Uhh, drugs are bad, mmkay?

Heated debate broke out in my home shortly after ten o’clock last night after a Law and Order SVU (duh, duh) episode, a debate which will probably make my brother hate me and question my political beliefs for a long time to come. I’m not going to go into detail about how the debate started, but what I will tell you is that I questioned whether a man can be held lawfully responsible imprisoned for an act which never impeded on the rights of another human being, no matter how sick and perverted that act may seem to be. I said no, if you do not violate someone’s rights you have not violated a just law; my brother responded with the predictable old line “then you’d allow drugs to be legal?” which opened the door for me to reveal my new found political views; yes, I would make drug use legal with the same laws and regulations as tobacco and alcohol.

The premise for this argument is a fundamental one, if you can show me one person whose rights are violated by someone else smoking pot then I’ll be behind you in a ban on marijuana and other narcotic drugs, but until you can then I will back legislation for the legalization of narcotic drugs. There is no fundamental difference between drugs and alcohol, no reason why one should be legal and the other not. They both cause addiction, they both can harm society, and they both can cause death, but one is widely viewed as a basic right that people over the age of 21 may have, the other as an evil which will somehow destroy the nation and the world if allowed to be sold legally. In fact there is absolutely no evidence to support such a claim and no rationality to derive such an absurd view from. People seem to think that if drugs are made legal then everyone will start using them, that within a few years the nation will crumble into dust and descend into an age of chaos and despair. Why, I ask, would people who’ve been taught their whole lives that drugs are bad suddenly feel the urge to run to the nearest store and buy marijuana? It’s not the laws against drug use which prevent people from using them, it’s the potential harm it will cause your body and mind. It is almost laughable assertion that this nation would fall into chaos if drug use were legalized.

If someone wishes to smoke pot in the comfort of their own home or where they do not pose a threat to anyone or anything what right is it of the governments to say to them they may not? Even more disturbing is that the government may break into your home and haul you off to jail simply for possessing drugs. If you truly believe in the rights which the founding fathers wrote down in the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence then you MUST be willing to take that belief to its furthest extent and support the legalization of narcotic drugs. I believe in these rights, I believe that I as a free human being may do what I darn well please as long as I do not ever impede on the rights of another, and therefore from that belief I must conclude that drug use should not be illegal, should not be punishable, and should be accepted just like alcohol and tobacco use as a basic right. “Let justice be done though the heavens may fall.” –Immanuel Kant.

However, if one were to look at the war on drugs closely they’d see not only that it impedes on the rights of the individual American to the pursuit of happiness and liberty, but is harmful to society as well. The justice system in this nation exists for one reason; to adequately punish those who violate the rights of another and to prevent them from committing another crime. I’ve already pointed out that drug users and dealers do not violate anyone’s rights by dealing with drugs, but do they run the risk of being violent liabilities to us the American tax payers? The simple answer, no. Taking drugs could, potently, turn you into a dangerous person, but so does alcohol; the mere possibility that drugs COULD lead to violence does not make with worthy of being a criminal offence. If that were the case then we’d be forced to make sporting events illegal, gun ownership illegal, alcohol, stressful working conditions, violent video games and bad eating habits illegal. The basis that drugs should be illegal because they could lead to violence is a claim that holds no water when held to scrutiny.

The war on drugs not only strips us of our basic fundamental rights, but wastes American tax dollars, supports terrorists in South America who sell these drugs, overcrowds our prisons with none violent “criminals” and causes an increase in crime. Millions of dollars are spent on the war on drugs every year, millions which could be used for better purposes or could simply be cut from the federal tax altogether in order to stimulate our economy. If not for the illegalization of drugs, narcotics would be able to be sold in stores across the nation, making it into a multimillion dollar industry. Just like the like gangsters of the 1920’s were not able to compete with the legalization of alcohol, it is unlikely that drug cartels in South America would be able to compete with businesses, and even if they could there would be no need for them to resort to violence to make money. Millions go to jail every year for using drugs, in my home state of Florida almost half the inmates in state prisons are drug abusers. It is estimated that my state must open two new prisons a year just to keep up with them. If drugs were legal, then gangs, who roam the streets selling drugs and killing one another for turf and customers, would have no source of income. Yes, they’d most likely move to something else, but without the thousands of dollars they can make off of drugs their influence on poor neighborhood in large cities and their appeal would wane and diminish.

