Freedom / The Glass Is Half Full

I’ve been trying to limit my exposure to politics. Much like I avoid dysentery. I extend that approach to my blog but periodically fail. Forgive me. There are a few things about “freedom” I want to say before Trump flames out and makes some of it a moot point. Here goes:

• If Donald Trump didn’t exist it would be necessary to invent him. The guy serves a purpose. He’s a counterexample to vat raised political clones who’ve never held real jobs. He demonstrates what a spine looks like. Both parties need exposure to a man who doesn’t cringe, bow, or grovel. We’ve had too many inbred flabby creatures that were bred for office and can’t stand the sun. Trump’s buffooning forces his competition to walk on their hind legs for once. It’s better we all face Trump’s bluster now than both sides studiously avoid ideas until the sun leaches whatever soul out of voting that remains. Hopefully he’ll continue smacking some spine into folks a few more weeks before he flames out.
• The absence of competition breeds its own demise. Protectionism is self correcting and hubris is reaping it’s usual reward. One party faced competition while the other has been groomed to its own detriment. One side has a plethora of candidates that (hopefully) will grow balls and tear into each other like tigers. (Have at it people! I want debates and campaigns to look like Thunderdome!) The other party has precisely one contender and she looks tired and worn. Even a flake like Trump could vaporize her in a true debate and she knows it. She did unnatural things with State secrets for no particular reason and was “protected” so well that nobody was ready to take over when obvious questions hit her glass jaw. Candidates that have been pummelled mercilessly by a biased press are strong or they wouldn’t be there. Hillary seems grossed out by Americans in general and her campaigning is embarrassing to watch. A person who is attracted to legal entanglements like a moth to flame should have been savaged by lawyers and either learned to fly straight or do time. Unlike the rest of us she was denied her opportunity to learn. That’s why she broke the law as if she were a dipshit hooligan instead just doing her job like a grownup. Lack of competition has piled skeletons in her closet and made her thinking stodgy. I want both parties to be rock solid but at least one has been honed by challenges.
• Freedom is nowhere near stamped out. Politics can make a freedom loving American despair but don’t give in. Four states have legalized pot and forty two states are shall issue or better for concealed carry. That’s a great big “fuck you” to centralized authority. It’s also a “fuck you” to both parties. If the right had its way the “war on drugs” would last forever. It the left had its way nobody but cops would have guns. Even Stalin couldn’t stop the black market. As the behemoth expands it becomes riddled with holes.
• You can’t stop the signal. Technology may look like the death star but it’s just machines. Despite epic NSA shenanigans it’s generally empowering. Want some examples?
  • Smart phones created Uber. Neither party could break an $800,000 taxi medallion cartel but nerds with smartphones will take down the system. What other Ubers will emerge in time?
  • Technology has freed up many things we scarcely notice. Stores with automated checkouts have short lines. Outside of Oregon (you poor bastards!) I haven’t dealt with a surly gas station attendant in years. ATMs can’t force me to stand in line during “banker’s hours”. My rural town’s economy is thin but anything I need comes from the internet. (Christmas shopping is done with a glass of whiskey and a mouse!) Craigslist and e-bay continue to thrive. Cheap kindle books broke the publishing houses that tried to force feed me derivative garbage.
  • The future may be even brighter.
    • If they raise minimum wage I’ll finally get a hamburger robot! (Do you hate explaining a Big Mac to the illiterate drooling airhead at the counter? Join me in rooting for a $20 minimum wage.)
    • What new freedoms will come when every home has a 3D printer? I suspect people fretting about “ghost guns” are missing the point. When prescription glasses, pizzas, coffee makers, and socks start coming out of a magic box on the kitchen table it’s going to make the Model T’s revolution look mundane.

Well that’s it. I wanted to post before Trump either self-immolates or is Dan Rathered. Stay sane out there.