Tag Archives: self ownership

Real Estate Rants

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Since yesterdays ‘rant’ I’m feeling a little bit better but still not in the best of moods. I went to the doctor this morning and at least she seems to understand where I’m coming from. Apparently the doctors are getting blackmailed by the Feds just as bad as the mariners are.

Forced to go to the doctor every 3 months now instead of yearly, or it’s ‘malpractice’? I really don’t see the need to go any more than yearly, but I certainly do understand her need to protect her license. Just like I need to protect mine. We’ve both spent WAY too much time, effort and money to take losing it lightly.

So, my choice now is to be forced to spend $1000’s of extra $$ per year (for nothing), get my medical care in Mexico or retire. Wow, some ‘choice’.

I’ll never understand why so many people think it’s necessary to have someone else force us to live the way ‘they’ want instead of living the life we choose. Does everyone truly believe that every single person other than themselves is just out to rape, rob and kill? That we, along with our friends and neighbors can’t figure out some way to solve our problems without the use of force. That the world will go to hell if we don’t have some other idiot up there running our lives, making all kinds of decisions for us that we should be doing ourselves? That the world would really be worse off it we got rid of the sociopaths we allow to run it now?

I really don’t see how it would be possible to have all these enormous wars without governments. How we would have so many big problems with large corporations without government allowing them and helping them to destroy their competition and grow so powerful. People in small groups usually figure out how to make things work without relying on the use of FORCE. In our society, everywhere, that is what it all comes down to.

Personally, I think most people are just the opposite. They’ll go out of their way to help someone else. If nothing else, they’ll ignore it. That is- IF- they have not been ’empowered’ by some group to stand behind. When people join groups, it’s like they’ve lost their minds. All personal responsibility disappears and ‘it’s not my fault’.

A perfect example: I own some rental property in Freeport, TX. Freeport has been on the downhill slide for decades. When I moved to this area in 1978, Freeport was still a going concern. Other than the major employment opportunities (GOOD JOBS) at all the chemical plants around, there was also plenty of work at the port. There were still lots of shrimp boats working out of Freeport and with their related businesses (fuel, ice, mechanics, groceries, chandleries, hardware stores, bars, restaurants, etc), they brought a LOT of money and other advantages to the town.

Even then Freeport was known to be a little run down, but it still had a lot going for it. It would get pretty lively when the shrimpers were in town. That all ended when the city let their police department run wild.

The cops would go around arresting everyone in sight (and not even in sight- plenty of bars raided without any view from the street) for “public intoxication”. I must’ve paid for at least 2-3 brand new cop cars just with my own fines!

They used to go into all the bars in town and arrest everybody in there. Drinking or not. It was just about impossible to prove you weren’t drunk. It was so much easier to just pay the $53.50 so you could get out of jail and go home.

Well, fishermen may be crazy, but they’re not stupid! A few years of that and they all stopped coming to Freeport. The loss of their business started shutting down a lot of other businesses around town (along with loss of jobs for low skilled workers). The docks shut down, the shipyard closed, the ice houses shut down, the mechanics and fuel docks shut down. Grocery stores lots huge amounts of custom. Most of the bars and restaurants went from booming businesses to barely able to keep their doors open (if they did- many just closed up).

Basically, the out of control cops killed Freeport.

Instead of thinking about this mess they caused, the city fathers decided to double down and have lately been coming out with all kinds of absolutely ridiculous rules and regulations. They want to “improve” Freeport.

Question: Who spends tens of thousands of dollars to buy property so someone ELSE gets to dictate what you can and can’t do with it?

Answer: NO ONE! Everyone who buys property (of any sort) buys it so that THEY can decide what to do with it. They can use it, give it away, sell it, improve it, or not.

Somehow, our ‘educational system’ has bamboozled everyone into imagining that their property value depends on what someone else does with theirs. WRONG! Just think for a minute! If YOU buy something to use it, and someone then takes away your ability to use it, you LOSE value in your property. If YOU can lose value like this, so can your neighbor and everyone else. All it takes is a squeaky wheel. This is NOT the way it’s supposed to work here in America. We’re supposed to have the right to own property (but don’t get me started on property taxes). Just look at the definition of the word…own…

adjective
  1. of, relating to, or belonging to oneself or itself (usually used after a possessive to emphasize the idea of ownership, interest, or relation conveyed by the possessive):

2.  verb (used with object)to acknowledge as one’s own; recognize as having full claim,        authority, power, dominion, etc.:

So, why do people keep falling for this? Because they’re greedy, power-hungry busy bodies that just can’t mind their own business!

