Friday, March 2, 2012

Drugs, Medicines, Vaccines and the Freedoms to Discover and Believe

There are several important principles I prescribe to and I try my best to adhere to them in my life. These principles form the basic tenets to building a free society. The most basic of these beliefs is the idea that you own yourself. Any person is the owner of their own body. No one should be able to force a person to do something with their own body that they do not want to do. No one should be able to force another person to eat a certain food, or take a certain medication, or ingest anything of any kind if that person does not want to, even if it's supposedly for the benefit of that person, even if it's for the benefit of all humankind. Only non coercive methods of convincing someone to partake in any kind of ingestion, injection, or procedure, invasive or non invasive, is acceptable, or we are not free.

Another basic principle is that if you want to live as a free individual you need to allow others to live as free individuals. That seems to be an obvious practice, but so often in this life many try to force their way of life onto others. Many people will do so without even knowing that they're doing so. They believe they know what is best for all and want to apply a one size fits all solution to all sorts of problems. They may even genuinely believe they are acting for the best interests of everyone involved. They aren't. Forcing people to act in one way or another and taking away all other choices is wrong. It ends up, in the long run, working to everyone's detriment.

There are those who think the proper way to go about wiping out disease is to force everyone to be vaccinated. They want to shoot you up with not only the disease, but all kinds of other stuff that might not be so good for you. For instance, there've been warnings in the past that if you have an allergy to eggs you were not to take the flu shot. This is because some flu shots use an egg medium to grow the virus. There are often other things in the shot like mercury (in thimerosal, a preservative) and squalene (an adjuvant) that can possibly do harm. There are risks involved with taking vaccines and the benefits and risks to the individual should be considered before that individual makes a decision.

There are those who do not want to give the individual the ability to make that decision. in fact, they want to take nearly all decision making abilities away from the individual. They may very well believe they own you, and just about everybody else. They may be right, if we all let them be right. Many of the most vocal advocates of taking such decision making rights away from the individual have a vested interest in mandating vaccinations. Can you say "Conflict of interest?" Have you noticed how often those in places of power have put the profit of multi national corporations in front of the best interests of the common folk? If not, you might want to pull your head out of the sand and start taking a look at what's really going on rather than thinking the status quo or any powerful industry has your best interests at heart.

One woman, an attorney named Patricia Finn, believes everyone should have the right to make their own decisions about vaccinations. She believes so much in this right that she has become an advocate for vaccination rights. She shows people how to legally and ethically keep from exposing their children to the risks inherent in vaccinations. Because of this, she is being threatened with criminal charges. The state of New York is trying to intimidate her into giving over he list of clients so they can intimidate them. The unaccountable judicial system is trying to force people to purchase or obtain medical products and procedures that they don't want and no one is arresting the judges doing so. This is wrong. Personally, I no longer trust or believe much of what the medical establishment tells me. I believe that system is more worried about profit than the health of individuals.

The state has charged that attorney Patricia Finn's advocacy is "threatening the public interest." I would argue that the public interest should be maintaining the sanctity of individual natural rights and therefore she is upholding the public interest. It is the court that is threatening the public interest. Indeed, the court system seems to rule in favor of big government and big corporations more often than not. The individual who wishes to make up his own mind seems to be prodded down a path without choices by monstrous bureaucracies he has little to no chance of escaping, like a slave continuously surrounded by masters with superior armor and weaponry. It has gotten to the point where there seems to be no place to turn, no one to listen to grievances, and the bullies have taken over all the powerful places where you are supposed to be represented.

Do not give in to despair. Millions upon millions are beginning to realize that they do have power. If we all get together and stand up for our rights, they will be forced to listen. We are many, they are few. It is just a matter of us no longer allowing them to be the bullies they want to be.

