State-Induced Chaos Is Not Anarchy

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Sat, 03 Sep 2005 12:00:00 GMT

But let there be no scales to weigh your unknown treasure...

For self is a sea
boundless and measureless.
Say not, "I have found the truth,"
But rather, " I have found a truth."
Say not,
"I have found the path of the soul,"
Say rather, "I have met the soul
walking on my path."
For the soul walks upon all paths.
The soul walks not upon a line,
Neither does it grow like a reed.
The soul unfolds itself,
Like a lotus of countless petals

-- Kahlil Gibran

From clairefiles:

"If the primates that we came from had known that someday politicians would come out of the gene pool, they would have stayed up in the trees and written evolution off as a bad idea." -- Capt. John Sheridan (Babylon 5)

From jomama:

"The theory seems to be that as long as a man is a failure he is one of God's children, but that as soon as he succeeds he is taken over by the Devil." -- H. L. Mencken

and:

"Avoid crowds and other non-profit organizations." -- jomama

From enemyofthestate:

"Anarchy doesn't force people to abandon their homes and businesses. Nor does it compel them to surrender their weapons before imprisoning them in 'untenable' emergency shelters, as Nanny Kate herself characterized them."-- Becky Akers

From kaba:

"The essence of constitutionalism in a democracy is not merely to shape and condition the nature of majorities, but also to stipulate that certain things are impermissible, no matter how large and fervent a majority might want them." -- George Will

# CNN - Mayor of New Orleans - Ray Nagin is angry at the federal response to the disaster in New Orleans. Includes radio interview and transcript. I had to use Internet Explorer to get the media to play. [clairefiles]

You know, God is lookin' down on all this, and if they're not doin' everything in their power to save people, they are going to pay the price.

# Tom Knapp - When it absolutely, positively must be screwed up overnight ... call the government. Angry words about the "authorities" in New Orleans wasting men on stopping people salvaging abandoned goods instead of getting people out of the area. He recommends giving money to private charities who are actually helping. If the feds wants to help, they should authorize a 200% tax credit for all such donations. [sunni]

The people grabbing food, clothing and other necessities of survival from store shelves in New Orleans aren't "looters." They're salvaging abandoned goods which will be nothing more than garbage if they aren't taken and used right now. Apparently Mayor Nagin and Governor Babineaux are more intent on preventing this kind of survival activity than they are on helping get people out of the situation that is giving rise to this kind of behavior.

# Mark Fischetti at Scientific American - Drowning New Orleans - an unheeded warning from October of 2001. [warblogging]

A major hurricane could swamp New Orleans under 20 feet of water, killing thousands. Human activities along the Mississippi River have dramatically increased the risk, and now only massive reengineering of southeastern Louisiana can save the city

# Nicki Felenzer - Leaving tonight - Nicki is "deploying to Louisiana in support of efforts to help the victims of the hurricane." Godspeed, darlin'. [nicki]

# Bob Wallace at The Price of Liberty - Gun Control Equals Murder - even a .22 derringer could have saved two teenage girls who were raped and thrown off the Chain of Rocks bridge. [price]

In the last ten years I have yet to find anyone who can come up with a reason for gun control.

I'm still waiting.

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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