Peaceful Devolution

by | Mar 21, 2012 | 87 comments

Ian Freeman is embarrassing.

It’s a view you rarely never see on this blog, but it’s a view held by myself and a serious portion of liberty activists in the Keene area. (Not to mention the overwhelming majority of Keene residents.) Lately it’s been the senseless pestering of city bureaucrats, the quixotic school outreach, and his involvement in the war on grandmas. Yes, he does other things which are more legitimate and professional, but, for as long as I’ve been in New Hampshire, it seems that Ian has always been vocally supporting activism that’s jarringly wrong-headed.

I joined this blog in 2010 in order to openly criticize certain activist tactics that struck me as counterproductive. At the time, I was worried that the suppression of criticism was creating an atmosphere of groupthink— a situation where the systematic lack of criticism leads groups to make wildly irrational decisions. Since then, I’ve changed some hearts and minds with regards to criticism, and caused people to look twice at things they’ve taken for granted. This has been very satisfying.

But, where it really matters, I have failed. (more…)

On Civil Disobedience: A Conversation from Liberty Forum 2012

by | Mar 13, 2012 | 1 comment

The edited video of the civil disobedience panel held at the 2012 Liberty Forum, in which me, Ian Freeman & Jason Talley converse with those present about ideas, strategy and impact. It was recorded on Friday, Feb. 24th, 2012 at the Nashua, NH Crown Plaza.


Do you have thoughts on the content discussed? Points where you agree or disagree? Things that need clarification? How would you have answered some of those questions?

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Bearcat Opposition Spreads on Twitter

by | Feb 23, 2012 | 16 comments

“We must be the change we want to see in the world”

The quote is often attributed to Mohandas Gandhi, though like another researcher, I have yet to track-down when that phrase was first written or spoken. Still, no matter who first stated it, the phrase makes sense, right? Rather than sitting by idly and complaining the surest way to bring-about the world you want to live in is to be proactive and create.

Yesterday Luke Rudkowski, one of the founders of a grassroots organization that took its name from the quote (WeAreChange.org) told his 7,000+ Twitter followers “thanks but no tank!”

The link took Twitter followers to this video: Thanks But No Tanks – Keene Residents Speak Up

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What Defines Good? (Philosophy)

by | Feb 21, 2012 | 48 comments

What is it that defines good? According to Webster’s dictionary, it is defined as “being positive or desirable in nature “. Is good then a subjective value to be determined by each individual according to what they find desirable? If that were the case it would mean that there is no such thing as good or evil, that man’s life has no meaning, that there is no existence outside of consciousness; that the world is nothing but an accidental playground of pure, unbridled nihilism and that we are the devil’s children with empty, cackling, infinite nothingness as our total sanction and final purpose. While looking to any form of mainstream media at various interludes might depict this to be the case, rationality tells us quite differently; and although my overall faith in the human race is sometimes lacking I highly doubt that such a concept accounts for the inner beliefs of anyone but a psychopath. (more…)