Freeport is full of low income people (if they have any work, most are trying to survive on minimum wage jobs). I bought low priced property there, thinking it would be easy to keep those properties rented out. Low costs to buy and repair the properties would help both me and my tenants.

I was able to buy and fix up a property for a reasonable price. Not any more. The Freeport city council passed a bunch of rules that made any repair work 3-4-5 times the cost it was before the rules were passed. I just spent $15,000 to work on a house that originally cost me $4000 for the exact same work before they passed those rules. I guarantee I am not the only person in town who can’t afford to spend that kind of money to keep my property up to someone else’s standards.

And why the hell should I have to bow down and submit to their standards? Who the hell gives them the power to dictate whats right and proper? I sure as hell didn’t and neither did anyone else I know of. Why are their standards any better than MINE? We are all supposed to be equal under the law. That’s in the US Constitution which overrides any city, county or state ‘law’.

And what idiot came up with the idea of making a law out of such a subjective subject anyway? How your property looks to them. LAWS are supposed to be objective! Not subject to the whims of any certain group of people, but obvious and the same to everybody.

Well, Freeport city fathers have decided that they don’t want ‘scum’ like me around. They don’t want any low income people living in their town. They’e flat out come out and said that they will do what is necessary to get rid of us.

Is it really necessary for them to insist that everyone puts in a driveway? That no one can park on the streets anymore, even tho the streets are plainly meant for that? That it’s illegal to park on the grass? In my own yard! That there are very, very few houses in Freeport that already have a big enough driveway to fit more than one car since they were all built long before most people had even one car, much less 2, , 3, 4 that they have now. How many thousands of $$$$$ should a person have to spend to keep up with the Joneses? To keep their property they’ve struggled for years to earn for themselves?

Here’s another one… Freeport has decided to pass a rule that anytime you want to rent a property, they will have to send an inspector (that YOU will be forced to pay for). They will ensure that your property is “fit for human habitation.” Well, damn! I had always assumed I was a human. I thought all my tenants were humans too (maybe 1-2 of them not so much). Who the hell are THEY to determine what kind of living conditions are on offer? That should be between the buyer and the seller, period!

Oh yeah, they won’t allow you to occupy it until you’ve brought it ‘up to code’. Which pretty much means you might as well tear it down and start all over since there is no way you can bring an old house up to modern standards without spending 10 times what the house is worth! Which is their objective.

They’re harassing the hell out of everyone in town who doesn’t measure up to their high standards. Why the HELL should some high on the hog a**hole decide what’s OK and what’s not? Just because they felt like running for city council and I had an actual job to do? Sorry, but in THIS country, we are NOT a democracy, we are a constitutional republic and that means my rights are protected from the majority whims! That was the whole point of the Bill of Rights!

Unless and until what I am doing OBJECTIVElY HARMS someone else, they have NO right to STEAL my property which is exactly what they are doing with their stupid rules!

Is it right that they get to even make these rules, simply by coming up with them at a meeting when most people involved (the huge majority of the people who live in the city) are not even informed of the meeting (oh yeah, its in tiny print in the back of the newspaper that nobody gets), and certainly aren’t able to be there? NO, obviously it is NOT right. It is 100% WRONG! It should not be accepted!

People wonder why there are so many shootings, where ordinary people just seem to lose it? This sort of thing makes it completely clear to me. When a group of people gets together and conspires to STEAL everything you’ve worked for, and you have a slim to none chance of ever being able to get it back. Yeah, I completely understand it.

DON’T tell me I should go ‘vote’! The times when voting mattered for anything are long gone! The politicians have been out of control in this country, from the lowest dog catcher to the highest President of the USA for decades. WHY do we even need them any more?

