[Note: This is my latest column at the Center for a Stateless Society. Usually I just blurb and link, but I feel like reprinting this one in its entirety. Enjoy - KN@PPSTER]
Yes, I voted. Schlepped down to the polling place on Tuesday, presented my papers, and poked the screen until the machine informed me that I had successfully cast my ballot.
I even took one of those cheesy little "I Voted" stickers. Just one. On my way into the polling place, a toddler came bouncing out with one sticker on each hand. Yes, it's a machine Democratic precinct -- why do you ask?
The anarchist arguments against voting ("it only encourages them;" "if it changed anything, they'd make it illegal;" "it falsely legitimizes the system") all strike me as sound, although Murray Rothbard's "voting as self-defense" argument holds some water, too.
The "voting as self-defense" bit was part of what got me this time (this one last time, just this one last time, I keep promising myself).
Here in Missouri, Proposition C -- a measure to nullify ObamaCare's "individual mandate" -- was on the ballot.
I personally and individually nullified the "individual mandate" nearly a year ago, before the bill even passed, by swearing to drop my health insurance and go to jail rather than pay a fine when/if it goes into effect. Proposition C, to my mind, represented an opportunity recruit a majority (that's all I hoped for, anyway -- it actually clocked in at over 70%!) of voting Missourians to have my back on the issue.
Voting as self-defense, see?
But really I'm just kidding myself. I voted for a lot of reasons, all of which really boil down to one: I've got a monkey on my back.
Have you ever tried to quit smoking? It may go well or badly in general, but once you've had the nicotine habit it's always there to at least some degree. I've talked to "ex-smokers" who still get the craving 10, 20, 30 years later.
If you also happen to be a drinker, you're going to constantly catch yourself thinking "you know, a cigarette would go really well with this Fat Tire®. How the hell can I drink a beer without a smoke?"
I had my "beer" on Monday when I had to drop in at the local election authority's office to sign some paperwork -- one of my duties as chair of my county's Libertarian Party committee, a job I leave behind me without regrets next week.
Bam ... off the wagon! One little sip of electoral involvement, next thing you know I'm blazing up a political Marlboro®.
I told myself it was about Proposition C. That I had an obligation to support Libertarian candidates whom I had recruited in contested primaries. That the act of voting bore no moral significance. That it was just an exercise in social camaraderie.
But I took a long, long shower when I got home.
At the end of the day, I understand that voting not only changes nothing, but reinforces the putative legitimacy of an evil system which I've dedicated my life to dismantling.
The first step in recovery is admitting that you have a problem.
Hello. I'm Tom, and I'm a voter.
Saturday, August 07, 2010
Friday, August 06, 2010
Adventures in self-diagnosis
I'm not big on doctors. Matter of fact, the only times I've bothered to consult one since the 1980s have been a) exams or workplace injuries where my boss required me to; and b) the time I thought I'd had a stroke (it was Bell's Palsy -- the doctors gave me anti-virals which didn't help; Kate Graham recommended Lysene which did).
But, I've had a sneaking suspicion lately (for the last year or so).
The suspicion began with me noticing that I no longer noticed small injuries on my extremities when they happened. My family would notice a cut or whatever that I hadn't even felt and tell me about it, but I wouldn't feel it unless it got infected.
When I began experiencing vision changes (I now have to remove my glasses to read up close), that compounded the suspicion, but I mostly wrote it off to aging and started planning on maybe getting bifocals.
Then there was the general lack of energy thing, etc. Once again, hey, I'm getting older, my lifestyle tends to be sedentary because I work on a computer instead of a factory floor, etc.
Of course, I've also been consuming sugary (and high fructose corn syrupy) beverages in great quantities for as long as I can remember.
I bought some of those strips at the store that you pee on, but they're not especially informative. All I knew was that if they were accurate, I was pregna ... er, my blood sugar was over 110. 111 or 500? No way to know.
Tonight, I was lucky enough to procure a digital blood glucose meter, the kind with the lancet and the strips and all that stuff.
If that is accurate, and I have no reason to believe it isn't (I read the instructions carefully), my blood glucose level as of a few minutes ago was (drum roll, please, and no "for God so loved the world" jokes) 316.
The limited amount of research I've done on the subject has me thinking that this may be a ... less than ideal ... blood glucose level. I'm no expert, but I'm given to believe that it's rather a bit on the high side.
