A Note to Purist and Extremist: Get Over Yourself

I'm so fed up with Purism from all sides. The socialist, the statist, the progressives, the anarchists and yes, even the libertarians are trying to shove their version of morality down everyone else's throats. Seriously, get over yourselves and take some lessons in moral humility.

I'm sharing a post that I wrote on my Facebook page, which I think anyone who thinks they are right and anyone else is wrong, needs to read. This is for everyone on all sides (yes, including me too):

"No, you cannot regulate away all the bad things in life that you don't like or don't want to see anymore. 

The more you try, the more problems you create, which are often worse than the original problem. Just think about Monsanto, GMO, Chemo, Vaccines, Petroleum, Junk Food, Zika Bugs, Aspartame, Pharmaceuticals, the War on Drugs, the Prohibition, Bison, Wolves, Bullfrogs, Rome, etc... There's plenty of proof throughout our history to show that the more you try to control something, the more messed up problems you create, especially when you try to control things that humans do, and especially through any sort of one sized fits all central governance. It CANNOT be done. How many times are we going to try the same things over and over again with the same shitty results before you see just how insane it is?

Likewise, for those of you on the opposite end of the purism spectrum, NO you cannot just take away every single law or guideline we have in place and expect the world to turn into this happy happy rainbow utopia. It's no better than the progressive socialist utopia and more importantly, it's no more viable than their agenda. While yes, I believe that MOST (not all) ppl are generally good and will generally make the right decisions, that doesn't mean we can ignore our dark sides. We have them, they are there and they're not likely to be going anywhere anytime soon. Some of them are really really bad and since ppl are so fickle and often anally retentive when it comes to their views of right and wrong, you cannot just assume that peer pressure, voluntary association and harsh words will take care of all of the nations problems. It won't, no matter how many stars you wish upon or hoe many people you belittle. There does need to be some basic lines drawn on issues we can all agree upon, and yes, they should be enforced on a federal level, even if it's only to say that each state or city needs to come up with ways to handle these issues that without exception are not permitted. Things like malicious murder, rape, involuntary slavery and child pornography. There's no getting around that those things are WRONG. You can split hairs all you want, it won't change that they are wrong and 99.9% of ppl agree that there should be strong consequences for things like that.

Additionally, while there are so many things that the government has it's sticky hands in that it shouldn't, that you're never going to gain traction with 85% of the world if your idea of "fixing" things is to dismantle every rule, law or institution that you believe are infringing on your rights, especially if you want that immediately. Yes, many of them need to be dismantled, but it's not going to happen over night or even within a four year term. Yes, we can make headway, but there are so many things to deal with and they are tangled up in codes, other laws and more importantly, the majorities views and concerns. You're never going to get any of these ppl to even consider your vision, if they believe your going to dismantle everything that they believe protects them. It might not really be protecting them from anything, but that doesn't matter if they Believe that it does.

We all have to find ways to work WITH each other, not AGAINST each other. Purism in any form is Extremism. It's this sort of nonsense that keeps us divided and keeps us from both being truly free and achieving true social progress.

Look for ways to be an ally to those with different views than yours, not an enemy. Accept that your way might not be the right way in all situations. Look for ways to solve problems with more freedom FIRST, but accept that sometimes that's not going to be the best resolution at that time. Don't jump to the gun whenever something bad happens. No one is perfect and we're all trying to do the best that we can with the knowledge and resources we have the moment. Trying to use laws to create equality, safety and wealth are oxymoronic. Look to them last, after you personally, have gotten your hands dirty trying to solve those problems yourself. And even if you find there's no way to solve today problems without resorting to legislation, don't expect that legislation to solve the problem and certainly don't expect that MORE legislation will make it any better. It's up to us to care for each other and as long as we rely on the invisible fist of the government to do for us, we'll never actually resolve or achieve anything.

This election season, do your best make friends, especially with ppl who might not see eye to eye with you. Don't be a dick, and remember that there really are no enemies. There are no wrong ways. There are just different ways, with varying degrees of acceptance and effectiveness. Once you stop trying to fight with your allies, you might actually be able to change the system.

Until then, complain, cry, belittle, argue and stand on your high moral ground all you want. You'll be standing alone."