Ken's Weblog

People should not fear their governments; governments should fear their people.

Month: October 2010

  • Tech Support

    Tech Support [xkcd.com]

    Any computer-literate person who’s ever had to call a cable company’s support line will appreciate this cartoon.

  • Quote of the Day

    If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.

    John Adams

  • Good response to Socialists

    Addition to the “20 Questions” Response…. S, a regular reader and commenter here, had some comments to add to last week’s “20 Questions” post, but for some reason his comments kept getting knocked off the blog. I still don’t know what that was about, but when he sent the comment to me via other means I found it much worth saying. So here it is.

    The answer to all twenty questions is the same:

    You and I are different. I will not use violence to achieve my personal goals. I make my way in the world using peaceful, voluntary, mutually beneficial trade. I use violence only when necessary to defend my life and property from violence initiated by others. Even then, my response will be appropriate to the threat and circumstances.

    You and your ilk use violence to get what you want. Whether it is market outcomes that displease you or tools you fear and loathe violence is your first and only tool. It’s quite pathetic really, how limited your imaginations have become. You can’t even imagine solutions to most problems that don’t involve violence. I typically have to choose from a myriad of options when negotiating a solution to a problem that troubles me; all you can ever do is demand new laws.

    You’re also a coward, and unwilling to do the dirty work required by your reliance on violence. So you rely on others to pass “laws,” hire men armed with the very same guns that so terrify you, give them costumes and costume jewelry, steal the money to pay for these parasites from their victims, and then set them upon me.

    There’s your answer. There is no frontier here, only a bleeding edge. Because you will try to have me killed if you can’t make me agree with you, while I will go my peaceful way and do my best to ignore and shun you. I have trades to make and a life to live. There’s really no point to further discussion with you, since the outcome has already been decided. By you.

    Couldn’t say it as well myself. In fact, I didn’t. [The Ultimate Answer to Kings]

    This was written in response to a gun control advocate, but it applies just as well to any other sort of Socialist (including the ones who run the Republican Party).