After an afternoon at Occupy DC

I'm ready to get to Reno, play some poker, and roll around in a pile of gold and silver bullion while screaming "I love money!"

Many of the supposed lovers of civil liberties who were out there today seem to forget that property rights are important to the notion of liberty.  What fun is being free if you can't bet?

The best thing about the "Occupy [insert name of major US city here]" crowd is that they are mostly well intentioned.  I saw one or two teens antagonizing police officers, but other than that it was a pretty calm and kind crowd.  (Kids- no need to give these cops a hard time.  They are out there to protect everyone.  You can peacefully demonstrate because of the police doing their job- so while you don't have to be appreciative, at least don't be aggressive).  While I disagree with much of their social agenda (nationalized medicine, centralized economic control, federalized social programs, and eating the rich) very few of the people out there were holding signs suggesting they wanted to knowingly hurt someone.  And those that were did so in jest.

But I could never accept the notion that individuals are just supposed to surrender all of their gains from productivity to the masses.  For one thing, the masses are messy.  Some of these people were sleeping in the same clothes for the last three nights.  I might agree politically with some of them, but when it's time to bed down for the night, I'll retreat to my $175 per night hotel room, thank you very much.  Have fun with the movement sleeping on concrete and discussing beating bombs into ecologically sound plowshares.

Tomorrow I will swing by the Value Voters Conference to hear the candidates and vote in the straw poll.  I'm pretty certain I know who I'lll be supporting, but first I'll listen to Romney and see if maybe he's come to his senses on Social Security.  But like the Occupy DC leftists adopting my affectionate views of legalized gambling, I wouldn't bet on it.