When it comes to gun policy, the political left is harming America, delaying rational programs, and flatly denying the public’s rights. Denying civil rights always has bad consequences, as we saw here.
Alan Korwin
May 21, 2018
Liberals Must Step Back for School Safety
[School shootings are one of the most effective tools in the political left’s toolkit for denying people their right to keep and bear arms. They will not let us put a stop to them no matter how many children’s lives it costs.—Joe]
Via a tweet from Far Left Watch @FarLeftWatch
I find it very telling the left resorts to lies of such a grand scale in hopes of achieving their agenda. The truth is not only insufficient. It is counterproductive to their goals.
From US Office of Strategic Services in describing Hitler’s psychological profile:
His primary rules were: never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; never accept blame; concentrate on one enemy at a time and blame him for everything that goes wrong; people will believe a big lie sooner than a little one; and if you repeat it frequently enough people will sooner or later believe it.
Hitler would be proud of the lessons our political left have learned from him.
On the left, victimhood is a prime source of authority, and discourse revolves around establishing one’s intersectional credentials and detailing stories of mistreatment that reinforce them. Within the ecosystem of the left, demonstrating that you have suffered harassment or microaggressions is a big win. But among the country as a whole, the dynamic is very different.
Jonathan Chait
April 22, 2018
Democrats Have Great Female Presidential Candidates. They Need to Avoid the Victim Trap.
[The Brady Campaign and other anti-gun organizations repeatedly make this error. Apparently they don’t seem to understand that when they use someone who was shot in a mass shooting as their spokesperson they are not presenting someone who is an authority on solutions regarding those type of events. The truth is they are being represented by someone who is an expert victim with no experience as a victor.—Joe]
One might plausibly argue that those with much less access to sex suffer to a similar degree as those with low income, and might similarly hope to gain from organizing around this identity, to lobby for redistribution along this axis and to at least implicitly threaten violence if their demands are not met. As with income inequality, most folks concerned about sex inequality might explicitly reject violence as a method, at least for now, and yet still be encouraged privately when the possibility of violence helps move others to support their policies. (Sex could be directly redistributed, or cash might be redistributed in compensation.)
Robin Hanson
April 26, 2018
Two Types of Envy
[Interesting. Read the article to get background about “incels” if you aren’t familiar with the term.
Some people see “incels” as about male supremacy. See, for example, What Are ‘Incels’? The Anti-Woman Online Community Behind the Toronto Van Attack. I think it is more about envy and inability to find a partner which results in the symptoms of a somewhat male supremacist attitude. The author doesn’t even mention this as a component. I suspect counseling, social skills training (not pickup artist type stuff), and attending social events to practice their training would provide the “cure” for “incels”.
I knew the scum bag loser who shot some people then drove his car through groups of people in Isla Vista California in 2014 had problems with his relationships with women. But I didn’t know there were online communities of these type of people and that the April 23rd terrorist attack in Toronto was perpetrated by someone who identified as an “incel”.
Getting back to the QOTD by Hanson. In the quote above, Hanson may appear to advocate for the forced redistribution of sexual access. In an addendum they clarify:
Let me also clarify that personally I’m not very attracted to non-insurance-based redistribution policies of any sort, though I do like to study what causes others to be so attracted.
…
Apparently many people can’t imagine any other way to reduce or moderate sex inequality. (“Redistribution” literally means “changing the distribution.”) In the post I mentioned cash compensation; more cash can make people more attractive and better able to afford legalized prostitution. Others have mentioned promoting monogamy and discouraging promiscuity. Surely there are dozens of other possibilities; sex choices are influenced by a great many factors and each such factor offers a possible lever for influencing sex inequality. Rape and slavery are far from the only possible levers!
What I find interesting about this whole thing in that the political left has some components which would appear to make them likely to take this on as an issue. Consider the following:
Hence, one could make the case that taking up the cause of “incel”s will soon be part of their political platform. It appears to be a good fit.—Joe]
They seem to be legitimate illegal activity.
Devin M.
May 3, 2018
[This was from work.
Devin was researching a business that, essentially, sold stolen goods and had a good reputation with their customers.
This is sort of like an “honest politician” is one which, once bought, stays bought.—Joe]
Today is International Workers’ Day. Don’t forget there never seems to be an end to the number of positions available at either end of the guns needed to implement utopia. It’s job security for the rest of your life. What more could you want? Freedom from want, that’s one of the rights guaranteed by the socialists and communists, right?
How can one imagine a socialist state without prisons? I mean, I can understand the tactical benefit of emptying out the prisons during a revolutionary period, the way that, say, the Bolsheviks released criminals from Tsarist prisons about a century ago to advance their communist coup.
