Let’s take a closer look at the options available in a voluntary society. We’ll start with private schools. For the purpose of this essay, I’m going to assume that the current standard of a single teacher teaching a class of 30 students in a building containing multiple classrooms is the market chosen system. It may or may not in fact be what the market comes up with, and we can’t know what that actually is until we have a market in education.
Lets take a look at how various state services may be provided in the absence of government. Education, Roads, Protection, Courts, pollution control, and many other services currently monopolised by the state can not only be provided by the private market, the will be more affordable, less intrusive, and respond to customer needs faster. Education is often a service that people just can’t seem to imagine without the state. But as I hope to demonstrate, the private market can, and will, provide, if only the state got out of the way.
This is a pre-recorded episode of Free Keene TV. In this episode:
1. Silver Circle Movie Shoot
2. Right to travel
3. Illustrated Ridley Report on peaceful civil resistance
4. 2011 Keene Karaoke Idol winners
Special guests Ademo Freeman and Z join the discussion panel.
Did you know that Steve Lindsey is the most libertarian representative from Keene, according to the NHLA? Or that Molly Kelly is the most economically liberal senator in the New Hampshire Senate? Or that State Representative Sam Hawkes voted with conservative Republicans 18% of the time? (Chuck Weed only voted with them 5% of the time.)
These are the kind of things you can learn on Free Keene’s new Voter info page, where I am collecting data on local Keene legislators. The new page is intended to be a tool to help voters, and non-voting activists, keep track of their elected representatives. (Therefore it is under the “Tools” tab.)
Because knowing is half the battle.
With luck, I will eventually be able to expand the page with information about city councilors and other local officials, to help with city elections.
Ian Freeman recently learned, thanks to his incarceration, that Cheshire County Superior Court Judge John P. Arnold will be retiring. Our man on the inside was not able to learn the dates of John’s retirement and my followup calls to the Superior Court in Keene didn’t yield any answers, but Barbara Hogan, the clerk of the court, did confirm that John is retiring.
On Friday’s Free Talk Live, Ian Freeman called in and spoke to Mark Edge and myself about the news and reminded us about John’s time on the bench:
Ian called the retirement “convenient” since John would have faced a hearing by the Redress of Grievance panel for his banning of all recording devices, which is in violation of the New Hampshire open records statutes. John P. Arnold banned people from wearing shirts with messages on them, demanded that court watchers withhold display of emotion in the courtroom and forced people in the courtroom to stand for him, stifling their convictions (religious and otherwise). In a previous episode of Talley.TV I reported on Judge Arnold Enforces Decorum “Strongly,” Threatens Talley.TV and Causes Disruption of Court Proceedings.
According to the State of New Hampshire’s website:
There are now 18 fulltime judges [at 11 locations] serving on the Superior Court throughout the state. Under the State constitution, the Governor, with approval of a majority of the Executive Council appoints judges who hold office until they attain the age of 70.
Dave Ridley continues to illustrate the episode of Free Talk Live that took place the evening of Ian’s caging by John Arnold in his latest report:
Despite being locked away at the Cheshire County House of Corrections, it’s good to see that Ian was still able to scoop the mainstream media. There’s no doubt the “State of New Hampshire” will fill this position and we’ll have yet another Superior Court Judge in Keene, NH. The governor will nominate a new judge (with the agreement of an executive council) so there won’t be a delay in enforcing bad laws and enriching the state with new fines.
Note that this governor is not friendly to the Free State Project and may use this as an opportunity to send a message to the people who move to “New Hampshire’s Liberty Activism Destination.” Harsher enforcement of bad laws will just serve as more opportunities to tell people about the peaceful civil disobedience happening in Keene as more people move here and say no to aggressive government. Since Ian’s caging, several people have moved and many more have publicly announced that they will be moving as a result. This is exactly what Ian had hoped for and as he put it, “it was worth it!!”
John has punished a lot of people during his time on the bench but I’m only aware of three liberty activists that faced him in court: Russell Kanning, Jim Johnson and of course Ian Freeman. Another high profile incident during John P. Arnold’s tenure as Judge was the suicide by self-immolation on the sidewalk outside where Arnold and his staff go to work in the Keene community. Like this, the news was released first by FreeKeene.com. Cases such as these receive more publicity because they take place in a city that Ian Freeman calls the “liberty media capitol of the world.” As more people have become aware of John’s harmful use of judicial powers he has become open to more scrutiny. His response was to ban cameras and other electronic devices that concerned members of the community use to hold public servants accountable.
There’s no way to know why he is retiring but if John P. Arnold’s August 8th Order to Media is any indication, he doesn’t care for transparency and the accountability that comes with it. His three pages of restrictions took place less than one month before the US District Court released a strongly worded opinion in support of recording public servants, like John. A key quote from the recent decision is in sharp contrast to the media crackdowns taking place in Keene area courts:
Gathering information about government officials in a form that can readily be disseminated to others serves a cardinal First Amendment interest in protecting and promoting “the free discussion of governmental affairs.”
