Just to clarify some things...
No.
Basically, I don't support chanting and parading to change people's mind. In fact, there seems to exist no proof that chanting and parading has ever changed people's mind, especially about this subject.
One could claim that this needs to be done to show that people out there support one of these sides. Do not worry, though -- we all know you exist. No doubt has ever crept across anyone's mind that one of these sides is unsupported.
So shut up already.
I don't get to make decisions about womens' bodies; the best I can do is support their decisions.
d00dz! i 4m A 133+ h4x0r n AnArChIsT!!!!!1!!!
Yes, I know that is not what Anarchy is. Tell that to everyone else.
So, great, I support the idea that society rules itself well enough to not need laws, and I support the idea of full equality, and I support the idea of an economy based on actual stuff instead of little green pieces of paper. I am your stereotypical real Anarchist — except for the fact that I do not care. That is right — not one ounce of thought or caring will go into convincing others that this is the way to believe because I do not give a damn.
There is no one way to do anything; get over it and move on with life.
I read this, in part, as young me being frustrated with the dual meaning of the word "anarchy": the word describing a governmental organization practice, and the word describing chaos. Winners write history, afterall.
There's another thing I read into this, years later: a young man trying to figure out coolness and masculinity and its demand on looking like you're not trying. That caring is uncool. Actual anarchy, in practice, takes work. Just the revolution alone requires someone cleaning dishes. Much of the work is domestic or emotional labor; try convincing a nerdy boy trying to find his way in a space where "gay" is the ultimate insult that the best thing he can do in the name of anarchism is to learn how to sew, cook, clean, and have empathy.
Some people make the mistake of believing that since I support freedoms for most anything, but especially Free Software, then I must support the idea of Free Speech. Oddly enough, no. I do not want to hear you and will support almost any law that shuts you up.
There is, however, one reason for me not to be vocal about this: it could be used against me. I talk too much about things no one wants to hear -- if there were no freedom of speech then this would not happen and I would be an unhappy person, to put it mildly. Thus, Free Speech stays; this is not your excuse to talk, however. Shut up.
This was the first time I questioned the US Constitution; up until this point I took it as obvious that it was a perfect document, handed down by the infallible Founding Fathers for us to follow unchanged and unquestioned.
While I don't stand by my angsty reasoning, I do stand by the fundamental idea: free speech as we know it in the USA is a little off.
I recently received many emails about this, at least one of which had a valid point: this essay sucks. The underlying thesis is non-obvious, perhaps non-existant, and all it does is make me look like a hippy. So, I don't support this essay anymore.
Let us consider what a gun is used for:
Okay, and that is a protected right ... why?
Arms are used for only killing; killing is illegal; guns should be illegal. Making them legal is giving a piece of candy to a five-year-old and telling this child not to eat it.
So you use your gun for hunting sport; good, you're a piece of shit—stop killing Bambi. So you use your gun for protection; good, you have no idea how you would react during a crisis and are endangering yourself by leaving the gun available. So you use your gun for recreational shooting; good, find something better to do.
I like that I didn't actually back down from a stance but instead admitted that the writing is not very good. And in retrospect I wasn't wrong, but I sure was lacking nuance.
I also like the idea of Everything2 being something better to do.
Man had always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much… the wheel, New York, wars, and so on, whilst all the dolphins had ever done was muck about in the water having a good time. But conversely the dolphins believed themselves to be more intelligent than man for precisely the same reasons.
Douglas Adams, The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy
This comes as a consistent surprise: I dislike the very idea of technology. The very idea of us progressing and inventing things makes me sad and queasy.
We have not advanced ourselves, only our surrounding world. We cannot control our own advancements — computers grow more complex by the day; atomic bombs threaten every nation; cars crash and kill someone by the hour; heck, people have to write computer programs to choose their sneakers for them!
And our advancements only destroy the surrounding world: pollution runs amuck in the streets and galaxy; the ozone layer has a humongous hole in it; guns kill off entire species and civilizations; computers cause air and noise pollution.
Thus, I dislike technology and all it has done for us.
I don't disagree.
That said, these advancements have helped us all live longer and has helped disabled people live with more respect.
