Living now, Lost in 46 BC
“But what about the roads?”, It’s the idea that if a libertarian society were implemented, then all infrastructure would cease. It’s the assumption that libertarians are all extremists who want the complete destruction of all government. It’s reductio ad absurdum. And it’s low hanging fruit. But, they do have a point. What does infrastructure or even basic society look like for a libertarian? Well, What about the roads?
Supposedly, military spending is an effective estimation of how much a country cares about their military might. Right? You would think, the more money you invest into something, the more you care about that thing. Maybe that’s true for you or me, but we aren’t on the same level as the United States Military Industrial Complex.
This is going to be a long conversation spread out over many essays. It’s as much for me as it is for you. And I’m going to take my time on it. Because it’s important. Right or left, everyone wants a quick catchy tag line. They want to punch down on the opposition and look cool. But reality is full of grey nuance. Finding the truth in that nuance is murky at best. So, we need to start with some basic concepts and frameworks.
According to The Death Clock, I have between 884,397,364 and 1,487,555,734 seconds left to live. In years, that’s somewhere between 28 and 47 years. Obviously that’s based on a bell shape curve, I could live much longer than that (My family is known for long lifespans), or I could be hit by a bus on my walk home from the coffee shop tonight. So it goes.
Unfortunately, even though I know that my time is urgently precious, I still give it away for free.
Life sucks and then you die. it’s intended to be punchy. It’s intended to be abrupt. But, it’s not meant to be mean, rude, or offensive. I don’t mean to imply that life can’t be joyful. I don’t want you to hear that I hate life. But, I have been alive long enough to recognize that much of our time here is dictated by our experience of pain, the avoidance of that pain, and the constant march of death.