July 2008 Archives

Mr. West speaks of us wayward anarchists as if we're conquering or occupying Romans who determine value or worth with the flick of a thumb . . . . except ours will always come down in rapacious negativism no matter any success crossing the Tiber.

What tripe indeed. I'll be the first to take my hat as a meal should the former Congressman take the ring. It would not change my perspective on the world nor the conclusions that I reach on any given day. But I have not denounced Barr or spoken ill of my former colleague on the LNC. I'd be honored to dine at the White House if the invitation was offered. But let's be real, please !

Dear Professor,

I recently had the opportunity of hearing one your commentaries on a local public radio station. I hope that the transcript, podcast, mp3 or whatever is available soon so I can better determine what you actually said as I drove to my next service call.

While I dropped out of formal education sometime after a bachelor's degree, I do pride myself on being somewhat aware of my surroundings and have managed to survive until the ripe age of forty. While that may not qualify me to take umbrage over issues of the world with someone like yourself, I do question your recent commentary about Al Gore's energy call in the next ten to twenty years.

You see, it's not that I don't believe the world is warming based on carbon emissions, it may in fact be doing so. It's the idea that we somehow have to act collectively to solve this problem. I'm somewhat partial to the school of Austrian Economics, the basis of which were many writings by Ludwig Von Mises. The basic idea is that centralized planning doesn't work and never will. They never taught me that back in seminary and I often resent it.

The best ones don't lie, they manufacture reality and produce perception. They conjure illusion and produce hope. Each has their own audience willing to pay. The grandest of these wizards of illusion draw the most. Once they draw you into their circle, their tricks may be simple, but the effects are grand.

Yet they are merely mortals as were the kings and emperors of the past. They too stand alone in the Universe and beg for meaning and clarity. Perhaps it is their yearning which pronounces itself so loudly, that amongst the normal or regular in the crowd, they stand out.

Despite whatever hold that they may not have on you, the crowd demands a show and then demands that you hold your attention and tongue while they perform. You may stand above or beyond it, but their draw is real. They sit in rapt attention and feed the energy of the illusionist. Invariably the disappoint my come or reveal itself, but while the magic (if it can be called that) remains for a brief moment on stage, it stays in the heart of the viewer far longer than it probably ever merits.

Somewhere in the bowels of the Albany bureaucrazy a satisfied group of middling freedom apostates will be studying the effect of violent video games on children. This little piece of legislation was recently signed by New York Governor David Paterson. Given Mr. Paterson's age and visual disability I highly doubt that he has any understanding of modern video gaming. He doesn't seem the type to spend an all nighter with buddies at a LAN party or partake in the satisfying camaraderie of online companions exploring the World of Warcraft.

As someone who has been associated with computer games their entire life, I would submit that the violence of the state is a far greater risk to our society than the blips that pass before us on screens that elicit nothing more than an active imagination. A video game has never bombed a third world village, never drafted young people for war and never imposed a tax with the threat of violence behind it. As these folks gather in plush conference rooms with hot coffee and fresh pastries, starting a flurry of communication to tackle the project and justify their violence based salaries, I would submit that labels and other niceties that will be affixed to these products will do nothing to slake the thirst of gamers for their free market products that hurt no one but the occasional bruised sensibility that passes for the modern, effete progressive on a high horse.

One wonders if the old 3D Caveman game applies in this situation. After all that was a world premised on survival and violence. And while it probably has passed it's life cycle in the real gaming world, it's still violence right ? I'm guessing the anti-statist world of Grand Theft Auto is the target of this inquisition, not the cuddly metro cavemen we see on the Geico commercials.

I was somewhat intrigued when popular Libertarian blogger Tom Knapp started the Boston Tea Party soon after the 2006 Portland massacre. An online political party that hearkened to the radical sensibility with a savvy for the political seemed an interesting notion without any real threat to LP work and activities. A place where members could vent and fume within their own diaries and entries and perhaps still effect meaningful activism within the libertarian community in general. Fine. Sometimes a great notion . . .

The current self-flagellation from its members and current standard bearers for office is a greater reflection of petty narcissistic traits and ambitions that one finds within splinters of a small movement, than any real grassroots or political effort. To be sure, most of the current brouhaha is based on the success of reform elements within the LP and the eventual nomination of Bob Barr. But there has also been a disproportionate coverage of their activities within the small third party blogosphere and even some mention in the higher echelons of typical political coverage. I'm beginning to think about getting sixteen of my buddies together to form the American Anarchist Party so as not to be left out. At least there would be no compromise on real principles.