Moving beyond misconceptions
Comment threads on part I and part II were full of interesting insights. Well, comments around here nearly always are. But these were interesting for the mix of wisdom and folly they contained — both held with equal passion.
When I challenged people (sarcastically, I admit) to point me toward a single local government that consistently and reliably obeyed the law, respected individuals, and kept within its bounds, people responded with exactly the sort of examples that proved my point. Yes, you can demonstrate that when local governments become sufficiently corrupt and abusive, angry voters will rise up and kick ass. But I already acknowledged that.
Nobody came up with a single example of true “good government” even at what ought to be the most easily managed level.
Matt did point out, correctly, that if good government did exist, it might not get much media attention; botched SWAT raids and politicians caught in the act of bribe-taking do make better press.
Nevertheless, if voting and vigilance create good government, there’d be hundreds, if not thousands, of examples to point to. There aren’t any. At best, you get slightly more tolerable versions of tyranny, slightly less corrupt oligarchies, slightly more favorable forms of favoritism, out of the vigilance-and-voting arrangement. That’s all you’ll ever get — and in most cases not even that much.
The moment you set up an organization that’s empowered to take other people’s money and boss other people around, the word “good” simply can’t apply.
Joel sums things up pretty well. You can vote out all the rascals in the world, but you’re still stuck with a system that attracts rascals and bullies and corrupts the rare good people who dare enter it.
The saddest thing is that despite centuries of evidence, so many people hold voting as some holy ritual, some magic rite. “If enough people would just vote, all would be well.” When it doesn’t work, it’s because the people failed to vote diligently enough.
No, that’s not the saddest thing. The saddest thing is that so many have been conditioned to believe that our only choices are the two “Vs” — a) voting or b) violence. “We must make the magic rite of voting work. If we can’t, blood will run in the streets.”
Now that’s a heck of a choice.
Is the universe really that limited? Nonsense!
We could get into some philosophical meander here and point out that voting is a form of violence, as is government itself. But let’s leave that for the philosophical types. For the rest of us, it’s a matter of doing what works to increase the amount of freedom — in the world and in our worlds. And right now, at this moment, for We the People who’ve watched a police state (albeit a kinder, gentler one) rise up around us, neither voting nor violence is an effective option if our aim is to live free.
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“But what do we do instead?” There’s the eternal cry. And what’s strange is that all manner of people (including me, including lots of commentors, including legions of creative bloggers) offer answers to that question every day. For years we’ve been tossing out alternatives.
Few want to hear. Because of course the answers aren’t as easy-peasy as spending five minutes of bi-annual or quad-annual (is that even a word?) v*ting (and getting righteous over news stories in between). Nor is it as dramatic (and pleasantly distant) as the image of we, our heroic selves, (someday) taking up arms and blasting in Rambo-esque glory at The Tyrant’s Legions — after somebody else starts the revolution we’re so adamant to have.
The real answers take 10,000 forms and involve (as one commentor scorned) everybody “doing their own thing” (“Hippies,” he snorted).
The real answers involve individual responsibility. Ugh. How dreary. How tedious. How unheroic. How very unfashionable.
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I want to clear up another misconception. A couple of comments noted (rightly) that nobody has any responsibility to a police state. True. But that’s never been my point. It’s not about performing any duties to the state. It’s about duties we feel toward ourselves, our families, our communities, our civilization, our principles, and our fellow man when we’re stuck living within a police state.
Now, if you don’t feel any of those, fine. Go your own way. (In fact, you probably already have gone your own way; I doubt that many consciousless, conscienceless folk have read this far.)
So this is about responsibilities we personally believe we should undertake — to create change within whatever sphere we adopt as our own. It’s about the responsibility to keep the tyrant from kicking our door down by preempting it from kicking down the doors of other innocent people (or punishing it when it does). It’s about the responsibility to ensure our own freedoms by kicking back when others’ freedoms get trampled. It’s about blowing the miasma of tyranny away from frightened, discouraged souls.
It’s about the long haul.
But. Here’s the good part. Responsibility doesn’t have to be dreary or tedious. Nor does revolution (if and when it comes) have to be bloody.
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Stay tuned for more.
And thank you to everybody who’s heard all this before — and maybe even said all this before. It needs to be said again periodically, and in different words, so that new people can hear and discouraged people can mine old concepts for new courage.
Claire, are you going to combine these blogs in an article for S.W.A.T., or for BHM? Written for either or both readerships, it might make an impact. (Well, am not sure it could get by S.W.A.T. editors, but it would certainly make an impact if it did. :-))
I think we just don’t know how to get there from here. We’ve done a lot of talking, true, with no conclusions and no consensus (bad word, I know, for libertarians to use). That’s why independent action — gulching, survival tactics, etc. — is so popular and so prevalent; it’s the only answer most individuals who reject both voting and violence can feel comfortable with.
