John deLaubenfels' Columns
Dissecting Boldrin and Levine: An Alternate View of Intellectual Property
"I can't help but wonder whether most opposition to IP protection comes from people who have produced nothing of value and who feel entitled to steal from anybody who has. That kind of attitude represents, to my mind, the decay of society, the equivalent of governments believing they are entitled to tax without limit from the productive because of the alleged 'need' of recipients for the stolen loot." Column by John deLaubenfels.
"If someone's goal is a life in which he is free to do anything he likes, while still being paid, I have bad news: That option is not available to anyone by any means, outside the kleptocracy of government. However your earn your bread, those who pay you will 'interfere' in your life by giving or withholding their money according to their own standards of what is important." Column by John deLaubenfels.
" In a perfect society what... would be the proper penalty for a woman who gets an abortion?" Column by John deLaubenfels.
My Personal Declaration of Independence
"I have no burning desire to incinerate that scrap of cloth or any other, but on the day a law or Constitutional amendment goes into effect banning flag burning, I will burn the flag, not once but many times. Any nation which passes such an asinine law DESERVES to have its flag burned." Column by John deLaubenfels.
Suggestions for Healthy Living
Recommended In the face of incipient desperation. Column by John deLaubenfels.
"Rockwell is right, of course, to say that the pharmaceutical industry is in bed with the government in various ways, and we share the goal of eliminating that corrupt relationship. But I think he's on the wrong track in calling for an elimination of patent (or some similar) protection for new drugs." Column by John deLaubenfels.
"Surely if we can take on the difficulty of adjudicating killings on a case-by-case basis, we can also take on IP without asserting that it must cover either everything or nothing." John deLaubenfels responds to his anti-IP critics.
Long Live Intellectual Property Rights!
"Some forms of intellectual property are much easier to steal than the source code of my example program, especially if I offer only enhancement services. But the fact that it is easier does not make it any more legitimate. Theft made easy is not theft made moral." Column by John deLaubenfels.
"As others have said, it is not drug addiction, but drug war addiction, that afflicts the United States. A solid majority of Americans are complete and total drug war addicts, and, like all addicts, are paranoid and defensive at the slightest mention that their addiction might be causing harm rather than good." Column by John deLaubenfels.
Ike Skelton, Capitol Hill Genius
"Do I like Communist governments? Hell no! Not any more than I like governments made up of thugs like George W. Bush. Both claim to represent justice and liberty, and both in reality represent theft and tyranny. But the fact that I don't like a government half way around the world does not empower me to use my own government in an attempt to overthrow it." Column by John deLaubenfels.
"I have to say to the families in Hinesville and elsewhere, that you would better serve your loved ones if you stopped pretending that the Iraq war was justified, and stopped pretending that Bush and his cronies are good, decent human beings. The longer you hide in self-willed ignorance, the more likely you will live to see your son, husband, daughter, or wife come home in a body bag." John deLaubenfels is back!
"We f***ed up. We thought it would be a cakewalk, and we thought people would welcome us. It's not a cakewalk, and no one is welcoming us. Even if those original fantasies had been true, we would have no right to invade another nation on such a flimsy pretext. Now that those pipe-dreams have proven completely false, we have all the more reason, from both a moral and practical standpoint, to get the hell out." Column by John deLaubenfels.
John deLaubenfels compares the infobabes on CNN and the BBC.
"Now we're reaping the fruits of our arrogance. Now it's OUR boys who are in chains, now it's someone ELSE's television networks showing pictures of them." Column by John deLaubenfels.
'The Time For Debate Has Ended'
"A question for the CNN commentator and others who think 'The time for debate has ended.' Is this the advice you would give German citizens as Hitler pushed the button and invaded Czechoslovakia? Or Poland? Or France? 'Just shut up and rally behind your leader, like a good little Citizen!'" Column by John deLaubenfels.
