Rejecting the Religion of Statism Part 2

by | Mar 30, 2010 | 13 comments

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuO1vZFPlqg

Video Summary: I was found guilty as I expected. I asked the officer if he had any evidence I had harmed anyone.

Answer: “No”.

“No further questions.”

It was very short. If you want them to stop using tickets as a source of revenue–

Challenge EVERY SINGLE TICKET in court!

Rejecting the Religion of Statism

by | Oct 14, 2009 | 37 comments

In the video below I explain my motives for not going along quietly with a simple citation and paying the fine. Statism is a religion that I simply do not have faith in and those of us who feel that way need to come out of the closet and stop pretending that we do in order to fit in and avoid conflict.

No one is in charge.

by | Oct 11, 2009 | 99 comments

Matt GriffinI’d just like to clarify something. As activists were leaving after gathering in front of Eli Rivera’s home as part of a candlelight vigil for the man Rivera attacked, Kurt Hoffman, other Keene police officers showed up and engaged us in conversation. During said conversation, one of them, Matt Griffin suggested that I was the “leader” of the activists.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

There are no designated leaders. I understand Matt’s confusion – after all, his organization is structured from the top down with very distinct roles of who’s-in-charge. It’s only natural for him to presume we are structured similarly, however we are not. This is a decentralized movement. No one is in charge. Each activist decides what interests him or her and does it. Other activists that agree will join in.

Is my voice a little more prominent because I have a radio program? Sure, but I’ve never told anyone what to do. They don’t follow my orders, and I wouldn’t give orders in the first place. It wasn’t I who put together the cannabis celebrations and candlelight vigils in front of Rivera’s and Burke’s homes. Those were other people. I merely supported these events.

Hope that makes it clear. Each activist is his or her own leader, and none is in charge of another.

Principles Versus Pragmatism

by | Oct 9, 2009 | 2 comments

I was recently accused of hiding behind my principles. The implication was that I was making a poor decision pragmatically speaking in order to adhere to some lofty and impractical principle. But principles are pragmatic. At least they ought to be. Otherwise what good are they? If your goals are noble, what better way to determine principles than based on whether they help you achieve your goals?

We often confuse expediency with pragmatism. You can make a choice that provides immediate return and seems the pragmatic choice only to pay a higher price later. A person who commits a crime is getting some immediate reward but has an ever-increasing risk of being caught each time. He’s gambling. He’s also shitting where he eats by destroying the sense of trust in his community. Lying is similar. When you get caught in a lie, which is likely just a matter of time depending on how often you attempt it, you seriously undermine your reputation. Worse yet, if you lie now expecting some immediate gain from it, even if you correct yourself in the future, anything you say thereafter will be circumspect. Even when you get away with it, every lie you tell for some immediate benefit undermines your veracity because you know you’re a liar. Conversely, knowing in your heart that you are consistently honest and sincere shows through in the power of your convictions. It’s a rare talent to be able to lie convincingly.

(Read On…)

Evolving Beyond Retribution

by | Sep 29, 2009 | 4 comments

An open letter to activists espousing violence as a form of activism against statism.

A shepherd had a nice flock of sheep but he was endlessly frustrated because his neighbor had more sheep than him. One day he had just birthed a new lamb only to discover that his neighbor had birthed two and was even further ahead of him. He’d had it. That night and every night thereafter, he began to complain about it in his prayers.

“Lord, Manuel now has five more sheep than me. I work just as hard as him and take good care of my sheep and it’s just not fair!”

After many nights of prayers full of whining and complaining about what he perceived as a terrible injustice, he heard a clear voice in his head.

“Alright! Alright! Just stop complaining and I will help you, but only this once. Then you are on your own. I don’t want to hear another word about it!” answered the Lord.

“Oh, thank you Lord! You are truly just! So… you are going to kill five of Manuel’s sheep?”

I believe the story was meant as an analogy about far left politics and what seems like a desire to drag everyone down to an equal level of misery. It may not seem to relate to retribution, but it does address a flaw in our thinking that fuels what I see as a pointless desire for retribution.

(Read On…)