infinite individuality

The tension between individualist and communalist anarchisms is synthesized by the often paradoxical (but to me, far more elegant) mutualist anarchisms. I believe the source of that conflict is identified in the words of the most influential being in my life, a jew with a rather taoist approach to the Law, who said: "it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the reign of God." That Taoist Jew came to live for us, knowing we would kill him for it, so that He might show us The Way. He taught us how to die unto ourselves and be reborn of water and of the Spirit to best enjoy our lives together - a New Heaven and a New Earth. As a result of taking on the perspective He prescribed, you can live for others instead of insisting upon your right to live only for yourself. Trying to practice that perspective, you can see that the life best lived is the opposite of the often solipsistic capitalist perspective. We must shift our thinkin...

I haven’t written in a while, so I’m just going to start. It’s fun trying to just get words on a page at times, even if it’s literally just writing about writing itself. I don’t know why, but I find the process soothing.  It's a creative instinct that I don’t let out enough. That’s actually the funnest part about singing in my opinion, not necessarily to sing it perfectly, but to sing it in your own way, it is fun and pleasant. I’m not sure what I want to create in my life. I think that’s one of the biggest struggles with working a job that can be uninspiring - it reflects in me that I’m relatively uninspired. I think I also loathe putting in effort - I’m a damned lazy creature. That’s got to be correlated with my love of video games. And that’s okay, but it also needs to be balanced with pursuing more fulfilling activities. I would prefer it be more balanced. When playing the games I play, I try to play in a creative manner. I feel like I test my morals through these strateg...

I think the biggest problem with authoritarianism is that authority gets lazy and resorts to rule by decree and demand rather than requesting consent. As soon as society demands action rather than requesting a fulfilling of duty, it erases the character of the action required. Those who say conscription is ever justified are the only people who might deserve to be conscripted. I've been lucky enough not to have to experience war in my lifetime. I know many who have not had that luxury. But I have seen how the demands of the experience of violence and requirement of exercising violence impact the psyche. I have seen the way in which it changes the view of a man. I am infinitely grateful to him for having steered me away from that life with his form of masculinity. It was about strength and respect, rather than demands and force. He never beat me into submission, he made it clear that the best path was submission to his wiser authority. And truth be told, since his authority was exe...

We are victims of ourselves more than anyone else. Acceptance of that truism is the first step to personal responsibility. When we act on this truth, we are able to be that only Jesus that some will ever see, because we always have the choice to act in love. Sometimes that love is tough. Sometimes it means letting go of your own desires for the sake of those you love. It doesn't mean they aren't there, but you choose not to act upon them. And when you do that, it's fascinating how it seems to bring those desires back to you. I hope it continues to work as such. Because there are plenty whom I miss. But I have to be brave. I have to move on, I have to see the beauty in the new as well as the old. But this is part of losing oneself. It means reaching out. It means playing with others. It means having the self-honesty to be myself. I know there's a whole wonderful world outside, waiting for me, full of loving, wonderful people. I just have to engage it. It's easier ...

I have hope sometimes with Trump for the really long game, because in my eyes, his administration has been making the government a satire of itself. My hope is that it sparks the political Eureka we need that we're better off looking to each other to directly provide for the general welfare and mutual defence rather than expecting it from the State. When we demand those things from the State, we look for others to act as a sovereign over us in order to accomplish an end that can only come about through voluntary consensus. We defer our responsibility to enact justice ourselves and thereby attempt to avoid accountability by blaming that sovereign when there are injustices in the world. That's why I believe the more local sovereignty lies, the better, as long as that sovereign is respecting all individuals justly. What breaks my heart most about the world is that we have enough wealth so every one could live with access to food and shelter, yet we haven't figured out how to...

These thoughts were inspired by a selection of quotes from Plato's Republic, in particular, his description of how democratic men become tyrannical men. "Last of all comes the tyrannical man; about whom we have once more to ask, how is he formed out of the democratical? and how does he live, in happiness or in misery?" Our founding fathers and the history of our country has shown that we can apply Reason for the sake of Liberty. We have been flawed the entire time, but we were the first modern people to rid ourselves of the injustice of monarchy. In our Revolution, we rejected the idea of divine-right, of titles and nobility, and replaced them with the authority of property-right. Though the extent of some of those property-rights have been oppressive in their own right, the fact that we rejected the institution of slavery indicates to me that we can correct our property system's flaws. We're still capitalists, but at least our political process has...

I think laws often provide an illusion of fairness which can really only be enacted by those who seek it in their hearts. Unfortunately for us, the rule of money, the market, and law have so far invaded the rule of our consciences that we must all act with complicity in modern economic injustices, or one will be punished. As a Christian, I interpret God's form of fairness and justice as one of mercy and grace. The Golden Rule and Jesus' reminder to not judge lest we be judged are my personal favorite when considering the application of force or violence for the greater good. I have given a lot of thought to applying grace economically through social agreements because I believe a merciful society requires a systematic approach of protecting our rights to access the available means of our survival as well as a fair title to the fruits our labors. The Old Testament describes such merciful justice with the law requiring that the fields (held in common) be harvested in a circle by...