friend of the built environment

There exists in our culture a cult of the collective. Combine this with the near-universal phenomenon of sexual or religious social identification, and the result is the ubiquitous subcultures and exclusive clubs which deny individuals the true personal and social freedoms they deserve.
The gay population of most of the industrial world is among the worst [...]

The only moral use of force is in self-defense. However, governments use force (through the legal system, which is maintained by the police and the military) every day, whether to uphold rights (which is the moral and just role of the government) or in the dubious effort to maintain “social order” whether this means controlling [...]

The Nazi party of depression-era Germany is uncannily similar to the emerging Green Party in America. In ideology, political agenda and economic policy, it is almost frightening to review the implications on Americans should the Green Party ever come to a position of political influence.

I have often been told that there is no way to escape the reality of government coercion: governments have to do a dirty job, and they must make and enforce laws which aren’t always fair or just, and these laws must be enforced and policed with police and guns. I’ve been told that this fact [...]

Monogamy plays a very dubious role in our society today. It is seen as the highest of virtues by the majority of individiuals - whatever their moral alignment in most other matters. The reasons behind the worship of monogamy are based either on archaic religious mores or irrational philosophical premises, and the demands which such [...]

There are three basic types of results from the activity of the creative mind: the raw, the refined and the contrived.
“Raw” is not necessarily normative, and describes the results of creativity in its most basic form, prior to any true product or end result. The raw result of a musician’s creative process is in most [...]

For several weeks now, my City has been under terrorist attack. Many people remember the attacks on New York in 2001. Although I wouldn’t claim that the attacks on San Francisco this month were quite as severe, I would argue that they exceed the qualifications of terrorist actions compared to those perpetrated in September of [...]

The mystics of muscle have often characterized world trade as damaging and unnatural, and as a system which fails to properly match the processes of life for humans and other biological entiities. They prescribe the silver bullet ideal of bioregionalism and isolationism (nationalism) as that state to which working men should strive for. Like most [...]

I am so incredibly pissed off about the idea of hate crimes. In general. First of all, why is it that you should get a lighter sentence for committing a crime just because you’re a fucked-up person? And what exactly will the guvmint constitute “hate”? Basically, hate crime laws would allow congress or the courts [...]

It is often baffling to me how small-thinking our leaders are when it comes to the issue of immigration. It’s a hotly debated topic these days, but it seems that neither “side” of the issue have the concept down correctly, nor understand the wider implications of the issue.
The “left” views immigration negatively due to its [...]

For about two years, the most recognizable businesswoman in America has been waiting on the chopping block. She has shown commendable strength and an unbending character throughout her ordeal, and perhaps because of this, the executioner continues to refuse a final verdict. Martha Stewart’s legal battles, and more importantly the public reactions to them, are [...]

A new year arrives and queers still can’t marry. The ruling gang is still screaming for a law against it - admitting to the world that they want their institution extended as a privilege to the gang, rather than as a right which a rational government should protect for all adults.
The news tells me that [...]

Being one, I have nothing against homosexuals. But for an agglomeration of reasons, they piss me off a lot here in San Francisco. I previously ranted about the cheapening of sexuality which seems to have been brought on by “sexual liberation” and the culture of Pride. One thing I have also been pondering, however, is whether [...]

The fever of Olympiana has once again consumed the world. Every few years, the governments of the world, both autocratic and democratic, rally their minions to their flags to support an institution which purports to enshrine values which every human should supposely appreciate: national pride, athleticism, cameraderie, etc.
All the while, we never seem to question [...]

I’ve become especially sensitive lately with the way every public medium and social institution today seems to be less concerned with its own specialized role and more dedicated to a sort of “catalogue” response to the world. This spans everything from social clubs to political candidates, public issues to editorial stances. I’ve written about it [...]