"I don't even know where to begin."
That's what a lot of people say when they are so mad, they don't know how to express it completely, rationally. Anger has a way of taking over your body, and in this case, my body is very much the issue.
Let me say this first: I am a Libertarian, an atheist, a citizen and a patriot.
When I say 'patriot', I don't mean in the current, jingoistic sense of 'nationalist idiot'. I mean that I love my country. I love what America stands for, the ideals and promises we keep safe for future generations. The Civil War makes me deeply sad. In my opinion, it is a wound that has never healed, and has kept us from being the great Nation envisioned by those who came before.
I hate the word 'atheist'. But it is the most sharp division I can make, without going through a lengthy and probably futile explanation of a worldview that excludes the possibility (and the necessity) of supernatural explanations for natural phenomena. I won't bother defending it; as my best friend put it, "Why do people feel the need to believe in something that can't be proven or demonstrated?". I know the answer; people need to feel good. Why they can't feel good about a firm knowledge of the scientific underpinnings of the universe, I don't know. Just yesterday, when I found a brown button against a brown carpet in a dark room, I praised the millions of ancestors before me, who lived and died unwittingly perfecting the production of forebears with night vision. Halleleujah!
I believe that, at least in our system, being a citizen is important. It implies that one both understands and participates in the social order. We pay sales taxes on things we buy every day without protest. But some people live in an entire black market culture, for that very reason, to avoid sales taxes. Some of us joined the military, some work for local or big government. Some in our history have tried to destroy those institutions through subversion or violence. While I may disagree with the direction our country is headed, I prefer to work within the system and remain a citizen, rather than a subversive. Productive change comes from within.
A Libertarian believes, as my sixth grade social studies teacher said, that "your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins". In other words, some might try to make a law against swinging your fist in public; I prefer fewer laws and more common sense. In Amsterdam, when you step off the tracks at Centraal Station, you can walk right onto the tram rails if you aren't paying attention. And why American tourists in Amsterdam might be a little dazed and confused, I dunno (coff, coff). But there are no rails, no hired guards, no giant human screens with the words "Hey! Don't Stand on Train Tracks! Trains are Dangerous!". The Dutch decided not to spend billions of dollars on fencing and orange paint to preserve the lives of stupid stoners who try to stop trains with their ass.
Which brings me to my point. I do not rely on God to keep me safe. I do not believe that my government owes me anything beyond that, preserving my life and limb and, for some dumb reason, my "right to the Pursuit of Happiness". I have been a faithful citizen of this country, and put in a little more than my share of blood and sweat.
Three months ago I became violently ill, and it turns out now that I got one of the "magic" jars of Peter Pan peanut butter, full of salmonella, a bacteria that breeds in rat feces. The doctors didn't know why I was sick, and I didn't even know what it was until I heard it on the radio like everyone else. And, even then, I wasn't angry. The doctor shouldn't be expected to diagnose salmonella poisoning; it's not just "bad food"; it's very rare. And I've worked in a factory, so I have a hard time blaming ConAgra, who made the peanut butter. It's a big place, a complicated process, and anyone can make a mistake.
But then I saw this, just last night. And now, I'm mad.
U.S. Food Safety Inspections Languishing
- FDA conducting half the food safety inspections it did three years ago
- Safety tests for U.S.-produced food down nearly 75 percent in same period
- Agency has 12 percent fewer field office employees who focus on food issues.
What the hell is my government doing? I won't even get started about the criminal misuse of my brothers in arms, overseas, prosecuting a shadow war against shadowy people who are angry for the same reasons I am; the US Government has become an imperialistic plutocracy, more concerned with global hegemony than the safety of its own citizens.
In the words of the people: The terrorists have already won.
I have stated my position. I don't want welfare, handouts, special treament. I worked hard for my place in this country. If all the government did was keep our highways, city streets, grocery stores and pharmacies safe, I'd be happy. But none of those things are true.
I am so mad, I don't know where to begin.