I’ve said for years, that we DON’T! We would all be a hell of a lot better off throwing the whole lot of them under a rock at the bottom of the stinkiest, slimiest sewer which is where they belong! Program a computer with the Constitution and Bill of Rights and let it throw out any ‘law’, rule or regulation that doesn’t comply. We DON’T need politicians, we DON’T need leaders, we DON’T need ‘authorities’. We NEED to take back control of our OWN lives, liberties and property and we’ll never be able to do that until we stop begging for someone else to ‘take care of things’.

The entire Freeport city council should be run out of town on a rail! AFTER hanging them! For their arrogance, stupidity and just plain meanness.

JusJoJan: Liberty

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Haha! I get to suggest today’s prompt for the Just Jot It January challenge. The word for today is: liberty.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not, but liberty is very important to me. In fact, I completely agree with Patrick Henry when he said “Give me liberty or give me death!”.

I would really rather be dead than to ‘live’ without liberty. I really don’t consider it living if I don’t have the freedom to live my life in the way I choose to. In fact, I consider it a long, drawn out slow death. A death of my creativity, of my happiness, or my loves, of my life. I don’t think I’m out of line at all. In fact, I can quote all kinds of things that show that America was founded to promote liberty and that it is the ONLY legitimate purpose of our (or any) government, is to protect and promote the liberty we all were born with.

Let’s define our terms…

noun, plural liberties.

1. freedom from arbitrary or despotic government or control. 
2. freedom from external or foreign rule; independence. 
3. freedom from control, interference, obligation, restriction, hampering conditions, etc.; power or right of doing, thinking, speaking, etc., according to choice.

 

Looking at that definition, can anyone seriously argue that we have NOT lost most of our liberty in the United States over the last few years? How many people can read the Declaration of Independence or the Bill of Rights and argue that they do NOT argue for the liberty of all men (and pleeease remember the times they were written in)?

How can a country specifically formed ONLY to protect our natural rights (liberty) turn around to such a degree? To the point where that government, formed ONLY to protect our liberty instead spends all its time (and our money) to violate our liberties every chance it gets?

I’m perfectly aware that most people couldn’t care less about the loss of liberty we’ve suffered in the United States over the last few decades (and increasingly since 9/11). I hear from  almost everyone that they don’t care what anyone does to them as long as ‘it keeps them safe”.

Really? Safety is all important? I don’t think the people who say that have really considered what they’re saying when they say that. After all, liberty is not really the sort of thing you can divide up. You’re either free or you’re not. It’s like you’re only a little bit pregnant. No, you either are or you’re not. You either own your own life or you don’t! If you don’t, then someone else must and you have become a slave.

Government is nothing but the monopolized use of force. If you study how governments came about, that’s very obvious to see. When you give up any of your powers to the government, you are ‘agreeing’ that they have the right to use force against you (whether you agree to it or not). And (they say) you don’t have the right to protect yourself against it!

At this point, we have given up almost all of our freedom. All of our liberty. We have very, very little of our natural rights left that we can exercise fully. You think I’m exaggerating? Try going to a law library and taking a look at the Federal Register!

Hundreds of thousands of pages of incomprehensible legalese. Shelves of big fat books full of ‘laws’ we’re all supposed to know and obey. How could that possibly equal freedom?

George Orwell wrote 1984 as a warning, not as a roadmap. But left him choking  in the dust by 1985! Our ‘big brother’ doesn’t only keep an eye on us from our home TV sets, he tracks our every move through our cell phones! He uses the EZ pass (toll roads) to keep track of where we go in our vehicles. He can tell our habits through tracking our spending on our credit/debit cards. He can get all kinds of information through our ‘smart’ devices. He’s already testing driverless (completely controlled by government) cars. And we can’t fly anywhere anymore without government permission (TSA)!

Big brother has already convinced fearful parents to chip not only their pets, but their kids and their parents! Scientists have already invented pills that inform your doctors if you take them or not. Soon they will report all your health information. Cashless societies are on the way, where every dollar you spend will be tracked (to cut down on tax cheats).

Just think of how the government controls everything now a days. What, if anything, don’t they have their hands in? They regulate the food you eat, the drugs you take, the doctors you can talk to about your health issues. Oh yeah, they also regulate what your doctors can say (and your churches if they want to remain tax free which is a form of coercion).

