The Eight Ball [8Ball]

It’s getting close to xmas. Given that I’m such a grumpy old cynic, people are often surprised to discover just how much I love this time of year. I’m one of those who thinks that religion gets no special pass when it comes to belief. Anyone making a claim is expected to back it up with evidence. I don’t see why religion should be excepted from this, so to me, there’s no religious aspect to xmas. There’s been a festival in most cultures at this time of year for so long and for so many reasons that to give any particular religion a claim over it just because it’s the cult-du-jour seems rather silly. I love the sense of fun, the family, the friends, the food, the drink, the giving, the getting, the general sense of “things will get better” that abounds. I try to ignore the tacky ads, the jesus-freaks claiming it’s all about them, the wowsers telling us not to get too drunk or have too much fun, and the moaners telling us about high seasonal suicides. If they don’t want to have fun, I’m not going to try to force them.

That ties into what I actually want to talk about. You might feel pretty strongly about some things. You might feel so strongly that you’re sure “all right-thinking people” agree with you. I know I do. The difference is that I would never try to force my view upon you. Either personally, or by apealing to government to legislate or ban something. I might (and will) try my best to persuade you that I’m right, but that’s all I’ll do. Persuasion GOOD. Force BAD. I’m pretty sure most of you would agree with that, in principle at least.

The problem is that these principles seem to get overridden by most people when attacked with emotive reasoning. Think about your responses to the following words: Globalisation. Corporations. Global warming. Capitalism. Did you like any of those words? Bet you didn’t. If you did, or at least, you didn’t have a negative response to them, congratulations! You’re not a victim of group-think socialism, and there may be hope for you as a rational individual yet!

I really believe that group-think is wrecking the world. I’ve opined this before, possibly even here, but just think about it for a second. Almost everything you read or are exposed to touts the same views, in the same language, and just expects you to nod along with it. It’s not a conspiracy, it’s just collectivism. Anyone who disagrees is labelled bad and a non-conformist, while the conformists all practice non-conformity in the same ways to try to convince themselves they are rebels! Here’s a flash: hugging a tree and wearing dreads does not make you a non-conformist, thinking for yourself does. I wish there were a lot more non-conformists out there.

For those of you who prefer illustrations rather than words, here is the problem:

Groupthink illustrated. Compare yourself to avoid the problem.

So, what does this have to do with xmas? I want you guys and girls to give me a present! Think rationally. Question everything. When someone asks you to do something “for the children”, “for the animals”, or “for the future of humanity”, be very skeptical. Make your own decisions based on your own principles, and always ask “will my choice involve forcing somebody else to do something they may not choose to do?”

And, for the religious out there (you crazy kooks), do unto others etc.

Merry xmas all. Mad less-than-three to you all.

Imagine if all of life were determined by majority rule. Every meal would be a pizza. Every pair of pants, even those in a Brooks Brothers suit, would be stonewashed denim. Celebrity diet and exercise books would be the only thing on the shelves at the library. And — since women are a majority of the population — we’d all be married to Mel Gibson.

– P. J. O’Rourke (found reading this excellent and thought-provoking article)

This is another political rant. You’ve been warned.

I really don’t like clichés. Even less do I like patronising quotes, often spouted by hippies who’ve just “found themselves” or found a lifestyle change that has made them really happy and now seem to have a burning desire to share their “wisdom” with you. Often they share it via the medium of the aforementioned clichés and/or patronising quotes. One of the worst is “be the change you want to see in the world”. It’s just so sickening, so annoyingly “I’m better than you”, so … correct.

Yep. That’s right. Correct. However, I’m not one of those damn dirty hippies who thinks he has found the answer to everything and that you should immediately stop living your way and start living mine. I am, in fact, a grumpy old sod. Many of you know this. Thing is, I’m a grumpy old sod who happens to think that hackneyed old Ghandi quote has some serious legs.

