Do we need infiltrators?

[cathleeninnh]

No efforts is wasted if it is an honest effort to expand liberty and promote the cause of freedom. Our biggest challenge in NH (because we didn't choose another state  ) is the people. We must reach out to them on all fronts, wherever they are.

I know from experience that working in a system designed to limit freedom is distasteful. We have differing limits on what we can tolerate. If you are tough or extremely focused on the good you caan do, you are welcome to take those jobs. I reached my limit and ultimately refused to violate my principles. I wasn't in a position to change anything anyway.

Cathleen

[Russell Kanning]

No.  You don't vote, do you?

So what is the purpose of the FSP?  I thought the plan was to elect representatives to get things changed and bring back lost freedoms.  Why would this movement not carry over to other government jobs? 

Russell, what is your opinion on how to affect change in NH?  I'm not trying to belittle, just trying to understand.  There's a strong possibility I'll be making the move in about 6 months.  Will I be wasting my time by writing letters to politicians, reading bills and working to get freedom-lovers into office?

I no longer vote or help others get elected.
The FSP has a mission statement I think. You can check their website. (I think it is to concentrate liberty lovers in one state and start a non-violent revolution.)
I have written so much about how I want to do things. You can read all the links on my page
http://underground.soulawakenings.com/tiki-index.php?page=Russell+Kanning
and see what I have done to understand my methods.

I think you would be wasting your time, but some people have to experience the evil system before they can understand it.

I agree with this statement:
"When the subject has refused allegiance and the officer has resigned his office, then the revolution is accomplished." - Thoreau
He spent a lot of time thinking about how we should interact with government. I think he figured out a few good things.

[d_goddard]

I thought the plan was to elect representatives to get things changed and bring back lost freedoms.  Why would this movement not carry over to other government jobs?

As several other (Ian, cathleen, error, etc) have pointed out, there are major differences in tactics among Free Staters.

News flash! Libertarians disagree with each other! Film at 11....   

Many of the "political" types (like myself) don't hang around much on this forum, in part because of the tactless and unhelpful ways they were treated. Since I myself am often a shockingly tactless, unhelpful, insufferable knowitall, this does not bother me quite so much.

Anyway, to give you an idea of the political action:

* In November's election, at least 13 Free-Staters ran for State Rep (that I know of). Of them, 11 ran as Republicans, and lost. One ran as a Democrat and lost in a primary; the other rode the (D) wave right into the State House(!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GpZ5sbZOSs

* The NH Liberty Alliance are reading and scoring every single bill that comes through the legislature. When a high-priority one comes up, we fight for or against it as necessary, by lobbying the legislature directly.

Civil Disobedience or Political Action? It's an issue that has been re-hashed way too many times.
The only two points I'll make are:
1) We need action on all fronts
2) The FSP is a numbers game no matter how you look at it (else why are we concentrating in one place?) and as I see it, we need either many thousands of people to engage in civil disobedience a-la Ghandi, or approximately 125 people to be elected as State Representatives.

I will now shut my trap and post no more on this thread.

[Russell Kanning]

"You assist an evil system most effectively by obeying its orders and decrees. An evil system never deserves such allegiance. Allegiance to it means partaking of the evil."
-Gandhi

[TackleTheWorld]

News flash! Libertarians disagree with each other! Film at 11....   

Many of the "political" types (like myself) don't hang around much on this forum, in part because of the tactless and unhelpful ways they were treated. Since I myself am often a shockingly tactless, unhelpful, insufferable knowitall, this does not bother me quite so much.

I will now shut my trap and post no more on this thread.

Before you go, Denis, can't you comment on infiltrators?

Would you encourage the liberty-minded to rise in the government ranks,
or entice those in the government ranks to act for liberty,
or some other strategy?

I like to hear your point of view and would be sad if you left.
Do we have to go to freestateblogs to keep up with you?

[Dreepa]

I am sure that Denis is not leaving for good.


It will take both kinds.

[Quantrill]

Thanks everyone for the replies.  It's painfully obvious that there is no easy, right way to do things.  I can respect the views that people like Russell have and the weight that is presumably lifted off his shoulders by simply ignoring these laws.  I just think that they could at least vote for people who would make an honest effort to reduce the size of government.  But no more preaching on that issue for me (at least not right now!)

I've thought about being a high school US History teacher.  If I worked directly for the government, though, I don't know if I'd be able to forget that my meals were paid with stolen money.  That's what gets me: If I didn't take the job, someone else would have, but if enough people didn't take the job, then it would disappear.  But what are the odds of that happening?  As for the political angle, I spent a day at the state house a few weeks ago, and I just got all sorts of uncomfortable in the committee hearing room.  The amount of aggression (blatent and passive) made me a little sick to my stomach.

. 

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE take a job as a U.S. History teacher!  Teaching is not my forte but in my not-so-humble opinion is the absolute best thing you can do.  And I don't mean try to brainwash the kids into being Libertarians but for gawd's sake these kids are the future.  Nobody is encouraging them to think for themselves and the FEDGOV has imposed its one-size-fits-all every child left behind nonsense.  I think the public and most private schools are a farce but you could do so much good from within the system.  While     I also realize that the majority of Americans look down on it or are just too damn lazy to care about their child's education.     If we can't convince these people to educate their children themselves then people like you could at least give their kids some things to think about.  Help may be a generation away, but it's better than no help at all.


Ok, I'll step down from my 

[Russell Kanning]

Thanks everyone for the replies.  It's painfully obvious that there is no easy, right way to do things.

28"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=47&chapter=11&version=31

The government wants you to do it their way .... and they make every other path look dark and dangerous. If you stop listening to them or being influenced by them, then the path gets clearer.