Ain't none of mine and ain't none of yours

Lemme play lumberjack and ax you a question.

Does it affect you in a way that can be measured empirically?

No? Then it ain't none of your business then.

Yes? Then you get to have a say.

WHAT IS "IT"

Doesn't matter what "it" is. Pick something. Your next door neighbors growing a marijuana plant for their own enjoyment. Your other neighbor lighting M80s at 3:30 a.m.

Don't care. You get to define the "it."

Really. I don't care what the "it" is.

Transgender people serving in the military. Same-gender marriage. Owning a gun and carrying it in public. Hunting. Fishing. Standing on a street corner and warning people of the impending Alpacalips. Abortion. Rock & roll music. Taxes.

Pick something? Got it in mind? Good. Hang on to that.

MAKE IT TANGIBLE

Now about that empirically part. Tangible. Can it be measured and quantified? Can you say it is affecting in you a material way? Does it affect you economically? Physically?

Can you prove it? Can you show me on paper how it affects you?

That M80 going off. You may be able to prove that is keeping you up at night causing you to lose sleep. That is a measurable matter. Loss of sleep can be quantified.

TANGIBLE BUT VOLUNTARY

Can the effect be measured, laid down and shown to other people? Ok. Then is the effect voluntary? In other words, are you asking for the effect? Do you have to do something to be affected?

Your neighbors and their funky plant. Are you buying a rollup from them every now and then? Then, yes that affects you, but that is also a decision you made to be affected. 

Because you choose to be affected by giving them money in exchange for twisted basil, then what your neighbors do in their garden is none of your business.

TANGIBLE: VOLUNTARY AND INVOLUNTARY

Some things are tangible and you can choose to participate in some and you are forced to participate in others. If you get to choose, it is none of your business because you can walk away. If you are forced, then it is absolutely your business.

Taxes. Depends on the tax. Many communities have a hotel-motel tax that is higher than the local sales tax. Don't like the tax? Don't stay in a motel or a hotel. Gas tax? Do use a petroleum product-consuming vehicle. Diesel engines can run off used cooking oil. You can also walk. 

Income tax? You pay a tax simply because you have to work to provide for yourself. That's your business.

If you have a choice on whether or not to pay the tax, that tax levy is none of your business.

Standing on a street corner telling people they are going to whatever version of perdition may exist. Does this affect you? Possibly. It certainly can be annoying. But annoyance cannot be laid down and calculated. So, it is none of your business.

If the person is getting in your way, different matter. If the person is being so loud you cannot be heard over them, different matter. Both of these can be slapped down on the sidewalk, compared and proven in a tangible manner.

You volunteered to be affected. This is not the same as being affected against your will.

INTANGIBLE

Lots of things are intangible. I'm racking my brain here and I cannot think of a single intangible thing that is your business.

Neighbor getting an abortion. How does this affect you? Do not hand me the claptrap that it is immoral. Morality cannot be placed on a yardstick and marked off incrementally. Do not tell me it is against God's law. God's law is not meant to be forced on people. Jesus did not demand. He requested. He certainly never demanded of government.

You getting an abortion? Absolutely 100 percent your business.

Things that:

Are annoying

Are disgusting

Are revolting

Are weird

Are offensive

are none of your business.

A person carrying a pistol in his pocket as he walks down the street? None of your business.

Two or more adults getting married to each other? None of your business.

Some guy going out and killing a lion in Africa? Unless you owned the lion, none of your business.

Your hurt feelings are your business and yours alone. Quit trying to make your inability to cope everyone else's problem.

LOOKING FOR THE LINE

If you are looking for the line on whether or not it is your business, I have given you the answer already. But to re-explain, does it:

• Come out of your wallet? If yes, it is your business. If no, none of your business.

• Does it have a physical impact on you? Yes? Your business. No? Not your business.

ONE MORE EXAMPLE

Lemme rip you an example from the headlines.

Transgender folks in the military. Are you serving alongside these people? No? Then none of your business. TG person wanting to get a sex change operation on the military's medical plan? Your business if you pay taxes that go toward the military budget. TG person wanting to pay for the sex change and take unpaid time off to recover? None of your business unless you are that person's commanding officer or you serve with that person.

MY OPINION

So what do I think about all these things I've listed and more? You have my opinion.

If it takes money from my wallet against my will, it is my business. If it creates a physical impact to me, it is my business.

Just because I like or do not like something does not make it my business.

I detest dill and anything that has dill in it. Therefore, I do not eat food with dill in it. I do not try to stop other people from eating dill-infused products.

I have cut sugar from my diet. I read labels on food. If it has sugar, I do not buy or eat it. I do not try to ban sugar.

Don't try to tell me what to do, unless I am affecting you, and I won't tell you what to do unless you are affecting me.