One last plea: For the love of God, can we PLEASE secede???

[Matt Collins]

How many people do you know of that have time/money/resources to play political games as much as you do? I don't know any.

I have no money or tangible resources other than my computer. I admit I tend to have more time than most, but that's only because I'm underemployed.

However many people will go out, watch TV, do movies, watch sports, etc instead of working on activism. I admit everyone's got to have some downtime, but most middle class Americans have the time for activism, but it just isn't a priority for them.

What anarchist uses philosophy as an "excuse to do nothing"?

I know a bunch of them.

They typically use it as an "excuse" to educate, write books, do work that produces something of value in the marketplace, etc.

Changing people's minds doesn't accomplish political change. Putting pressure on politicians accomplishes political change.

This movement has plenty of intellectuals who read and write and talk, and it's awesome. We are really the enlightened people of our time. However, it does us no good if we are nothing more than a debate society or a book club. We need muscle, not just brains.

 

[Matt Collins]

This only works for a few issues though. You won't be convincing the US House to decriminalize marijuana in this manner, for example.

Power is so concentrated within the US Federal Government that it's very hard to do that there. It's not impossible, we got Audit The Fed passed in the house, but it took a huge political movement just to do it.

It however is MUCH easier to that sort of thing on the state level.

 

[Matt Collins]

No, just realist. We've seen Soviet Russia bearing down on Poland, Hungary, Lativia, Lithuania, Georgia, Ukraine.
We see the deaths and the destruction, millions starved, millions murdered, entire cities laid to waste, and being a slave does not seem so bad.
We see the theft of our labor, the propaganda of the state, the theft of our guns.
And we know our future.

What are you doing about it?

 

[LibForestPaul]

What are you doing about it?

Conversing with people, supporting certain causes.
Don't worry, haven't always been so pessimestic. Only after talking with others did I get so jaded.
Ray of hope is that local law enforcement have no intentions of participating. But I suppose thats why the Feds have the DHS.

 

[juliusaugustus]

http://youtu.be/XQmO-WfEkk4
I wish I was Dixie. Hooray. In Dixie's Land I'll take my stand to live and die in Dixie. Look away Dixie Land.

 

[NewRightLibertarian]

Changing people's minds doesn't accomplish political change. Putting pressure on politicians accomplishes political change.

This movement has plenty of intellectuals who read and write and talk, and it's awesome. We are really the enlightened people of our time. However, it does us no good if we are nothing more than a debate society or a book club. We need muscle, not just brains.

I agree with you, but political change isn't going to happen by cozying up to the worst of the Republican establishment.

 

[TheTexan]

Power is so concentrated within the US Federal Government that it's very hard to do that there. It's not impossible, we got Audit The Fed passed in the house, but it took a huge political movement just to do it.

It however is MUCH easier to that sort of thing on the state level.

Yes, which is why I would encourage people to get involved at the state level (I might do that myself shortly), and stay far, far away from the Federal Government.

You know how anarchists say participating in politics is an act of consent? At this point, I would say for any conservative/minarchist worth their salt, participating in national politics is an act of consent.

State politics is where its at. Nullify, nullify, nullify. As an added bonus of this approach, there is naturally a large education component, as nullification is a very powerful tool, both politically, and educationally. As more nullification bills get passed, people will get bolder, and bolder, as they realize their own power against the Federal Government.

Eventually, secession.

 

[Matt Collins]

Yes, which is why I would encourage people to get involved at the state level (I might do that myself shortly), and stay far, far away from the Federal Government.

State politics is where its at. Nullify, nullify, nullify. As an added bonus of this approach, there is naturally a large education component, as nullification is a very powerful tool, both politically, and educationally. As more nullification bills get passed, people will get bolder, and bolder, as they realize their own power against the Federal Government.

Eventually, secession.

Pretty much. One person can actually have a pretty influential effect on the state level. I know because I've done it several times. The smaller the state the easier it is.

I don't even bother with the Congressional delegation much any more unless it's just to expose their hypocracy, but powrer in DC is too concentrated for most people to have much of an effect on what goes on there. I can happen, but it's very tough.

The focus should be at the state level, and specifically rejecting federal nonsense.

 

[Matt Collins]

I agree with you, but political change isn't going to happen by cozying up to the worst of the Republican establishment.

No one is talking about "cozying up" to the Republican establishment. We're talking about being their opposition within the Party.

 

[heavenlyboy34]

Pretty much. One person can actually have a pretty influential effect on the state level. I know because I've done it several times. The smaller the state the easier it is.

I don't even bother with the Congressional delegation much any more unless it's just to expose their hypocracy, but powrer in DC is too concentrated for most people to have much of an effect on what goes on there. I can happen, but it's very tough.

The focus should be at the state level, and specifically rejecting federal nonsense.

Whoa, I actually agree with teh Collinz on something!

 

[otherone]

I wonder if prisoners would feel free if they could select a warden every four years....

 

[Brooklyn Red Leg]

I wonder if prisoners would feel free if they could select a warden every four years....

As a Voluntaryist (Free Market Anarchist) I view voting as a defensive action: I'm trying my best to limit the power government uses over me. That does not mean I agree with government having power over me. I guess you could call it Protest Voting. Some other Voluntaryists I know look at it differently. They have their way, I have mine.

 

[Matt Collins]

I wonder if prisoners would feel free if they could select a warden every four years....

your analogy is a fallacy

 

[Anti Federalist]

your analogy is a fallacy

Why?

 

[Uncle Emanuel Watkins]

I know, enough talk...

But why, for the love of God, can't we just peacefully go our own way and "divorce" instead gearing up to slaughter each other?

As a Texan, I want to be part of the Union. Our Texas leaders are just as bad and cowardly as any as they aren't any less lawyers as the evil doers in and around Washington D.C.. Instead of secession, I want to draw a line along the border between what is left of us and that of the northeast including Pennsylvania and Virginia. Those cowards loyal to the cowards already living within the region I just defined can cross over the line and become a part of what will probably become the greatest example of a social communist state. The rest of us can continue on as a true Democratic Republic. I truly revere our Founding Fathers. I want to preserve the lightening we have in a bottle.