...Ya jus' gotta go to war in the unnerwear ya got on.
--Dolly
Now it's your turn...
Remember -- If I don't like it, it hits the bit bucket.
If you hijack my comments for purposes not consonant with my purpose for operating this blog, your post will be deleted, your membership cancelled, and your IP address banned.
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CGHill writes...
"Despicable little hair-splitters" are of course employed by despicable little power-seekers.
I just hope there's enough rope to go around.
Posted by CGHill on 08/27/10
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Page 1 of 1 pages
The Dropped Stitch...
I'D WAGER THAT A lot of folks wouldn't even miss it -- those who made it to the end of the post below in the first place -- but I dropped a stitch in my exposition last night. (That is: the post was written Wednesday night, this is Thursday night to me, and you'll read this Friday and thereafter whenever you stop in.)
BUT....
If you haven't read the post below, please go do so. Otherwise, this one won't make much sense. Go ahead. I'll wait.
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Back already? Wow. That musta been simpler than I thought. OK. Did you notice the dropped stitch? OK. No games. It's near the end, where Dolly says, "Now go enforce it." Instead of allowing as how my logic seems sound, she should have argued that I failed to show a qualitative difference between individual rights and property rights. I even elided the fact that there might be a difference. So here we go trying to repair that. At first, I thought I'd just edit that post to include it. But the longer I thought on it, the longer this text got, and the less graceful an insertion would have gotten.
Here we go.
A lot of people have tried to stick a pin in the nature of the source of human rights. Where do they come from? What's the first right -- the ur right, if you will, from which all the others descend in cascading generations? I'm not sure I could put a fix on the exact lat and long, but I think I can define the nature of it. The core of human rights is at the core of a human being. That concept being rather fuzzy and ill-defined means that rights will be fuzzy and ill-defined -- in a sort of a philosophical version of the Heisenberg principle, you can not observe both the position and speed of a right at the same time -- the one affects the other, and the best you can do is a range of possibilities in a cloud of uncertainty. But it's attached to being a human.
Call it a soul. Somebody said in my hearing recently (and thus it sticks in my mind for the moment, to be forgotten at a later date) that we don't so much have souls as we are souls. Make sense? If a soul defines individuality, and the mind of Man permits him to apprehend that he is a soul, then the mind of Man is the apotheosis of creation, which makes us in apprehension (apologies to the Bard) so like to God. And from the mind/soul duo flows what it is to be a Man (in a generic sense, most definitely including women). So human rights are endowed by our creator (whatever you perceive Him to be, hairy thunderer or cosmic muffin), and inhere to us as individuals to the extent that they do flow from our creation, and are not our own, flawed constructs.
The right to life is inherent in our existence, as is the right to liberty. The rights of free expression, thought, and conscience, while possibly expressed outwardly, are still internal to our being. These rights, as I put it, inhere to the individual and do not require an external expression. The right to own property might be seen as being somewhat similar, as the first property one owns is onesself. But rights in property not a part of onesself require external exercise and cannot be held to be equal to those of the self.
(This is one problem with being an autodidact: you often reinvent the wheel. Right about now, some chromedome is going to come along and say, "Popper wrote about that in...[some book I never read]." If that's so, it's no end of fascinating, but not really relevant at the moment.)
Relevant to the post below (Remember? We're amending that post with this one?), the right to life inhering to the individual, the right to defense of that life -- of the self -- must also do so. That's the takeaway phrase: The right of self-defense inheres to the individual. The exercise of rights in property -- such as defining who may and may not have access to it or use of it -- do not. Not in the same manner or quality. Thus, individual rights being, in essence, superior to property rights, the former trump the latter, and there can be no conflict.
At least, that's the theory. Now let's do the math.
