Censored by the NCJ

I submitted this Letter to the Editor to the North Coast Journal last week. They did not print it. I was not at all surprised by that.

Dear Editor,

What a surprise to find two thoughtful, perceptive and spot-on letters to the editor in the NCJ last week. Both D Lamar Hudson and Amy Gustin raise important points about the newly reignited abortion debate. For the last two years, the NCJ has endorsed vaccine mandates, vaccine apartheid, and even suggested that we embrace a policy of forcibly injecting vaccine-resistant citizens against their will, all the while disparaging and censoring anyone who opposed those gross violations of human and civil rights, so it was clever rhetoric, albeit inaccurate and misleading, to attempt to frame a woman’s right to abortion in other terms, terms like “reproductive rights.”

Hudson explains why the term “reproductive rights” does not apply to abortion. A woman’s right to abortion derives from the inalienable human right of bodily sovereignty and the constitutionally guaranteed right of privacy. Unless we uphold both of these principles as sacred inviolable human rights for everyone, a woman’s right to an abortion becomes tenuous. Here’s why:

The State has an obligation to punish the taking of human life. However, the State also has an obligation to respect the rights of the accused. A woman’s bodily sovereignty gives her the right to choose to abort. Her right to privacy deprives the State of evidence that a life has been taken. That’s why a woman’s right to choose is not contingent on whether life begins at conception or birth.

Unfortunately, Amy Gustin correctly observes that the NCJ and Democrats in general have thrown bodily sovereignty and privacy under the bus in their passion to embrace intrusive Covid policies. This embrace, to quote Hannah Arendt,* “was like a political demonstration… that no such thing as inalienable rights existed and that affirmations… to the contrary were mere prejudice, hypocrisy and cowardice.” God help us.

Sincerely,

John Hardin

rom: The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt, Chapter 9- Decline of the Nation-State and the End of the Rights of Man, p. 269

This Saturday July 23 at the Mateel in Redway

I’ll play my first SoHum gig in years this Saturday at The Mateel Community Center on Rusk Ln in Redway as part of Steve’s Big Rock Show. The show starts at 3pm. See you there!

Having Too Much Fun IRL

It’s been kind of a while since I’ve posted anything here. I guess I’ve just been having too much fun in real life to worry about what’s going on in VR. Also, most of my inspiration has been musical lately. Music is so much bigger than words, and any musical project demands much more energy than a simple essay. I’ve got a lot of musical projects in the works right now, so it’s a little overwhelming.

I’ve been brushing up my bass chops and learning a bunch of songs by Teri Smolens and Seabury Gould of The Control Group. We played out together for the first time last month at Siren’s Song, and we got a great response. We have another gig coming up Friday July 29th at the Mad River Brewery in Blue Lake. The Control Group plays topical songs that address current events. The show is called “The Pandemic Newsical” and includes songs like “Lockdown Blues,” “Walking Biohazard,” and “Fauci, He’s No Hero.” The Pandemic Newsical offers an entertaining, humorous, and educational take on the events that changed our lives so dramatically in the last couple of years.

Teri writes terrific songs in the tradition of classic Americana. She’s like the Tom Lehrer of Covid. Seabury Gould is a masterful multi-instrumentalist and it is a great pleasure to play with them. The music is so friendly, and these tunes so cleverly crafted and full of biting humor that it really feels great to be laying down basslines for them.

Of course I still play my didgeridoo, both as a solo artist, and with Sean Powers as the Hardin-Powers Act. Sean and I will play a SoHum gig on Saturday July 23rd at the Mateel Community Center in Redway. It’s the first time I’ve played in SoHum for many years, so I’m looking forward to playing for my neighbors.

Music has a power that transcends mere words, and live music in the real world has a magic that you will never find online. The online world is controlled, monitored and manipulated, but the real world is still free and life can still happen there, if you have the courage and make the effort to show up. I think live music matters now more than ever. If we are going to survive as a nation, as a culture, and as a community, it will only be because we got offline and started living in the real world again.