Comments

Episode-1996- Can Insurrection and Unity Coexist — 15 Comments

  1. Following on your comment about the “management changing” in States that have been around thousands of years, you only need to look at France as a modern day example. France in one respect is less than 60 years old.

    Since the French Revolution, there have been so many incarnations of the French State and the current republic is less than 60 years old. No structure of a state is set in stone, and the citizens of a state can rebel if they aren’t happy with the way their country is being managed.

    Since the First French Republic in 1792, the following revolutions have also happened for one reason or another:

    First French Empire (1804)
    Kingdom of France (1815)
    July Monarchy (1830)
    French Second Republic (1848)
    Second French Empire (1852)
    French Third Republic (1870)
    Vichy Government (1940)
    Provisional Government (1944)
    Fourth French Republic (1948)
    Fifth French Republic (1958)

  2. JackS is struggling with a question that almost identical to the bulk question Boris Pasternak asked via his 1957 book “Doctor Zhivago” — “How does a man reconcile love of his country and his distaste/distrust for the government that infects & smothers the country?”

    Did Boris Pasternak answer his own question via the story line of Dr Zhivago? Read the book or watch the 1965 movie and decide for yourself. Certainly Boris Pasternak’s question outlasted the ugly government that incubated his question.

    • All good and well except I am not struggling with anything, unlike your protagonist I very well know the difference between “nation” and “state”, it is helping others to see this difference that is my struggle.

  3. Oh god. I can think of some terribly unjust laws that I am not willing to disobey….

    Sodomy, for example, was illegal until 2003. Was I morally obligated to get pounded in the ass? lol.

    Marijuana is illegal, and I think its unjust. Am I obligated to smoke marijuana?

    I think its a stupid quote. And I really like Jefferson.

    • Perhaps Jefferson was assuming that people were not stupid and that they understood the implied “don’t cut your nose off to spite your face”.

      And as I said ways to “disobey laws” go beyond doing it yourself.

      They include being unwilling to enforce it, being unwilling to report it, being willing to aid and abed those doing it, being willing to look the other way, being unwilling to vote guilty on a jury, supporting nullification by the member states, speaking out against the law and its enforcement, etc.

      Have you ever known a gay person? Did you report them? If you were on a jury for the charge of sodomy would you have voted guilty?

      Do you know anyone that smokes pot? Have you called the law on them, or do you look the other way and not give two shits?

      The quote isn’t stupid, only your way of interpreting it.

  4. Re: laws against smoking in public… there’s a reasonable case to be made that smoking in public areas is a violation of the N.A.P., by way of the impact on the health of bystanders.

    • Agreed but there is a difference between “public” (the commons in an anarchy) and a private establishment where the public is welcome (a privately owned business).

      This is the conflict I am referring to. In many places around here the state has said restaurants much be 100% non smoking.

      My conflict is I enjoy the results of this but I do not support the way the result is created (the threat of violence from the state).

  5. Great episode Jack. I served on a jury a few years back for a murder trial. Guy was guilty as sin and we ruled accordingly; justice served. Interestingly, both during voir dire and when charging the jury, the judge made it clear that the jurors were not free to interpret the law or vote based on their opinion of the justness of said law. So, courts are actively speaking against jury nullification. In the murder case, moot point. But in the examples illustrated in the episode, that’s a whole different story. After listening to this episode I immediately went on FB and wrote an informational post about jury nullification to spread the word. As you said, once that notion is in your head…!

  6. Talk about coincidence, I had jury duty selection Monday. I can’t begin to describe my disgust with many of the other people there and only partially because of the blatant lies and excuses that people were trying to use to get out of serving. One made multiple pathetic attempts to taint herself to the attorneys after the “I don’t have anyone to feed the horses” failed.

    One case was possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. While I was thinking about the possibility of nullification if the underlying felony was nonviolent and victimless, I overheard two women saying that it was ridiculous that the accused was getting a trial “I can’t believe they’re wasting our time and tax money on this. He knew that he couldn’t have a gun, they should have just taken him to prison.” That, I just chalked up to stupidity even though she looked to be a fairly intelligent conservative individual. I guarantee she would say that the believes in Our Constitution.

    The other trial was an oral same sex rape with an incapacitated victim case. The excuses that I heard there nearly made me explode. “I don’t think I can do this because I would feel uncomfortable hearing about it” was said by over 10% of those in the selection box. “I think homosexuality is wrong so he is guilty.” was attempted by another 20%.

    Summary:
    If it’s to hard, takes up any of my time, or doesn’t feel good, I should not have to do it, just let the government take care of it. That’s what we pay them for.

    You’re right Jack. “We” don’t want to be free. “We” aren’t willing do accept the responsibilities that come with freedom, feel imposed upon when the government asks us to help in the exercising one of the few rights they have not infringed on and have no problem throwing away our integrity for temporary pleasure.

  7. Jefferson’s quote anterior to Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience”. Ralph Waldo Emerson visiting Thoreau in Jail asking Thoreau what he was doing there – Thoreau’s answer always amused me.

  8. “I don’t care what they do in the streets (anti-war protests) so long as they pay their taxes.” Gen. Alexander Haigg

    Why was tax resistance not mentioned—or did I miss it?

    • Yea you missed it you don’t resist tax in the streets you resist with

      1. Agorism
      2. A good CPA

      The tax code is thousands of pages long, about 25 tell you what you have to pay, the rest tell you how to get out of it.

      As in martial arts you use your opponents aggression against him. I am not talking cheating on your taxes I am saying use the system the way it was designed to be used and legally.