Will the next Superior Court Judge be more camera-friendly, or will he and other public servants decide to resign when faced with accountability and a community in search of true justice?
[We were unable to transcribe this letter due to injury, so thanks go to volunteer Anthony Richard for transcribing this letter from Ian. We have not checked the transcription, so we are still attaching to this post Ian’s letter scanned in a PDF format.]
My most asked question – “Was it worth it?”
My answer – It depends on your perspective. What do you think?
Allow me to explain. The question feels like there should be some objective criteria by which one can determine the worth of civil disobedience. There is not. It’s completely subjective.
For instance, were you to look at this from a financial perspective, I took a big hit. It is costing me thousands to hire contractors to run my business in my absence. My phone bill alone will likely be in the hundreds with the collect calls I am making to the LRN.FM studio to be on-air occasionally and to assist Mark and the rest of our great crew with Technical Operations. Does it hurt to cut those big checks? Yes, of course. Could the money have been spent in better ways, perhaps on other activism? I don’t know. How could I quantify what the extra publicity that Free Talk Live and Free Keene may be receiving is worth? How many people have decided to move to NH or have moved up their plans because of this incident? No way to tell. Even if there was some way to know, what value could be put on each? Incalculable. Therefore, while it is tempting to judge the “worth” of this incident by a financial perspective, doing so is folly. Besides, I came here to do activism. Activism takes time and costs money. I knew that going in.
So, “Was it worth it?”
Another perspective to consider is that of the listener of my radio program, Free Talk Live. The show is my creation and I have been with it from day one without any real vacation for almost nine years. I have my fans and my critics and while I appreciate someone who says, “we need you behind the microphone.” I would encourage them to remember why It’s not called “The Ian and Mark Show”, FTL is a open phones panel discussion with a pro-liberty viewpoint. It has multiple hosts because of a few reasons:
1. I created the show I wanted to listen to, and I prefer not to listen to myself monolog.
2. Multiple hosts bring multiple perspectives to the table and can check each other’s egos.
3. I wanted the show to continue in my absence. It sure would be a waste to put years into building a major communications tool for the liberty movement and then have it wiped out because I got hit by a bus or targeted by aggressors. Considering I am an activist AND talk host, the latter was only a matter of time.
Therefore, the show goes on, with or without me. While I would certainly prefer to be on-air, it would be inappropriate for me to decide the”worth” of this incident from that perspective. No doubt my critics would answer the question with a resounding, “Yes!” I’m glad I could finally make them happy. They will be pleased to discover I still face a trial for last year’s “drinking game”, wherein I may be locked up for 18 more months.
So, “Was it worth it?”
The only valid way for me to answer this is based on how I feel.
I did what I felt was right. I stood in front of that police car as they were kidnapping my peaceful friend, Heika.
I had determined in advance that I was going to take this action after being inspired by David Krouse’s actions during the 2010 420 in Nashua. When one chooses the road of disobedience one should expect to be caged. To believe otherwise is delusional.
I wish the sentence were shorter, but it could have been longer. One must expect the worst. I knew I might get a harsh sentence, as whether I like it or not, the government guys think I am the leader. “Judge” John P.Arnold even called me the spokesman. I hope my time in a cage shows them that the activism continues without me.
See blog post #2 for a detailed description of my conditions here at the Keene Spiritual Retreat a.k.a. “Cheshire House of Corrections”. Being caged could be a LOT worse. Just look to Maricopa County, AZ to see how. Iam making the best of my time here.
I talk on-air and blog about civil disobedience and non cooperation. I advocate it. If I were to advocate it and not perform it, I’d be a hypocrite. Why would anyone want to listen to a hypocrite? If I were to advocate, as Gandhi did, to be the change you wish to see, then stand by and expect others to be that change for me, I’d be a user.
I followed my inner light. I fulfilled my promise to myself. I set an example in the hope of encouraging others. I am the change I wish to see.Had I chosen otherwise, I’d not have been able to live with myself.
I chose to stand for liberty, peace, and love. My awesome liberty family supports me.
OF COURSE it was worth it!!
[Mail to Jail was unable to transcribe this letter due to injury, so thanks go to volunteers Anthony Richard and one other person for transcribing this letter from Ian. We have not checked the transcription, so we are still attaching to this post Ian’s letter scanned in a PDF format.]
“Reflections on Civil Disobedience”
One night, later in the week at Porcfest this year I was walking around
and stopped at a campfire. A couple of the faces I had recognized as
people I had met earlier in the week – the rest I did not know. I believe
100% of them were attending their first Porcfest.
Apparently, I was right on cue, as when I approached the fire, some
comment was made about how if Ian Freeman were around, they could ask me.
The individual looked up, saw that the universe had delivered me to their
campfire, exclaimed a pleasant surprise and proceeded to ask: “Why Keene?”
Just prior to my arrival they had been discussing this, perhaps curious as
to why I had not chosen to move to Manchester and also under the
misconception that it was I who started the move to Keene. It’s an
understandable misconception, especially to people who may not have paid
attention to the Free State Project prior to the last year or two. (more…)
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