I am not in any way saying that using drugs is good and that you should go do it, what I am saying is that there is no legal reason to punish someone for using drugs just like there is no reason to ban alcohol, or tobacco, fatty foods or other self destructive substances which harm the individual but to not in and of themselves impede on anyone’s rights. But if drugs were legalized jobs would suddenly pop out of nowhere, business men would create medicines to help stop drug addiction the same way some companies make gun that helps smokers stop smoking. They’d make money. Government spending would go down, taxes possibly cut; accidental deaths due to drug use would drop because now you can do it in the open without hiding. Decriminalizing drug use would work for the betterment of society and, most importantly of all, promote individual responsibility, protect civil rights, and limit the power of the federal government.

It’s Time to Rethink Social Security.

Social Security is one of those things that people in this nation today demand and require that all politicians to support if they want even a chance to be elected. Since its creation during the Great Depression by President Franklin D. Roosevelt it has served as a safety net for the elderly after they retire, but in recent years it has become more and more of a burden on the American people, requiring huge amounts of taxes to keep running, and with the very likely possibility that it will not be around when my generation gets old, I wonder why I should have to pay for it.

The problem with Social Security is a fundamental problem, its government run. Governments are, by and large, incompetent, failing to handle our money with any sense of thought or respect and wasting it on pork projects that only serve a small group of our population. Our federal government should not be handing out Social Security; they should not be giving us money at all, no matter what our needs, that is not the role of the government. The government’s only job, as I’ve stated before, is to protect the rights of its people, and nothing more. We do not have the right to government checks, we do not have the right to happiness, we have the right to pursue our own happiness. What the government does with Social Security is forcibly take money from one individual so they may give it to another; if this were done by anyone other then the government it would be called stealing, and it is illegal for you, as a regular citizen, to steal.

To use taxes in a way that aren’t for the common benefit of the people or to maintain the government is wrong, especially since many paying into the system today will not be able to reap the benefits of it later down the road. Think of it this way, is it okay for a man to break into your house and steal your money? What if that person were to use that money to feed an elderly couple? Is it any less wrong of them to steal your money? That, in essence, is exactly what the government does when it hands out any tax money to individual people. They are taking your money and giving it to another; to put this in perspective when a communist nation does this it’s called wealth redistribution. The government should not be doing this.

What the government should do is abolish Social Security altogether for future generations, not requiring that they the pay heavy taxes that maintain the system. At the same time the government has an obligation to fulfill its promises to those who have already paid into the system; the older generation would continue to receive its checks while the younger generations would either receive tax breaks to make up for all the taxes they’ve already paid, or any new taxes they pay for Social Security will be put into a private fund only for them.

From this point if people want Social Security they would have to get it from their state governments. If the state decides to give it as a service, the taxes those people paid the federal government before would simply be transferred to state taxes; if the state doesn’t provide it then the people living in that state get a nice tax break.. If a state provides Social Security then my preferred method would be one that is not forced upon its people, instead a citizen would chose whether or not they wish to take part in the system and then decide how much money should be taken out of each paycheck. That money would then go into a PERSINAL savings account that no government body may ever tap into. When that citizen is old enough to retire, they may then receive their money back.

What the great benefit for this is it encourages private businesses to step in and fill the void left by the government. I can see a whole new industry popping up out of nowhere to provide services people think the government should provide. This would stimulate the economy along with the huge tax breaks. Any thoughts?

The Moral Being.

Each man is born with a desire to do the right thing, to act in a way that is in accordance with the laws of morality, whatever those laws may be. In the same way a bird seeks to fly south in the winter, or penguins know to trek across miles of frozen wilderness to lay their eggs, human beings have a need inside them to act upon their instinct, and part of our instinct is to want to do what is right. No man, no matter how vile and evil he may be, wakes up in the morning with the sudden desire to do the wrong thing; anything he does that is evil is either done with the belief that his deeds are indeed the right thing to do, or is an example of arrogance.