"Democracy has nothing to do with how to live one's life, or how to act toward others. I shop at the grocery store I choose, not one that a majority has imposed upon everyone. I earn money by offering my services to a willing employer, not by being elected by a majority to a position where my salary is assured. I ponder the question of what to put into my own body without asking a majority of my neighbors for permission. And I expect that my neighbors will make their own decisions on these and thousands of other questions relevant to their own lives." A good column by John deLaubenfels.
"The fact that invading Iraq (or North Korea, or any other country) is certain to multiply the terrorist threat against U.S. citizens, bothers Bush not at all. We may have no protection, but he and his friends do, paid for by us, so he has no worries. Isn't that a wonderful irony? We pay for Bush's platoons of bodyguards so that he can act with impunity and put OUR lives in danger. What a system!" Column by John deLaubenfels.
"Martin Luther King Jr. had it exactly right when he called upon us to judge each other on the basis of character, not skin hue. For decades, the CBC, and other supposed 'followers,' have betrayed his dream completely....It would be less hypocritical, and less harmful, to disavow Dr. King altogether, rather than pretend to be his torch-bearer while marching relentlessly in the opposite direction." Column by John deLaubenfels.
"When
you drive a people into hopelessness and desperation, you not only make
them angry, you make them feel they have nothing to lose. When you
will not listen to their grievances, you convince them that killing
people on your side, anyone at all that they can get their hands on, is
the only way to make you listen.
An excellent idea by John deLaubenfels.
"I'm all for knowing the risks of consuming too much, or too little, of any particular substance, but I insist upon deciding for myself what goes into my body. What could possibly be more basic to a free human being than making such decisions for himself? What more certain mark of slavery is there, than allowing someone else to dictate, 'Eat that! DON'T eat the other!'" Column by John deLaubenfels.
Random Numbers: The Next Menace
"Therefore, it is my prediction that an upcoming act, named something like USASafeNow, demanded by a fear-mongering president, passed by a complicit Congress...will outlaw the introduction of random data into images or music. Random numbers will become, in effect, illegal to possess or distribute." Column by John deLaubenfels.
"It is not proper to call for anyone's murder; only arrogant thugs do so. Bush has revealed himself to be the moral equivalent of the Muslim goons who have called for Salman Rushdie's death." Column by John deLaubenfels.
"Let's have a little lesson in civics, shall we, Mr. Lott? This country was created in the flame of liberty, with an understanding of the vital importance of freedom of speech, especially in the political realm. To tell someone who is adding to a very important debate, the results of which will have long-lasting and far-reaching consequences for good or evil, to 'come home and keep your mouth shut,' is, well, it's un-American. It is the exact antithesis of the principles upon which this nation was founded." Column by John deLaubenfels.
"Perhaps...Jose Padilla doesn't seem like much of a big deal. But, to my view, his case is a very big deal. One could even say, as Padilla goes, so goes the nation. If they can come for the Padillas with impunity, no American citizen will be safe. No, not even you chest-thumping neocon chickenhawks." Column by John deLaubenfels.
"Unfortunately, Bush is in power today, and he does have nukes, and he is talking about using them to purify the world, by fire, until it reaches his own fantasy of oil-glutted perfection (or until he's decided he's killed enough)." Column by John deLaubenfels.
Slave Reparations: A Practical Question
"Clearly, a yes/no answer is unfair. We need proportions in order to do this right. So, the average black should be taxed at 30% of what a pure white would be, for his 30% white genes, then get 70% of what a non-mixed black person would get. Right? And we'll all need to have our DNA tested and evaluated, to get the exact, official, United States Government Certified ratio of white/black assigned to each of us." Column by John deLaubenfels.
"Poor little Shrub Bush, destined for the scrap heap of history. I could reserve a small amount of pity for you, if I did not pity the innocent victims of your monstrous actions so much more." Column by John deLaubenfels.
"The shameful secret of the criminalization of prostitution is that it is perpetrated by people who have a perverted fear of sex. It's not a crime to be sick, but it IS a crime to parlay your sickness into meddling into the lives of other human beings. Butt out!" Column by John deLaubenfels.
