Update: If you’ve Stumbled your way here, thanks much. I’d like to point out that this isn’t one of my strongest posts, and I’d encourage you to browse around. Check out:

1. Too Big to Fail
2. It’s Not Fascism When We Do It
3. The Truth About What Anarchists Want
4. Economies of Scale: The Faustian Bargain
5. Exploitation: Immigrants and Slaves

And thanks for visiting, again!

Sometimes you hear this sort of argument: “This is America, if you don’t like it, pack your bags and leave.”

Of course the person making the argument always presumes that his beliefs are the only true “American” beliefs. The presumption in the “get the fuck out” argument is always that one’s own arguments are infallible. This is problematic, because the presumption can never be true: “America” is an abstract; at best it is a conglomeration of many, many diverse individuals with many divergent opinions and belief sets.

Now that we have concluded the presumption is never true, we need to take a long, hard look at the argument. Most proponents of this argument subscribe to some variation of a belief in “the land of the Free,” which is a good point from which to start. This is the land of the “free,” alright, if you don’t like what I’m doing with my freedom, how’s about you get the fuck out? If I don’t like social security, or welfare, or the war on terror, or a giant fucking wall on the Mexican border, I shouldn’t have to leave. You’re the one who wants it, after all. Feel free to exclude me from OASDI and AFDC benefits, hell, for all I care, build a fucking tunnel between my house and Mexico. Why do I have to leave?

Because, honestly, it sounds like it’s your problem – not mine.

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But really, the point I want to make, is that if you do believe in a land of the “free,” then ultimately nobody should ever be called upon to leave on account of someone else’s mere displeasure or disagreement. Just ignore the stuff that doesn’t affect you, associate with people with whom you share common ideals, goals, hobbies, beliefs, values, etc., and let everyone else do the same.

If you’re incapable of doing this, stop trying to tell people that you believe in freedom when you fucking hate its guts.