It is the intention of all men to do good, but it is within each of us the power to do evil

The moral being needs not gain a reward for his good deeds, nor does he require the threat of punishment for acting immorally, the moral being does not care about such things; all he/she needs is to know what is right and what is wrong. The moral being needs no motivation to do what is right, he needs no reason be it religious, philosophical, political, or otherwise. The moral being does not consider his well being before that of others, is not arrogant, and does not make judgments out of ignorance. The moral being is fully capable of committing acts of great evil and chooses not to without any reason other then because it wouldn’t be the right thing. The moral being seeks out truth, desires to learn what exactly it is which is moral, and when he finds the truth he lives his life in accordance to it.

The moral being might be ignorant, but never arrogant; firm, but never harsh. The moral beings respects the rights of others, and most and most importantly of all, a moral being NEVER harms a child in a way that is damaging to their mind or body. To harm a child is the ultimate sin a human being can commit.

That is the essence of the moral being.

The Great Responsibility and Animal Rights.

As human beings, the only creatures on this planet capable of self examination and therefore capable of true morality, it now falls upon our shoulders to act in accordance with the rules of morality, to love our neighbors not just as ourselves, but BEFORE ourselves, putting the self interest of others before our very own. It is because of this responsibility that we are able to judge one another in accordance to the natural laws of morality, to speak up against those who would brake out most sacred rules, to punish those who disrespect the rights of others. Without this responsibility to one another the ability to effectively judge becomes impossible, and law and order would fall to the wayside.

Do not take this the wrong way, judging another person is wrong and a good American should refrain from doing it as much as possible, but there are certain things that one simply can not, and must not, tolerate under any circumstances. Only judge another if that persons actions or beliefs would take away the rights of another human being. God ahead and judge the beliefs of Nazis and clan members, go ahead and point out arrogance and ignorance when you see it, but respect that persons right to say and believe what they wish.

Whenever you care for something, whenever you treat a living being with dignity and respect, love it and gain love in return, you have a responsibility to it. Human beings must be respected at all times, which are what the laws of morality demand, but animals have no natural rights, and human beings have absolutely no moral obligation them. They are incapable of self examination, but does that mean that we humans can do as we please to them? No, it does not.

Animals are all fundamentally equal, when it comes down to it you have no more an obligation to treat an ant morally then you do a dog or a cat, but as I’ve said before whenever you treat an animal with respect and dignity, love it and receive love in return, you automatically have a responsibility to continue to do so. Under no circumstance can you disrespect that responsibility, if you were to do so you would be betraying yourself as a moral human being.

That said, if you were not to take an animal into your care, love it, respect it, then you do not have any moral obligation to it. Therefore, eat your fill, have a hamburger without feeling guilt or regret at having done so. If you wish not to, then that is up to you to decide, your decision to make, but do not look down upon those who eat meat. It is no more immoral to hurt a wild animal then it would be to kill a colony of ants or a hive a bees. Animals have absolutely no natural rights, and are below the laws of morality.

The Morals of Love.

Now that we know what the root of all evil is, we can now easily find out what is good. Evil is caused by the mindset that you are more important and more valuable then another human being. It is from this mindset that all evil results from, one would not willingly and knowingly take away the rights of another in they didn’t believe themselves to be more important/valuable then the person they were victimizing. There is no other cause for evil, there is no other meaning behind wrongdoing, if one truly believes themselves more important/valuable then others they will almost always conclude they have the right to force their beliefs upon others, and if need be take away the rights of those they deem to be wrong.

So what is right? What the root of all good is, the main cause of all moral behavior and virtue in this world, is simply the opposite of the root of all evil; the root of all good is the belief that the well being of others is more important and more valuable then your own. In short, morality is love.

Love; Love is a conscious effort to better the life of another before your own; love is recognizing, respecting, valuing, and protecting the natural rights of your fellow man; love is acknowledging the rationality of all men and not impeding upon it; love is living for something besides yourself. This is the essence of morality, and the code of conduct in which we should all live our everyday life.

Let me make abundantly clear that love is NOT a feeling; it is not an uneasy fluttering in your chest, it is NOT sweaty palms or any such nonsense as that, love has absolutely nothing to do with how you feel at any given moment. Those are unconscious reactions your body has when it encounters a certain situation, but to love you must be conscious that you are acting in someone else’s self interest, and you must make an effort to do so.

I am not saying that acting in your own self interest is wrong and immoral, obviously one must act in a way that promotes their own self interest in order to survive in this world; it is only immoral to act in your own self interest when you do it at the expense of another human beings natural rights.