"Apparently, the only thing Padilla could POSSIBLY be charged with would be a 'thought crime;' in other words, no crime at all. But that's irrelevant, isn't it? It's very clear why he was grabbed and used: Ugly Ashcroft was under considerable heat for having been incompetent before 9-11....As the heat turned up, he needed a diversion. Helloooo, Padilla!" Column by John deLaubenfels.
"All that is required for digital TV to flourish is for the government to butt the heck OUT. Every action it takes is going to cost us money and reduce our available choices." Column by John deLaubenfels.
Pregnancy, Abortion and Child Support
"It would be ideal if, every time two fertile people have sex, they first agree what will happen if a pregnancy results." Column by John deLaubenfels.
"Charging around the world bombing and shooting people to effect 'regime changes' is not a legitimate reason for starting wars, however. I don't care how many sorry excuses for men like Bush, Cheney, Ashcroft, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, et al pretend otherwise. Their pages in history are already poised to be written in the chapter about mass murderers." Column by John deLaubenfels.
Column by John deLaubenfels.
John deLaubenfels says that at least in the private sector, if you don't like them, you don't have to pay for them.
John deLaubenfels describes one way that the free market might solve the Spam problem.
"OK, Walters, visualize this: My left hand is holding a panoply of a dozen or more illegal drugs. My right hand is giving you the one-finger salute. Now complete the picture by imagining what I'm saying." Column by John deLaubenfels.
"To those who advocate reinstating the draft, I would urge every one to volunteer yourselves, rather than asking someone else to go out and get shot for whatever cause you have in mind. There is a word for anybody who would compel another to die on his behalf: murderer." Column by John deLaubenfels.
"It strikes me that we need to try to put a little fear back into the goons' hearts." Column by John deLaubenfels.
"I am convinced that the nation would be very well served if every public school were to disband THIS SUMMER, and sell their land and classrooms to the highest bidder, with next fall's classes completely up for grabs, whatever the market might offer, and with no coercive taxation used to support schools of any kind." Column by John deLaubenfels.
The Morality of Capital Punishment
"I would insist upon this distinction: There are many who deserve to die, but I do not deserve to kill." A great column by John deLaubenfels.
"Without in any way compromising our own individual unique visions of the perfect society, I urge all of us to keep in careful perspective the extent to which others are our allies." Column by John deLaubenfels.
"There is a term for what this nation has become: Police State. The rules are simple: You do your job as usual, and go home at night. If a knock on the door reveals men who have come for you, you go quietly, without protest. You don't blather on about 'rights;' that's unpatriotic. You trust your leaders, and never question their motives. Is that clear, little citizen?" Column by John deLaubenfels.
"When a nation starts a war to effect a 'regime change,' it is engaging in murder on a massive scale. The morality, if anything, can only be worse than killing one's neighbor to prevent an alleged crime-to-be." An excellent column by John deLaubenfels. I would love to find out what percentage of these neocon armchair generals have ever put their own lives on the line by serving in the military. I'll bet virtually all of them had "other priorities" like Dick Cheney.
The Upcoming Violence in San Francisco
"So listen up, government goons: If you treat adult citizens as if they were herd animals, to be directed in arbitrary and brutal ways, they will eventually conclude that violence is the only option left to enforce their natural right to self-determination. And they will act on that conclusion." Column by John deLaubenfels.
Let the State enablers know you don't approve of their conduct. Column by John deLaubenfels.
"It is time that society begins to cast shame upon the foot soldiers of the drug war. Whatever the evils of drugs themselves...the prosecution of the drug war is evil magnified many times over." Column by John deLaubenfels.
Shrub Junior Lectures Fidel Castro
An outstanding column by John deLaubenfels.
John deLaubenfels responds to Paul Hein's column "Tolerance Be Damned!".
Killing For Peace: An Oxymoron
Someone needs to help Israel get a clue, says John deLaubenfels.
Don't let the government read your stuff, says John deLaubenfels.
John deLaubenfels on the double standard for freedom of association.
A Freedom Lover's Rant Against the Almighty State
New Root Striker John deLaubenfels covers a lot of topics in this rant.