One of the ways people have been able to exercise their power is in the so called drug war. For decades the federal government has waged a propaganda campaign against the use of marijuana for medical purposes. It has been illegal to conduct tests. They have presented doctors and scientists who have claimed there was no known medical uses for marijuana. People who have been caught possessing marijuana, for whatever purpose, have been marginalized and stigmatized. Despite this fact, 16 states and Washington, DC have all passed provisions for individuals to be able to use medical marijuana without having to worry about legal ramifications. 17 more are considering such measures. This despite the best efforts of the feds to prevent knowledge from spreading.

For most people, nobody knows their body better than they do. They know what helps when they ail. They know what stops their pain. They know what makes them less nauseous. Sure, medical professionals can make suggestions. They know the science behind medications and can make recommendations, but sometimes something that works for one person simply does not work for others. There are even occasions when harm can be done. More people now die yearly from prescription drugs than from illegal drugs. As far as I know, nobody has ever overdosed on marijuana. So why is it still illegal? Especially, why are people living with disease still denied access to such medication in most states? Why are the feds still raiding legal marijuana dispensaries in states where medical marijuana laws have been passed?

Medical marijuana also gives rise to business opportunities. Before the advent of laws legalizing medical marijuana, the trade in pot was limited to the black market. Several companies have popped up, from producers to distributors to dispensaries, to fill the new demand for this product. Entrepreneurs are stepping to the forefront and taking this business out of the hands of shadowy figures in the black market. Honest, competitive businesses are striving to provide the best products and build a reputation so that new customers will come to them when they need product or advice. Providing medical marijuana is a growing industry which provides much needed jobs to a populace that has been devastated by the off shoring of many industries over the past couple of decades. This is how business should be done, in the light of day from an open storefront rather than in the dark of night in a shadowy alley.

You own your own body. I own my own body. No one should be able to tell us what we can and cannot put into them. We should all be free to discover for ourselves what treatments work and which don't. We should all be free to determine for ourselves which sources to believe and which to disbelieve. No one should be able to force us to partake in any medical procedure. No one should be allowed to threaten us with imprisonment or fines or any other kind of punishment for using a natural herb if we feel it is medicinal. We should all be allowed to do business with one another on a voluntary basis. We don't need a third party such as government horning in where they're not wanted. I would not try to stop you from consuming whatever you wish to consume. I would allow you the freedom to make your own decisions when it comes to your body. Would you allow me the same?

I want the government to leave me alone. I want them to stay out of my medical decisions. I want them to stay out of my decisions on what to eat. I want them to quit trying to decide for me what products I wish to purchase. I am an adult and perfectly capable of looking into the risks and rewards, the advantages and disadvantages of the products and services I wish to buy. The established products and services promoted by government, the medical establishment, the pharmaceuticals, and many other multi national corporations, have proven to be inferior and even harmful and no one is held accountable. I trust my own judgment over theirs. I support the freedom to choose. I support the end to personal mandates.

If you like my writings, I am asking for your help. Please visit my website szandorblestman.com to see my archived articles and help support me by making a donation. I am also pleased to announce the release of Matthew Wayne's (my pen name) novel entitled "The Edge of Sanity." It is also available for the Kobo Vox, at Barnes and Noble and at Diesel. The download for this book is only $2.99. I have also released "The Ouijiers" at smashwords.com. The special pricing has ended so the book can be distributed to other venues. The download is $2.99, but you can still get the first 20% free. Even if you simply take a moment of your time to download the 20% of the books that is offered for free it will be of tremendous help to me in gaining exposure for my work which will help create sales.

I am working on a book. The working title is "The Blessings of Freedom: Creating Prosperity in the 21st Century." I am going to offer this work as a serial for those who are interested and can't wait for the book to come out. I hope to publish a chapter every week or so. I will offer the chapters for sale exclusively at smashwords.com as I finish them. The price is $0.99 for each chapter as it comes out. Here is the link to Chapter 1: "The Blessings of Freedom: Creating Prosperity in the 21st Century" Chapter 1. There is a bonus as the Introduction to the book is included with this download. Keep an eye out as further chapters will be announced as they come out. I wish to thank everyone in advance for their support in this endeavor.

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