The Root of all Evil.

It is a great lie passed down from our parents and grandparents that money and power are the roots of all evil, that all wrongdoing is a direct result of these pursuits and therefore they are the cause of all this worlds’ problems and woes. This is a flat out lie; the pursuit of money and power can result in just as much good as it can in evil. Without either of these there would be no human progress, the world would not be able to function properly. Power and money can be good things, and therefore they cannot be the root cause of all evil.

What you have to ask yourself is “what is always wrong, never does any good, and always ends badly?” What never has a god result? What I am speaking of is a frame of mind, and way of thinking, which causes all trouble in this world. So what is the root of all evil? The answer is arrogance.

Arrogance; The belief that, for any reason, you are more valuable, and are of more importance, than your fellow man.

We are all equal beings on this planet (see my early posts on power to see proof of this) and so none of us are “better” then another, and no life, not even your own, is of greater value, or of more importance, then another. Arrogance has always, and will always, lead to one person’s repressing the rights of others. After all, if one believes themselves to be better then another (see the last post “Belief; Our Greatest Joy and Our Deadliest Enemy”) they can then conclude that for the betterment of society then have the right to stop and subdue, by force if necessary, those of a lesser status. Slavery was a result of white Europeans believing themselves to be better than blacks; Nazism resulted in the belief Germans are better than everyone else, especially Jews. When one believes themselves and their beliefs to be greater than another’s, the natural course of events is for conflict to result.

Belief; Our Greatest Joy and Our Deadliest Enemy.

Although it is necessary to have beliefs that you would be willing to fight, to die, to sacrifice all you have for, it is equally necessary, perhaps even more so, to have the frame of mind to call into question your most fundamental beliefs, and if need be to reject them entirely. One must never hold any belief, no matter how cherished or deeply felt, to be so true that you would be unwilling or unable to consider the possibility that you may in fact be wrong.

It is when one considers an opinion that isn’t supported by unquestionable facts to be absolute, undeniable, unalienable truth that you become an arrogant zealot without the ability to objectively think about and see the positions of others. Arrogance is bred from self assurance, the mind set that your beliefs are true and that no one else who holds a different point of view may be right, therefore you are a more rational being. It is this thought process which leads many to believe that they are somehow better then their fellow man. The most famous examples of evil in this world have spawned from someone’s beliefs that they were correct in their beliefs and so had a right to impose them upon others.

Do not deny proof, regardless of it that proof supports your beliefs or not. Seek out proof, look for evidence of your beliefs in this world, and if they are true they will shine like stars in the heavens; if they are false you MUST discard them entirely. To deny proof in favor of your own personal beliefs would be to sacrifice your rationality and your ability to self examine. Do not indulge in the “peace” one finds by closing their minds to the world, do not dwell in close mindedness and self glorification.

I believe in God, I believe in the natural rights of all men, but I do not hold any of these beliefs so close and so dear that I would be unable to call them in to question. Although I do believe in a universal truth and reject relativism altogether, I am not arrogant enough to believe that I KNOW to a certainty what that truth is.

Just for Fun.

These aren't mine, I found them on an Amazon discusion board, but I'm tired right now and don't want to write a long post, so here are some riddles for you to laugh at.

1. DON'T SWEAT THE PETTY THINGS AND DON'T PET THE SWEATY THINGS.

2. ONE TEQUILA, TWO TEQUILA, THREE TEQUILA, FLOOR.....

3. ATHEISM IS A NON-PROPHET ORGANIZATION.

4. IF MAN EVOLVED FROM MONKEYS AND APES, WHY DO WE STILL HAVE MONKEYS

AND APES?

5. THE MAIN REASON SANTA IS SO JOLLY IS BECAUSE HE KNOWS WHERE ALL THE

BAD GIRLS LIVE.

6. I WENT TO A BOOKSTORE AND ASKED THE SALESWOMAN, "WHERE'S THE SELFHELP SECTION?" SHE SAID IF SHE TOLD ME, IT WOULD DEFEAT THE PURPOSE.

