Beyond Ballots or Bullets: Creating a Free America

[eques]

When I was at the Hampton protest a couple years ago a cop pulled up and asked me who was in charge. I said "Nobody. What do you need?"

I hope we don't have anybody in charge around here. A leader is supposed to tell us what to do and I haven't been told to do anything by anybody.  ???

Okay! 

[KBCraig]

I hope we don't have anybody in charge around here.

Yessir, whatever you say!

[Kat Kanning]

Hey, our own Steve Villee is speaking at this conference:

Just three weeks until Beyond Ballots or Bullets!  If you're planning
on attending and haven't registered yet, please do so within the next
week so that I can get an accurate count for the lunch caterers.


The workshop schedule is now on the website, at
http://freeamerica.ws/schedule.html.  We have gained several additional
presentations since the last workshop mailing:

- Enforcing Contracts without Government, by Stephen Villee.

- The Lost Right, by Anthony Hargis.

- Overview of Nonviolent Struggle, by Kevin S. Van Horn.

- Rule-of-law Anarchism: A Strategy for Destroying the State's
Legitimacy, by Kevin S. Van Horn.

The presentation on The Strategic Estimate has been removed; parts of
it will appear in Overview of Nonviolent Struggle, and in Rule-of-law
Anarchism.


Several of us living along the Wasatch Front in Utah are in the process
of organizing a local freedom activist group, and I'd like to share
with you a proposed first activity we are considering.  Its purpose is to
attract and recruit hard-core libertarians, as well as beginning to
publicize our cause.  The idea is to hold an event on April 15 to honor
America's tax resisters.  While the statist media condemn tax resisters,
we'll eulogize them as great American patriots who have taken
substantial personal risks in refusing to financially support a dangerous
criminal organization.  We can talk about specific, known tax resisters, and
list all of the criminal activities that they *didn't* fund.  If we can
figure out how to do it, I'd even like to erect a (temporary?) monument
to the unknown tax resister, in analogy to the tomb of the unknown
soldier.


As one final note, I would recommend that BBB participants read
"Nonviolent Struggle -- 50 Crucial Points" (especially the first four
chapters) before the workshop.  This is a training manual for nonviolent
activists, written by the people who brought down Yugoslavian dictator
Slobodan Milosevic.  It is available for free online at
http://www.canvasopedia.org/files/various/Nonviolent_Struggle-50CP.pdf


----
Beyond Ballots or Bullets: Creating a Free America (freedom activist
workshop)
http://freeamerica.ws/

[cathleeninnh]

Maybe we could get a copy of Steve's speech.

Is Mike F. going or any of our other Utah friends?

Cathleen

[Russell Kanning]

shyfrog said he is

[Tom Sawyer]

I look foward to whatever feedback we can get from this effort.

I would hope that shyfrog, Michael Fisher or Steve Villee write an article for the KFP.

[Russell Kanning]

so I guess this is happening now

[Tom Sawyer]

Any feedback on this event?

[Michael Fisher]

The event was a success! I was there on Saturday and gave my speech during the afternoon.

The most amazing part was Glen Allport's speech. He has put into clear and concise words what I've been struggling to say for years about love being the essence of liberty. The audience was very excited about his speech, some saying that the paradigm he presented is what the movement has been missing all along.

In my opinion, he is one of the greatest libertarian thinkers of our time.

He's calling the idea "The Paradise Paradigm" unless someone comes up with a better name for it.
http://www.paradise-paradigm.net/

[Tom Sawyer]

Thanks for the feedback... would you consider writing a story about the event for the KFP. (If I can be so forward) 

Maybe showing people that this is a wider spread movement.

[svillee]

It was great to see Mike again.  He looked much as I remembered him, though his hair's a bit shorter now. 

Curiously, shyfrog (Lou Eastman) was not there.  Evidently, he was at the Liberty Forum, though I didn't know who he was at the time.

I enjoyed all the presentations, as well as the wrap-up discussion on Sunday.

I had time for a bit of sight-seeing late Sunday afternoon.  The Provo area is really beautiful.

my PowerPoint file

[Russell Kanning]

so ... what was accomplished at the conference ... are people ready to join the revolution?

[shyfrog]

I ended up at work

[Michael Fisher]

so ... what was accomplished at the conference ... are people ready to join the revolution?

I cannot speak for others, but being introduced to Glen Allport's ideas was more earth-shattering to me than any bit of activism I've done, including the Outlaw Manicure. I truly believe that he has found a way to communicate the key to lasting liberty.

Successful activism within this new paradigm may not be as measurable or glorious as a well-publicized protest or a bill being passed into law, but I am positive that it will be far more effective and profound.