Remembering the first battle. (H/T Jim Bovard, whose blog recently acquired a shiny new look) And fighting the battles still. The Lexington, MA, board of selectmen revoked Oath Keepers’ permit to muster on the green tomorrow, citing (groan) “public safety” in the wake of the Boston bombings. Stewart Rhodes says he’ll be there, anyhow, and David Codrea will let the world know if he needs bail money. Whatever happens tomorrow, yesterday went pretty darned well. And got some enemies of freedom really frothing. Captain John Parker: “Stand your ground. Do not fire unless fired upon. But if they mean to…
Category: Resistance
Sometimes you need to say “no” to Big Brother
This was a week for getting reminded of unconventional freedoms — and unconventional Outlawry (though some might call it just plain criminality). First, we got fascinated with Christopher Knight (aka the Maine Hermit), whose solitary life some found irresistible. Imagine speaking only one word to another human in 27 years and sleeping outdoors through 27 northern winters. Imagine doing that, yet remaining so un-resourceful that you think stealing from a camp for handicapped kids is a legitimate way to survive. Then yesterday afternoon, NPR interviewed Mike Brodie — not their usual sort of book author. At 27, Brodie is a…
The “scariest search engine on the Internet” could be ripe for some mayhem in the right wrong hands. Borepatch has more. Hey, if our children really belong to the state, or the “community” or whatever, doesn’t that mean everybody else ought to have to buy them their expensive sneakers and put up with them when they’re having a case of the raging hormones? Just — boom! — hand ’em off to some random bureaucrat or neighbor for a while whenever they get a little out of hand. “Whaddaya mean, you won’t take Maddie Mae and Jacob? They’re your kids as…
Strange bedfellows. But I’d be willing to commit a whole lot of unnatural acts with the ACLU as long as they’re on our side on guns and databases. Great idea for great activists. And great use of the power of social media. Sure, the thugs could rip the bracelet off, but surely this would give them pause. Maybe you have to know the people and place involved, but I think this video from Joel and Friends is a screaming hoot. Let’s just say you had one of these. But in semi-auto. With quite a few extras. (Here’s a more thorough…
I’m always getting these ideas for the openings of stories. Then I either don’t know where to go with them or (more likely) don’t have enough ambition to figure it out.
So here’s one I’m tossing at you.
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You know, it takes a lot more brainpower to write long, thoughtful, personal posts than it does to toss out a little news (maybe accompanied by a bit of snark or righteous indignation). So while I continue working on the “Perspective” Blog Tome, news (and one really good laugh) it is for today. “Anonymous has left the building.” “The logic of surveillance.” (H/T JG) This isn’t exactly nooz. It’s from last month. But it makes me proud that the Northwest is a national center of anti-surveillance activism. You go, monkeywrenchers! This pertains to yesterday’s “Perspective” blog. Gretchen Rubin of The…
The following is a question I know we’ve all pondered. Yet in a way it’s imponderable. So we tend to come up with glib, macho, chest-thumping answers. Or we don’t answer at all because silence is the wiser choice. Still, it’s on a lot of minds. UnReconstructed asked the question in its fullest, most individual (and most ironic) form. I’ll try to paraphrase it into more mundane, more cautious, reality. Fourth question: At some point, political Intolerable Acts become truly, personally intolerable. The long train of abuses has to halt. We’ve already seen people (including perhaps ourselves) submit to more…
Even as the armed individual remains the key to self and community defense, sophisticated societies inevitably develop specialization. It seems likely that even Libertopia would end up with a professional class of protectors, bounty hunters, or armed “insurance agents” (ala L. Neil Smith’s North American Confederacy). Which brings us to the ancient dilemma, “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?” Third question: In this or any other society, is it possible to ensure that armed, organized enforcers respect the rights of individuals and hold themselves to the fundamental rules of civil society? If so, what would put such a check on their behavior…
Thanks for all the input on the “five questions on the state of freedom” project. I’ll be laying low this week (though I will be checking in to approve comments that slip into the moderation queue). So here you go, Commentariat: solve the problems of the world. 😉 First question: Now that tyranny and its accompanying economic destruction have come so far, do you believe that there is likely to be any peaceful solution for restoring freedom? If so, what solutions do you envision? And specifically how do you see them working? I’m talking about political freedom here — not…