Free speech? Not so much any more with all the ‘political correctness’ BS going around. If I like Trump for one thing, I do love him for the fact that he is most definitely NOT PC!  They regulate the amount of water you can use to flush your toilet and the type of light bulbs you can use in your house (forcing dangerous mercury filled bulbs to replace previous incandescent bulbs).

Think you can choose what jobs you’d like to work at? Nope, big brother is enforcing hundreds of regulations restricting the rights of people who choose to work in professions as diverse as hair braiders, to animal massagers, to interior designers, to merchant marines. They’ve manipulated most businesses in the country to coerce us into submitting to giving up our rights to be free from unreasonable search and seizure. Do you call it freedom to be forced to beg permission from the government in order to go to work?

I don’t! I don’t call it freedom because it ISN’T!

Think you can just pick up and leave? “If you don’t like it here, you can just go back to where you came from?” Well, I would if I could, but I came from HERE! I grew up in the good ol’ USA. I believe 100% in the principles this country was founded on “LIBERTY and justice for all!”.

I believe everyone, everywhere in the world SHOULD be able to exercise those same liberties we here in America are promised. But the fact is, America is the only country, anywhere, ever in the history of the world to form specifically in order to promote and protect the individual rights of all of us.

I wish the American people would wake up and take back our freedom before its too late. I don’t think we have much time left to turn things around.

Sorry to all the democrats who think its all Trumps fault. Or the republicans who blame it all on Obama. Fact is, it’s ALL of our political ‘leaders’ fault! And ours, for continuing to believe that any politician from either of the mainstream parties will ever change anything!  For the last 100 years (at least), they’ve ALL conspired to strip us of our liberties and give themselves more power and control.

It’s sad how easily they manipulate us. They keep us divided and fighting over such stupidities as the word “shithole” and how many ‘illegal’ votes were counted. It’s time to stop wasting our time fighting each other and come to understand who we really SHOULD be fighting. Look beyond the party lines. I can promise you, you will find the same people are running things on both sides.

There is nothing to be gained by continuing to support these political parties who want nothing more than continued CONTROL. I want my freedom back! Do you?

TownHall Tonight

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Someone had posted on the Brazoria County Libertarian Facebook page that they were having a Townhall watching party tonight in Cypress (a LONG drive from here). I figured why not have one locally- actually in Brazoria County. So I put up a post to have one at my house.

Last minute posting yesterday, so didn’t have many people reply, but a couple of people did show up and we had a nice time listening to the candidates answer the questions from the audience- and talking about how they might have done better.

We just got done watching tonights TownHall on CNN. I was really surprised to see they were having Gary Johnson and Bill Weld from the Libertarian Party on there. It’s extremely rare for any 3rd party to have any television coverage for any reason (except to diss them). To see them on CNN was a huge improvement over past elections and gives me hope that maybe more people will be able to learn that we DO actually have choices in November.

They did have the Libertarians debate on the Stossel show a couple of weeks ago (Fox Business News channel). I was shocked to see that. It was well worth watching and really great to see political debates where they stuck to the issues instead of just trying to tear down their opponents. I was happy to see them on TV, even if it was on a station not many people watch.

I hope this is a sign of things to come. I really can’t stand either Trump or Hillary. I think a lot of people feel the same way. I know a lot of people just don’t ever get to find out about their other choices until it’s too late. I’m hoping this will change this time and people will get to hear ALL the alternatives.

Personally, I think the Republicans and Democrats have had over 100 years to fix things and all they’ve ever done is make them worse. Far as I’m concerned we NEED a change! A REAL change! I’ve already decided who I’ll be voting for and it’s Gary Johnson. 🙂

I think the reason Trump is doing so well is simply because SO many people are just sick to death of politics and all the usual BS that goes along with it. All the political correctness, all the mean spiritness, all the lies, and the fact that all the candidates are DC insiders. Trump is doing so well because he’s NOT an insider. Well, neither is Gary and he makes a lot more sense than Trump does on a lot of issues.

 

I think a lot of Americans are actually Libertarians, they just don’t know it. Try taking the Worlds Smallest Political Quiz and see where you wind up. I’d be interested to hear your results.

