Lions and Eagles

A reddit user asked a question tonight about why "taxation is theft", whether there's more behind the phrase, and how governments could be expected to function without taxes. I'm rather pleased with the answer I gave: I'll answer with a couple of quotes from Lysander Spooner, one of the philosophical giants that Libertarians love: "If taxation without consent is not robbery, then any band of robbers have only to declare themselves a government, and all their robberies are legalized." And: "Taxation without consent is as plainly robbery, when enforced against one man, as when enforced against millions; and it is not to be imagined that juries could be blind to so self-evident a principle. Taking a man’s money without his consent, is also as much robbery, when it is done by millions of men, acting in concert, and calling themselves a government, as when it is done by a single individual, acting on his own responsibility, and calling himself a highwaym...

 It's over! We can all rejoice! Political ad season is finally over! If there's one thing voters on the left and right can agree on, it's this: We can't wait to be rid of the ads. Truth be told, we were ready to be done back in November. But because a senator decided to retire mid-term instead of at the end of his last term, and because a podcasting veteran who solicited and spent no campaign money at all managed to take 2.3% of the vote in a three-way race against two incredibly well-funded large party opponents, we’ve been swamped with ads in our mailboxes, on YouTube, robocalls, loaded surveys, even “get out the vote” Christmas Cards. On top of that, trust in both the voting machines and absentee voting is understandably low. Sure, we might be able to work out reforms and improvements in time for next November, but has anything gotten better this time around? Are we in for a miniature repeat of the recounts and challenges that we’ve seen with the Presidential electio...

We have yet another election coming up in our area this coming Feb. 9th, this time for Griffin Circuit District Attorney. Again, to try and be a more informed voter, I sent an e-mail to each of the candidates with some questions. Here's the reply from Dexter Wimbish, the challenger:

We have yet another election coming up in our area this coming Feb. 9th, this time for Griffin Circuit District Attorney. Again, to try and be a more informed voter, I sent an e-mail to each of the candidates with some questions. Here's the reply from Marie Broder, currently appointed to the position since the previous elected DA was appointed to a judicial seat:

"I have found that it is the small everyday deed of ordinary folks that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love." ~ Gandalf (J. R. R. Tolkein ~ The Hobbit There's an old anecdote about a Chinese curse: May you live in interesting times. I think it's safe to say many feel that these times are more "interesting" than we might like. Pandemic, economic uncertainty, racial issues, and all of this in an election year no less! What can we do? I would like to suggest kindness. Intentional, radical kindness. Let's be good to each other. Let's take masking, for example. These pieces of cloth have become very contentious. I have friends on either side, and I have advice for both. Masking friends, you will not persuade others to put masks on with humiliation or intentional shaming. You don't make friends with "you just want people to die". But a friend, if you stay kind, just might put on a mask for you, even if they don't wan...

In the spirit of the day, I thought I'd share a few book and movie recommendations. I found these to be very good to read back when my wife and I first started dating. The first one we found by accident in a bookstore, the second two she recommended, and I loved them. I hope you enjoy them.

Dear Friends, I very much enjoyed the Beer Summit on Racial Understanding last week, and I was honored to be able to attend and meet so many wonderful people. I am sorry to say that I will not be able to make tonight’s Second Summit, though my thoughts and prayers will be with you all. I have had a question on my mind to ask. It is a difficult question, and I hope you will give me your thoughts. This comes from a place of having people around me on different sides, in different camps, who regard each other as enemies, even though I believe they could be friends. You see, it looks to me like that there may be actually two things that people may refer to when they say Black Lives Matter. There is a movement, and there is a particular organization that acts in the name of that movement. I am 100% on board with the movement. With the organization, that group that owns BlackLivesMatter.com, I have much agreement, but I don’t want different ideas that we may have to hurt the places where we...

It's been a crazy year, but as always, I still do my own research before voting, and I wouldn't want to let an election go by without sharing my thoughts for anyone interested!  I do have to start with a disclaimer, though I am an officer of a local political party affiliate, these thoughts and opinions are mine and mine alone. I encourage everyone to do their own research and make their own decisions before voting. An informed vote is a powerful vote.

Before I send in my request for a mail-in Ballot for the May 19th primary, I wanted to make a quick breakdown of the ballots, according to which races actually have more than one candidate to look at. I pulled the Qualifying Candidates lists for the election from the Georgia Secretary of State's website. Later on, I'll get into researching the candidates. But, if you have a particular race you know you want to be able to vote in, or if you want to maximize the number of actual options you can look at, this information may be useful. Some of these races will definitely have Independent and/or third party candidates in November, but for May, here are your choices:

Two weeks into Digital Learning Days with our kids. A bit of a learning curve at first, but we are not missing the old routine. I don't have to drag kids out of bed in time for a school bell. Classwork is generally done by noon. Afternoons are a mix of playtime and "practical learning", helping with cooking and cleaning. Don't get me wrong, we really like the teachers our kids ended up with this year. (Not every year has been this good.) But we don't miss the traditional school routine. The thing that holds us back from considering this as a long term choice is the impact on our work situations. More of an issue for my wife than for me, but there's no way I could do this without her. I'm glad we've had this experience. I'm sorry for the circumstances, the fear and uncertainty so many in the world are facing right now. I worry about the businesses and restaurants shutting down, how many will have trouble opening up again? The most dishea...

