Throw the Ring into the Volcano

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Fri, 01 Feb 2002 14:06:30 GMT

Steve Trinward at Rational Review - Who are we trying to elect? A critique of the "electability" political model - good exploration of why electing candidates is not an effective way to achieve a libertarian society.

Okay, now put our "typical" libertarian in this context. Most libertarians do not by nature enjoy the civic organizational involvement it takes to develop a reputation with those likely to come out and help in an election effort. No, they'd rather be home cleaning their guns, or writing their treatises, or chatting on discussion e-lists, or ... anything else!

...

I admit that, given the almost two centuries of disfavor in which the concept of "citizen statesman" has resided, and given the fact that the only folks who vote at this point are those who are either: (a) still deluded that it makes a difference to keep the WORST person out of office; or (b) affirming their own integrity, by voting only FOR candidates they support, and blanking the rest of the sheet, just so they can look at their own mirrors every morning ... this is probably our only recourse in the electoral arena. The question remains, is that the only political venue we have available? What if there is indeed a better way to affect the society around us, and move it toward a more libertarian position?

Vin Suprynowicz - California devalues 'dollar' coupons by another 8 percent - part of The Libertarian series. Vin bemoans California's 19th raise in their minimum wage. As well he should.

Meantime, hasn't anyone ever asked why they have to keep doing this every year or two, like rats on a treadmill? Because it doesn't last long, you see. If an hour of unskilled labor is now "worth" seven so-called "dollars" instead of six, all that must really happen, in the end, is that a lot more fiat paper coupons still identified as "dollars" will have to be printed. (See: "Weimar Republic.")

David E. Sanger at The New York Times - Bush, on Offense, Says He'll Fight to Keep Tax Cuts - "Not over my dead body will they raise your taxes," said GW at a speech in California. How about cutting our taxes by a factor of 10, Mr. Bush? Better yet, eliminate the income tax completely, and replace it with nothing. [mind]

The Libertarian Enterprise has a new issue, "The Bright and the Bleak". Articles I liked:

The issue starts with an image by Lux Lucre. It was too big for me to copy here, click on the link above to see the original. I've copied the text below. Unfortunately, I think Mr. Bush has already been corrupted beyond repair. I'd be happy to be surprised, however. Mr. President,
Throw the
Ring into the
Volcano
Now!
Letter from E.J. Totty - Mr. Totty once again drives the issue of the intent of the second amendment "into the ground." And he does so very well.
Another Letter from Jim Davidson - reveals some of the subtle gems in L. Neil's Henry Martyn and The American Zone.
The Winter of Our Discontent by L. Neil Smith - it's a bad time for liberty, and yet... it's a great time for liberty. L. Neil announces NetPlanetNews.com. John Taylor has reserved the domain, but there is not yet a web site there.
The nation's secret police -- FBI, CIA, NSA, DIA, and countless others that have no legal standing to exist, let alone operate under Constitutional law -- pry into the lives and businesses of anyone and everyone, giving a suspicious slant to the most innocent comings and goings of the people they falsely claim they're protecting. Uniformed, machinegun toting thugs have taken over America's airports and use their malign power to grope, fondle, strip, probe, or incarcerate anyone they want, or to deny the right to travel to anyone bold enough to differ with them about what they're doing.

At the same time, owing to the incompetence and ignorance of two administrations in a row, the country finds itself slipping backward, inexorably, into something that can't possibly be a Depression because we don't call them that any more. Meanwhile, brave and glorious entrepreneurs, on and off the internet -- who succeeded in staving off disaster for almost a decade before they fell at last, exhausted by the wayside -- are blamed for what's happening to the economy.

...

Our best and brightest repeat what Lord Acton told us: power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. For that reason, we shouldn't strive to put our own in office. While I agree with the premise, I disagree with the conclusion, and for a number of reasons.

First, if we ever manage to put our own in office and they turn out to be as bad as those in office now, what, exactly, have we lost? What we've gained is wider public understanding of what libertarianism is all about, and undeniable moral high ground from which the New Media can pelt our new politicians and keep them in line.
I Just Don't Want to Die Alone by Joel Simon - Wow! A tour-de-force about why Mr. Simon practices shooting, a lot, even though he doesn't much enjoy it. He wants to ensure that when nazi grunts comes to his door to enforce a law with no right to be, that he'll be able to kill at least one of them before they kill him. Wow! Also contains a good account of LAX security post 9/11. He is not optimisitic about liberty's chances in Amerika.
His Noblest Fantasy Had Little To Do with Elves and Wizards by Vin Suprynowicz - I printed and reviewed this yesterday. If you didn't read it then, now is a good time.
The Enemy's Greatest Weapon by L. Neil Smith - Why those who love liberty must be willing to shout it from the rooftops.
After living in this world for 55 years (so far), being active in the freedom movement for 40 years, and writing books for 25, I have finally identified -- and, to some degree, come to understand -- the most powerful weapon in the arsenal of those opposed to individual liberty.

