Facebook quizzes, not just entertaining, but dangerous

Have you ever seen one of those quizzes that isn't just pointless, but entirely incorrect in its questions? For example: "Toppling enemy regimes to spread democracy will make the world a safer place. agree/disagree" Without a thorough understanding of the basis of individual rights, and a commitment to maintain them, democracy can easily become the tyranny of the many.

I am not against democracy, instead I *am* for a better understanding of individual rights.

You do not have a right to health care.

You do not have a right to an education.

You do not have a right to get $4500 dollars to trade in your old SUV for a new one.

You have a right to everything you would have on a deserted island. Who will provide your health care? Who will provide your education? Who will provide your retirement benefits? These are not rights, these are demands on the skills and productivity of others.

You do have a right to any shelter you can find or create on this island. You do have a right to any food you can catch, collect, grow, pick and store. You do have a right to any knowledge of flora or fauna, science, medicine or engineering you can determine from the world around you. You have a right to make your way in the world by the power of your intellect and application of your body to your own ends.

If there is only one other person on this deserted island with you, your rights do not change. You do not suddenly get to make any unearned claim on that other person's skills, on their productivity nor on their property and call it "a right". Indeed it is ludicrous to claim that it is ok to simply steal from that other person.

Just as it is inappropriate to make demands against only one person on a deserted island, it is equally inappropriate to make those demands on 10 or 100 or 1,000 people, or 300 million people on a deserted continent.

To demand that the world owes you something and mistakenly call it "a right" does not make it right. To claim that democracy is the solution and thereby to make that same demand with 6 billion of your closest friends still does not make it "a right" nor does it make it right.

rootie

The value of a lighter bike

I got a great deal on a used mountain bike, and in the process dropped about 11 pounds of weight from my previous mountain bike. I've had it long enough to go on exactly 1 ride.

wow.

What's the big deal? What sort of difference can that much weight make?

• Mountain biking is about going uphill. 11 extra pounds up 500 feet is roughly equivalent in energy output to riding an additional 25 feet uphill. (assuming 200 lbs of bike and rider) (approximately 5% advantage)
• The weight of the bicycle can act as a keel, stabilizing both bike and rider. This works both ways -- a lighter bike is substantially more maneuverable, but at the cost that the rider must be slightly more careful -- it is very easy to end up crosswise on the trail if your balance isn't quite right and you over-correct.
• A much lighter bicycle can be moved forward and backward under the rider much easier under load, including to change the center of balance before bumps or ruts, or take minor advantage of undulations in the trail surface.
• Last but not least, when you have the fitness level of a jelly belly with a desk job (who? surely not me...well ok occasionally), if you find a hill too steep to ride, it is much easier to push up the hill.

I can't say that it makes me a better rider, but it puts a little more fun in my fun.

rootie