Fortunately, my blood pressure is nowhere near 316 ... but last time I checked it, the systolic and diastolic added together weren't too far short of that (I'd neglected my garlic supplement for several weeks; I'm back on it religiously now).
So maybe I'll see a doctor. But hell, I might as well crowd-source my dietary and exercise and supplement and medication options first. Anyone got any recommendations?
But, I've had a sneaking suspicion lately (for the last year or so).
The suspicion began with me noticing that I no longer noticed small injuries on my extremities when they happened. My family would notice a cut or whatever that I hadn't even felt and tell me about it, but I wouldn't feel it unless it got infected.
When I began experiencing vision changes (I now have to remove my glasses to read up close), that compounded the suspicion, but I mostly wrote it off to aging and started planning on maybe getting bifocals.
Then there was the general lack of energy thing, etc. Once again, hey, I'm getting older, my lifestyle tends to be sedentary because I work on a computer instead of a factory floor, etc.
Of course, I've also been consuming sugary (and high fructose corn syrupy) beverages in great quantities for as long as I can remember.
I bought some of those strips at the store that you pee on, but they're not especially informative. All I knew was that if they were accurate, I was pregna ... er, my blood sugar was over 110. 111 or 500? No way to know.
Tonight, I was lucky enough to procure a digital blood glucose meter, the kind with the lancet and the strips and all that stuff.
If that is accurate, and I have no reason to believe it isn't (I read the instructions carefully), my blood glucose level as of a few minutes ago was (drum roll, please, and no "for God so loved the world" jokes) 316.
The limited amount of research I've done on the subject has me thinking that this may be a ... less than ideal ... blood glucose level. I'm no expert, but I'm given to believe that it's rather a bit on the high side.
Fortunately, my blood pressure is nowhere near 316 ... but last time I checked it, the systolic and diastolic added together weren't too far short of that (I'd neglected my garlic supplement for several weeks; I'm back on it religiously now).
So maybe I'll see a doctor. But hell, I might as well crowd-source my dietary and exercise and supplement and medication options first. Anyone got any recommendations?
Wednesday, August 04, 2010
Missouri voters nullify the ObamaCare "individual mandate"
As I write this, with 3,035 of 3,354 precincts reporting, Missouri's voters support "Proposition C" to the tune of 72.7%. Here's the full text, but the upshot is in the ballot description:
Not sure what the full story is on the insurance thing.
For months, the mainstream media has been howling about the expenses of "the lawsuit" that Proposition C would entail ... but I don't see how it entails a lawsuit at all, unless the feds sue Missouri's government.
Missouri's government doesn't have to sue, it just has to enforce its own law, e.g. arrest and jail any IRS thugs who show up trying to collect fines from uninsured taxpayers, make sure Missouri employers know not to honor any garnishment/withholding orders pursuant to those fines, freeze federal assets in Missouri banks if necessary to make Missouri taxpayers whole for federal theft of assets pursuant to the fines, etc.
Looks like Missouri's voters are sporting some big, hairy balls tonight.
And yes, junkie that I am, I voted today, swearing up and down that this was the last time (it only encourages them). I keep trying to break the habit, but I really did want to be part of this nullification vote.
Shall the Missouri Statutes be amended to:
* Deny the government authority to penalize citizens for refusing to purchase private health insurance or infringe upon the right to offer or accept direct payment for lawful healthcare services?
* Modify laws regarding the liquidation of certain domestic insurance companies?
Not sure what the full story is on the insurance thing.
For months, the mainstream media has been howling about the expenses of "the lawsuit" that Proposition C would entail ... but I don't see how it entails a lawsuit at all, unless the feds sue Missouri's government.
Missouri's government doesn't have to sue, it just has to enforce its own law, e.g. arrest and jail any IRS thugs who show up trying to collect fines from uninsured taxpayers, make sure Missouri employers know not to honor any garnishment/withholding orders pursuant to those fines, freeze federal assets in Missouri banks if necessary to make Missouri taxpayers whole for federal theft of assets pursuant to the fines, etc.
Looks like Missouri's voters are sporting some big, hairy balls tonight.
And yes, junkie that I am, I voted today, swearing up and down that this was the last time (it only encourages them). I keep trying to break the habit, but I really did want to be part of this nullification vote.
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