The Individual Vs. The State, An Unusual Case

[FireIceTalon]

So you'd rather someone dictate to you want you can and cannot do when your actions have no harmful affects on others or yourself?

This is the essence of what soldiers do, they're fighting for your rights to do what you want so long as it doesn't infringe upon someone else's rights. Given, not all fights that soldiers take part in are the most valid, but I guarentee you, if some Brit, American, Australian, Canadian, French, various partisans (inluding those of the Netherlands) hadn't fought the tyranny of the Nazis and Fascists during WW2, you would not enjoy the freedoms you do today.

Great way of making me feel like a moron.
I try to make a joke but it was apparantly not funny enough for anyone to give me some kind of credit.
I thought the peeing against trees bit was pretty funny myself, but apparantly I was wrong.

Anyway, it is charming to see you have so much trust in your government; actually thinking that they do those things for you.
(this last bit was ironic)

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Anyways, on the topic, I find this whole thing pretty repulsive. The guy is 73, probably doesn't have much longer anyways, and is probably stressed enough at the passing of his wife. Give him a break. Just another example of the State trying to preserve its own interests (as if the house values in the area are more important than allowing the man to respect his wife's wishes and bury her on their property - this has the rotten smell of commodity fetishism all over it) before all else.

OK, also on topic then. So do you think his wife notices the difference?

Funny though that you and Kandrathe are on different sides of this discussion than I expected you two to be. You are all libertarian here while kandrathe is more practical..

It hardly matters if she notices. Point is, he made an oath to her, and stood by it. And in the given circumstances, the State has no right to intervene and trouble this fellow.

I really don't see why my position is so surprising, at least here. The Marxian view of the State is highly critical, usually more so than right-wing Libertarians are (and for different reasons). Of course, due to 60 years of Cold War propaganda, many people seem to think otherwise, but what they think and what really is are two very different things. Thus, outside of the radical left paradigm, our position toward the State is rather esoteric to the general population. The western propaganda machine works extremely well through social engineering to shape discourse and create its own "truth".