I co-host Free Talk Live every Thursday night from 7pm to 10pm, a nationally syndicated talk radio show. Last Thursday, an anarchist called in to talk about how he attended a meeting about a local smoking ban to speak out against it. There was some discussion about whether such an act is part of working within their system and I’m known for not being a big fan of that game, to put it lightly. Mark is equating this act with voting based on the notion that you’re just voting by proxy, i.e. trying to persuade council members to vote a certain way. I’ve given some more thought to this and wanted to expound.
I wouldn’t go in there telling them to vote a certain way. I would simply use the platform of the meeting to talk about why they have no right to control the behavior or property of others. I wouldn’t give any moral support to the idea of the vote. I realize they are going to vote on it, but that’s their game. What it comes down to is I’m not going to go through the motions and essentially act out what is to me a big lie. It’s the same reason I don’t rise for a judge. They are hoping I’ll go through the motions and act publicly in accordance with their lies, reinforcing them, and in complete contradiction to my deeply held beliefs. It’s disgusting and offensive to me. On the other hand, simply taking the opportunity of the meeting and telling them they have no right to control others is as honest as I could be.