That's what a lot of people say when they are so mad, they don't know how to express it completely, rationally. Anger has a way of taking over your body, and in this case, my body is very much the issue.
Let me say this first: I am a Libertarian, an atheist, a citizen and a patriot.
When I say 'patriot', I don't mean in the current, jingoistic sense of 'nationalist idiot'. I mean that I love my country. I love what America stands for, the ideals and promises we keep safe for future generations. The Civil War makes me deeply sad. In my opinion, it is a wound that has never healed, and has kept us from being the great Nation envisioned by those who came before.
I hate the word 'atheist'. But it is the most sharp division I can make, without going through a lengthy and probably futile explanation of a worldview that excludes the possibility (and the necessity) of supernatural explanations for natural phenomena. I won't bother defending it; as my best friend put it, "Why do people feel the need to believe in something that can't be proven or demonstrated?". I know the answer; people need to feel good. Why they can't feel good about a firm knowledge of the scientific underpinnings of the universe, I don't know. Just yesterday, when I found a brown button against a brown carpet in a dark room, I praised the millions of ancestors before me, who lived and died unwittingly perfecting the production of forebears with night vision. Halleleujah!
I believe that, at least in our system, being a citizen is important. It implies that one both understands and participates in the social order. We pay sales taxes on things we buy every day without protest. But some people live in an entire black market culture, for that very reason, to avoid sales taxes. Some of us joined the military, some work for local or big government. Some in our history have tried to destroy those institutions through subversion or violence. While I may disagree with the direction our country is headed, I prefer to work within the system and remain a citizen, rather than a subversive. Productive change comes from within.
A Libertarian believes, as my sixth grade social studies teacher said, that "your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins". In other words, some might try to make a law against swinging your fist in public; I prefer fewer laws and more common sense. In Amsterdam, when you step off the tracks at Centraal Station, you can walk right onto the tram rails if you aren't paying attention. And why American tourists in Amsterdam might be a little dazed and confused, I dunno (coff, coff). But there are no rails, no hired guards, no giant human screens with the words "Hey! Don't Stand on Train Tracks! Trains are Dangerous!". The Dutch decided not to spend billions of dollars on fencing and orange paint to preserve the lives of stupid stoners who try to stop trains with their ass.
Which brings me to my point. I do not rely on God to keep me safe. I do not believe that my government owes me anything beyond that, preserving my life and limb and, for some dumb reason, my "right to the Pursuit of Happiness". I have been a faithful citizen of this country, and put in a little more than my share of blood and sweat.
Three months ago I became violently ill, and it turns out now that I got one of the "magic" jars of Peter Pan peanut butter, full of salmonella, a bacteria that breeds in rat feces. The doctors didn't know why I was sick, and I didn't even know what it was until I heard it on the radio like everyone else. And, even then, I wasn't angry. The doctor shouldn't be expected to diagnose salmonella poisoning; it's not just "bad food"; it's very rare. And I've worked in a factory, so I have a hard time blaming ConAgra, who made the peanut butter. It's a big place, a complicated process, and anyone can make a mistake.
But then I saw this, just last night. And now, I'm mad.
U.S. Food Safety Inspections Languishing
- FDA conducting half the food safety inspections it did three years ago
- Safety tests for U.S.-produced food down nearly 75 percent in same period
- Agency has 12 percent fewer field office employees who focus on food issues.
What the hell is my government doing? I won't even get started about the criminal misuse of my brothers in arms, overseas, prosecuting a shadow war against shadowy people who are angry for the same reasons I am; the US Government has become an imperialistic plutocracy, more concerned with global hegemony than the safety of its own citizens.
In the words of the people: The terrorists have already won.
I have stated my position. I don't want welfare, handouts, special treament. I worked hard for my place in this country. If all the government did was keep our highways, city streets, grocery stores and pharmacies safe, I'd be happy. But none of those things are true.
I am so mad, I don't know where to begin.
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