No More Marches on DC

[Yvonne]

Lew Rockwell is exactly right: "DC is one nasty place. So why would anyone concerned about the state and its power “march on Washington”? Such events only dissipate energy, and fool people into thinking that their time and money have accomplished something, as the regime laughs up its sleeve. Indeed, that is the purpose. So stay home. Read, write, work, organize, and avoid DC like the plague it is." Read it all please: http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/35963.html

Thank you very much.

 

[Deborah K]

Lew Rockwell is starting to piss me off! Even Dr. Paul said to march. That is why I poured my heart into organizing the Revolution March last summer!

 

[MRoCkEd]

You left out the best part:

For many years, pro-lifers have expended vast time, energy, and money “marching on Washington” every January, to exactly zero effect. Worse, they hark back to pro-redistribution events. And always, as with the latest 9/12 extravaganza headed by red-state fascists, the marchers assemble on the “National Mall,” the government grass that extends from Lincoln’s Roman temple — where he sits enthroned like Jupiter, fasces and all — to George Washington’s obelisk, an Eqyptian monument to the god Amon Re. In the distance is the capitol, whose dome copies the Roman Pantheon, temple to all the gods. In the top of the dome is a painting of Washington being assumed, like the divinized Julius Caesar, into Heaven upon his death. Even Jefferson is portrayed as a god in a Roman temple. Not far away is the the Greek temple where the nine supremes hand down the “law.” Then there is the vast executive apparatus, headed by a living god, and dedicated to killing, spying, taxing, redistributing, inflating, and controlling.

 

[paulitics]

We need both. With the age of youtube, it is important for people to see the size of the disenfrachised, so that this myth of small government types only being a small minority can be dispelled. In that very large crowd, perhaps a small minority will now be inspired to affect change at the local level, that may have been to intimidated before. It's a numbers game.

 

[Pericles]

Lew Rockwell is starting to piss me off! Even Dr. Paul said to march. That is why I poured my heart into organizing the Revolution March last summer!

From the anarchist perspective, trying to restore the Constitution, and constitutional government, is a distraction from the true objective.

Just as with "Neocons" and mainstream Republicans, working together where interests coincide is a good plan, and low key efforts to educate about the importance of liberty presents an opportunity to gain more strength.

Only conversing with the "pure" is a sure way for the libertarian philosophy to remain in the wilderness it has for the last 30+ years.

 

[Deborah K]

From the anarchist perspective, trying to restore the Constitution, and constitutional government, is a distraction from the true objective.

Just as with "Neocons" and mainstream Republicans, working together where interests coincide is a good plan, and low key efforts to educate about the importance of liberty presents an opportunity to gain more strength.

Only conversing with the "pure" is a sure way for the libertarian philosophy to remain in the wilderness it has for the last 30+ years.

With all due respect to your anarchist position, I find it to be impractical and only worthy in theory. It relies too heavily on the good will of men. Edit: misread your last sentence.

 

[MRoCkEd]

It relies too heavily of [sic] the good will of men.

Couldn't you say that about government?

 

[New York For Paul]

Looks like we are going to have little debate.

I think Lew Rockwell's reasons for owning guns applies to having marches.

"A right exercised is a right retained."

The fact that we are organizing marches and are there is starting to change the dynamic.

" The simple act of having a gun is its own best use. Like a battleship parked off the coast its mere presence changes the dynamic of the situation without having to fire a single shot. By having a gun you become too dangerous to your predators. Criminals interviewed in jail say they don’t want anything to do with an armed civilian. That change in my human predators is exactly what I want to accomplish."

 

[wizardwatson]

Lew Rockwell is starting to piss me off! Even Dr. Paul said to march. That is why I poured my heart into organizing the Revolution March last summer!

What pisses me off is the lack of any strategy from the Austrian wing.

Do not think liberty lovers that liberty comes from intellect. It is our compassion for our brothers and sisters, or our fear of them that brings us together and unites us under these ideals, not our ability to be clever, witty, or logical. These things are only useful for defending our ideals, rarely for spreading them. To spread them we must act in such a way that others see those ideals through our actions.

This is the primary reason Ron Paul gained support ( via his voting record ), and ONLY Ron Paul could have ganed so much traction within the liberty movement.

We should start on the offensive towards our cherished intellectuals, to see what high-minded strategies they can come up with.

 

[FreeTraveler]

Couldn't you say that about government?

Exactly. And you put that assumption of good will on a very small subset of the population; those who are willing to dedicate their careers to the manipulation and coercion of others. The scariest possible people to hold the reins of a society, assuming somebody has to be in control.

