Little Thugs

It's 7:45 PM. The family has finished dinner and it's now dark outside. There's a loud and insistent banging on the front door. For a moment it flashes through your head that a neighbour is in need of help. Perhaps there's a cop on your front door for some unknown reason. Then there's a moment of clarity and you know who's there, before you even turn on the porch light and open the door. It is yet another small thug from the Census Bureau.

After having ignored their mailings and told them in their previous 3 visits that you have no intention nor desire to participate in their American Community Survey (.pdf) they have sent someone who is abrasive, loud and attempting to be forceful. What's a body to do? Sure, you could take the suggestions of some folks and get a pack of security Dobermans, but that's not likely to occur. You can continue to say no to people who obviously do not comprehend that no means no. It's certainly a conundrum and one I do not envy anyone else.

Why would anyone resist answering the questions on this "survey"? It's not like the Census Bureau has lost numerous laptops with confidential information, right? And what about the questions? Doesn't the government have a right to know if you have toilets? Or how many vehicles you have? How much you paid for your home? How much you spend on utilities? How much you make and whether or not you're depressed? What about how much you pay to insure your home? Doesn't the Census Bureau have a right to that information? They seem to think so.

"Representation and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers ... . The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct."

-- Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution of the United States

Here you have it. The so-called Supreme Law of the Land in these United States where a census is concerned. A census is for the purposes of apportionment of taxes and representational government. No more. No less. And yet....what we are graced with in the American Community Survey is no less than the single most intrusive questionnaire I have ever seen, short of a psych test. All for the purposes of reapportioning wealth as far as I can tell. The entire practice is odious in the extreme for those who care to look. This thing has nothing to do with redrawing Congressional districts to insure equal representation, it is purely about social engineering and data mining; a purpose for which there is no Constitutional intent implied.

There are implied threats and coercion involved as well. Monetary fines for each question you refuse to answer. Greater fines for each answer which is "wrong", (monkey wrenchers take note) and a couple of granddaddy fines should they choose to levy them, (you should keep your fingers crossed on that one, folks). So what are you to do when they come knocking? You can just keep saying no and keep hoping they'll go away, ( as a certain blogger is currently doing) or you can surrender to them and allow them the information they desire. It's up to you.


Technorati Tags:
Libertarian, Census, Congress, Police State

Ain't People Odd?

A few posts back I announced to the world that I was pretty much done with the voting gig and immediately noticed some rather odd behaviour from certain quarters. Some folks have thought that my voting cessation is equal to a resignation from the fight and have even gone so far as to wish me well, as if I were leaving for new pastures. A couple of websites affiliated with political libertarianism have removed links to UnCivil Defence ( apparently not voting somehow makes your words less than they were. Go figure.), a couple of people have pretty much ceased all communications and there is a definite feeling coming from some quarters that I am no longer part of "the body".

It's all rather odd, when I stop to think about it. Nowhere have I announced a cessation of my previous activities, (other than voting and supporting the purely political) or even intimated that such was the case. I have simply taken the decision to pursue the battle for hearts and minds rather than waste efforts on vain political pursuits. That some people within the same organisations wish to pursue politics is of no matter to me and I wish them well with that aspect of our, (I hope) mutual journey towards deconstructing the State, (as opposed to becoming the state).

I, like many people whom I have come to know and respect, recognise that the political not only is not working it is antithetical to libertarianism and the movement for freedom in general. As a friend recently told me,

"One can't vote more freedom into existence..."

All we can really hope to do is educate more people. Kindle the flames of freedom in a few more hearts and hope that they, too will become missionaries in the battle for hearts and minds and spread the word. Political libertarianism is one small facet in the battle to dismantle the anti-freedom machine. It is not, and never should be the end all and be all of libertarianism. Without winning the battle for hearts and minds and letting folks know exactly what libertarianism is, (and is not) political libertarianism shall never succeed in any meaningful way. I, like a few others think we need to get back to the basics.

You see, folks I haven't given up. I've just chosen not to surrender to the system. If that somehow makes me and the place I rest my writings less your style of libertarian, then so mote it be. If this is the new "big tent" Libertarianism then it must be pitched upon the grounds of some country club rather than in the green fields where everyone can get to it and that's rather sad. I choose to not hide who and what I am for the sake of a few pieces of paper in a ballot box, nor do I wish to sit silent when people ask what libertarianism is, because of political expediency. Political libertarianism will continue to fail unless we engage the hearts and minds. Yes, we're going to scare them. It's inevitable that some will be frightened when we offer to take away their lollipops and replace them with something more wholesome.

