Pre New Year’s thoughts on libertarianism.
On this day before New Years, I wanted to re-ponder a counterpoint to an old anti-collectivist, libertarian argument. Basically, the argument goes that as soon as your born, you own yourself. You are essentially the first piece of private property you own and that you are inherently a free being entitled to the rights any free person is granted as a private entity.
Funny thing is, it’s easily countered by the fact that this declaration is completely incorrect. You don’t own yourself when you are born. Your parents own you! They own your ass until your old enough to understand and bear the responsibilities of a human being with individual freedoms. Henceforth, the liberties libertarians loves to spout off about is impossible without the collective protection and guidance of the family unit, among other social structures people have put in place over the course of generations.
Today’s lesson: Freedom is not the absence of repression. Oh, and Ron Paul is for losers.
Update: A shoutboxer pointed out a major mistype which I just fixed. “Without” was “with”. Good catch! 
January 5th, 2009 at 10:54 AM
Sam, nobody, regardless of age, has owned themselves for centuries. Consider the 17th century executions of people who took part in duels in France. The government decides when you put your life at risk, not you.
January 7th, 2009 at 9:42 AM
There’s always a choice…. owning one’s self isn’t about the things you have no control over in the bigger picture, but just the opposite! The small things that you do control in everyday life are the things that really affect and impact life. You may not be able to decide when you put your life in danger but damn sure can decide how your going to get through it and take the necessary actions to insure that the outcome is one of YOUR choosing!
January 9th, 2009 at 8:39 AM
@anton: Someone or something else always hold some level of control over us. Absolute freedom’s overrated imo.
@jeffs: I like believing in balance and believing to some extent that I’m my brother’s keeper. There is of course, the other extremity of that worldview, which hands out money no-strings, to grossly overcompensated fat finance fucks like was done not too long ago.