I agree with L. Neil:

The pursuit of coercive power over others will someday be universally recognized as a symptom of profound mental illness.

 

[Mini-Me]

I agree with paulitics and New York for Paul, and I think Rockwell is partially missing the point. Although he's correct that a march will not directly affect policy, a sufficiently gigantic march (like Saturday's) can and will awaken disenfranchised people to the fact that many, many others exist, and it also gets people accustomed to the idea of mass demonstrations (which is good for the safety of future participants). It's good for morale and working up the energy to get involved.

 

[Elwar]

I'd be all for boycotting all forms of commerce in Washington DC. A march on Washington brings millions of people who need to purchase food and water while they're there...what a great boon the the local economy.

I'd rather DC be a ghost town of people needing to leave thanks to those a$$holes in the big white dome.

 

[Deborah K]

Couldn't you say that about government?

(fixed the typo - thanx)

Yes, you can say that about our current government. But the country was founded using the rule of law, not the rule of men. I don't see how a lawless society will promote freedom, based on the good will of men. Human nature dictates otherwise. And if I have to spend all day protecting my property against those people who lack good will, how does that make me free?

 

[Mini-Me]

I'd be all for boycotting all forms of commerce in Washington DC. A march on Washington brings millions of people who need to purchase food and water while they're there...what a great boon the the local economy.

I'd rather DC be a ghost town of people needing to leave thanks to those a$$holes in the big white dome.

Realistically though, DC isn't going to be a ghost town until a tax revolt happens...and mass demonstrations and a show of numbers may be the only way to embolden people to take such a step.

 

[Deborah K]

Realistically though, DC isn't going to be a ghost town until a tax revolt happens...and mass demonstrations and a show of numbers may be the only way to embolden people to take such a step.

I don't have the wherewithall to initiate a tax revolt, but I will tell you this....the minute I detect that a good number of fed-up Americans are ready to stop paying their taxes, I will go full force with all of my organizational abilities. I have been longing for a tax revolt for almost three years now.

 

[FreeTraveler]

(fixed the typo - thanx)

Yes, you can say that about our current government. But the country was founded using the rule of law, not the rule of men. I don't see how a lawless society will promote freedom, based on the good will of men. Human nature dictates otherwise. And if I have to spend all day protecting my property against those people who lack good will, how does that make me free?

See post #10. By its nature, government puts the foxes in charge of the hen house. As Spock would say, "This does not compute."

 

[Deborah K]

See post #10. By its nature, government puts the foxes in charge of the hen house. As Spock would say, "This does not compute."

edit: I'm skimmimg everything, and making mistakes, sorry. You were responding to post 13. I am for limited gov't that is overseen by the people it represents. This concept breaks down when the people become complacent. It's the same concept as when you own a company. Do your employees control you, or do you control your employees. We the people, have allowed our employees to control us.

 

[Pericles]

With all due respect to your anarchist position, I find it to be impractical and only worthy in theory. It relies too heavily on the good will of men. Edit: misread your last sentence.

I think a careful reading of my posts show disagreement with the anarchist position as logically inconsistent and not well thought out, despite the constant reference to articles to read that would surely convince me of the anarchist position if I only had the intellectual capacity to understand them.

The problem is that I do understand them, with your reaction taken by me as some evidence of that.

 

[FreeTraveler]

edit: I'm skimmimg everything, and making mistakes, sorry. You were responding to post 13. I am for limited gov't that is overseen by the people it represents. This concept breaks down when the people become complacent. It's the same concept as when you own a company. Do your employees control you, or do you control your employees. We the people, have allowed our employees to control us.

The general point, though, is that until minarchists can demonstrate a government that actually functions that way, it's a bit of pot-kettle to claim that the anarchists aren't being realistic.

Don't get me wrong; all minarchists are fellow travelers as far as I'm concerned. When we get government down to 10% of what it steals now, we can discuss the rest.

 

[Endgame]

Lew Rockwell is at best a closeted stormfronter who wants to return to a feudal political system with the Catholic church having the same level of power that it had during the middle ages. I stopped reading LRC back in 2004 when I realized what he and many of his close followers are really about. He thinks he can accomplish this by hijacking the liberty movement. Every time I read the word "paleolibertarian" I could puke.

At worst he's a plant, and a very effective one due to the damage he's caused:

http://www.reason.com/news/show/124426.html

http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2008/01/11/ron-pauls-ugly-newsletters/

This is why it is so important that some of our liberty candidates win in 2010. Dr. Paul can be easily smeared by this scandal whenever the MSM and their handlers deem necessary.