It seems like only yesterday that we and a few of our friends decided to stop whining about not having a place to speak our minds, free of trolls, and with a real acceptance of the principles of liberty and individual rights. We figured, well, if no one reads anything we write or say, no big loss, we’ll have fun and it will entertain us. That was the goal.
We had no idea.
The Internet has redefined “community” is profound ways. Traditionally, it was a concept based on geography, but those limits have been swept away- what do I really have in common with the people in this town (or them with each other) beyond “we all have plots of land nearby”? What do I have in common with all of you? A deep and abiding love of liberty, of individual rights, a curiosity about the history and philosophy of liberty and economics, and a sense of doing the right thing because it’s the right thing rather than having Leviathan telling me what to do. A delight in talking, interacting, and on a few lucky occasions, drinking/eating/whatever, feeling free to say what I’m actually thinking, have fun, not worry about offense or conforming to norms, and not having to slow down to explain sly references.
As of today, after just a few months of operating, we (and that means the big “we,” all of us, the hundreds of people who have registered here and have made this the most interesting, intelligent, and civilized comments section in cyberspace) have created a real community. “Community” in the real sense of the word, “a group of organisms or populations living and interacting with one another in a particular environment.” We organisms have exceeded 800 posts, 200,000 comments (!), and have a staggering number of mutually understood memes, in-jokes, and shared cultural references. We understand what’s going on in each others lives, try to support one another, and are a shining example of the wonderfulness of voluntary association. We’re a community because we consciously CHOSE to be here, not because of the accident of propinquity.
So, 200,000 comments is something we celebrate today. The content, both posts and comments, has been entirely crowd-sourced, and has included some pretty outstanding thinking and expression- we have all the best words, I’m telling you. I really and truly want to thank all of you, commenters, lurkers, contributors, for making this community what it is.
Oh, and we’re Certified Family Friendly.
So, the celebration noted, let’s return to our quotidian rituals.
These sorts of things never happen in Europe because it’s so much more civilized and has common-sense gun control, amirite?
You can’t even make this shit up. Parody is dead.
Department of “I Believe in the First Amendment, But…”
Remember the Hot-Crazy Axis? Here’s one that batted .340 and blew 0.16.
Airlines are not the only entities with overbooking problems- or at handling them in the most dickish possible manner.
And finally music. SP and I were at a delightful concert last night, ending with going back to where the performer was staying, sitting out on a patio in rural Wisconsin, under the stars, some fine Bourbon in hand, and civilized conversation. And this was a relatively obscure song from a relatively obscure band that we all loved:
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