7. WHAT IF THERE WERE NO HYPOTHETICAL QUESTIONS?

8. IF A DEAF PERSON SWEARS, DOES HIS MOTHER WASH HIS HANDS WITH SOAP?

9. IF SOMEONE WITH MULTIPLE PERSONALITIES THREATENS TO KILL HIMSELF, IS IT CONSIDERED A HOSTAGE SITUATION?

10. IS THERE ANOTHER WORD FOR SYNONYM?

11. WHERE DO FOREST RANGERS GO TO "GET AWAY FROM IT ALL?"

12. WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU SEE AN ENDANGERED ANIMAL EATING AN ENDANGERED PLANT?

13. IF A PARSLEY FARMER IS SUED, CAN THEY GARNISH HIS WAGES?

14. WOULD A FLY WITHOUT WINGS BE CALLED A WALK?

15 WHY DO THEY LOCK GAS STATION BATHROOMS? ARE THEY AFRAID SOMEONE WILL CLEAN THEM?

16. IF A TURTLE DOESN'T HAVE A SHELL, IS HE HOMELESS OR NAKED?

17. CAN VEGETARIANS EAT ANIMAL CRACKERS?

18. IF THE POLICE ARREST A MIME, DO THEY TELL HIM HE HAS THE RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT?

19. WHY DO THEY PUT BRAILLE ON THE DRIVE-THROUGH BANK MACHINES?

20. HOW DO THEY GET DEER TO CROSS THE ROAD ONLY AT THOSE YELLOW ROAD SIGNS?

21. WHAT WAS THE BEST THING BEFORE SLICED BREAD?

22. ONE NICE THING ABOUT EGOTISTS: THEY DON'T TALK ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE.

23. DOES THE LITTLE MERMAID WEAR AN ALGEBRA?

24. DO INFANTS ENJOY INFANCY AS MUCH AS ADULTS ENJOY ADULTERY?

25. HOW IS IT POSSIBLE TO HAVE A CIVIL WAR?

26. IF ONE SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMER DROWNS, DO THE REST DROWN TOO?

27. IF YOU ATE BOTH PASTA AND ANTIPASTO, WOULD YOU STILL BE HUNGRY?

28. IF YOU TRY TO FAIL, AND SUCCEED, WHICH HAVE YOU DONE?

29. WHOSE CRUEL IDEA WAS IT FOR THE WORD"LISP" TO HAVE "S" IN IT?

30. WHY ARE HEMORRHOIDS CALLED "HEMORRHOIDS" INSTEAD OF "ASTEROIDS"?

31. WHY IS IT CALLED TOURIST SEASON IF WE CAN'T SHOOT AT THEM?

32. WHY IS THERE AN EXPIRATION DATE ON SOUR CREAM?

33. IF YOU SPIN AN ORIENTAL MAN IN A CIRCLE THREE TIMES DOES HE BECOME DISORIENTED?

34. CAN AN ATHEIST GET INSURANCE AGAINST ACTS OF GOD?

Nukes are Good; the truth behind mankind’s deadliest weapons.

I know I’m going out on a limb on this, and the risk of being called a far right wing loon is very high, but every time I hear a politician talk about ridding the world of nuclear weapons I role my eyes and tune out. Nukes have been getting a bad rap since the Cold War, and I believe unjustly so. The fear tactics induced on the population about these terrible weapons have led people to believe that as long as any one nation has nuclear weapons then a nuclear war is inevitable. ITS NOT! Nothing could be farther from the truth in fact. As long as there are a few nations in the world, I.E, China and the US who are enemies and could potently destroy each other, a nuclear war is very unlikely.

This whole conversation got started one day while my brothers and I were sitting down and watching a History Channel documentary (no, we’re not geeks, just different) about the ten biggest threats to the world. Nuclear war was right up there with “global warming”, epidemics, and evil robots (no kidding). To put this in perspective, super volcanoes, moving black holes and John Edwards also made the list (okay, that last one only made my list). I, being the forward thinking controversial person/devils advocate that I am made the seemingly irresponsible statement that nukes were, in fact, good, thus starting off a round of discussion and debate that would last into the night. So what would prompt me to take such a controversial position? What on earth would posses me to say to the whole world that I like nuclear bombs? The answerer; without nukes the chances of there being a World War during the Cold War, and even now in the modern day, would have been extremely likely.