“It’s about duties we feel toward ourselves, our families, our communities, our civilization, our principles, and our fellow man when we’re stuck living within a police state.”
“Community”, like communication, is a two-way street; if no one else gets involved, “community” doesn’t exist. Even talking to a real community rarely gets past “Letters to the Editor”. Few individual’s actions in any community get further attention than from their family and close friends (unless it *is* violent). This doesn’t mean individuals don’t live their convictions; rather, nobody else listens, or cares, or believes, or gives it credence. So community, i.e. cooperation with (hopefully) ultimate success — including a feeling of responsibility — dies.
~~~
There’s a couple of people here with whom I’d like to set up a news-letter/paper, both printed and online. Can I be specific and address them here, or should I email them separately? A “community” of libertarians can certainly make an impact — both in real-time communities, and “globally” across the country. It would be factual and practical, as well as consistently libertarian. (I haven’t given up on the idea that was started with Outlaw Trail on TCF.)
If one thing could be taught to all children above all else it would be to understand and accept personal responsibility for their actions and the consequences of those actions. Maybe they would grow up to build the kind of world we can’t envision.
It’s not just about the tyranny of local governments. A lot of the time it’s just stupidity, or a combination of the two. Take for example my local government. A bunch of old sentimental fools decided it would be a good idea to “revitalize” the downtown area, and drive out all of the “undesirables” so that they could relive their old Glory Days of cruisin’ the avenue, “American Graffiti” style.
They got some local investors and some tax abatement from the state, along with local property tax deferments. They formed a “Master Plan”. I certainly can’t say that they weren’t well intentioned. They actually wanted to attract local businesses to open, and refurbish the existing buildings. Not too bad, except that they were using some tax payer money and set up all kinds of special zoning regulations.
It is still ongoing. There’s one little snag, where one of the property owners backed out of a deal to sell his properties to a developer. Both properties are leased to successful but not “desirable” businesses. The City has recently classified these properties as “blighted” to open the door for an eminent domain grab. That is basically stalled…for now. They got a lot of negative feedback from residents.
But now, after everything is in full gear, they want to…..wait for it….install parking meters. How stupid is that? There’s a Wal-Mart about a mile away, and a shopping mall about 5 miles away. These people are too stupid. This is why I will never enter a contract with any government agency, ever. They are all crooked, backstabbing, brain dead individuals.
So, why is that? I’ll tell you why. In this town where I reside, both sides of my family go back 3 or 4 generations. My family name is fairly well known in this town. I operate a small construction business. A few people asked me to consider running for local office. My reply was, I would not want to put my personal life through all of the public scrutiny associated with running for office. That’s really what it boils down to, IMHO. Who the Hell in their right mind would want to subject themselves to that? Certainly not me.
Hey Claire-
Thanks for saying what I’ve been thinking, and amplifying it in ways I hadn’t considered. A little “me too” validation can go a long way.
If you’re willing to look at a blog entry that’s attached to a website that’s very much out of date…this was my effort to comment in this area.
I don’t think the future is all doom & gloom. I think we’re going to surprise ourselves with how good it’ll be. Or at least that’s what I want us to be working on.
Check out “Story of a Secret State – Jan Karski” – an account of the Polish resistance during WWII.
The resistance recorded crimes, protected the population, and prepared for war’s end.
That seems like a good start – make a list, check it twice…
Thousand of emails enter my mailbox each week. There is a common thread in most – complaints about our government institutions.
Seven years ago my wife and I got serious about fighting our country’s move to communism. First we made a concerted effort to stop the flood of illegal aliens and the awareness of this problem and their drain on welfare and law enforcement resources have become widely publicized.
Next I successfully ran for office in a local government institution. Subsequently my wife successfully ran for office in another local government institution.
Why am I stating this? NOTHING WILL CHANGE IF WE KEEP ELECTING THE SAME PEOPLE! The problem is that people complain but will not act! We constantly work to recruit people to run for office with very little success. We constantly lobby to bring sanity back to the government institutions in which we represent The People.
Next year most political offices in our country are up for election. I pray that we can recruit many bloggers and others who constantly complain will file to run for office. The only other option is a violent overthrow of our current government which will not likely happen because the “pussification” of our country is almost complete. Ask yourself: Why are most Tea Party groups led by women?
During WWII we still had men with testosterone not estrogen.
Um …. Evert, did you actually read the post you’re commenting on?
