I Don't Just Think I'm Right, I Know I Am!

by Mike Wasdin  

I have people ask me all the time, “How do you know you are right?” I have been giving that a lot of thought lately. I thought it might be a good idea to look at the questions one by one to determine if my philosophy may be flawed.  

Freedom: People are born with a sense of freedom. From the time we are born, we are continuously fighting to get more freedom. When we are young, we strive to adopt our own unique personality. As we grow older and move into our adolescence, we try to show that we are not kids, and try very hard to be treated as adults. As we enter our teens, things like driving, dating, and being able to spend the night away from our parents’ house all become major things as we try to prove our independence. We cannot wait to become 18, because that is the magical age when we will finally be considered an adult, and have the same freedoms as every other adult. The will to be free is in us all, and it never dies. To disagree is to instead desire to be a slave.

Property: An adult should be the unquestionable owner of all his or her rightfully owned property, and as such he or she is sovereign. To deny this means that you are giving another person or entity a higher claim to your property than yourself. If you are the rightful owner, then you have the right to do whatever you desire with your property, as long as what you do does not trespass the rights of another sovereign human being. You have the right to rent or sell your property without the consent of an outside coercive (government) entity. All legal contracts entered into by consenting adults should be considered legal and no one else’s business!

Rights: An adult has the right to treat his or her property in any manner he or she chooses, as long as it does not affect another sovereign human being’s right. This would include anything, even if it might not be in your best interest. No one has the right to tell you that you cannot eat, drink, smoke, ingest, view or think anything, so long as it does not abuse the rights of another. Others can try to persuade you that what you are doing is not in your best interest, but in the end you have the final say about your property.

Wealth: People have the right to keep the fruits of their labor. No other person or entity has the right to take in part or in whole the fruits of their labor. To think otherwise would make you nothing more than a slave. For someone to steal all or part of your money is common theft, nothing more, even if it’s for a really good cause! If I were to walk up to you on the street and take your wallet, and remove 20 of the 40 dollars you had inside and leave you the rest, would I be any less of a thief? Would it make a difference if I told you it was going to a good cause? You can most certainly ask someone to donate to your cause, but never at the barrel of a gun. To deny this would mean you condone theft.

Beliefs: Adults have the right to believe whatever they want, no matter how silly it may be. This does not give them the right to not be offended if their belief seems funny to others. This includes religious, political, and sexual beliefs. No other person should be able to deny rights to another person based on his or her beliefs. The world is full of crazy ideas.  If you don’t approve, you do not have to participate, but you cannot keep others from doing so just because you don’t like it. If drugs offend you, then I would suggest you don’t use them. If nudity offends you, don’t go to a nude beach. If you do not approve of gay marriage, don’t marry a gay person. You do not have the right to tell others how to live their lives, no matter how obscene or ungodly you deem it to be.

Morality: Morality is subjective and therefore has no set standard. What you may feel is immoral may seem perfectly fine to me. If you find pornography immoral, don’t watch it. If certain sexual acts offend you, don’t do them. You can change the channel, close your eyes or leave the room, but it’s none of your business what other adults chose to do as long as it does not violate the rights of others. You have no right to decide for others what should be immoral. It’s YOUR god, they are YOUR rules, so YOU burn in hell!

Legality: There are no such things as crimes which do not involve a victim. These are called “fake crimes.” No crime has been committed by someone for merely smoking a substance which the State has deemed “evil.” By the same token, things that are illegal are not always immoral and vice versa. The State can never be a victim since the State is not a person. It is impossible to commit a crime against something which does not exist, so there could never be any crimes suggesting that the State has been harmed as in, “The State vs. ________.” All fake crimes should be immediately rescinded; no victim, no crime!

War and Peace: It is always wrong to initiate force. Just because you have more money and resources, that does not mean you are right. You should never be able to coerce others just because you have bigger bombs. What gives one sovereign entity the right to enforce its views on another sovereign entity? It is nothing more than arrogance to think that because you are a superpower, others should have to follow your rules. To attack another unprovoked is the work of a bully. This does not mean that I do not believe in self-defense, but shouldn’t there at least be an act of aggression on your property, before the initiation of force? If you don’t bother others, chances are they will not bother you.

I don’t know how anyone could deny these truths? Only a sheep could do such a thing, because to do so is to admit that you are a slave. I knew when I first adopted this philosophy that it just made sense, and it still does today.

I have given careful consideration to my philosophies in the areas mentioned above, and after careful consideration, I have decided that I don’t just think I am right, I know I am!