Here is a phrase that I coined a while back that should be immortalized:
Continue reading “How to Gloat”
Masterpiece from a Friend
I did not draw this but only colored it in. A friend had drawn it and given up on finishing it. I thought it was far too clever to not finish. Now gaze upon its glory.
I could go on about how it sends a message about humans and their relation to animals. About how we hold a higher place of authority than they because of our level of awareness of others and communication with them coupled with our level of technology. We could go deep into philosophical and ethical questions but I would rather just say, “Ha ha, the man brought in the paper.”
The Origin of the Stick of Justice
At a church youth activity when I was in high school we had a stick pull competition. The two contestants sit on the ground with their feet together and pull on a stick between them, with the goal of pulling the other person out of their place or having them let go of the stick.
I figured I would have a go at it and sat down with a stick. The first couple of people I beat were only joking in going against me and just having a laugh in doing so. They were followed by a couple of true believers who gave it their best but didn’t last long either. I did not participate in a match that lasted longer than 2 seconds and I am very serious about that number, it is not an estimate. Then came a big fellow from a town about 20 miles from mine whom I had seen around and knew that he was a pretty strong guy. He was a linebacker for the Permian Panthers, you know the team from Friday Night Lights. I was unsure of how a contest between the two of us would go as I was the strongest basketball/track guy but did not play football in any organized way, for very long anyway. If anyone could stop my reign of terror it was him. He had defeated everyone he went against with ease as well. As he sat across from me my stomach began to churn with nervousness. I began to imagine that I would shortly be dethroned. I had actually started caring about competing somewhere around my 6th victory. Since we had both defeated everyone else this was the title match. People gathered around and one of the leaders had a stick with a leather strap through it that had some writing etched on it, which was apparently the trophy for the winner.
We each took our grips on the stick between us and waited. I was a wreck inside and felt certain that I was going to lose the 2 out of 3 matches that would be required for this title match. As we waited for the word to begin I could have quit right there as I was no longer feeling it. The word came and the instant seemed like it was longer, but it was only half a second at most, all in that short time I felt me pulling him up off the ground barely when his foot slipped. With the slippage we were stopped and reset, as it was a misfire. This time I felt much different before we began. The word came and we struggled from side to side for a few seconds before I had pulled him almost up and over the top of me. “Just one more quick one”, I thought to myself. We got set again as I was boiling over with confidence and was drunk on power. You might expect that this is the part where I was served humble pie and quickly lost a match. If you thought that then you were wrong. This match was much quicker than the first and closer to my average victory time. I was declared the winner and shook hands with my, before then, unknown competitor. I expected straightaway to be handed the trophy stick for my decisive win but I had one more challenger. The man holding the stick was from a place called Monahans and he was the guy who scared everybody. He would play with giant tarantulas and had a huge beard that you could hide all kinds of weapons in. He was also very very large. I would have put him at about 280 lbs. to my then 220 lbs. He sat down and said, “You are the winner of the competition but you still have to go against me.” If you guessed that now I was nervous, you would again be very wrong. Even though this was a full grown, bearded, scary guy I was calm like a bomb. I will save you the time and tell you that I beat him faster than the other guy. It was a breeze.
Upon receiving my award I promptly named it “The Stick of Justice”. I still have it and cherish it to this day, as it is the only trophy that I still have from anything. It has an amazing power in that it repels bad guys for some strange reason, as I will tell you about later.
There is a small and annoying shadow that hangs over this victory. It comes from a friend. This friend has been claiming that he beat me at the stick pull that day and he has been spreading his lie for years. He has tried to spread the lie to me twice in the last few years and I remind him that I have the trophy and was completely undefeated that day. It doesn’t seem to sink in and next time I see this friend I imagine he will try to bring up the lie again. It will not work though as I have a perfect recollection of that day and of course the trophy “Stick of Justice”.
What Are ‘Rights’?
“You don’t have the right”, it’s a commonly heard phrase containing a commonly heard word. The word ‘right’ gets thrown around in such a haphazard and inconsistent way that it has almost lost all meaning.
Concern for the rights of people has only been on the plate for societies for a very small amount of time throughout history. Most of history has been dominated by rulers giving commands and decrees without regard for it’s effect on others and their rights. What makes the USA so special is that its system was created with inalienable rights. Why are they inalienable? Because they are given by “nature and nature’s God”. The fact that there are God given rights makes it impossible for government or anyone else to remove them. If rights are granted by government or a majority of people then these granted rights can be taken away. Rights coming from God also makes it impossible to add to the list of God given rights.
What has been happening for a long time to the USA is that many people have attributed the status of rights to things that are not God given rights. You are lucky because you have me to help you clarify what is a right and what is not. It is very easy and, with the exception of one case that I know of, the great principle of rights is universally applicable and clear. Here it is: A right is something that you can claim without forcing anyone else to do anything.
Let’s try it out:
Bearing arms – Do you force anyone to do anything by owning a weapon?
No, thus that is a right that you have.
Education – Do you force anyone to do anything by laying claim on a formal education system?
Yes, thus it is not a right. You force people around you to pay for the education, you force the requirement for a teacher in the school to teach you.
Information – Do you force anyone to do anything by finding available information and possibly even publishing it to others? No, thus you have that right.
Life – Do you force anyone to do anything by just living your life? No, (with one huge caveat) Thus you have the right to live and exist. The caveat is that when you are an infant you do require others to be subservient to you. The reason that this works as a right is because of another right that we all have. We have the right to make contracts or agreements with others. When two people come together and act in unity they have the right to put themselves under bondage to the terms of an agreement. Two people creating a child are performing a contract action that will bind them to the consequences of that action.
Abortion – Does killing your unborn baby force anyone to do anything? Yes, it forces the child to die. Thus you do not have that right.
Food – Does a guarantee of having food force anyone to do anything? Yes, it must be grown and distributed by someone. Thus it is not a right.
Marriage – Does marriage force anyone else to do anything? Yes, it takes two to get married and it is a contract action that must be agreed to by both parties. Thus there is no right to get married.
Health care – It should be pretty obvious that no one has a right to health care. Claiming such forces someone to be your doctor and forces someone to pay for the service. Health care is a good and a service, not a right.
Slothfulness – Do you force anyone to do anything by laying at home and wasting away? No, you can sit on your couch til you die. You have that right.
I am very much a person that enjoys freedom and not being forced to do anything. If I am to provide a good or service for others I will do it by contract action. Government granting rights is not something that should happen and it is only made worse by government becoming the provider and facilitator of those rights. The principle of free agency in the realm of rights works every time. Give it a try when someone in the media or government claims something as a right for people.
Leave your comments (seriously come on, leave some comments). What do you think? Do you disagree? Or are you an intelligent person?
Finally a Movie I Want to See
I haven’t seen many movie trailers that have really caught my eye for a while now. When I saw this one it was so inspiring and hilarious that I couldn’t help but want to see it.
Paragraph about desire to see the film. Additional sentence in aforementioned paragraph. Another statement to drive home the purpose of the paragraph.
Final clever quip about movies.