Claire,
I always enjoy reading your posts. If I don’t learn something from the post itself, I learn it in the comments. I was leary about the voting is a waste of time effort until reading Joel’s post yesterday. He hit spot on and there really isn’t much to argue about there. I can’t think of one occaision that an entire city council or even the majority of a council was voted out for a “rightious” coucnil to replacement. Replacing one jackal with a sheep is often not effective. Voters often forget that the person that runs a city government is normally the city manager, and employee of the city. That manager does answer to the council but in many cases runs the council as much as anything else.
As far as personal responsibility goes, everyone will have a different take on it. One should be responsible for their own actions and consequences thereof. One should have a certain amount of responsibility to family and friends (varies by individual case). Responsibility to the community will again, vary widely. I believe an individuals responsibility is really geard towards the individuals that make up a community, not the concept of the community itself.
Evert,
I suspect you are more of the problem than the solution. You are the classic example of someone who wants to be in charge so you can tell people like me what to do and whom to hate.
One of my favorite quotes:
The biggest problem with anarchy seems to be that if you don’t tend it carefully, your entire society collapses into government.
-C. D. Tavares-
OK, I guess I just don’t understand.
I have read all the posts related to this thread, and I have most of Claire’s books and I agree “something needs to be done”. We all pretty much agree on that, I believe.
But if “getting involved” doesn’t do it, and we’re kinda trying to do this without “blood in the streets”, what’s the plan?
Changing what government does can only be done by “convincing” government to do our bidding. We have to get their attention and make them realize that if they are unresponsive to our wishes they will be voted out of office. But that only works if there are those willing and able to run for office who WILL do our bidding. Evert and his wife appear to be on this path, and yet they receive nothing but nasty comments here.
So I have to ask, without sarcasm or snark, what is the answer? You cannot simply say “we gotta do something” or “get involved” if those are empty platitudes without foundation for action.
Whenever I read a blog or other commentary on “saving our nation” I invariably reach the same opinion after all is said and done . . . what do we do? I’m making every effort to be self-sufficient and “prepared” but that’s only going to help me and mine if/when TSHTF . . . doesn’t do a thing towards restoring constitutional government.
I’m listening. Educate me.
Kentucky Kid — I know you’re not being sarcastic. Not long ago, I was where you are now.
I’ll have more useful info in the next post. But the one key thing, the place change starts, is this: stop believing that you’ll ever “convince” government to do anything. Government will never attract or keep good people — not for long. It will never work for freedom; it will work only for itself.
But that’s not to be defeatist; it’s the opposite. What we need to do is change the paradigm. As long as we throw ourselves at the wall of “We MUST make government work, or else!” we have no chance. Government wins.
Stop the headbanging. Realize that there are alternatives out there that government schools never taught us and that government supremacists hope we never see.
More soon …
Matt, you’re a wonderfully good sport. I always find your comments very thoughtful and humane. I know we disagree on some issues, and I felt bad that I kind of flew in your face with some parts of this series. But agree or disagree, you respond like a true gentleman.
Excellent point about responsibility being toward the people of a community, not the abstract concept of community.
Kentucky Kid
“We have to get their attention and make them realize that if they are unresponsive to our wishes they will be voted out of office. But that only works if there are those willing and able to run for office who WILL do our bidding.”
See, here’s the crux of this problem as far as I can see… Kentucky… just who is this “we” and what exactly is “our bidding?” Yours is most likely going to be very different than mine. How can a politician do YOUR bidding, and mine too, without pissing off one or the other of us? Now multiply that by however many people that politician is supposed to “represent.” How would they manage it even if that were their heart’s desire?
Now, if we get things down to the most basic premise of liberty, where each individual controls his own life and property – on his own, or in voluntary cooperation with his neighbors… I wonder just what would such a representative do? What would be the purpose?
The only purpose of involuntary government, or those “representatives,” is to take control of at least some parts of our lives and property – whether we like it or not – and that IS exactly “the bidding” of a majority of the population. They sincerely want and expect to exercise control over you and your property, and they’re quite willing to send in thugs to force you to accept it.
You absolutely can’t get there from here unless you put one foot in front of another yourself. Nobody else can do it for you and call it freedom.
All right. I can respond a little.
Claire, your comment basically reinforces your famous position of “too late . . . too soon”. I essentially agree with that position. But the necessity to “change the paradigm” as you put it is exactly the heart of my posed question: change it to WHAT, exactly? And implied within that question is the even more difficult one: how?
I anxiously await your”alternatives” because that’s what I’ve been asking all these years . . . what’s the alternative and how do we get there?
