Today is December 18, 2025. 

As of today I still have not received any compensation or recognition for my writing. Alas we persevere. Perseverance being the only weapon that can be used when combatting the fleeting nature of time. 

I have been reading more about the law. I skipped the introductory readings, essays on justice and rights, and freedom opting towards the essays in the back on punishment. To be returned to in due time. But I found my life to be cruel and unusual. Or the rigged nature of our society to confuse mere existence with a form of punishment. Then oddly enough I stumbled upon some writing about Payne (vs) Tennessee. Which sent me down a fascinating rabbit hole. 

I will probably end up writing something on punishment. Admittedly my readings in the ideas of applied or unapplied morality in the scope of the law are far more enticing. To me. The distinction that one can (and should) pass both moral and legal judgment. I am of the opinion that they are distinct. 

A distinction but not a denial that there is a relationship between the two. I'm just beginning an essay for an unnamed project in which I touch on this idea. That justice is the recognition of truth. Though truth and justice are two different things. They coexist. The same could be said for moral judgment and legal judgment. But the point of contention arises when recognizing that just because an act is legally permissible it doesn't mean that it is morally permissible. 

Take a nineteen year old buying cigarettes for example. They have a legal right to do this that should be respected and honored. But any conscious adult who sees the act may have some moral objections. Moral objections and doubts aren't grounds enough to inhibit someone's rights. 

I am gonna follow a rift for a second. 

There is an inherent coercion required for law to retain any degree of force. The threat of consequence dictating the limitations of public behavior. 

It dawns on me that the current nature of progress, the standard in which we pursue scientific revolution, has created a scenario in which collective existential threats and anxieties compound. I attest this to being collateral damage from the free market system that dictates our economy. A system that would work had it not been owned by an elite few. A theoretical free market, but exploited by the same figures that warp our politics. 

But as the nature of our privacy become increasingly difficult to protect, mandates from the government have become increasingly preventative and paternalistic.

One might make the argument that the one innate spiritual phenomenon there is, is that of respect. I find that in many ways respect is actualized by the act of honoring privacy. There has been a long standing observation that punishment has concentrated it's attention on increased psychological punishment over physical punishment. I wonder if we enter the realm of spiritual punishment as well.

I retract that statement. We have been there for quite some time. 

How can I broaden my scope through my writing? How can I convince the American people feel my frustration? Seeing as I am proficient in spreading my anxieties. But these are anxious times. War is raging on and our President intentionally misreads information. I don't feel like writing this anymore.