**UPDATE** I think Janos took this response personally as a rebuke. It was not meant as such. He's now closed his III blog. Too bad, he was smarter than the average bear.
~~
One of the down sides to blogging for any length of time with a smart audience is that conversations between people can continue for months (or longer) across dozens (or more) Posts & Threads.
Janos fell victim to that earlier regarding my position on who is and who is not a legitimate Target in a WROL or SHTF paradigm. I have written 2-3 posts in the last week or so touching on the topic of legitimate Targets. However, because we have been discussing this topic for years on this blog, and even longer at WRSA, there has been a LOT of ground already covered, positions articulated and properly nuanced so that everyone who has been part of the conversation from the beginning know when I am writing in my style of shorthand. Anyone reading only my recent posts on this topic could easily walk away aghast at my ruthless targeting matrix.
Since I am writing very little philosophically these days as I focus on the building & doing for Liberty, I did indeed write about my targeting matrix with broad brush strokes, in shorthand with a LOT of nuance between the lines that a reader would only properly understand if he'd been along for the entire ride. My targeting matrix conversation actually began with my first book, before I started writing on Kerodin.com, then on the Kerodin site, here on this blog prolifically, and at places like WRSA and TL's place.
I'm not going to take the time to drill to bedrock on this topic again, it is too complex to properly articulate in a few posts. But I can share the summary of my position. If anyone is interested in understanding how I reached my conclusions, simply use the Search feature on the right toolbar.
Upon my conception I inherited Rightful Liberty.
No man or woman is entitled to ANY of my Rightful Liberty, unless I offer it for some reason.
Any man or woman who deliberately infringes upon my Rightful Liberty immediately gets green-lighted on my Targeting Matrix. If I know a person wants to infringe, and may one day succeed, that person earns a place in my Matrix. If I know a person wants to infringe but simply will not ever be able to actually do damage, that person stays off my RADAR.
I believe that preemptive action is warranted once I satisfy my Soul that an attack is imminent, or may seriously become imminent - and because I am smaller than most men. I'm just not going to wait for him to bloody my nose or pull his handgun.
I do NOT believe in Proportional Response.
Rightful Liberty matters to me, and I do not tolerate infringements.
I do believe in mens rea. I also impose a very strict personal code upon myself and my Threat Matrix. That said - I fight to prevail, by any means necessary. And for full disclosure, I don't like getting hit.
I also believe in Constitutional and legal remedies, when they are available to me.
I don't really care how anyone else protects their Rightful Liberty, so long as it is being done in accord with the premise of Rightful Liberty as well. I don't really care if anyone else permits intrusions, or allows himself to become a slave. Not my business if you give away your Liberty, or trade it away for an FSA chit, or you permit someone to take it from you.
But when it comes to my Rightful Liberty, I am on solid moral footing by invoking self defense - even if that self-defense includes me hitting the guy in the back with a Chevy.
To Janos specifically: You explain in your comment that many of your neighbors have been known to you nearly your entire life, and that they would take a bullet for your kids.
But if they vote Blue or Establishment Red, they are voting your children into slavery, they are infringing my Rightful Liberty, which is not tolerated in most cases. A "Good Person" does not pull a lever for a Slave Master. There is no such thing as a "Good Person" who votes Blue or Establishment Red. There is no such thing as a "Good Person" who works at City Hall if that person's job facilitates, in any manner, the infringement of my Rightful Liberty.
I hope this helps you understand that I have done much, much more work on this topic over the years than simply the recent posts which do not define how & why I add certain people to the Matrix, or what threat level they earn, or the severity of my self defense, and I have it refined to a place in which I am content.
So, as say the Spartans, when anyone wants my Liberties:
Kerodin
III
