There was a rambling post about being back here in Indiana again, but it really didn’t make much sense. So I’ve deleted those sappy paragraphs and instead have decided to give a go at one of those bulleted brain-dump things.
- It was quite cool getting ice cream at the Grabill Dairy Sweet yesterday. Apparently all the Amish families go there on a Sunday evening to get a family treat. At one point the number of buggies outnumbered the number of cars.
- The Tour de France is completely sucktastic this year. There are endless talks about how the players are all clean and that icky drugs aren’t gumming up the works. No one is making any mention about how corrupt the governing body is, and how much of the drug controversy was at their insistance–born of a jingoistic need to flush the Americans out of lead places. I remain quite unhappy that Floyd Landis has been irrevocably stripped of his title, and doubly angry that the governing body has not been entirely replaced and the testing protocols revamped.
- There is nothing more libertarian than the Fourth of July. The way we celebrate it is the perfect allegory for libertarianism. I’ve had to contend with my dad’s absurd arguments against libertarians (”I believe in stoplights”) for portions of this trip. But what he doesn’t seem to understand is that real libertarianism happens at the 4th of July. Everyone gathers to watch the big fireworks show (sponsored by Centennial Wireless), but while they waited all of the groups around us made their own decisions about fireworks. Some, like us, decided to sit and wait while just visiting with one another. Others put on fantastic shows of their own, spending as much or as little as they liked on sparklers, firecrackers and large skyward displays. That’s the way of true modern libertarianism. We allow some things to be the provence of the State or central body because we understand that a large undertaking (preferably privatised) can be most spectacular and reach the greatest number of people. Yet in our heart of hearts we believe that people are responsible and can make their own decisions. They can spend what they want to enhance their enjoyment or meet their needs.
- I will say, though, that as a rabid gun rights fanatic that some events of the fourth of july need some clarification. GUNS ARE NOT TOYS. Yes, they are loud and like fireworks can go “boom”. But a gun is a tool. Like a hammer, a saw or a screwdriver a gun has a specific purpose. That purpose does not include firing it in the air and chuckling about where the bullets may land. There were several articles online and in the local Fort Wayne paper about people using guns to celebrate the 4th. Those articles seemed bound and determined to push the point that guns should be taken away because some people are idiots about their usage. That’s why I think it’s important for folks like me–who believe in the imperative of gun freedoms–to emphasise the point that GUNS SHOULD BE HANDLED RESPONSIBLY.
