I can boil my political philosophy down to a single sentence: I believe that everyone has the right to choose the direction of their own life, so long as they aren't stepping on the liberties of others. God gave me my rights. A right, very simply, is anything I can do or provide for myself. I have the right to breathe. I have the right to work. I have the right to buy products or services with money I've earned. Those are all things I can do or provide for myself. My God-given rights are innumerable. No mere man has the right to take my God-given rights from me, just as I don't have the right to take the rights from anyone else. I don't have the right to stop you from working. I don't have the right to stop you from living. I don't have the right to tell you what you can or can't buy. No one, regardless of their title, has the right to step on the liberties of others or take the rights of others away - though it sure doesn't stop them from trying. When personal interference doesn't succeed, people try to enlist the help of others. A gang. A majority. A government. What's the proper response when someone tries to take what is rightfully yours? In the animal kingdom, it's usually violence. We humans call this "self-defense." Taking what is ours is an act of aggression. Our aggressive response to that is only natural. And so by gang, by majority, and by government, those who want to take our God-given rights and our property, liberty, or life use whatever means they can to eliminate our response to their aggression. A docile mugging is always better for the mugger, so if it can be arranged, it will be. This is why there is no compromise with the mugger or with the Gladys Kravitz' of the world. She was the nosy neighbor who always busied herself with the private affairs of her neighbor. If she was here today, she would easily be president of the HOA. It's our job to remind those around us of our rights, and that we treasure those rights, and that we will aggressively defend those rights. It's also our job to remind those around us that our aggressive defense is not offense. In response to our defense, we are threatened and we are labeled. "Troublemakers." "Deplorables." "Racists." When horrible acts of offensive violence occur, we are blamed. But our use of violence is always defensive, not offensive. So to make us docile for the gang, the majority, or the government, the lines are blurred between offense and defense. Any violence is bad violence, they tell us. A docile mugging is always better for the mugger, so if it can be arranged, it will be. And because we've spent decades peacefully surrendering, the law has blurred the lines between offense and defense. We're losing our right to self-defense. It will soon become a right we don't have. But there is a proper response... and I'll detail that in my next post. |