There are two basic versions of the Golden Rule, with a bunch of variations found in virtually every major religion in the world. It is so common it prolly predates religion and written language.
1. Don’t do to others, as you don’t want done to you. (Negative version)
2. Treat others as you want to be treated. (Positive version)
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David K was recently in Nashua District Court for his arrest at the Nashua 420 rally during Liberty Forum. He explained to the court exactly why he did what he did that day.
Click for Audio of David’s Closing Speech and Verdict
Text of Speech:
I do not expect to be acquitted, so it is very important that I be allowed to explain the events and why they occurred on March 20th 2010. I am accused of what is essentially civil disobedience not for myself, but on behalf of another individual, so this explanation will have some personal beliefs that are philosophical in nature, please hear me out. This will take about 5 or so minutes.
Of course this trial is all about what I did on March 20 2010. But let me start with the following first;
Lewis Labatue was arrested for smoking pot, I believed the arrest was wrong, so knowing I could not stop it, attempted to delay it and to demonstrate the cruelty and violence behind the arrest. I did this by choosing to stand in front of the car that was to transport Mr. Labatue. I chose this form of civil disobedience in the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther Kings teachings. I did no violence, made no effort to harm anyone, but the means I chose achieved both ends. It did delay the law enforcers aggression, and the law enforcers over the top reaction to it was classic, and demonstrated the cruelty and violence that lay at the foundation of the war on people who use some drugs better, than 80 years of preaching prohibition era rethoric. In fact, only releasing the attack dog or pepper spraying my eyes would have demonstrated the basic inhumanity of the law enforcers aggression against peaceful people better.
It is a shame to put one man in a cage for a nonviolent so-called crime, that is, to separate him from society, it is tyranny when thousands are put in cages for nonviolent so-called crimes.
The genesis of this blog post was a comment by my brother left on a previous blog post of mine. He had asked this question; once I gain my freedom, how will the issues of Policing, the Military, and the Roads be taken care of. My answer is based on things that have already happened, so it is based in fact, rather than pie in the sky theory.
I will divide my answer into two blog posts, starting with the roads, and I will post the second half about the police and military in a few days or so.
-The Means are more important than the End. Good Means equal good Ends
Virtually everything the government has is based on a foundation of theft. They tax you, with the threat of penalties if you fail, or even make a mistake. A tax is theft, if you do not have a choice in weather you pay it or not. The roads are purchased with this stolen money. If a landowner, farmer, business person, or an elderly woman who has lived on the land all her life, chooses not to sell, the government uses a process called Eminent Domain to forcibly evict a person from their own home, or land. Eminent Domain is a fancy legal form of stealing. The government then builds the road. The government, or another government unit zones all land, dividing some into business, retail, others factory, and other land into residential. This forces people to use the roads to get from point A to point B. The government then demands that you pay to license and register your vehicle, or else you are forbidden from using the vehicle on the government roads. Keep in mind that the road is already paid for by stealing your money from you in the first place.
This process will never cease until there is resistance to it. When the cost of forcing money from people becomes too high, or higher than the revenue it will bring in, the increases in taxation, and the variety of different taxes, will stop. (more…)
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