Gah? Also, More Anarchy

Yes, I do seem to now be specializing in inarticulate sounds for post titles.

I'm really burned out now -- the holidays about did me in; New Year's week was something of a social whirl (by my lights -- probably about typical for most folks), plus I worked the holiday and there was the Great Plumber Fiasco; on the weekend, the Data Viking was kind enough to take me to the Ming Dynasty exhibit at IMA Saturday morning -- and then I had to work until midnight that night! Sunday was a day of catch-up, mainly of sleep, Monday, right back into it, tuesday more of the same and here we are. Somehow I have not had a screaming fight with anyone in RL this holiday season. It's not a first -- I managed the trick last year, too; but last year, I spent most of my time alone.

And that's even leaving out the tempest-in-a-teapot in the comments section of my blog.

I'm really sorry about that last; I honestly believed that asking the fellows to play nice would work. I was wrong. This might be cited as a ringing indictment of anarchy; I would point to it instead as an example of anarchy in action: no government or law removed the offending individuals and they were neither fined nor harmed nor imprisoned; I applied the tools provided by Blogger/Google in addition to private correspondence. I am pleased to say the gentlemen involved were no worse in e-mail than when commenting and in one case, actually more civil. While we have not parted friends, we have most certainly parted and I am happy with that outcome. It's a big world and there are lots of people one needn't talk to.

One other lesson learned and filed: if you're going to be an ass, you had better be a charming one.

About anarchy: it's where you live. Yes, you. Right now. Unless you're in jail or the military, unless there's a police officer following you around everywhere all the time to ensure you Refrain From Smoking and neither speed nor spit where prohibited by law, the only real control over what you do and say is you. You are the boss of you and I suspect the reason you have not robbed or killed or cheated anyone today isn't that there is some law against it but because you have made the moral choice not to do so; in fact, if you're like most people, you find even pondering those actions repugnant.

I don't know about any "Fight The Power" spitting-in-the wind; when crossed, the State sees you and I about like we see bugs that hit the windshield: just barely, and then only if it's a loud "splat." It's pretty much the same deal humans have had since forever, except we have running water, indoor plumbing and electric lights. --That doesn't mean it's a good idea to give up but understand we're mostly fighting little battles, not reshaping Gummint entire. If you want Anarchtopia, you picked the wrong time to be born.

And I'm not going to debate the notion. If you don't like it, tough.

Good night.