During the cold war both the Soviet Union and the United States were dreadful enemies, but the one thing that kept us at peace was a little something called mutual destruction. If one nation dared to make a move against another, both would be destroyed within a matter of hours. Millions, possibly even billions, on both sides would be killed in the most horrific war imaginable. The human race as it exists would change forever. But the one thing that prevented this holocaust were the nukes themselves. But isn’t this circler thinking? Nukes are good because they prevented nuclear war? What kind of thinking is that? But that is not my point. The point, is what if nukes never existed? What if the weapons our parents were raised to fear were the stuff of bad science fiction? Would the world’s super powers of the Cold War have had sufficient reason to avoid a major conflict with each other? They never did before, why would anything have changed? The Soviet Union had far more troops, tanks, and machinery in Europe then did the Allies, and they proved during the Berlin Airlift, when they blocked off the city from allied convoys traveling over land, that they were willing and able to use that military power. If not for the threat of nuclear retaliation, the doomsday scenario of a third World War- this one fought between the United States and the USSR- could have very well become a reality. WWIII, if it had occurred, would have overshadowed both WWI and WWII in the devastation it could have caused.

Even today nukes help in the prevention of any major global conflict. With Chinas growing economic and military power, due mainly to their enormous population, their strength as a conventional super power is sure to grow over the next decades. If they so chose China could rule the Asian continent with their huge armies and hold sway over the entire world. Because of America’s nuclear arsenal the very idea of China ever making such a move is unthinkable, but if not for these weapons what could we do to stop the invincible Chinese Army? The US Army, as great as it is, would simply be overwhelmed if it were ever to face the tidal wave of Chinese troops.

And so I am glad that our nation continues to maintain a strong nuclear arsenal, and that other nations out there do as well; for as long as there are nuclear powers in this world, a full out World War may never happen again.

A Liberal Interpretation.

Hard core fundamentalist right wing christens have been pushing for years the idea that one must take a literal interpretation of the Bible if one is to be considered a “true christen.” You must take every single word, every story, every paragraph and line, to be absolute, literal truth or else you are nothing but a false believer who merely pays lip service to a religion you do not really believe. Many times I have pointed out the flaws in interpreting the Bible in such a way only to be told to leave and return when I have “reexamined my beliefs.” It’s sad, really, to look at the Bible in such a simple and straight forward manner instead of trying to pry the deeper meanings out of the words of God. To take the Bible as literal truth would be to reduce it to nothing more than a child’s book, void of all depth and complexity. That is like reading C.S. Lewis’s “Chronicles of Narnia” and thinking that the character of Aslan was really just a lion, or J.R.R Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” and think that the Ents are nothing more than talking trees; they aren’t. Many times in such stories characters are used as symbols of something else, Aslan to symbolize Jesus and the Ents to symbolize the natural world and its struggle to fight off industrialization; the Bible can be interpreted in much the same way. For instance, did Noah’s flood actually happen? Did God come down from heaven and decide to flood the world and save one of every animal and pack them onto a tiny boat? Maybe it did, I’m not saying it didn’t, but then again maybe, more likely actually, it did not, and that’s okay. The fact that it may not be an actual historical account does not take away from the moral of the story, the meaning God intended. Jesus Himself used parables to convey to the people just what it was He was trying to say in a way that everyone could understand, it is really so much of a stretch to think God may have worked that way since the creation of man? I, for one, do not believe so.

The Role of the Federal Government in America.

I am hardly the first person to talk about natural rights that all men on this planet are born with; I am hardly original in any way. People like Thomas Hobbs and John Lock have already gone over what the natural rights of man are and the role of governments should play in society. I agree completely with John Lock and Thomas Jefferson when they wrote down what the “unalienable Rights” of all men were; the right to life, the right to liberty, the right to property, and the right to the pursuit of happiness. These rights every man is born with as a rational human being capable of self examination and self control, and these rights may never be taken away unless you were to forfeit said rights by knowingly and willingly taking away the rights of another.