A good friend sent me an article today that was an interesting read. The crux of the article was that, while Steve Job's genius and willing to be "foolishly" creative contributed to Apple's success, the real credit goes to the government for subsidizing twelve particular technologies that Apple used in their products. This excerpt presents these technologies, and the fact that their development was subsidized by the government, as if to say that they would not have been developed if the government had not been involved. On that basis, the government seems to get all of the credit for Apple's success. But, until someone invents a device to accurately peer into alternate timelines and universes, we can't know for certain how these technologies, or even better, might have been invented on their own. People have been inventing for tens of thousands of years. We're rather good at it. Apple got to be big because their products were good, and their marketing...

I could have gone to an awards ceremony for Atlanta's professional theatres Monday night. Atlanta's version of the Tony's. With my wife representing Academy Theatre, she was dressed up and looking gorgeous, and she had two tickets, which included food and drink tickets for the bar. She went, and she brought a friend, and she had a marvelous time. I must be some sort of glutton for punishment. I went instead to go watch the Fayette County Board of Education steamroll over the objections of citizens, neighbors, experts, and even the government of Peachtree City. I went knowing that they were not going to listen to any more public input. I went knowing that their reasons and excuses were empty and full of contradictions. I went knowing that the only thing I would be able to do would be to stare them down. I sat through nearly an hour and 45 minutes of presentations. A presentation on the CCRPI indicators.(Summary: Even Fayette's "bad" schools are looking ...

Every election, I try to do some sort of voting research, and write up my opinions on the coming races. This time around, we have a simple election with just municipal races, and I did something new. I met individually with each of the candidates for my town council, and sat down for a conversation. It was an interesting experience, definitely enlightening, and I hope that I gave each of them some new food for political thought even as I learned about them.

I've gotten into an interesting Facebook conversation on rights. It started with an event invite to an upcoming meeting of local Libertarians on gun politics. A curious Facebooker asked a question, and I found that my answer was getting long, so, here it is in blog form:

Last night I went to a Q&A session with a couple of members of the school board for parents and members of the community. (I'm both.) Very nice event. Very glad I went out, and it was very encouraging to see the good turnout in the room. Steve Brown did a fine job of moderating, offering up questions gathered from parents via Facebook, and live audience had a number of questions as well. I have a few reactions to their questions.

I admit it: I’m a huge fan of sci-fi. From Mary Shelley and H.G. Wells, Ray Bradbury and Isaac Asimov, to Gene Roddenberry and every single superhero movie to come out in the last decade, I just can’t get enough. The imagination, the spectacle, the endless possibilities of hope… and, of course, utopias and dystopias that teach us about the best and worst of humanity.

To : The Honorable Derrick Jackson Re: House Bill 191 , by Representatives Kendrick of the 93rd, Stover of the 71st, Stovall of the 74th, and Jones of the 91st Dear Representative Jackson, My name is Danny Dolan, and I am a voter in your district. I am writing to ask for your support for GA HB 191. This bill would bring much-needed reform to Georgia's ballot access laws. Ballot access is a civil rights issue. This most recent election spotlighted the importance of making sure every eligible voter has the right to cast a ballot. Unfortunately, many of our ballots have a shocking lack of choices. A ballot with no options does nothing to give the voter a voice. Georgia's ballot access laws are commonly regarded as the most onerous in the nation. These laws keep independent voices out of the conversation. Even when they have no chance of winning, independent candidates can perform an important role in raising the quality of political debate. An independent candidate can simul...

“...And our roads would be private toll roads as government would  not build roads across private lands, so that nice interstate system we have today,” wouldn’t have existed under Libertarian rule.” Roads and Infrastructure It’s predictable. Every election, every two years, four years, eight years, you can count on political candidates campaigning on the promise to fix the nation's “crumbling infrastructure”. Those are the exact words that they will use. And no matter what they do while in office, we'll hear that exact same tune at the next election. Another certainty: Every couple of years, we are asked to vote a new tax onto ourselves. A SPLOST. A penny sales tax for education. A tax on certain items for senior services. A special trust for firefighters and first responders. An allocation for environmental protection. We are always told that if the tax doesn't pass, essential projects and programs won't be funded. The taxes pass, and still the money isn't al...

“...Of course having “recreational drugs” be legal is a great selling point I’m sure for some folks….” Drugs For some folks, recreational drug use may be a selling point. For myself, I have no desire at all to use drugs recreationally, and I only reluctantly use them even under doctor's orders. But I still support the Libertarian position on the drug war. Namely, that it is ineffective, unfair, and immoral. If you read what I had to say on prostitution, you shouldn’t be surprised by what I have to say here, either. When you make the sale of any given thing illegal, you don’t end that sale. You drive it into black markets, where bad people profit because bad people are the ones selling. People who might actually want help out of their situation are scared out of seeking it, because they are afraid of being thrown in jail. Theologically, I believe that careless drug use is a sin against the self and against God, but I do not believe it should be treated a crime. The body is a...

“...They would want a Mercenary Military vs a Standing Military. Also no military bases anywhere across the globe. Supporting their “live and let live” philosophy so that our enemy’s would never want to attack us, because we no longer are an imposing threat to them….” War and the Military Ah, foreign affairs and national security. This is going to be deep water. Our approach to this should be in line with our morality, otherwise we have no high ground. I'm game. Let's warm up with a few relevant quotes: [Jesus] said to them, “But now let the one who has a moneybag take it, and likewise a knapsack. And let the one who has no sword sell his cloak and buy one.” -Luke 22:36 Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword….” -Matthew 26:52 “War. Huh. Good God, why'all. What is it good for?” -Edwin Starr What do Christians believe about war? There's no one answer. At one end of the spectrum, some are...