Did you already know about the alternative candidates? Where did you hear about them? What do you think? Are you happy with the 2 main parties or think we need some new blood? Did you know about the LP debates on Stossel or the Townhall tonight? Did you watch either of them? If so, what did you think? What do you think about libertarian principles in general?

Here’s a previous post about what I think. And another look at one of my favorite videos explaining the basics. 😉

https://youtu.be/jpfjuj99xg4

Let me know what you think about all this. Yeah, really. I’m not afraid of a little politics on here. 😉

Self Ownership

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This (principle of self ownership) is what I was referring to in my earlier post (treasure).Yes, I REALLY DO treasure freedom and individual liberty above everything else.

Please watch the little video and let me know what you think. I’d appreciate hearing your objections (if any).

Also any thoughts on why you think we have (as a society) come SO far from this principle.

Thanks. 🙂

Are You on a Government Watch List?

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  • I’m sure I’m on at least one. 😉

The World’s Fastest Failure

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The World’s Fastest Failure | Laissez-Faire Bookstore.

Great article by Jeffrey Tucker about Obamacare and why it is such a huge failure (at least a failure if you don’t think Obama was trying to ruin the country on purpose- there are plenty who DO think that and they have some good reasons).

It’s true that this program has degenerated faster than the rest of them. Maybe it’s just because its SO big? Maybe it’s just because people are waking up? Maybe it’s because some people actually understand economics and that Obamacare can NEVER work and they’ve been able to make some progress informing others? Maybe it’s just because government has already taken over so much of the economy already? Maybe it’s just that people are sick and tired of government encroaching on our freedom?

Mr Tucker compares the government to a start-up company which has to compete in the market. He shows why government can NEVER be successful in the markets. It’s just their nature and can’t be avoided. He doesn’t think Obamacare will ever be repealed. Instead it will just collapse eventually under its own weight. I hope not, I hope it will be repealed before it collapses and also takes down the rest of the country (and us) with it. 🙁

Its worth reading and thinking about it.

 

 

How To Be a Slave –

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How To Be a Slave –.

A friend forwarded me an email a few days ago that had this post in it.Tonight I read it and I was like, oh yeah, GOOD stuff here…

I might nit- pick a little bit on his numbers, but the truth is, he is absolutely correct. Those of us who are still working for somebody else ARE basically slaves. Most people never think of it that way. I never really thought too much about the employer part of it, which is why I say I have some small issues with his numbers. But I’ve been aware of the fact that I am a slave to the government for a long time now.

Yes, he is right. The government takes between 40-50% of your income. I will argue with that and say it is even more. Just to be nice, lets say it’s ‘only’ 40%. OK, if some bandit held you up on the street and told you that they would take 40% of everything you earned for the next 50 years of your life would you think he was turning you into a slave?

Yes, right, he DID just turn you into a slave. Having the government do the same thing, means that you are a slave to them instead of just a single robber. Whooo- hooo! Big deal! OK, so now we know we are all slaves to the government, lets look at what Mr Altucher says about your employer.

I’ve been working with temp agencies for the last couple of years. In this capacity, it is very explicit that exactly what Mr Altucher is saying is true about the employer/employee relationship. I get a day rate when my company sends me out to work for a client. That client pays my employer a LOT more money then my employer pays me. Yes, it’s VERY clear! The money I (and everybody else working as temps there) earn has to pay for the entire upkeep of the company!

It works the same way at EVERY company. If you are not worth a certain amount of money to them, they’ll either not hire you, fire you, or just pay you less. The arguments going on (again) about minimum wage are very relevant here.

I LOVE what he says about owning your time, owning your work, owning the value you create for others! This is very basic stuff. This is at the bottom of all my political beliefs- SELF ownership.

I want to find out how to break free. I’ve been trying to for a long time now but just by following the usual paths. Work hard, save money, buy a house, etc…. it’s just taking too long. Now I understand more about why that is. OK, yeah, if 90% of what I earn is being taken from me before I even see it, then yeah, I can see why I can’t break free. 🙁

In the article, he mentions a book but he didn’t give a name. I looked Mr James Altucher up on www.amazon.com and found out he has a few books. I am assuming it is the one called “Choose Yourself!”. I just downloaded it for my kindle. It’s only $2.99!

I can hardly wait to read it! 🙂