There is only one role of the federal government in this nation, one job it must perform to the best of its abilities and one job only, and that job is to protect the natural rights of the American people from anyone who would seek to take them away, either fellow citizens here at home or armies from foreign nations. In the past it was also my belief that it is also the role of the federal government to provide for law and order, to maintain the peace and prosperity in this nation, but after a little bit of thinking I came to realize that to say the role of the federal government is to protect its citizens rights AND provide law and order is truly redundant. For an action to be deemed unlawful and unjust in a free society, the person committing said action, whatever it may be, must be willingly and knowingly be taking away the rights of another human being. Without a victim, a person whose rights have been violated, there cannot be a crime. There is no such thing as a just victimless crime; to punish anyone for a “crime” that never took away the rights of another would be wrong and immoral.

Because of this by protecting the rights of its citizens from ANYONE willing to take them away it is the duty of this nation’s federal government, and to an even higher degree the individual state governments, to provide law and order in this nation, to pursue criminals and bring them to justice. The government must never allow its citizens to take away the rights of one other, and in order to do that they have the role of providing law and order to this nation.

The government also has the obligation to protect our rights from foreign nations. The US military exists to protect the rights of the American people and nothing more. It is their role to make sure that no other nation be allowed to enter this nation’s boarders and steal our rights. Although every human being is born with certain rights, regardless of it their governments accept those rights, the US government is only given the right by its people to protect those living within our own boarders, not those living outside of them. As heartless as that may sound, the military is not a police force, and should not be used as such.

But governments, much like people and other organizations, do not always follow the rules. They like to expand their power, to take on more and more responsibilities. But to gain any sort of power they must first take it from others, and by others I mean the states, local governments, and ultimately the very people whose rights are theirs to defend. When this happens governments become intrusive, and begin taking away the rights of everyday Americans for one cause or another. They become destruction to their own mission, becoming the very enemy they are meant to protect us against. Because of this it is absolutely vital that governments remain small, relatively powerless over the lives of the individual, and that those who hold positions of office not be allowed to hold said positions for any extended amount of time.

Here is a basic rule; whenever a government, be it federal, state, or local, passes a law which impedes the freedoms of one man without protecting those of another, that law is not in the best interest of the people and should be considered null and void.

My Belief in God.

I am going to start a whole new line of thinking here in future posts, but don’t worry it will all come together before the end. This new line of thinking starts out, but doesn’t entirely depend upon, my faith as christen. I’ve been a christen my whole life, from the time I was a little boy growing up in Papillion Nebraska to the present day. But lately, as I’ve grown older and my understanding of the world began to broaden, I began to question the faith I’ve grown up with. Who is God? What is He? Is He a literal being? Does He exist at all? I still question many aspects of my personal faith, but I’ve come to the conclusion that there simply must be a God. The world is far too complex, far too fragile to be the result of some random chance, as pleasant mistake that was never meant to be. Even now any slight change in our solar system could spell disaster for the entire species, and doom the planet. There is a sort of natural order to the universe, nothing is all chaos, it’s structured, follows rules and guidelines such as gravity, and never strays away from those laws. Nothing happens randomly and without cause, there is always a cause to everything no matter how insignificant and untraceable. Causality is the law which governs all matter and livening beings; cause, and effect.

But what was the original cause? Certainly there must have been one by our understanding of natural laws, science, and physics. The Big Bang theory is not truly credible, for that theory relies on the idea that matter already existed. Matter, by definition, can neither be created nor destroy, so where did that matter come from? Although there is no physical proof to the existence of an all powerful being, and there probably never will be, the idea that someone, or something, out there beyond the scope of our understanding created the world for a purpose is not as absurd as so many believe, as long as those who hold the belief in a creator do not impose their beliefs on others, and as long as others do not impose their beliefs on believers.

A Little Somthing About My Family.

The older generations in my family, my dad, my granddad, and great granddad, are Puerto Rican to the bone. Although my dad was raised for a good portion of his life in, you guessed it, New York City, he still has managed to hold on to his culture and celebrate what he often refers to as “The Puerto Rican way.” On a recent trip back to my father’s homeland, I got to witness the culture he grew up in and see for myself the environment in which he was raised. If you’ve never been to Puerto Rico, you probably think of it as a Caribbean paradise with beautiful beaches and tropical rainforests filled with exotic birds with colorful feathers; not to mention scantily clad maidens in bikinis. Yeah. What most people do not realize is that this island is filled with really, really old people, and none of these old people know any English. These people spent their whole day pretending that I understood what they were saying, playing billiards and drinking native beer. When they run out of beer (a rare occasion but every once in a while it does happen) they talk endlessly into the wee hours of the morning in that incomprehensible language of theirs, pretending I know what their saying. Every once in a while they’d awkwardly ask me what college I was going to just to try to get me into the conversation, but after a few seconds they’d go back to Spanish and pretend I didn’t exist. This is the culture my grandpa and my father grew up in, and this, like it or not, is the way my family lives.

