Civil Disobedience

[SethCohn]

I have three Tolstoy's books on my shelf.
Here is a link for him:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/102-5397215-7566548

Better link: read them all for free

http://books.mirror.org/gb.tolstoy.html

[Gard]

One of the things I notice when many people in the mainstream look at what they suppose is "non-violent" change, is that it is typically pro-socialist, pro-fascist, or generally pro-state statute/regulation. I find it amusing that those who believe that using the coercive and, in the end, potentially violent force of the state to enact what they see as positive change, see this as "non-violent".

That's the basic problem with institutes like the Einstein Institute. Their members cannot distinguish between true non-violence, or the attempt to enact legislation that reduces the coercive powers of the state, and what they see as "peaceful" action through voting, etc., that has as its end game the increase of state influence over peoples' lives.

Even as we see "peaceful demonstrations" by those who are supposedly non-violent, they are working towards the use of aggression, not volition.

Just a thought about our cousins on the other side.

[Kat Kanning]

I noticed that in the little movie we were watching.  There were doing some great things in the Phillipines, but then they started whining about needing more welfare and stuff like that    No one's been doing this saying, "Let's get rid of the tyrant, and replace him with nothing."

[KBCraig]

One of the things I notice when many people in the mainstream look at what they suppose is "non-violent" change, is that it is typically pro-socialist, pro-fascist, or generally pro-state statute/regulation. I find it amusing that those who believe that using the coercive and, in the end, potentially violent force of the state to enact what they see as positive change, see this as "non-violent".

That's the basic problem with institutes like the Einstein Institute. Their members cannot distinguish between true non-violence, or the attempt to enact legislation that reduces the coercive powers of the state, and what they see as "peaceful" action through voting, etc., that has as its end game the increase of state influence over peoples' lives.

Even as we see "peaceful demonstrations" by those who are supposedly non-violent, they are working towards the use of aggression, not volition.

Just a thought about our cousins on the other side.

Gard! Where ya been?

Yours is a good observation. I'll merely point out that there is another subset of non-violent protestor, those who have opted out of the political process altogether, such as the UFO from Keene.

I don't know that it's possible to effect change in the political world while shunning politics, but folks such as Russell do engage in non-violent process hoping that what they oppose winds up replaced by nothing at all.

Kevin

[Russell Kanning]

So far the books I have read by Gene Sharp have been fine. He doesn't come from the same angle as Thoreau/Tolstoy/Ghandi but he is fine as long as he doesn't advocate big government.

[Russell Kanning]

The Whiskey Rebellion
by Murray N. Rothbard

http://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/rothbard1.html

"The Whiskey Rebellion, then, considered properly, was a victory for liberty and property rather than for federal taxation. Perhaps this lesson will inspire a later generation of American taxpayers who are so harried and downtrodden as to make the whiskey or stamp taxes of old seem like Paradise."

[TackleTheWorld]

Wow, the Rothbard essay says:

"No local juries could be found to convict tax delinquents. "


It was paradise.

[Michael Fisher]

I like to think we had something to do with this.? ?? Will this become one of our first major legislative successes?? ?


License to build: Let's hope we never require one
Monday, Nov. 7, 2005

A LEGISLATIVE study committee decided late last month that New Hampshire did not need to license contractors. Lawmakers would do well to heed the committee's advice.

Though many Granite Staters, like residents of every other state, have reported being ripped off and taken advantage of by bad contractors, the solution does not lie in licensing.

Licensing creates a significant barrier to entry into the field. In New Hampshire, lots of young people earn extra money in the summer months by hiring themselves out to do handiwork. State licensing would erase opportunities for many of these enterprising youths. And it eventually would raise prices by reducing competition.

The committee recommended the right approach, which is to require signed agreements for home repairs, standardize the building code, and post on the state Web site the names of contractors and construction firms convicted of ripping off consumers.

By requiring enforceable contracts and informing citizens who the bad contractors are, the state can improve service while avoiding the pitfalls that come with licensing.

http://gamma.unionleader.com/article.aspx?articleId=c0ebeefa-f9c6-4ca8-a860-0680769e8ba1

[Michael Fisher]

I think this is an indirect result of the outlaw manicure event.

As Gandhi said, nonviolent noncooperation is a method of educating public opinion.? ?

[Russell Kanning]

Isn't it funny that NH has licensing for hair, but not houses.
I guess that shows you what part that lady played in starting the cosmetology bureaucracy.

[Lloyd Danforth]

They have inspectors for houses, something that could, easily be done by the market.  But, could you imagine having to stop a hairdo, every step, to get the inspector to look at it!

[Pat K]

They have inspectors for houses, something that could, easily be done by the market.? But, could you imagine having to stop a hairdo, every step, to get the inspector to look at it!

If you look at subparagraph 3 on the new code changes page 57 you will see we changed the rule. This hair style now calls for a number 3 size roller. while you used the previsly allowed nuber 2 size. The number 2 size will not stand up to 200mph winds. You will complete the roller chnge out in the next 3 min or be fined 100 dollars.

[Michael Fisher]

Educating public opinion is like planting a seed.  You give people an idea and one day, they will find a way to apply the concept.

That's what I believe is happening now with contractor licensing.  Any of us could have written the first half of that Union Leader editorial.  You can attribute this to "common sense", but word for word this editorial EXACTLY mirrors the quotes from our outlaw manicure event that made statewide news.

A noncooperation event with amazing success may cause massive popular noncooperation, quickly get a law repealed, or even nonviolently topple a government.

A noncooperation event with great success plants the seeds of freedom for decisions to be made in the near future.

This is why we should plan these things out and discuss them with our liberty-oriented friends before making decisions on how to proceed - so our message in the media is clear and concise.

[Lloyd Danforth]

We'll be fighting that proposed law again, several times, in the future

[KBCraig]

I've been following the argument for contractor licensing in the Berlin Daily Sun. Folks at the council meeting were all in favor of it, because a widder woman got stuck paying for substandard work on a porch.

I started to write my own LTE, and ask if they'd never had a bad haircut by a duly licensed barber or beautician.