Once a socialist state is up and running, though, some sort of prison system is necessary. How else to enforce the confiscatory taxation necessary to pay for a vast welfare state in an economy with the inefficiency of socialism? Liens, payroll withholding, fines, and asset forfeiture can only get a government so far.
Socialist wage and price controls often spawn a black market. How is the government supposed to prevent smuggling of goods, bartering, or off-the-books labor without being able to punish violators with prison?
Socialist state-owned enterprises are so poorly run that the only way they can survive is by using the power of the state to outlaw competition. How would a state-owned enterprise be able to preserve its monopoly without being able to throw would-be competitors in prison?
Ira Stoll
April 23, 2018
The Irony of Socialists Calling for Abolishing Prisons
Prisons are a staple of socialist political and economic systems, and always have been.
[True socialists, as opposed to those that use socialism as a tool to gain power, have never been that well connected to reality.
It’s possible these people figure that “”reeducation camps”, mental hospitals, and executions will work just fine without traditional prisons. You just never know which path a particular flavor of socialism will go down. You know that the direction will be down.—Joe]
When Nanny Bloomberg turned his considerable wealth from banning Bladder Busters to banning firearms, groups like Moms Demand Action suddenly appear. I suppose they chose to call themselves Moms, because more accurate labels such as Bored Housewives for Gun Control, Alinskyites for Common Sense, and Do-Gooders for Your Own Good, just don’t have the same marketing cachet.
Gary Hetherington
April 19, 2018
Letter: Chicago’s lack of political will no reason to impose gun control on rest of Illinois
[I have nothing to add.—Joe]
It won’t happen all at once of course, but progressively. It’s already in progress. Eventually, everyone who dissents against the coercive state will be deemed “mentally unfit”. We’ve seen these kinds of things before, so there’s no need for speculation.
It is all in play right now, protected by our normalcy bias and our incredulity.
In case you still wonder how things have gone so far into the gutter of destruction and mass death in other countries throughout history; this is exactly how, we’re living it, so wonder no more.
Lyle
April 17, 2018
Comment to Quote of the day—Stonekettle @Stonekettle regarding mental fitness requirements to own a firearm.
[Yes. It would seem we are living on a path to oppression. They want us dead and they are working the mobs into a frenzy. The mobs will give the politician the political cover needed to do the rest.
We must work the social angle. Wear your shirts, coats, and hats that identify yourself as a gun owner. Speak out when those that hate you express their venom. Stand proud, be respectful of the rights of others, and insist they respect ours. Do not let them characterize us as vermin to be exterminated.—Joe]
A government is a body of people, usually, notably ungoverned.
Shepard Book
December 6, 2002
Firefly: War Stories
[Jaime and I were watching Firefly for about the third time and this kind of jumped out at me and we had a little chat about the series. Josh Whedon created this series and it is, or at least Jaime and I she it as, filled with libertarian ideas. Yet Whedon is somewhat outspoken political with very non-libertarian ideas. We were unable to resolve this in the minute or so we devoted to it.
Now I wonder if perhaps Whedon views libertarians as idealist losers or some such thing. They have appealing principles but are totally impractical and will always lose when they face reality.
This would make them a great set of characters in the series. They are easy to be sympathetic with because they are basically good people. But they have a lot of conflict and stress because they are inherently unsuited for the reality of the situation they find themselves in.—Joe]
Via email from Rolf.
If you define “liberal” as someone on the socialist->communist spectrum:
I was reminded of this by the recent comments here.
With all the anti-gun owner stuff going on when the NRA called last month I immediately upgraded my membership:
When some Republican fundraiser called me yesterday I told him, “I’m very nearly a one issue voter. I care about gun ownership rights. You guys just passed a bunch of gun control stuff. We are done! I’m giving my money to the NRA. If you want it you need to earn it from them.” He tried to keep talking but I hung up on him.
Leftism is, at its core, based upon the abject and unapologetic denial of observable reality.
They’re not just insane, they’re proudly insane. Point out their hypocrisy until Gabriel blows his horn, and it won’t affect them a bit. We’re dealing with people who have knowingly and willingly turned their backs on any form of logic and reason. The only reason they’re winning is that sane people haven’t stepped up and put them in the rubber room where they obviously belong.
Wraith
April 11, 2018
Comment to Quote of the day—Alan Korwin
[I don’t think a “rubber room” is appropriate for all of them. Some belong in prison.
And there are alternatives which I believe will work with most of them. But it’s a time consuming process and requires some isolation.—Joe]
Via email from Brian Keith:
Nearly all politicians are people who want to rule over other people. It should be no surprise that when they achieve power they want to exercise it. It is what gives meaning to their life even if it is none of their business what they want to control.
