A human is complete
It seems that many people are ready to pin a label on someone when they've done something disagreeable. How quickly people can forget all of the value you've offered after one little act. How easy it is to look at a mark on the nail of the left index finger of this man and fix it in your vision - without subtlety, contradiction or nuance - things which most people have in abundance.
My pledge is that I will do my best to never cast someone into the dirt because of one action, that I will not let the speck on their nail muddy their whole being. A man is many things - his body, his body of work, his heart, his soul. In all his foul acts, we should recall his good ones, and in all his good acts we should remember that he is mortal. For if a man is to be judged, he must not be judged by the smallest part of him, but instead, be judged in his completeness, as a naked whole. To reduce a human being to a few sentences, or a few words, can never do her justice. That is to say, it can never be just.
If you can't bring yourself to look at other people in that light, then at least, I implore you not to reduce yourself in that way. Remember, you are more than what people say about you, and you are more than what you say about yourself.
You are loved, always.
Commentary
I remember that I started writing this on Facebook, when I saw that so many people were attacking economist Walter Block, after he came out strongly in favour of Trump as president - making the case that he was the "most libertarian" candidate who had a chance of winning the election. I didn't agree with many of the premises of his argument, and certainly not with the conclusion. I really thought people could spend their time in a way that was much more productive than voting - getting drunk or masturbating, for instance. However, it astounded me that so many people were willing to dismiss everything that Block had done in his life over one recommendation - one which involved doing something which they believed was ineffectual at best.
Here is a man who has dedicated his life to asking and answering the question "What is liberty, and how does it work?" over and over again, for longer than most libertarians have been alive. For him to be judged for such a small thing just did not seem fair - that he could be judged for a single act, ignoring all the others.
As a side note, this year in Acapulco, sitting in a café, I looked out of the window and saw Walter Block walking down the Costera, bare-chested, with his shirt draped over his head like a sheikh. It was like a dream. Not like a dream come true - just a dream in general.
The other thing that was on my mind, was that my girlfriend had just broken up with me a few days before. She wasn't very good with any kind of confrontation, and so the process of breaking up was a little harder than it could have been - tearing off the band-aid hair by hair. After a few hours, it was over. She said "I'm sorry for making it hard. I'm a terrible person." She'd said those words to me many times: "I'm a terrible person." I'm sure at least once, I held her and said "You're not. Don't say those things. You're a wonderful person." And if I never did, I should have.
My friend Erin commented, saying that she likes to express this idea to her son, phrased in this way: "People are so much more than their worst day."
About me
My name is Kurt Robinson. I grew up in Australia, but now I live in Guadalajara, Jalisco. I write interesting things about voluntaryism, futurism, science fiction, travelling Latin America, and psychedelics. Remember to press follow so you can stay up to date with all the cool shit I post, and follow our podcast where we talk about crazy ideas for open-minded people, here: @paradise-paradox, and like us on Facebook here - The Paradise Paradox
Some other cool posts
Here are some other posts of mine to check out:
Everyone deserves truth; everyone deserves compassion
Freedom trumps fear: Everything you do is an act of liberty
I know where you are and I would humbly suggest that you look up a utube post "The gentle blessing," by Pierre. I have been putting it into practice and it is an amazing shift in my thinking. Very powerful. All the best with your journey.
dubloon135
Thank you for sharing, I have been labeled a Sex offender since I was 15. I've spent my life living peacefully and voluntarily with everyone else.
I draw strength from people like you. People who can see past people's worst day.
I've looked at some of those cases where people get labelled "sex offenders" for all sorts of strange reasons. A system like that doesn't seem to help anybody. And you know, even if someone does do something bad at 15, that's no reason to brand them as a predator for life. Thanks for your comment.
Good reminder. I needed this today. Thanks.
Glad to be of service
I think in these cases, a deviation from principles feels like a betrayal to very principled people. Support for Trump isn't just a flippant remark. It shows the character of a person. It shows what lines they are willing to cross to support someone who is clearly a liar.
The thing that separates libertarians from the rest of the political ideologies is that they search for truth and only like truth. Trump stands for everything that is against truth. When a proclaimed libertarian all of a sudden turns around and starts supporting lies and liars... well... how can you trust that person anymore? How can you trust that they haven't been lying the entire time and have just shown their true colors?
Do they support liars? Then how can they be honest?
Do they support bullies? Then how can they talk about non-aggression?
Do they support authoritarians? Then how can they say they preach liberty?
It comes down to just one conclusion: A libertarian that supports Trump is a hypocrite and therefore not a libertarian at all.
Thanks for your comment.
If you go around looking for moments where people have supported lies, and base your trust on that, you may quickly find that you can't trust anybody. Now, even if we assume that nobody is trustworthy, is that really the way you want to live your life - eyes open like a hawk, waiting to swoop on anyone who commits an error, so you can stick in your talons? That sounds like a mentality that might make you very uptight, and even miserable. Would you agree?
Block's argument was that, despite Trump's many failings, he was the most likely to support libertarian values as a president, and so he supports Trump for those pragmatic reasons. I don't agree with that that premise, nor with the conclusion. Obviously you don't either. You even feel some animosity towards him because of this "pragmatic" line of thinking. Does that in any way invalidate the other arguments he has made? Does it make his work worthless? Shall we burn his books, as we would a heretic's?
When you say that libertarians search for truth, shouldn't that mean we recognise truth, even from someone whose character we find questionable?
Thanks again and have a good day
"My pledge is that I will do my best to never cast someone into the dirt because of one action, that I will not let the speck on their nail muddy their whole being."
Great words to live by.
Thanks @hanshotfirst