It isn't a matter of small arms. This government doesn't trust its soldiers with anything resembling real guns. Those soldiers came from the people in the first place, after all, and, in the fullness of time, will return to the people. So it issues them .22 caliber rifles and .35 caliber pistols and tries not to issue them any ammunition at all until they're in the right place at the right time to enforce its will on other folks, usually unarmed and helpless troglodytes grubbing out the meagerest possible existence in some Neolithic dumpsite of a country.

...

Make no mistake, it's ugliness that cops maintain, not civilization. We've now reached a point in this country where individuals are being made to disappear from their very homes or off the street, hidden from their families and lawyers, and tried by drumhead courts with secret evidence. The current administration has stated that it will imprison or execute these people as it likes, without any reference to the Constitution.

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Quotes

Government doesn't work. Never did. Never will. Can't. But there are lots of good people. Love them.

-- Bill St. Clair

The Atlanta Declaration

Every man, woman, and responsible child has an unalienable individual, civil, Constitutional, and human right to obtain, own, and carry, openly or concealed, any weapon -- rifle, shotgun, handgun, machinegun, anything -- any time, any place, without asking anyone's permission.

-- L. Neil Smith

Reread that pesky first clause of the Second Amendment. It doesn't say what any of us thought it said. What it says is that infringing the right of the people to keep and bear arms is treason. What else do you call an act that endangers "the security of a free state"? And if it's treason, then it's punishable by death. I suggest due process, speedy trials, and public hangings.

-- L. Neil Smith

A Penalty Clause for the Bill of Rights

Any official, appointed or elected, at any level of government, who attempts, through legislative act or other means, to nullify, evade, or avoid the provisions of the first ten amendments to this Constitution, or of the Thirteenth Amendment, shall be summarily removed from office, and, upon conviction, deprived of all pay and benefits including pension, and sentenced to imprisonment for life.

-- L. Neil Smith

Based on 253 journal articles, 99 books, 43 government publications, and some of its own empirical work, the panel couldn't identify a single gun control regulation that reduced violent crime, suicide or accidents.

-- John Lott, commenting on the National Academy of Sciences report on gun control laws.

Who is a libertarian?

Zero Aggression Principle ("Zap")

"A libertarian is a person who believes that no one has the right, under any circumstances, to initiate force against another human being, or to advocate or delegate its initiation. Those who act consistently with this principle are libertarians, whether they realize it or not. Those who fail to act consistently with it are not libertarians, regardless of what they may claim."

-- L. Neil Smith

(Formerly called the "Non-Aggression Principle", or "NAP")

Why Did It Have to be... Guns?

Make no mistake: all politicians -- even those ostensibly on the side of guns and gun ownership -- hate the issue and anyone, like me, who insists on bringing it up. They hate it because it's an X-ray machine. It's a Vulcan mind-meld. It's the ultimate test to which any politician -- or political philosophy -- can be put.

If a politician isn't perfectly comfortable with the idea of his average constituent, any man, woman, or responsible child, walking into a hardware store and paying cash -- for any rifle, shotgun, handgun, machinegun, anything -- without producing ID or signing one scrap of paper, he isn't your friend no matter what he tells you.

If he isn't genuinely enthusiastic about his average constituent stuffing that weapon into a purse or pocket or tucking it under a coat and walking home without asking anybody's permission, he's a four-flusher, no matter what he claims.

What his attitude -- toward your ownership and use of weapons -- conveys is his real attitude about you. And if he doesn't trust you, then why in the name of John Moses Browning should you trust him?

-- L. Neil Smith

Concise

"Tell me," I was once asked, "What do you think about gun control? Give me the short answer." To which I replied, "If you try to take our firearms we will kill you."

-- Mike Vanderboegh

Also from The Atlanta Declaration:

... like going to the bathroom, breathing, eating, sleeping, or making love, it turns out that self-defense is a bodily function one cannot safely or effectively delegate to a second party.

-- L. Neil Smith

This does not mean that "Marijuana should be available by prescription." It means that morphine sulfate should be available in five pound bags at the supermarket for a couple of bucks, like sugar... but probably in a different aisle, to avoid confusion.

-- Vin Suprynowicz

If you refuse to pay unjust taxes, your property will be confiscated. If you attempt to defend your property, you will be arrested. If you resist arrest, you will be clubbed. If you defend yourself against clubbing, you will be shot dead. These procedures are known as the Rule of Law.

-- Edward Abbey

The state can only survive as long as a majority is programmed to believe that theft isn't wrong if it's called taxation or asset forfeiture or eminent domain, that assault and kidnapping isn't wrong if it's called arrest, that mass murder isn't wrong if it's called war.

-- Bill St. Clair