Liberty: The Only Thing We Need To Agree On

It seems to me a lot of what masquerades as politics these days is really just cultural and social differences. We tend to think of people in terms of charicatures and the clichés expressed by them. You've got yer lefty bleeding heart hippie socialists, your righty greedy capitalist conservatives, and somehow each group wants everyone else to join theirs as the True Way To Live. Well, that's bullshit - it's never gonna happen. And why would we want it to? Why do we care so much that other people adopt our way of life as best? If you pin your happiness on other people's agreement you're destined for disappointment. Yes, it's good to have that, but unrealistic to expect it on large scale. It's unlikely that any one person's view is not going to be shared at all by other people, so there is really nothing to worry about.

It's like being a music fan. You discover some band, totally dig their music and want to share it with others. But what happens when they start getting TOO popular? Well now that band is no longer "yours", your abstract mental ownership of said group has been compromised and now you're all grumpy. It's silly, but it happens. Usually this occurs in youth, where passionate feelings are much stronger of course. What's better is when you can achieve a balance of popularity and exclusivity. If you understand that not everyone is gonna dig this band, if you understand that you may be annoyed by some people who also dig the band and if you're okay with all this, well NOW you're cookin'.

So why would you really want the rest of the world to adopt YOUR views on what to do? It's just impossible to fathom. People come from all different walks of life, were raised differently, had different experiences; it's foolish to think they are all going to think the same and value the same things. Well, my point is that we don't need to worry about that. That's all just details. You might care passionately about saving animals whereas someone else wouldn't care one bit because their main issue is something else. Getting both parties to care about each other's issues is improbable. What is more important is the freedom for each party to pursue their issues without interference. When these issues become politcal issues there will be no balance. By nature it will become a bitter feud without end. There will be heartbreak, enmity and violence. You can't truly get what you want with government interference, you can only get what you truly want with liberty. Liberty is the ONLY thing we need to agree on. We have to get past the mental walls and learn that some groups will never agree with others, but it's a moot point because without government butting in we will not be living at each other's expense.

The only legitimate use of government is to protect two or more individuals from violating each others rights and property, NOT to protect individuals from themselves. That lofty goal is why government fails unfortunately. It is a tall order for the human race. It calls for a supremely neutral, fair person who can evenly dispense justice without his own bias getting in the way. How many superhuman people like this do you know? I can't think of any. I wouldn't trust myself to be in charge of political office. People would love or hate me. No good. We must be wary of those among us who desire power. If that lust for control can be redirected into more harmless avenues, like gravel pits in mountainous regions designed to stop semi trailers whose brakes have failed, then fewer people will be hurt. No, not actual gravel pits, that was a metaphor. We really need a 'Fletcher Memorial Home' as Roger Waters wrote. I wish such a fantasy were possible. If politicians could live in a Matrix-like alternate reality where they really believed they were doing all sorts of great things for society but without actually doing anything, that would be phenomenal!

Liberty matters even if you don't think you want it. Maybe you're a nut who is okay with all the government intrusions. Well, you can have that system if you want, but just keep it to yourself. Go off and create your own little society. I don't want to live under your laws and taxation bullshit. It's an oxymoron, but I could see people creating voluntary government if that's what they wanted. In that case it would be best to use a different word than government I suppose. The problem is that government as we've always known it has applied to everyone within their imaginary borders. It's pretty hard to escape it.

I think everyone has a radical idea about something or other even if they don't consider themselves radical . Everyone wants to see something stricken entirely from the planet and something else raised on high to be admired and emulated. But we all want it to be applied in broad strokes. And who can blame us? Government makes that contention inevitable. If there were lots of little governments\communities\societies who didn't have to fear the wrath of other groups it would be much easier to find a world you could live with. This idea might scare people because it sounds like segregation and separatism. Well, so what if it is? As long as these groups are entered into freely there's no problem.

The flowery notion of all people on earth living in peace and harmony, holding hands underneath a rainbow isn't going to happen when there's one world government. The more laws they pass, the more taxes, the more regulations, the more dependent you become upon your neighbor and vice versa. Why should this be? Why should people living on the west coast be paying for services used by those on the east coast? Why should people pay for services they don't even use? Let's take it a step farther...let's propose that Canadians and Mexicans also have to pay taxes into the American government and Americans have to pay taxes to the other two countries as well. Would anyone be for this?! No, they'd call that crazy. But the only difference is an imaginary line on a map. Look at a satellite photo of the earth without any lines on it and the whole idea of countries and nations and states seems rather ridiculous. But yet we are all so utterly wedded to these nationalist ideas. Somehow ALL the people born inside our imaginary box are special in some way and anyone outside that box aren't. If you want borders that's fine, but I say draw them in ever decreasing size until the only borders are the ones drawn around ourselves. The more decentralized the desire for power is, the less harm it can do.

All this group mentality seems nice on the surface, but it just doesn't hold up under scrutiny. Groups can be beneficial, but I think people have a natural desire to be free from each other. We don't want to be lumped into one big pot. (or pumped into one pig lot either) We shouldn't be like a melting pot where all our colors blend into a muddy grey, but rather like a salad bar. You can pick what you want on your salad and not be worried about the next guy in line. Maybe the government can serve as the sneeze guard, a transparent protector against mucous aggression. But then, why even have just ONE salad bar?

Hopefully the day shall come when Black Sabbath lyrics and Boston album covers come true and people can finally rocket off planet earth and build a new world on another planet. But we'll probably fuck that up too.