not helping. It’s not Democrat vs. Republican, nor “Left vs. “Right.” It comes down to liberty vs slavery. It may be “slavery-light” instead of what you’ve been trained to consider slavery, but is gentle slavery better? Most people are so motivated to find...
When government clearly goes too far, someone may ask whether or not government has the right to do what it did. The honest answer is always “no.” Government has no rights. It’s not that government has no extra rights; government has no rights of any kind. Individuals who work for government have rights. They have the same rights anyone else has. Rights equal and identical to the rights everyone else enjoys, but no more. These individuals don’t magically get extra rights...
When government clearly goes too far, someone may ask whether or not government has the right to do what it did. The honest answer is always “no.” Government has no rights. It's not that government has no extra rights; government has no rights of any kind. Individuals who work for government have rights. They have the same rights anyone else has. Rights equal and identical to the rights everyone else enjoys, but no more. These individuals don't magically get extra rights made... Full story
I could never be talked into sending my daughter on a cross-country trip with a stranger. Or worse, with an acquaintance I couldn’t trust because of a history of dangerous or unethical behavior. If I did, and something tragic happened, how could I live with the guilt? I know better. For this same reason, I would never entrust anything I value to government’s control. Government has a history, stretching back thousands of years, of dangerous and unethical behavior. I can...
Someday you may have to stand up for something you know is right, or against something you know is wrong, when it appears the whole world is against you. You may not believe you’d change your position in that situation. There was a social experiment where test subjects were told to choose, from among three choices, a line that was the same length as another line. The experiment was designed so the correct answer was obvious. Only one person in the group was actually a test s...
“War is a racket.” — Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Smedley Butler I’m not a good subject for war propaganda. I see the atrocities committed on all sides, going back through history. I also can’t ignore or accept civilian casualties -- “collateral damage” -- under any circumstances. It’s non-negotiable. One innocent person harmed means you’ve done wrong, no matter what justification you use. Blame politicians, not populations. I condemn any new attack, but there’s no such thing as an...
Someone recently asked me if the "government shutdown" had happened yet, and I didn't know. I didn't care enough to find out at the time. Later I learned, purely by accident, that Congress had delayed it for a month and a half with some procedural hijinks. Instead of doing the responsible thing and shutting it all down, they kicked the can down the road. Calling it a "shutdown" is dishonest, anyway. The truly harmful parts of the federal government -- the FBI, CIA, other...
I value liberty -- the freedom to exercise my rights -- enough to leave you alone to exercise your rights. I respect your liberty as much as I value my own. It shocks me to realize how many people don’t do the same. Instead, I see people who want so badly to control what other people are allowed to do that they eagerly sacrifice their own liberty in order to give government the power to govern others. To me, this seems insane and self-destructive. How can people be so a...
Politics changes hearts and minds. Not in a good way. The more partisan the politics, the worse the obvious damage. Politics brainwashes people. It drives reasoned thought right out of the human brain. Being too political doesn't do good things to your emotions, either. I try to warn people of this danger, whether they want to hear it or not. They usually don't want to. A mind damaged by politics can lead the victim to say things like "If you don't support my politician you...
Political crimes aren't like ordinary crimes. They are worse. They are also outside the "innocent until proven guilty" standard, which applies to most other crimes; crimes committed by people without political power. With an ordinary crime, you often have to figure out whether any crime was committed at all. Maybe it was an accident or a natural occurrence. Then, if it is discovered there was a crime, you have to try to find out who committed it. This isn't how political...
I saw firsthand the fear and confusion some employees of the Clovis Walmart felt after their store burned. These are our friends, family, and neighbors just trying to earn money to pay their bills; suddenly the rug was pulled out from under them through no fault of their own. The company has stepped up, under difficult circumstances, to do what they can for the employees. This is appreciated. My family, like so many others in the area, has been directly affected by this fire....
When it’s important, when it’s life and death, when it matters most — that’s precisely when you don’t need government involved. This is when you don’t need politicians and bureaucrats dictating a one-size-fits-all standard, backed with the threat of violence. This is when government power is most dangerous to society. I’m not only talking about unusual or emergency situations. The same applies to ordinary everyday matters, which are important for your health, safety, and gener...
Any time a court sides with a government employee, giving government more power over your life, liberty dies a little. There isn’t much liberty to spare; the last remnants are circling the drain, washed down with public apathy. Or approval. Such is the case with the recent Supreme Court of New Mexico ruling that allowed a police officer to question a vehicle passenger -- a suspected thief. You may approve of the officer’s actions, but it isn’t good for your future right...
If you depend on government -- or anyone else -- to save you from danger, you’re risking your life unnecessarily. The tragic wildfires on the Hawaiian island of Maui are awful beyond words. I hate when horrible things happen to people who are just going about their lives. Unfortunately, the fires were probably far more deadly than they would have otherwise been because too many people have been conditioned to be dependent on someone else to tell them when they are in danger a...
A good idea is a good idea even if it comes from the worst person on Earth. Good ideas can come from both the political right and left; conservatives and liberals, Republicans and Democrats. When anyone on either side has a good idea I’m happy to agree with them. I’m just as eager to disagree with the bad ideas either side offers. Respecting everyone’s equal and identical rights, no matter who they are, is the best idea humans have ever had. Both political sides wade caref...
Do you ever get a tune stuck in your head; playing on a loop in your mind whether you want it to or not? Hopefully, it’s something you enjoy. For me, the sound of “liberty” is always playing in the background. Besides being something I love, it drowns out the competing songs of “safety,” “victimhood,” and “nationalism.” Those who hear those alternate songs can’t usually hear “liberty.” At best, they’ll hear the cheap substitute, “freedom”* (*void where prohibited). I try to r...
“Government is not reason, it is not eloquence - it is force! Like fire it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master; never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.” This quote is often attributed to George Washington, but scholars insist he never said it. Scholars consistently fact-check away intelligent quotes that support liberty. The most accurate quips and observations are usually denied as ever having been said. That’s too bad; if Washington had said...
If you don’t understand, love, or want liberty -- fine. If you’d prefer having powerful governments take most of your money, tell you what you are allowed to do, and watch your every move, go for it. It’s not my place to deprive you of what you want. I draw the line when you don’t return the consideration. When you say I am required to live under your conditions when I don’t place the same constraints on you. When you are willing to throw people in a cage for preferrin...
