If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom — go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.
Samuel Adams.
This one is something that reminds me of a friend who once told me about a test he does for people he meets, and based on their answer, he decides whether or not he will even give them the time of day, much less befriend them. He calls it the "Raw milk test." He asks if you think the State has the right to jail people who disobey the law and buy/sell raw cows' milk. Based on the answer given, he decides whether his time would be worth spending with you. Yes, if you say the state does have this right, he sees no worth in your friendship.
This brings up a broader point, one where we decide our time preferences. How much time do you want to spend with a Statist, really, someone who for whatever reason wouldn't blink an eye if the State threw you in a cage. Someone who says, "He must have done something wrong, after all, it's the law." I think we have to remove ourselves as much as possible from the Statists who just WON'T get it, no matter how much time you have wasted on them. Freedom and Liberty aren't for everyone;, some actually like being slaves, all the while, of course, telling you that they are somehow free (thanks, no less, to the State).
I think it's time to take Samuel Adams' words to heart, and to tell these Statists--and you know who they are in your life--to move on.
What really do we need from them anyway? They aren't edifying our lives, so why even associate with them?
Let them live in their chains.
We should have a little more self respect than that. If you have no qualms over the State caging me or my family or anyone over an arbitrary law some mortal man made up from his little mind, I want nothing to do with you.
You sound more like an enemy than a friend.
May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.
Don't expect me to smile and be your friend while you chain me.