MamaLiberty, all I can get from your comment is that you apparently feel a representative government in a constitutional republic simply won’t work. Your characterization of all governmental personnel as power-hungry automatons anxious to unleash their thugs upon the rest of us is just name-calling that uses way too broad a brush. So I ask you, if we “put one foot in front of the other” where are we going?
We keep coming back to the question, and all I see is the question re-stated with no solutions offered. Saying “we gotta make a change” is not an answer . . . it’s the same question rephrased.
I can in no way support the thought that some sort of Utopian society where we all are completely free to do whatever we wish with no actual, real personal responsibility will ever work to maintain our nation’s position in a world economy. We can’t just go off into the woods without reverting to the lifestyle of the seventeenth century, and I really don’t think anyone else really wants to do that, either.
I’m still listening, though . . . hopefully.
Claire,
Being wrong is one of those things I’m pretty good at. You’r posts are causeing me to think deeper and do a lot of positive self examination. As I’ve read the further posts, multiple times, I have a much better understanding of what you were talking about. With your posts and Joel’s comment I’ve been thinking about government the last few days. In modern history I don’t think we’ve ever had a benevolent government, regardless of where you are in the world. Govt is often benevelolent appearing to a favored group of participants, but tyrannical to other groups our outsiders. Even anarchy has serious problems, not the least it’s tendency to devolve into government.
As a student of the Bible (protestant version) I was reflecting on the Old Testament. Even when Israel was led by the judges (some consider that a high point of theocracy) they wound up with a state of corruption and injustice. The answer they came up with? They asked God for more and bigger government. God told them it would suck, but they insisted. Anyhow…
I do agree we need a paradigm shift. Don’t know what it is, or what it should be toward, but we do need one. I have learned that sometimes a paradigm shift can be planned, sometimes it is caused and sometomes it just happens without our say so. I also think that most paradigm shifts (good or bad) are recognized after the fact.
Maybe that is the question to wrestle with today.
Is there a better alternative to a “… representative government in a constitutional republic…”?
I am thinking that maybe there is, I just don’t see it yet. It might require a bigger societal shift than just a change in governing size or style too. Wow, looks like an interesting future awaits.
BTW, to see a great example of a small city government that could/should be better, search out Quartzsite AZ, lots of trouble in a desert wayside.
I don’t have time right now to make the great long comment that’s rattling around in my head. The short version is the suggestion that we all re-read Claire’s excellent series or articles that started with
The Quality of a Free Man http://www.backwoodshome.com/columns/wolfe060701.html
and continues with;
Sustainable freedom: the dilema http://www.backwoodshome.com/columns/wolfe060715.html
Sustainable freedom: the paradigms http://www.backwoodshome.com/columns/wolfe060801.html
Sustainable freedom: Shifting the world http://www.backwoodshome.com/columns/wolfe060815.html
These excellent articles put our individual responsibility for personal freedom
squarely back where it belongs, on each of us. I cannot sit around waiting for Claire to tell me what to do. I cannot sit around waiting for there to be a benevolent government to tell me what to do. There will not likely be a representative to represent me because I’m not the big WE constituency who elected them. MamaLiberty was spot on that there’s no way in hell that any elected official can represent the wishes and wants of every constituent, especially we small minority of freedom seekers. The big WE doesn’t want freedom, they want security, protection and laws, just like we tend to say that children need rules.
On the subject of whether there’s any path to be taken other than compliance v chaos or slavery v bloodshed, there’s a good little book available online that starts a thought process concerning alternative paths.
Daniel Quinn Beyond Civilization http://www.scribd.com/doc/37925188/Beyond-Civilization-by-Daniel-Quinn
Yes, “Matt, another”, there is “a better alternative to a ‘… representative government in a constitutional republic…’.
You’re welcome.
Hi Everyone, I just fell across this site as I was going through my favorite blog sites. I find it interesting that Just yesterday I found an article written in 1848 by a guy named Bastiat that address this ‘living in a police state’ issue rather completely and brightly (as in shine a really bright light on the subject). Lots of the things that are brought up in this blog and comments he’s hit out of the park over a hundred and sixty years ago. Wow. It’s old, written to the french people, and translated to english into a really easy read for us frustrated citizens and serfs.
http://jpfo.org/pdf02/bastiat-thelaw-2008.pdf
What’s the difference between a mafia and the State? The mafia doesn’t have an iron grip on your kids for 12 years extolling the virtues of the mafia. Other than that, there is no difference between them. A clear thinking person will identify the State as a mafia. But that takes a few years of deprogramming from the brainwashing of public school. If we stop feeding the State it will wither and die, but not before it becomes more draconian, which will create more questions and more resistance.
Which is what we need. You don’t notice the tick until it’s swollen and bloated. Then you get the lighter and tweezers. resist the State at every level. It’s evil.