This was brought on by reading this article today. That’s right, you did read it correctly. Those cuddly little stoners and tree huggers over at the Green party actually want you to trust in the free market for once. Amazing how they do that when something suits them. Normally they’d be trying their little interventionist hearts out to ban something, or take your money to pay for something you might not agree with, or just generally waste more of your money by getting out of bed and showing up to parliament in the first place. All of a sudden though, they want to trust in the big bad evil free market. And you know what? That’s the best news I’ve ever heard. Well, from them anyway.

I’m all for people espousing what they think will fix something. By all means, share your ideas. The problem with all of our politicians, and especially the Greens, is that they think they should have their opinions trump yours. Their policies should be implemented, no matter what you all might think about it, because they know best, maaaaan. I mean, they must do, right? They’ve trained HARD as schoolteachers, lawyers, union representatives, permanent students, share traders, and all sorts of other things which must give them an insight into exactly what you do. They’ve been elected in what amounts to a popularity contest (except it’s one where you got no say in who the candidates should be to start with), and they have decided that this massive mandate allows them to decide what to do with your money and liberty instead of leaving it to you. On what planet does this make sense? Oh yeah, ours.

It gets worse though. With New Zealand not having any form of constitution, these unqualified, overpaid (again, with your money), and opinionated rigged-popularity-contest-winners are then able to do something terrifying. They can rewrite any law in the land to favour their own ideals, or even (and I’m not saying this happens, but it so easily could) to feather their own nests at the expense of you and I, whose money they do it with. Yep, that’s right. We pay them to fuck us. No lube. Cool huh?

How do Ghandi and the Greens fit in? Yeah, OK, I’ll get to the point. I think our politicians should stop putting your money where their mouth is. I think if they are so confident of their opinions that they’re prepared to steal your money to implement them, then they MUST be correct right? If they’re so sure, why take your money and force you to comply? Why not just… yep, you guessed, be the change they want to see in the world? If they’re so right, surely we’ll all just fall in and follow them? And if not, who the hell are they to force us? How, exactly, are they qualified to do so?

What do ya reckon?

OK, so it’s a Bowie song, but it sounds a bit camp. Who cares? I’m secure in my manliness. Or something. Cough. BEER!

Anyway, hi! Thought I’d get my write on, since this sexy new wordpress blog demands WORDS! So many things I could write about… and I’m procrastinating by writing about writing. A bit lame, no?

Here’s a question. Are you lot sick of politicians yet? I am. Well and truly. This latest lot have been caught out being just as greedy, nasty, two-faced, and corrupt as the previous pack of pricks they kicked out. What saddens me even more than their behavior is ours. We continue to get outraged every time this happens, yet we keep voting the buggers back in. Why do we do that? Why do we, if we voted for them, refuse to accept that they are as bad as the ones we didn’t vote for? Why do we, if we didn’t vote for them, accuse them of such crimes as “our lot” would NEVER have considered? Most of all, why, when the next election rolls around, do we suddenly develop the memory of an octagenarian goldfish and again vote for exactly the same pack of no-hopers we voted for last time? Why don’t we look for a better answer?

What motivates anyone on a salary? Keeping their job of course. Everything else comes second. It’s the same with MPs. They may once have wanted to make a difference. Perhaps some still do. But what they really want is to keep their jobs. How do they do that? Create work for themselves. Invent “huge social problems” which MUST be solved using (what else?) your money. I reckon it’s about time to tell them all where to go. Governments should really only have one role – protection of individual freedoms and rights. That is, protecting you from being ripped off by me, and vice versa. They should make law, and enforce it. But, the limit of their law should be the rights of the individuals they claim to protect. They should make no law which takes what is yours and gives it to me.

So, what do you guys think? Next election, will you vote for the same bunch of misguided no-hopers who want to tell you what to do while happily stealing your money and deciding who they think deserves it more than you do? Will you vote for people who promote their morals at the expense of yours, call it social policy, and use your money to bring it about? Will you vote for people who would ban anything they didn’t like, and waste money trying to enforce those futile bans when they can’t even keep drugs out of prisons? I won’t.

Tell me what you want.