Libertarian Commentary #16-19C, by Nathan Barton

American “society” and “civilization” are changing before our eyes, and the changes are not pretty. Part of this is the increasing urbanization and “uber-urbanization” (pun intended) of the Fifty States. Those who live in the upper-class areas and the suburban zones of the great conurbations just do not care about, and do not understand, the rest of the nation; not the small cities and towns, not the rural areas, and especially not the frontier areas where the population is less than 5 per square mile (people, not cows) – and indeed in many areas in which I live, work, and travel, less than 1 person per mile. In addition, what many people call a post-christian civilization (and which many others call an amoral or immoral society), means that more and more, the actions of small numbers of people in our society (not just in private but in public) are not just distasteful to a significant number of people, but are disgusting, sickening, and seen as threatening to themselves and their families, and indeed, harbingers of the rapid collapse of society. These small numbers of people include the 1/10 of 1% of humans who are “transgender” and the 1-2% who are homosexual, the 1/10th of 1% who are thuggish and brutal “law enforcement officers” and the 1/100th of 1% who are “celebrities” because of their looks or musical or other “talents.” But in a society built around groupthink and the state, it is these tiny minorities who drive the train: who dictate “acceptable” cultural “norms” and who corrupt and coarsen society.

Mama’s Note: Only aggressive acts, by anyone, are the problem. It is the aggression of some homosexuals (or whatever they call themselves) and policemen and celebrities that are the problem, not what people choose to do with their own lives and property – regardless of who is offended or “disgusted.” None of their business.

A couple of stories this week make that clear.

They just don’t get it: the West is DIFFERENT. Fox News reported that in Wyoming, Andy Johnson of Fort Bridger beat EPA in a battle over stock pond. “A Wyoming man threatened with $16 million in fines over the building of a stock pond reached a settlement with the Environment Protection Agency, allowing him to keep the pond without a federal permit or hefty fine. Johnson obtained a state permit before building the stock pond in 2012 on his sprawling [sic] nine-acre farm for a small herd of livestock. Not long after construction, the EPA threatened Johnson with civil and criminal penalties (including the threat of a $37,500-a-day fine), claiming he needed the agency’s permission before building the 40-by-300 foot pond, which is filled by a natural stream. Johnson constructed his stock pond in 2012. ‘It was very threatening,’ Johnson, a professional welder and married father of four, said of the EPA’s compliance order against him.” The idiocy of the EPA is matched by the idiocy of the mainstream media who report such things. But then, the greed for power and money of BOTH these “institutions” far exceeds their incompetence and stupidity.

To some degree, I agree with Steve Trinward, who posted this article from Raw Story, about how in California, the Assembly has acted to make single-user restrooms gender-neutral. “As other states restrict the ability of transgender people to choose which bathrooms to use, the California Assembly on Monday voted to make single-user restrooms in public and government buildings ‘all gender,’ so that anyone can use any restroom. Lawmakers also took initial action to prohibit taxpayer-funded travel to states whose policies are viewed as discriminatory to the transgender community. Assemblyman Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, said his measure would make restrooms more convenient for women and for transgender Californians who may identify as a woman and feel uncomfortable using a restroom designated for men, and vice versa.” Steve’s comments were: “This needed a new law? Most places with one-holer toilets around here (trendy restaurants, even some bars) let people use whatever’s free at the moment. You go in, lock the door, do your business and exit. That’s in … Tennessee!”

I don’t know about trendy bars or restaurants – don’t go them places. I do know that convenience stores, many offices, and small retail establishments have for YEARS had “unisex” toilets – one-holers as Steve calls them. Nothing trendy about it: just practical. But that is exactly the point: privacy is PRESERVED. And I do know that none of these states that “restricted” things prohibited people of both sexes from using “unisex” one-toilet bathrooms, so Raw Story is, at best, misrepresenting the laws. However, there is another point being missed here: government mandates that consider such laws to protect privacy as being “restricting” of some minority’s “rights” are stupid, and the natural backlash of various (especially Southern) states is to be expected. And not nearly as stupid as allowing someone’s mental illness to be an excuse for ignoring privacy. In addition, this entire made up crisis (made up by the so-called advocates of “transgender” people) is rapidly coarsening American society even more than it has been. Anyone who has been with an architect or engineer listening to women complaining about having to share a toilet with the men at their office or shop knows what I am talking about: men are for the most part slobs (gross, disgusting slobs) when it comes to toilets. And what is often found in male toilets turns the stomach of many (most?) women: the vending machines, the porn, and worse. Or at least the women that have not themselves been coarsened beyond what was once “normal.”

(As for Steve’s remark about not needing another law, he forgets that in modern statist society, EVERYTHING must be either mandated or prohibited by a law: there is no room for unconstrained free will, as there is no longer any personal responsibility.

Again, they just don’t get it: the level of mental ability and education ON AVERAGE continues to deteriorate in this nation. Latest example of this occurred recently on an airliner, when a flight was delayed when math mistaken for terrorism by passenger, as reported by Fox News. “An Ivy League professor says his flight was delayed when a fellow passenger mistook his scribbling on a math problem as a sign he might be a terrorist. American Airlines confirms that a woman expressed suspicions about University of Pennsylvania economics professor Guido Menzio. He was flying from Philadelphia to Syracuse on Thursday to give a talk at Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada. He was working on a differential equation, but said he was told the woman thought he might be a terrorist because of what he was writing.” The woman obviously should not be running around without a keeper, but she is typical: it would be a surprise to find that she has a college degree. I am reminded of the old science fiction stories of post-nuclear war societies in which scientists were hunted down as witches and sorcerers, to be burned at the stake. This is “normal” in a society where the mantra “See something, say something,” is a constant repetition, especially in airports and public areas. And indeed, it is stupid, uneducated, lickspittle people like this woman who are the strongest argument for “everything not prohibited is mandated,” and it people like her in the EPA who create messes like the poor guy in Wyoming faced.

PS: I don’t disagree with the “see something, say something” idea, just NOT whom you are supposed to “say” it to. Like James Leroy Wilson’s recent blog on “Independent Country,” we need a “surveillance society” and not a surveillance state (even if he can’t spell “society” <grin>). We used to call it being a good neighbor; you see some kids vandalizing your neighbor’s place and, if you can’t stop them yourself, you tell your neighbor about it. (Or you yell at them and chase them off, instead.)