In the case of what we'll call the lunch-counter rights -- the right to equal access to public accomodation, albeit privately-owned accomodation -- the free exercise of said rights is seen as being vital to ordered liberty. In theory, I am forced to disagree, feeling (without proof, I hasten to add) that there must be a better solution, which does not require the abrogation of BOTH private property rights AND rights of free association, yet still satisfies the call for justice in the matter. But, as a matter of practical fact, I do not have a better solution, so must accept the one my society has come up with, however flawed it may seem to be. And, in doing so, I must therefore apply it even-handedly across my entire spectrum of social situations as we -- as a people -- encounter them.
In Second Amendment rights, we have enshrined in our founding charter, the exercise in property of a right which is, in reality, far closer to a human right. The right to bear arms is the outward exercise of the right to life -- and the consequent right to defend that life. And the self contained therein.
The right has recently -- belatedly, and in a niggardly fashion -- been recognized in the courts. (How insidious and despicable is it that the government gets to decide the merits of limits on its own power?)
If we recognize the right of the self to defend itself, then deny it the right to possession, carriage, and use of the most efficacious means of self-defense, are we not being despicable little hair-splitters, tyrants both gross and petty?
So, it follows as night does the day that no actor -- state nor private -- may deny a Man the right to bear arms. Nor, in the case of public accomodation, at least, may private property rights be allowed to trump.
Making any more sense?
(I can't wait until Kevin Baker gets his teeth into THAT.)
My name is Gabrielle Dolly and I approve the contents of this blog.
I'm little, but I'm loud.
All helicopters are black after midnight.
Yes, a broken clock is right twice a day, but it is still broken.
No, I don't want to live forever, but neither do I want to spend the rest of my life dying.
Screw feminism; celebrate your babe-ness.
If you've got 'em, flaunt 'em. And, Baby, I got 'em.
Get some on ya. More usually does the trick.
Yeah, I'm anti-war. Trouble is, the enemy isn't. So, what're ya gonna do? Bleed on 'em?
You look to me like somebody who actually believes that there's no such thing as a stupid question.
"Life's too short to box with stupid liberals. Trouble is: there ain't any smart ones."
Okay. Here's how this works: If all you got's a hammer, pretty soon, every problem starts to look like a nail. Folla? 'N' if all you've got is government, pretty soon every solution starts to look like oppression.
Beauty may be only skin-deep, but ugly goes clear to the bone.
You may not be able to impose democracy on a country, but you sure as hell can impose socialism. Stop it!
Damned right I'm an enemy of the state. Aren't you? Why the hell not?
Just so's y' know: I didn't pick the fight.
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I don't PLAN on fightin' in a leather bikini with my midriff exposed and my boobs half hangin' out. It's just... sometimes a fight comes at you without giving you a chance to get all armored up. 'N' ya jus' gotta go to war in the unnerwear ya got on.
Cincinnati novelist Mark Alger is one of nature's noblemen, and one of the best writers on the Web. Treat yourself. --Francis W. Porretto
Mark Alger is a writer, who just happens to blog. And if you're not checking him out you're doing yourself a disservice. --Raging Dave
Mark Alger's Baby Troll Blog, whose look at life and the world around him, along with pithy comments from the effervescent Dolly, deserve to be on everyone's required reading list. --Guy S.
YOUR QUOTE HERE
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SIG-BLOCK QUOTES
"Society has no right to be unjust to a single one of its members, ... the whole society minus one, is not authorised to obstruct the latter in his opinions, nor in those actions which are not harmful, in the use of his property or the exercise of his labour, save in those cases where that use or that exercise would obstruct another individual possessing the same rights." --Benjamin Constant
"Individual liberty; Individual Responsibility." --Russell Means
"When you want to blather away into the ether, collecting the accolades and shunning the negative response, you're not advocating for speech to be free -- you're advocating for talk to be cheap." --Jane Galt
"A leftist idea can be recognized by three earmarks, It will be: 1)Founded in ignorance, 2) Focussed on irrelevance, 3) Engaged in wishful thinking. --Mark Alger
4) "And threaten use of the coercive power of the state to extract compliance." --Arnold's Corrollary (ed.)
