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Comment by k310 | Hacker News Reader

I vividly recall a Christmas message from him, which I can't find in the archives, "Merry Fucking Christmas" having to do with his work on Mosaic browser and the lack of adulation shown him for having done so.

"Privilege," whether through one's birth, skin color, past achievements and so on, when it turns to exceptionalism, is the ruination of society here and in the world.

Truly good people use their gifts and achievements to lift others up.

Empty shells seek to cut others down.

"Libertarianism" seems nowadays to mean complete freedom for me, and not for you.

graphic (postimages.org)

https://i.postimg.cc/YqFrtzXg/Four-Libertarian-Freedoms-1.jp...

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I wonder if a lot of these individuals who try incredibly hard to get more attention and "adulation" at the expense of others or feel under-appreciated just weren't loved very much as children or given much attention. I wonder how much of their behavior comes from a place of insecurity--not feeling that they are enough. Of course this type of behavior is not excusable, especially because humans are able to reason (if they try) and assert some level of control over their actions.

Outside of actual physical abuse, I give people zero grace to blame their childhood for their shitty behavior as an adult.

You should be able to work through that shit. Especially if it was just that Dad didn't hug you enough. It's 2025; the tools are available. If you're a shitty adult, that's on you. If you're unable to process your own actions to see how attention seeking and desperate for validation you are, that's on you.

Source: I got the ever-loving hell kicked out of me as a kid, and sought help as an adult so that this nonsense could stop with me. If I can do it, with my lack of willpower and attention span, literally anyone can. Especially if they have access to the time and money required for that process.

None of us is free until we are all free. It's a pathetic lack of reasoning to arrive at his conclusions.

>"Libertarianism" seems nowadays to mean complete freedom for me, and not for you.

Just look at how the free speech warriors from a couple years ago have changed their tune.

They were most likely never libertarian. There's been a wave the last ~10 years of conservatives claiming to be libertarian. I know, no true Scotsman...

All the libertarians I've met have been white men with money...

i feel like a broken record, but i cannot recommend enough the book Dark Money by Jane Mayer for a primer on contemporary "big" american libertarianism.

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