My grandfather was a hard working delivery man in New York, delivering liquor (of all things) from a local bar to customers either too lazy or too rich to bother getting out of their homes to get it themselves. I guess I shouldn’t complain about that, since these peoples laziness allowed my grandfather and, by default, my dad to have a job. It may not have been the greatest job in the world, but my granddad worked very hard at it and taught my dad how to be a hard worker as well. And no, he didn’t take samples of his merchandise. My family built up quite a legacy in New York. My granddad lived in a neighborhood in which the godfather of an Italian mob lived. Being the only Hispanic person in a neighborhood dominated by Italians wasn’t easy for my grandparents, but after a while he gained the trust of the godfather (I can not get over how awesome that is) and became a trusted member of the community which became apparent when my grandmother was actually driven to the hospital by the mob so that she could give birth to my aunt.

My father joined the Air Force shortly after graduating from the University of Puerto Rico and entered the service as a 2nd LT. As an Air Force officer my father traveled around the world, from California, to England, where I was born, to Nebraska which became my home for the next seven years of my life. My father’s hard work and dedication in the armed forces eventually earned him the position of Major and a re-deployment to Eglin Air Force Base in Crestview Florida. Never heard of it? Never will, it’s small. His life path never crossed any Italian mobs or godfathers or anything like that, his was one spent in varies small towns in Nebraska and Florida, serving his country and caring for his family.

So what is the legacy that my family has given me? There really isn’t much of one to speak of. Each generation of my family is extremely different from the one that preceded it. My great, great grandparents owned sugar plantations, my distant ancestors were pirates. Each generation treads its own path, whether it be by moving to New York to live amongst the Italian mod, or joining the armed forces and traveling across the world, the legacy of my family is etched in the need for change. Although I too plan on joining this nations finest, I do not intend on making a carrier out of it. I plan to write fiction; my cousin shares my passion as well. My sister wants to be a singer, my brother’s actors, cooks, and musicians. My family has had successful business men, brave soldiers who’ve fought in wars past and present, hard workers doing their best to scratch out a living for their families, and now as the younger generation of my family grows up, artists. I can only imagine what the next generation will do.

The Great Humanity; the Origin of Natural Rights, and a Warning.

What sets human being apart from animals? What is the one thing that makes humanity greater then the beats of the ground, the fish of the seas, and the birds of the air? Why are we greater then all the other animals which God in His wisdom placed upon this green earth? I said before that power is finite, that it, like matter, can neither be created nor destroyed; it can only be transferred from one power holder to another. But this rule is not entirely true, because the 5th power, the power over ones own mind and self, is created at your birth and destroyed upon your death. Each human being is born with power inside of them, and that power can not be taken away by anyone else unless you willingly give it up or have it stolen away though great effort.

We as human beings are the only creatures on this planet capable of self examination and holding power over our own minds. No other creature on this planet, from the common rat crawling in sewers, to the primate, is capable of thinking in the same way humans do; they aren’t capable of self examination, incapable of acting outside of their own instinct, and so are incapable of possessing the 5th power. Animals do not create power when they are born, nor is power destroyed when they die; that is a trait completely unique to humans and humans alone. THAT is what it means to be human, the ability to self examine, the ability to think in a rational, and logical manner, both of which result from the ability to examine oneself.

That power is our greatest treasure, our most valuable possession, the brightest jewel of human accomplishment. Our mind, our thoughts, our emotions, the power to control all of these is within us, and you must never allow another to take it away. To lose said power is to lose what it means to be human. It must be diligently guarded against any who would challenge your right to it; the power you create when you are born is your and yours alone; no one else has a right to posses it. Guard your mind, your rationality, your emotions, your thought, hopes and dreams, from anyone wishing to gain ultimate power over you. You created that power when you were born; therefore you are the only one who has a right to it. If you lose all else, if you have no power over the four finite powers, at least hold on to your naturally given power as your right. THAT is your natural right.