"I could tolerate leftists if they had any coherent ideas for a better way to do things. But they don't. They cling stubbornly to failed brain-fart dreams that have been attempted over and over again with disastrous results, but they never learn. When better ideas come along, they simply screech and holler at them, then fling feces like the monkeys they are." --Acidman
"All the extravagance and incompetence of our present government is due, in the main, to lawyers.They are responsible for nine-tenths of the useless and vicious laws that now clutter the statute-books, and for all the evils that go with the vain attempt to enforce them. Every Federal judge is a lawyer. So are most Congressmen. Every invasion of the plain rights of the citizen has a lawyer behind it. If all lawyers were hanged tomorrow, and their bones sold to a mah jong factory, we'd all be freer and safer, and our taxes would be reduced by almost a half." -- H.L. Mencken.
Just One Question Can you demonstrate one time or place, throughout all history, where the average person was made safer by restricting access to handheld weapons? --Joe Huffman.
The Jews in the Attic Test
I looked at all laws that restricted freedom with a view to the impact it would have in a worst case scenario of our government run amok. Will this law make it difficult or impossible to protect innocent life from a government intent on their imprisonment or death? ...I told them I called this test my "Jews In The Attic Test". Furthermore I told them that if it fails this test no further discussion is really needed, the law must be opposed in the most vigorous manner possible.
--Joe Huffman
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APHORISMS PASSED
"Extremism in defense of liberty is no vice; moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue." -- Barry Goldwater
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"I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." -- Thomas Jefferson
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"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government... -- Thomas Jefferson, 1776
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At the core of modern liberalism is the spoiled child -- miserable, as all
spoiled children are, unsatisfied, demanding, ill-disciplined, despotic and
useless. Liberalism is a philosophy of sniveling brats. --P.J. O'Rourke
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[W]e're not facing a set of grievances that can be soothed and addressed. We're facing a radical ideology with unalterable objectives: to enslave whole nations and intimidate the world. No act of ours invited the rage of the killers, and no concession, bribe or act of appeasement would change or limit their plans for murder.
On the contrary, they target nations whose behavior they believe they can change through violence. Against such an enemy there is only one effective response: We will never back down, never give in and never accept anything less than complete victory.
--President George W. Bush
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THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. --Thomas Paine
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"How a politician stands on the Second Amendment tells you how he or she views you as an individual... as a trustworthy and productive citizen, or as part of an unruly crowd that needs to be lorded over, controlled, supervised, and taken care of." ----Texas State Rep. Suzanna Gratia-Hupp
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One bleeding-heart type asked me in a recent interview if I did not agree that "violence begets violence." I told him that it is my earnest endeavor to see that it does. I would like very much to ensure -- and in some cases I have -- that any man who offers violence to his fellow citizen begets a whole lot more in return than he can enjoy. --Jeff Cooper
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The only sure way to get the money out of politics is to get the power out of government. --Mark Alger
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When Obama says he wants to "spread the wealth," you can be sure it's your wealth he's talking about, not his.
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Carry your gun - it's a lighter burden than regret. --Breda
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Only fools speak of "climate change" as though it were something remarkable or frightening. Climate is change.
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To all the hogs at the trough in DC: You don't get to waive my rights.
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In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. --George Orwell
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It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, "Peace, Peace!" -- but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death! --Patrick Henry
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Compromise, hell! That's what has happened to us all down the line - and that's the very cause of our woes. If freedom is right and tyranny is wrong, why should those who believe in freedom treat it as if it were a roll of bologna to be bartered a slice at a time? --Jesse Helms
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COMMENT: You know, it amazes me the stupidity of all your get-rich-quick schemes. They fail on one singular point: commerce requires trust. Your sneak attacks and unwanted turds-in-burning-paper-bags-on-the-doorstep comment spam portray an individual or organization who is willing to lie, cheat, and steal to get what he wants. Yeah. Right. I want to do business with somebody like that. And then you don't give any contact information except for HTML links. What makes you think anybody would follow those? Sorry, Bub. Not from this site. My readers aren't that stupid. Or that gullible.
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