Newsflash: You ARE "The People"

So I just finished Fredric Bastiat's masterpiece of socialist repellent, "The Law", which, IMHO is probably the most brilliant treatise on the subject of liberty ever written. If you didn't know better, you'd swear you were reading the work of a 21st century author, not a 19th century economist/political philosopher.

One particular section really hit home with me where he writes about how the socialists of his time were either elitist snobs or contradictory knuckleheads. You see, I’ve had a few run-ins with 21st century socialists, a.k.a. Democrats, who really aren’t that different than their 19th century counterparts. Both share the same condescending attitude that “the people are not capable of governing themselves”. I’ve heard this pillar of socialist wisdom countless times in discussions and from local democratic congressional candidates.

After one of these recent discussions, I got to thinking, “so exactly WHO or WHAT is supposed to govern us then, HAL?” After all, aren’t politicians “people” too? Bastiat takes it a step further, basically saying: “If people aren’t capable of governing themselves, why in the world do people, a.k.a. YOU, person who believes people are incapable of governing themselves, have the right to VOTE”? After all, if you are incapable of governing yourself, why should you be entrusted with the awesome responsibility of electing your representatives?

Bastiat goes on to point out that those that espouse this condescending opinion of mankind naturally do not include themselves in the category of lowly incapables, proving his hypothesis that socialists, or rather, Democrats of both centuries are either elitist snobs or contradictory idiots.

So the next time one of your friendly neighborhood Democrats states that “people are too irresponsible or incapable of governing themselves”, when defending their socialist ideology, pull out your lighter and kindly ask them to hand over their voter registration cards for incineration.

[EDIT] Lest I be accused of being Pro-Anti-Democrat, I must give credit to the Democrats for being open about their elitist mentality. The GOP simply pays lip service to the concept of "government by the people"...they tell us what we want to hear during the elections and promptly start treating us like serfs once in office.

Back From the Abyss

Well I'm back from my interview at Grim Reaper, LLC. Looks like I didn't qualify for the position of Associate Casket Weight...oh well, maybe next time.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who visited the hospital, sent cards, thoughts, etc. my way, I deeply appreciate everything. I'm currently recouping at home and doing dialysis three times a week, hoping the kidneys come back...we shall see.

Once I'm caught up on everything, I shall return with more snarky commentary.

See ya soon,

Browncoat

Just Call Me "D-FENS"

Do you remember the 1993 Michael Douglas movie "Falling Down"? You know, the one where he plays a laid off defense contractor who's fed-up with the state of our country and his life, which leads him to ultimately lose it and go postal on a convenience store after the non-English speaking clerk won't give him change for the pay phone? Well, dear readers, according to my nephew(who is only 3 years my junior), I am that guy.

See, my nephew and I try to go out and have a beer every couple of weeks, just to keep up with each other, something we haven't done too well until last summer. Last week, we get on the subject of politics and the new anti-smoking legislation being proposed by the Republocrat nannies in Austin. Anyone who's been around me for more than five minutes knows this is a hot button for me. And it's not about the smoking(I'm a "small-s" smoker), it's about the loss of liberty and my frustration with the politically mindless proponents of the ever encroaching Nanny-State. I get worked up about our daily loss of liberty, and I'm passionate about the subject.

My nephew, an intelligent, successful guy, is one of these politically mindless proponents of the Nanny-State and Big Government. His attitudes towards liberty, voting, and the role of government in our lives encapsulate all that is wrong with today's voters. He doesn't understand, or, he even admitted, care, about the concept of "unintended consequences". Since HE doesn't like smoking, he's all for smoking bans. Even though I pointed out the endless potential unintended consequences of such bans, he flat out said he doesn't care. He'll "deal with it and adjust when and if he crosses that bridge." "When it comes to government, I'm only concerned with the here and now," says he.

Now, I'll admit, my nephew has a healthy attitude about change. When he has to wait five months for gall bladder surgery at the Clinton Memorial State Hospital, at least he'll have adjusted and accepted the excruciating healthcare delays. Assuming he survives the wait AND survives the surgery, he'll be much more mentally prepared to wait in the ten block long line to receive his monthly soylent green rations from the U.S. Department of Plenty. And admittedly, he'll fare much better than I when the Jefferson Memorial in D.C. is demolished and replaced with the Marx Memorial.

Me, I'll take the horn-rimmed glasses, the crew-cut, and the license plate that reads "D-FENS", thank you.

The Fat Police are Comin' for Ya

So I'm reading a CNN-Online article about the new round of Nanny-State taxes being proposed by the governor of New York(aka the Nanny-State Mother Ship), David Patterson...I'm sure you've all heard about this by now. He's wanting to tax sodas containing sugar to help stop the "epidemic" of obesity, using the laughable "logic" that high taxes on cigarettes reduced the amount of smokers. Ask any cigarette smoker and they'll laugh hysterically at the idea that higher taxes would keep them from their smokes.

But I digress. While the notion of any nanny-state taxes, ordinance, or other gets me riled, what really got my goat was the reader comments from the "Healthier-Than-Thou" crowd condemning fatsos like me and blaming The Donut Nation for high health insurance premiums. They applaud the governor for his fatty-tax and offered up even more suggestions to punish the metabolism-impaired, like charging "obese" airline passengers double airfare because their disgusting love-handles might ooze over into adjoining seats on the plane. "Why should I pay high insurance rates because YOU are OBESE?!?"...they scream.

Well, never mind that they don't consider who defines "obese"...the same simple-minded mentality that's in favor of heavily taxing "The Rich"...don't get me started on that. Those that set the insurance rates are concerned with risk, nothing else. So yes, those of us in The Donut Nation do engage in risky behavior. Therefore, we should be taxed to discourage our risky behavior, right? Stop and think carefully about that one before you start enthusiastically nodding your head. I'll give you Fatty-Tax supporters a moment to digest the thought.

*Scarfs another donut*

Risky behavior. Yes, even you Healthier-Than-Thous engage in risky behavior that affects MY insurance premiums. When you're jogging downtown sucking in car farts, rock climbing, playing rugby, cycling on the busy streets of Fort Worth...putting yourself at RISK. Should we tax your ten-speeds or issue you traffic tickets to discourage where you ride? How about imposing taxes on your rugby league? Here's a citation for choosing to jog within 100 feet of car exhaust fumes.

Sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? Well folks, those are the doors that get opened when you support "behavior taxes"...not so gratifying when your behavior is being targeted, now is it?

I See Dead People

I see dead people. They're everywhere. They don't know they're dead. They have poor dental hygiene...some of them wear wooden dentures, however they speak eloquently with almost foreign accents. The ideas they speak of seem foreign, yet hauntingly familiar.

They often appear to me on Sunday mornings, while perusing the Sunday morning paper. One of the more charming of these spirits appeared to me just this morning after reading this article.

He shook his head and told me, "Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both."

I see dead people. They're everywhere. They don't know that they, as well as their words, are dead.

A Beginner's Guide to Freedom

Thanks to The Whited Sepulchre for turning me on to Stephen Smith's blog, "A Beginner's Guide to Freedom". I had the pleasure of chatting with Stephen and watching him calmly destroy his Republocrat opponents in debates during the 2008 election year...he's a great guy.

His blog entries are smart, full of common sense, and written a helluva lot better than this untalented hack.

If we are lucky, Stephen will run for office again...we need guys like him in office.

Yes, I'm Still Here

Unfortunately, I can't think of a damn thing to write about. I am seriously thinking about running for Fort Worth City Council in 2009 though...we'll see how that goes.