The Free Staters are upsetting local bureaucrats again. This time they tried to return freedom to the people by limiting the amount of money local politicians can demand from them. The politicians weren’t happy.
One of the school board members said, “We don’t need a very small minority of people in this community — that do not in any way represent the will of the people — telling us how to do our job.”
Keene Cop Block invited Ian Freeman, a six -year inhabitant of Keene, NH, to share a bit about the ongoing harassment he’s faced from so-claimed “authorities” for his efforts to simply live free from their supposed “legitimate” coercion.
In this video Freeman, host of the nationally syndicated Free Talk Live and blogger at FreeKeene.com and ShireSociety.com, among much else, touches on the latest iteration of threat levied at him before speaking candidly about his motivations and the real impact had as the peaceful community emerges.
Instead of cowering, Freeman, knowing full-well that he’s not harmed anyone, has opted for transparency. His actions have undoubtedly embolden others – both in and outside of the ‘shire – to see the gun in the room, and speak out as well.
Many individuals around the world have learned that only by interacting peacefully can we achieve a more harmonious, prosperous, healthy, fair and tolerant society, that our lives on this planet can be far better. People universally oppose acts of aggression, theft, and fraud when committed by individuals. We accept the principle that the initiation of physical force against others is illegitimate, immoral, and may rightly be defended against. For the most part, we also insist that organizations of individuals, such as corporations, also abide by this natural tenet.
When it comes to state aggression, however, especially that wrought by democratic governments, the perspective for many can change. Individuals too often excuse the state when it harms innocent individuals. This may be because they feel powerless to effect change or uninformed, preferring to defer to those more knowledgeable. They may possess cultivated feelings of nationalism and exceptionalism; expectations of benevolence and altruism in state officials; fears of attack, fostered by interventionist propaganda and complicit mainstream media; yearnings for conformity; or just a willingness to harm, burden or restrict others, in the expectation of benefit to ends and causes they themselves consider to be good ones. Thus, when our governments act as aggressors rather than protectors of human rights, many individuals remain silent.
So begins the the forward to Why Peace, an over 600-page compilation of pro-peace essays edited by Marc Guttman, a book he he says:
In this weeks episode:
1. National Chalk the Police Day.
2. Derrick Freeman is joined by Heika Courser and Rick Blood to talk about their Keene city electoral campaigns.
Click here for the .pdf with pictures
Words on paper are not stopping activists and locals from living like free people in Keene, New Hampshire. Whether it is marijuana consumption on the Commons or a young woman going topless on Main Street, Keene has become the place to challenge unjust, immoral, and simply foolish laws. This has naturally rankled many state and local civil servants. The Keene City Council voted against sending a resolution to the state house begging for marijuana decriminalization legislation–instead individuals on the council were encouraged to send a personal message. The Keene Police Department has shown both professionalism in its dealings with the 420 events and violence though Police Prosecutor Sergeant Eliezer Rivera.
April 13, 2009, was the day that David Ridley, of Grafton, was to be arraigned for videotaping in the second-floor lobby of the Keene City Hall. Sam Dodson was arrested on that date, while videotaping there; his charges changed several times over the following months.
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