Being Free takes Respect and Responsibility

Being a Libertarian AKA How to tick off both polar political parties at once. 

I am PRO CHOICE, and when I say that, I am not talking about abortion, I'm talking about FREEDOM! I'm for allowing citizens to make their own choices so long as it does not violate the rights of another citizen, and as a balance I believe that if you abuse it, you lose it. Abusing the freedoms of another negates your right to freedoms and the intervention of the law.

I also believe that choices come with a responsibility to understand a choice and to take responsibility for the consequences of making it. With the internet and ready information there is no excuse for making an uninformed choice, unless someone chooses to ignore certain facts. Again... it's a choice to be ignorant and to reap its consequences.

I'm for people choosing who they want to love and marry, because they are the ones who have to live with that choice and its consequences. It's not anyone else's business unless rights are being violated like in cases of abuse.

I am for people choosing religion that reflects their beliefs and how they wish to worship the divine, so long as they do not force others to believe the same. Rules within their religion are subject to those members choosing to be a part of it and choosing to be under that religion's tenets. It should never extend beyond their own congregation, which is a CHOICE to belong to in the first place.

I am for allowing people to choose to carry a firearm to defend and protect themselves from those trying to violate their freedoms, and I am for people who choose not to, but neither's choice should be inflicted on the other. Both choices carry a need for respect and responsibility.

I am for allowing people to choose what to put into their bodies, because they are the ones that have to live with those choices. If there is anything that should be a person's sole property, it should be the right to their own flesh. Inversely no one should have a right to another's flesh without consent. Only an individual knows what's it like to live in their skin and not everybody's body is the same, so choosing a doctor to tend to its needs should also be a matter of choice, as well as procedures and tests. The consideration of another's flesh also carries a need for respect and responsibility.

Probably the most extreme I get is when it comes to those who violate freedoms. Because allowing the previous freedoms basically extinguishes all victimless crimes, it would free up law enforcement to focus on real threats to citizen safety, crimes that have victims. It would save a small fortune not paying for the care and upkeep of victimless criminals, and instead funding the prosecution of true threats. We could save on them as well, because I am for the death penalty for those who are legitimate violent threats and have abused the rights of others. By not respecting the rights of another, they negate their own rights. Freedom only works if everyone is willing to play by the same rules of respect and responsibility, with the understanding of the consequences, and terminal punishment being the consequence of their choice to forfeit someone else's freedoms. Such punishments should be reserved for the most dire violations of another's rights, but should be carried out swiftly to remove the threat to society.

I also believe as consequence in less severe cases there should be direct responsibility for victim compensation/wergild not by the state but by the individual criminal, company, or group that committed the crime, they being the source should take personal responsibility, instead of taxpayers, to pay for things such as therapy for the victim, medical needs, replacing stolen goods, and working off the debt stolen. In essence they should truly PAY for their crimes and contribute something beneficial in order to make up for the negative impact that the victim will have to live with for the rest of their lives. Most likely this would not involve direct contact but a victim advocate as an intermediary.

In addition, with these extra funds not expended on victimless crimes, we could raise the wages of law enforcement so that pursuing true threats would no longer be above their pay grade, refocus them away from victimless crimes and toward thwarting real threats.

I believe in choice and not protecting people from the consequences of their choices, but informing them to make good choices and take personal responsibility for making bad choices. Is freedom really so controversial, or have we just moved so far away from it, that we don't know what it looks like anymore?

To Like or Not to Like, That is the Question ...

As a mother, I see things in my child that are the seeds of adult issues and try to nip them in the bud. One of them is a tendency to like things in order to fit in. My daughter has her own mind in so many ways, but there's that nervousness and desire to please. Then at times she's down right bewildered when some people don't like the same thing that she does, and I have to reminder her that it's okay to not like all the same things.

In a world filled with people who attack others for having opposing views, or liking things that they don't, I think a lot of adults still do this from that same seed, and ultimately they have a hard time being honest with themselves and others about how they truly feel about things. Do they really like it, or do they think that they are "supposed" to like it?

Whether it's related to politics, religion, or even just food, there's a media frenzy to tell you what to like, what to want, and who to be. I've known people who responded with the exact opposite, where they purposely dislike things that are popular. My brother as a child often disliked anything the moment I started liking it. I remember liking things that I was "supposed" to like and then as I became stronger in myself, I let go of those things, and embraced the things I truly loved. In so doing, I found more people like myself and didn't have to "work" to fit in, because I already did.

It's understandable with children who are still finding out who they are, but I've seen many adults suffer from an inability to admit what they do and don't like. They don't know their own mind and thus it's hard for others to really know them, because who they are could change dramatically with a trend, or someone else's new idea. How can you know someone who is simply an amalgam of other people's identities? Can you know someone who doesn't know themselves?

Sometimes from the outside, you can see or at least acknowledge habits and behaviors that the individual might not be aware of, until they learn to accept the full scope of their own being. So in a way, an outsider might be capable of knowing someone better than they know themselves, and in that moment there is danger, because someone with bad intentions can spot an easy target who can be manipulated by those same exterior concepts that dictate their life. It happens in the media and religion all the time, pulling heart strings to sway someone to their point of view.

Everybody changes over time, but still there's a core self that should be solid and remain solid, and it starts with being honest with yourself about yourself. You have to be able to take a hard look in the mirror and accept the good AND the bad. You have to know what is you and what is influenced. You have to think for yourself instead of letting other people tell you what to think about certain topics. If you do, then new information that is contrary to your beliefs is no longer a threat. It's only a threat if other people control what you think.

So as you go about your day today, question everything, and ask why you do what you do, why you like what you like, and be honest, ESPECIALLY if you don't like the answer. Who told you to like this or not like this? How did it enter your life? Who let it in? The answers might surprise you, and you might not be as independent in your thinking as you once thought.