On Pacifism

[slave_3646]

I'm sure the Jews in Nazi Germany said the same thing when Hitler sent his jackboots out to round them up.

Can't you hear it if you imagine hard enough? .... "We'll resist them peacefully. After all, they can't arrest all of us and take us away..."

It's not like there's hardened compounds all over the country here in the USA that they could ship people off to right? Oh wait, there are those FEMA camps that just were funded by congress this year.

They couldn't just take you away without some good reason! It's not like it'd be legal to do that! Oh wait, Obama's talking about 'preventative detention' and how he want to make a "new legal framework" to allow for it to be legal. No charges, no trial, no problem for the jackboots.

[Tom Sawyer]

No, the Jews did what they were told...

[Kat Kanning]

On Pacifism
By Ogre

...or would you prefer a different name? 

[Ogre]

Ogre's fine. Actually, I think more people know me by that name than by any other, as I picked that up as a nickname long before Internet posting boards.

Good point, Tom Sawyer.

[FTL_Ian]

Posted to:
http://freekeene.com/2009/06/19/peaceful-evolution-vs-violent-revolution/

Thanks Ogre!

[David]

Gruesome factoid: The numbers of people the Germans wanted to kill was so high, that they studied the most effective and efficient ways to kill them.  Bullets were too expensive. 
That is how I know that peaceful resistance could have had a huge impact on what went on in Germany. 

No, the Jews did what they were told...

Good observation.  That is one of the shocking things about the whole mess.  Very few resisted at all, in any way, peacefully or not.  The Germans killed millions of Jews, if a few thousand of them did a mass march in a large city, or some other peaceful but impossible to ignore thing, millions would have survived.  The German civilians were famous for not knowing what was going on in the death or labor camps.  Make it impossible to ignore, and while there would still be deaths, the numbers would have been impossible to ignore. 

Further, the sooner a persecuted group organizes and resists, the sooner they can fight the lust for violence.  Ideally you do not wait till you are being rounded up to go to prison, to resist. 

[Ogre]

Whoa. Front page on FreeKeene AND in NH Free Press? I am very honored.

[vexer]

Wow, "Ogre",  that was a very serious OP.

It's difficult to think that some Americans see things this way.

I'd suggest that your government is a nest of competing nest-featherers, not an Orwellian
New World Order. Don't worry. They need your vote.


(I'll stop now, unless you say otherwise).

[Kat Kanning]

Response I recieved to your article, Ogre.  If anyone sees typos I made transcribing it, please let me know! 


On Pacifism:  A Different Take

After reading Ogre's article "On Pacifism" in June's paper I felt the need to add my two cents.  The question of whether violence is the solution has plagued me ever since thoughts of greater importance than 'who's buying the beer' and 'how long can I hold this hit in' began to materialize within the resin coated cavity that is my brain.  OK, so starting around my 21st birthday this important question has been bothering me.

In order to understand my position a short trip down memory lane is required.  Back in September of 2007, the Feds arrested me for allegedly supporting Ed and Elaine Brown. As most know, this couple in their mid-60's refused to surrender to the Marshals for nearly 10 months because they were never shown the law they supposedly broke, requiring payment of the federal income tax.  In the end a jury found me guilty of all but one of the charges (which turned out to be the one that carried 30 years) resulting in Judge Signal handing down a 20 year prison sentence.

Admittedly, I am no expert on revolutionary theory or tactics, but with close to two years in jail plenty of my time has gone to developing an idea of the path to success for the freedom fighters of the future.  First off, the idea of not cooperating with your captors in any way, shape, or form (as Ogre wrote) sounds wonderful on paper.  Yet, experience had taught me that if one wants to effect the greatest number of people, solitary confinement is not the place to be.  Being able to interact with the general population is necessary in order to educate others as well as learn about the system from fellow prisoners, who more often than not, have more experience within it.  Everyone has a story and there is plenty to learn from other's mistakes.

Soon after being sentenced in April 2008, I  decided to conduct a small act of civil disobedience (not my first nor last) while at Strafford County Jail in New Hampshire.  There had been a three on three, white vs. black fight that led to our unit being locked down 24 hours a day for several days straight.  During this extended lockdown, I decided to not bring my tray to the officer manning the cart used to haul them, located about 30 feet away.  Instead the tray wound up just outside my cell door, no further.  Well, the officer on duty pretty much had a nervous breakdown when he learned of my intentions to not tow the line.  After telling my cellie to pick it up and being told no, he slammed our cell door and went on his way.  This all happened around 6am.  Come 8pm that same day, I found myself sitting in the gang unit (120-B) of Essex County Jail in Massachusetts.

