Saturday, June 29, 2013

Has It Been Three Years?

It astounds me how long it has been since my last entry, and people are still reading this blog and posting comments. Despite not blogging for three years, Bugged Out still gets more hits than my other blogs/sites combined. Makes one realize how serious an issue bed bugs are to so many of you out there.

How has my life changed in this time? I left New York City and moved to Manchester, New Hampshire as part of the Free State Project. The FSP is an organization with the mission of attracting 20,000 supporters of freedom and limited government to move to New Hampshire to seek a freer way of life. FSP participants, or Free Staters, use various labels to describe themselves: libertarian, constitutionalist, anarchist, voluntaryist, etc. They all find a way to make their lives freer, whether it be through political action, civil disobedience or civic involvement.

One thing I've learned from my past bedbug experience is that bedbugs will change your life in ways you'll never expect. I still have nightmares about bedbugs, and it's been seven years since I had them. I guess I can thank the bedbugs for making me into a libertarian. As a former liberal who believed the government would always be there to help, I was relieved when news broke out that Councilwoman Gale Brewer introduced a bill into the City Council that would help New Yorkers suffering from bedbugs and even prevent the spread of these creatures to other unsuspecting New Yorkers. There was even talk about a citywide bedbug task force. Unfortunately, the only thing that was really accomplished was getting the Councilwoman's name in the local media, since bedbugs were a hot new issue in the Big Apple at the time and introducing any legislation related to bedbugs would be sure to get some press.