Written by Design

It's really hard to believe that my belief in freedom, peace, and that your rights deserve to be protected even when I disagree could cause someone to be offended. But people are often offended by things that challenge their perspective. I believe that being easily offended is a sign that you are letting people have too much control over how you feel. I can hear someone speak words to me that I disagree with and I can still respect them, still value them, and not feel personally attacked or injured by it. I will not stop speaking up in defense of freedom. I will not stop actively cherishing our natural rights. And yes, that has cost me blog subscribers, followers and might even cost me friends. Standing up for our freedom is worth all of that. I am a libertarian. I believe in freedom for each individual to pursue happiness in their own way so long as it doesn't infringe on anyone else's rights. I believe in personal responsibility and that in real freedom, we maintain a ser

 This is us versus them. Not republicans versus democrats. Not left versus right. It's far deeper than that. It's the authoritarian state against free individuals. And yes, there are democrats and republicans being swept up in the "us versus them" narrative perpetuated by the media, namely Trump and Biden. But this is so much bigger than that. But they want us to be at each other. Reporting each other on social media. Lost in the minutia bickering with one another because it distracts us from the real issue - we are losing our freedom at an alarming rate. Scapegoating is basically the oldest trick in the political book, so of course, there are scapegoats on both "sides." Butt he sides they are offering us are really the same side - the state.  You can label me a conspiracy theorist, but I think nearly all of what we see in the mainstream media is staged to incite emotions within the general public. Cause us to react irrationally and take action and take side

When I was a little girl, I remember my dad pontificating at length (you'd have to have known my dad to realize I am smiling at this) about the scourge of communism on the world. I may have been six or seven years old but after these conversations, I remember vividly thinking that I was so lucky to have been born where I was, to the parents that I had, and not suffering and oppressed in some other country. Oppressed. My dad always used that word. He would talk about the rights that we need  to maintain a free society, and one of those of course is the freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Reflecting on this as I grew up, I of course noticed there tends to be a media bias, but I have always been reassured that there have always been "rogue" outlets for dissenting voices to be heard. Yesterday we learned that President Trump had been banned from Facebook and Twitter. Some people called him a dictator. But last I checked, and please correct me if I am wrong, dictators

I keep hearing people say - mostly in response to my outbursts - that they don't mind wearing masks. They may even like it. They prefer it, they don't find them uncomfortable or annoying, and they don't find them to be an infringement on their personal liberty. But in many cases, these people are like me. Relatively privileged. I don't have to go to the office every day and wear a mask for 8-10 hours. I don't have to wear a mask when I'm sweating. I don't have to wear a mask when I am trying to have a discussion with my coworkers or clients.  I am not going to sit here and pretend my situation is typical. I work at home, I have a full gym at home, my groceries are delivered to me, and I can literally go weeks without being obligated to put on a mask. If and when I have to wear a mask, it's usually my choice for something I don't need  to do but want to do. I think about my family and others I know that wear a mask all day at work. My mom is one of th

 When it enough going to finally be enough? I remember my first meeting that got canceled due to COVID. It was the end of February last year. I had been in the office the week before for a meeting and then suddenly, the risk was too much and the meeting was virtual. You know, just for a few weeks until this goes away. Then I remember my sister, just a few weeks later, texting me to ask if I had gone to stock up on toilet paper. I was confused, and I had not, and turns out I was remiss. I had no rational thought that people would madly go out and buy all the meat and toilet paper. For a brief time, I was without both food and toilet paper! Two weeks to flatten the curve became two months, then nine months, and here we are nearly a year into this. I understand the hesitation early on. A new virus, spreading quickly, with no information and no idea what the impact on lives would be. But now we have over 80 million infections worldwide. We know that in America our survivall rate for this v