Here’s a comment left by an inhabitant of Keene about “code enforcer” Carl Patten Jr. on my original video post, followed by my comments:
I am a resident of Keene who (reluctantly) filed a complaint back in April with Keene Code Enforcement against a neighbor for having an unregistered truck on our property line, as well as running a business out of our quiet, residential zone…not to mention filling up our deeded right of ways with his unused camper and business equipment. My complaint was passed to Carl Patten who called me on the telephone and in a very condescending manner told me that our neighbors were within their rights to park as many trucks as they wanted and that he ‘didn’t see’ the engine block sitting in the driveway, or the pallet of bricks and stone that are strewn about the driveway…nor did he notice the unregistered truck in their yard. Next thing I learned, Carl is FRIENDS with this person who is clearly violating our deeded rights. Our Realtor was told by code enforcement last week that I called to have the file closed a few months ago(which I did not). So….now that I hear about your situation, I can clearly see that Mr. Patten brings favoritism into his work ethic…hmmm, perhaps he would allow you to put a couch in MY front yard and you and your tenants can do all the bird watching you would like because obviously, on my street, this stuff is allowed. We may be on different sides of the political track but we obviously have a similar gripe about how a city employee handles his job…Good luck to you…I am definitely staying tuned.
Tina, thank you for sharing your story. What you are seeing here is not an isolated incident but instead quite typical of government. Because government is funded through coercion, its agents can rule arbitrarily and capriciously, punish their enemies, and reward their friends. If you decide you’ve had it with them and refused to pay a portion of their “property tax bill”, they could try to take your house from you! No business in the voluntary society operates in this manner.
I’m not sure what “side of the political track” you’re on, but I assure you I’m not on either side. I believe politics just leads us into conflict over who should rule the other. It is an endless conflict as multiple interest groups struggle to wrest control of the violence of the state away from each other. I do not want to control the lives of my fellow man and only want to live in harmony and peace. I’m willing to pay for services I find valuable like roads and fire protection. I would like to be able to support the education models I find valuable instead of the one-size-fits-all state indoctrination system. In order to accomplish these ends, my friends and I will begin to live more and more free and invite others to join us. It’s a much more positive, constructive, and efficient process than spending precious time and money engaging in politics by running candidates, campaigning, and all that other stuff. As a sovereign individual, I don’t need to ask anyone’s permission to live free, and I do not recognize anyone’s purported “authority” unless it was explicitly granted by from me to them in a contract.
We are being the change we wish to see in the world. Please keep your mind open and you are invited to join us when you are ready. We are peacefully evolving to the next great plateau for mankind: the voluntary society, or Agora. Welcome to the beginning of the great transformation.