Located in the town of Middleton, Essex County Jail wasn't new since my first month of imprisonment had been spent there, albeit in a different unit (general population).  Actually during that initial stay, an incident occurred where a female officer freaked on me because I wouldn't sign a shot (incident report) due to it being inaccurate.  That earned me a 48 hour lockdown and a trip to Straffod County Jail less than a week later.

However, this time around at Middleton, the Marshals decided to label me a 'high escape risk' (despite my never attempting an escape), which entailed having an officer with a pissed off German Shepard in tow following me everywhere outside the unit, a picture of me posted in the officer's station in reception labeling me as such, and 120-B selected as my home where 17 hours of each day were spent in a less-than-spacious two-man cell.

In all honesty though, I had a lot of fun over there considering the adverse circumstances.  My cellie, an 18 year-old CRIP of Cambodian decent taught me a great deal about Asian culture, including their superstitions.  Did you know that eating or combing your hair in the dark is just asking for paranormal trouble?  What made it bad was when there was no ventilation, no A/C, and our windows were locked shut (they stayed that way the whole year long on that unit) during a period where the temperature outside exceeded 90 degrees.  This went on for several days until a guy had heat stroke, or faked it pretty well, and th vents were finally turned on.  As one guy said, "You just sit there and melt."  I couldn't have put it better.

Civil disobedience has its uses, but refusing to eat while strapped to a bed on suicide watch, wondering how long it is possible to stare at the blinding florescent lights before going blind is not an ideal circumstance.  This is not to say my time in 120-B was wasted.  My knowledge of gangs increased 10-fold (plus it gave me the chance to label myself a gansta, if only in my own mind) and more time was available to educate myself.  Yet this came as a result of less time to communicate with fellow inmates.  This tradeoff must be considered before deciding on a particular course of action. 

Considering the question of violence, I believe we must never rule it out nor solely rely upon it.  By relying on one tactic or another, we are in essence showing our hand, thereby reducing the effectiveness of any action.  Some will choose to contribute to the struggle by sacrificing themselves in pacifist acts that will never be forgotten (i.e. the students in Tienanmen Square), while others will decide going eye for an eye with the aggressors is the best choice.  Both ways have a proper time and place to be exercised, the art is deciding on which method to utilize at any particular moment.  If the authorities are worried they will encounter resistance during every encounter with protesters, they will proceed with caution during each and every time, benefiting all of us as the chances a sadistic cop will tee off an activist's head is reduced dramatically. 

"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible make violent revolution inevitable," John F. Kennedy said.  I believe we can all admit the powers that be are making peaceful revolution difficult, if not impossible, as Ed and Elaine can attest to.  There seems to be little choice, but to at least go blow for blow with the aggressors thereby providing an incentive for them to ease up on their abusive actions.

Looking to the animal kingdom, one can see violence exhibited on a daily basis.  From whales eating seals to lions eating gazelles, there is no shortage of carnage in the wild.  Yes, these animals are only doing so to survive, but aren't we trying to survive as well?  Deep down what draws us to political activism, or whatever it is called, is a desire to survive first and foremost.  Government has always been acknowledged as a necessary evil, but in recent times this parasite has grown to incredible proportions to the current point where we, as the host, are on our deathbed.

Many names exist for this destroyer of life, including Zionists, Illuminati, Free Masons, the Catholic Church, New World Order, Globalists, etc. Yet, the time-proven cure to reduce this parasite to manageable size is liberty.

Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged contains a scene that has always stuck with me.  In it the heroine, Dagny Taggart, is trying to free John Galt from a government torture chamber.  As she makes her way to the entrance, a guard stands blocking the way.  Dagny tells him to open the door or she will kill him, but he can't make a decision, citing his orders.  Ayn Rand writes what happens next, "she [Dagny], who would have hesitated to fire at an animal, pulled the trigger and fired straight at the heart of a man who wanted to exist without the responsibility of consciousness."

Tyrants throughout history have depended upon legions of unthinking henchmen to carry out their dastardly deeds.  One is hard pressed to find evidence that such men can be held at bay absent some form of force.  The phrase, "I am only doing my job," has been used time and time again to rationalize not only asinine, but sometimes even deadly actions by men of no consciousness.  Well, it is time we the living do our job which is nothing less than to live free or die.

Jason Gerhard 20229-045
FCI Fairton
PO Box 420
Fairton, NJ 08320-0420

[Ogre]

Very nice, thanks for posting it. I shall attempt to write him in prison.

And I certainly have to agree -- violence does have its place -- but at the same time, I do not think that place is now, nor is the time here. Just imagine if not just he, but just 10% of the prison decided at the same time to not cooperate. That would have a drastic effect on the prison.

[Russell Kanning]

interesting take ... from the point of view of effectiveness not morality