Don’t ever forget this telling insight into their minds:
If you put out a reg, it matters. I think that’s really where the thrill comes from. And it is a thrill; it’s a high… I love it; I absolutely love it. I was born to regulate. I don’t know why, but that’s very true. So as long as I’m regulating, I’m happy.
Marthe Kent
This is why we have a constitution which enumerated the limited powers of the government. It was supposed to protect against this sort of crap. It hasn’t. There is no branch of government specifically tasked with arresting and prosecuting those who violate their oath of office. Hence, we ended up with a huge mess and in the middle of a (5th generation) civil war.
Congrats to NRA experts on a tremendous plan for the schools — the left would have to show blatant hypocrisy and self-defeating behavior to turn this down. Schools need this, it can only help. The left may be inclined to fight it, solely because of its eminently qualified source, which would be an utter and dangerous shame.
Alan Korwin
April 2, 2018
NRA Is The Devil! — Or Maybe Not.
https://www.nationalschoolshield.org/
[Alan usually has the anti-gun people figured out. This time he is thinking rationally and fails to predict their response correctly.
“The left would have to show blatant hypocrisy and self-defeating behavior to turn this down”?
No. It would be self-defeating to them if school shootings stopped. School shootings are the absolute best tool they have in their fight against gun owners! The more the better! More money for their cause, more support for restrictive gun laws, because, “What we have isn’t working we need more restrictions on guns!”
Via Stephanie:
She also points out Massad Ayoob once said:
Gun-free zones are hunting preserves for psychopathic murders.
The political left created the problem of school shootings. They then use the problem to justify a new “solution” which will make things worse. Hogg, in so many ways, with his crap for brains “solutions”, was produced by leftists and is a tool of the leftists.
Via email from Brian Keith:
It makes sense. Just ignore what Mao Tse-Tung said:
Every Communist must grasp the truth, “Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.”
When the tyrant starts loading you into the cattle cars you should just come up with a catchy chant and march away from the trains. That should work just fine.
Oh, maybe the anti-gun people, nearly all of them with a communist streak, do understand the truth of Mao and that is the reason they want to take our guns. Their plans are that it is we who are loaded into the cattle cars. Gee, I never thought of that before!
If a bureaucrat has the authority to state that AND ENFORCE IT, there is no Republic. Literally any cabinet head, or possibly lower, can declare outlawry, steal property, seize anything, without even the pretense that an existing law was broken. Law will be whatever they say it is, any day of the week. Any religion can be illegal or mandatory. Anything can be contraband or mandatory. The rule of law simply fails to exist. If this doesn’t terrify you, I guess you can go now. Good luck. There’s nothing I can do when they quite literally do come to put you in those camps you fear, which just became a solid reality.
Michael Z. Williamson
March 24, 2018
If You Hate Guns, I Need Your Help
In regard to the ATF making a rule to ban bump stocks.
[I have nothing to add.—Joe]
Very unfortunate as this is caused by Trump spreading HATE. Why is it ok for him to do it but if it was normal citizen they would be arrested for inciting this type of behavior.
Joe Gallagher
Tweeted on April 3, 2018
Regarding the active shooter at YouTube Headquarters.
[Wow! I knew Trump was incredibly persuasive, but this is almost unbelievable.
Well… actually, I don’t believe it at all. Gallagher has some sort of mental disorder if he believes this.
And, in fact, if politics were involved (highly speculative at this point) in this shooting the odds are that the shooter was a Democrat and if the victims were not random then the chances the victims were not Democrats are higher than local demographics would predict. Hence, Gallagher has crap for brains and/or he is deliberately attempting to troll people.—Joe]
The thing that’s so powerful about students is that, when you haven’t had your idealism broken yet, you’re able to speak from a place that has no confusion, where there is a clear set of values.
Bill Murray
March 22, 2018
Bill Murray Endorses Gun Control Movement, Compares Parkland Students to Vietnam War Protesters
[This reminds me of something I saw on Facebook. A parent wrote about how proud they were that their children were being “leaders” in regards to gun control. This was a place were I couldn’t confront them, but I wanted to ask, “Would you want your kids being “leaders” on foreign policy too? If not, then why do you want them being “leaders” on domestic policy?
When the German National Socialists passed the Weapons Control Act of 1938 I’ll bet you could have found lots of people who said essentially the same thing as what Murray says about gun control. Idealism, check. No confusion, check. Clear set of values, check.
The same could be said for many those who supported the KKK, Jim Crow Laws, Westboro Baptist Church, and Marxists.
In most cases there are also succinct words for these type of people. “Ignorant”, “Prejudiced”, and “Bigoted”.—Joe]