Lies are lies. Theft is theft is theft and armed robbery is no less so when the people doing it are "elected". These are things we believe and should always be proud to stand on. I haven't changed my spots, significantly...have you?

Technorati Tags:
Libertarianism, Politics, Movement of the Libertarian Left, Freedom

Murder In Blue

One death is a tragedy; a million is a statistic.- Joseph Stalin

Once again members of the so-called "Thin Blue Line", (the largest gang in the US) have managed to kill an innocent victim. This time, tho it is a 92 year old woman whom the gang members and their sponsors contend was a drug dealer. Not a very likely scenario, to anyone with even a normal IQ, obviously not a prerequisite for badge holding, is it?

Now we get to add one more person, a little old lady to the statistics. The polizei in Atlanta have already gone on the offensive where this drug war murder is concerned. Note that their fellow gange members gathered to pay homage to them when they heard their homies had been capped.

Assistant Chief Alan Dreher said the officers had a legal warrant and "knocked and announced" before they forced open the door. He said they were justified in shooting once they were fired upon.

He conveniently ignores the fact that they were unjustified in being there at all. They should have been cognizant of the fact that the occupant of the house was a 92 year old woman...if they had bothered to investigate rather than bust down doors. What are the odds that this woman was a drug dealer? Not very good, but drug warriors seldom care, do they?

In this day and age, when the failed drug war continues to claim innocent lives and real criminals use police tactics to terrorise the innocent it's no wonder that this woman opened fire on these gang members enforcers. Beyond the fact that there were no drugs here, these men were not in uniform and were attempting to break down her door. What reason did she have to believe that these were actually cops? None. The justified shooting in this case belonged to this little old lady, not the police. The true tragedy in this case of drug warriors vs. the people is that Kathryn Johnson is dead and that the officers survived and will likely face no retribution for their incompetence and the unnecessary killing.

The continuing militarisation of the police has killed yet another person and it is unlikely to end any time soon. Yet one more reason to end the War on Drugs before it kills again.

(Thanks to Radley Balko for the link to the video.)

Technorati Tags:
Drug War, Police, Police Brutality, Atlanta, Libertarian

The Draft Buzz

Without a doubt this week the libertarian blogosphere will be abuzz with news of Democrat Charles Rangel's calls for a renewal of the draft. Again. It's certain that the blogosphere of the Democratic Left won't be paying much attention to this, tho. They, like the Republicrats will lockstep right down to the draft board rather than take a stand on an anti-draft platform. Fortunately, we are unlikely to see this come to pass, as the new Speaker of the House and their Majority Leader have already said they'll not let it get to the floor. Unfortunately, politicians promises aren't worth the wind it takes to make them, as we all know.

Eventually, someone will succumb to the slave state mentality and a draft will once again be imposed upon our children. People with guns will come and force our children into uniform to serve the will of the state in far off lands. My only question at this time is whether or no this will be your line in the sand? Will the imposition of press gangs to take your children, your brothers, lovers, husbands and your friends be the back breaking straw? Or will you stand idly by and watch as they are taken away to serve the warlords in D.C.? Will you help them leave their homes to flee to a foreign country, (from which they'll likely be deported at the behest of the US government, given the current state of affairs)? Urge them to resist and be imprisoned? Or will this be the "hill you choose to die upon"?

We will hear, in the next few days, (I doubt the issue will last that long given the attention span of most people) from a variety of people as to why this is a good or bad idea. Most libertarian folks will oppose the idea of conscription for all the right reasons and many out there will embrace Rangel's class warfare rhetoric and the warped view that politicians would be reticent to begin conflicts if there were a chance that someone they care about could be drafted. That's a ludicrous position to take, given past behaviour of these people. They care not one whit about the lives of others and they can always arrange for their offspring to be exempted from combat...just look at the President of this country if you don't believe it. Politicians wield power and they don't care if you know they use it for their own benefit. Who are you to question them? Nobody.

So, if this should come to pass will you concede your children to the state? Acknowledge that they are the property of politicians? Or will you allow that they are sovereign individuals and treat them as such, shielding them from the petty tyrants who would enslave them in the name of political expediency? Inquiring minds want to know.


Technorati Tags:
Libertarian, Draft, Politics, Democrat