Apparently, protesting against the government by passing out leaflets on public property, to public officials, is against the law.
Essentially, Russell Kanning went to the IRS office in Keene, NH, to pass out leaflets to the IRS employees. These leaflets encourage IRS staffers to quit their jobs, because federal tax money funds some pretty unpleasant things. He used no weapon, he made no threatening gesture or statement, he was courteous. He wants to change the system nonviolently. One would think that the federal government would be overjoyed to be completely safe from harm, and would allow the man to make his statement, which would encourage others to drop their weapons and protest peaceably.
Let's review the Bill Of Rights, from The Constitution Of The United States Of America: The first amendment states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." To be clear, "Congress shall make no law... abridging the right of the people... to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." Pretty clear, right?
I remember a story I once heard about Lenin leafleting the very soldiers he was trying to overthrow. While I'm not supportive of a Communist agenda (as it doesn't seem to work), I am supportive of any citizen with the guts to calmly and rationally ask the current powers that be to stand down, in order for a new approach to be implemented. Again, our Constitution details this, as a power granted to the citizenry.
I urge the entire Federal Government to take a remedial civics course. Please.
The Gift
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[Christmas, 1965 or thereabout]
The boy was very young; perhaps 7 or 8 years old. He loved everything about
Christmas - the lights, the music, Santa ...
4 months ago
13 Comments:
A friend who'd served in our armed forces would refer to it as "your tax dullards at work".
Not to proselytize, but that's why I'm a Libertarian. Gutsy bunch with a firm grasp of The Constitution.
This administration hasn't exactly been very big on protecting our Constitutional rights. It hasn't been very big on separation of powers either. In fact, despite their representation as a conservative government they haven't been following the tenets of the conservative philosophy very well either.
Something I was thinking about recently is that we're supposedly fighting this great war against terrorism. The basis of terrorism is to create terror to push forth an agenda. We happen to be reacting exactly the way the terrorists want, with our fear and suspicion leading the way. The crazy part of it is that our government is playing right along and using the fear generated by the terrorists to push through their freedom-stripping agenda.
It seems to me they'd much rather have people running through the streets with bombs strapped to their chests than to have someone peacefully protesting under their first amendment rights -- that's scary to me.
I have nothing against Libertarians, and would probably join up if they were a little looser with the purse-strings, especially on education. In other words, I believe that taxes are good if they fund schemes that actually work. If we lowered funding of the military and raised funding (a lot) for public education, I guarantee that things would get a lot better around here.
Just a slight sidetrack into political philosophy OK, Stu? We go in friends and come out friends - agreed beforehand. If you feel it's headed any other way, you call a halt.
The problem with funding almost anything via the government is that each of us has his or her own agenda. What I believe is right and necessary, you may believe is unneeded and a theft of your hard-earned cash. And vice-versa, of course.
There are people like yourself who believe that government-funded education is a good (if not great) thing. And, if it were done exactly the way I'd like to see education done, I'd agree with you. If it were done in a slightly different way, someone else would agree with you and I wouldn't. Different people have differing viewpoints on what should be taught, and different people have different leeway they're willing to give on their own moral standards.
Is education a good thing? I'd say obviously so. Is education via the government a good thing? I'd say sometimes yes, sometimes no. Again, it depends upon how much of my own agenda is being taught. I believe that government schools spend far too much time shaping young people's moral views to match the government's own. You may have a more flexible viewpoint and subscribe to the notion that whatever is taught can be judged by the student and either accepted or discarded.
There are decent, if misled, people who feel that there should be more military spending. I'm not one of them, nor are you. However, they would feel that making an argument for that spending is just as much of a moral imperative as you may feel in making an argument for more educational funding.
Libertarians are generally against government (not anarchists, but what you might call minarchists) because we believe that, in most instances, private citizens can make better choices than the government does. We also feel that it is morally wrong to coerce someone into funding something that a person has religious or other moral objection to. To take an extreme example, state funded abortions. If someone believes that abortion is murder, how can he or she morally accept taxation that will ultimately end up being spent on that?
In the same way, taxation will always be spent on many things you don't want, or that I don't want - unless you or I become Emperor. Don't like war? Your tax dollars are funding it.
I personally would like to see a check-off box on the income tax form. Not one for a ruse like presidential campaign funding, but rather one that allows me to opt my tax dollars out of spending for any programs I don't believe in. Give me that and I'll gladly keep paying the current rate of taxation with no complaints whatsoever.
Sorry - a bit rambling, Stu. Please respond at length and with your own passion, my friend.
Sully,
First, friends are forever, and discussions like these make the bond stronger, regardless of the specifics.
Second, No one has come up with a convincing study that shows that well-funded public schools produce poor citizens.
Yes, I understand that the government may have an effect on individual concepts that are taught, but not as much an effect as the local citizenry. My local school system (Redondo Beach Unified School District) is fantastic, superb, because the folks in this town really pay attention, and the parents doubly so. Maybe they teach something a little off from my chosen path, but it's almost always a teenie thing, and it's never been anything serious. Above all, RBUSD teaches kids to make up their own minds, to make their own choices. So even if they were to teach something that I wouldn't want my kid to focus on, I know that I am raising my kids to consider their schooling with great care, to discuss these things earnestly, and to make up their own minds.
I have always wanted a checkbox system for taxes, as I have always wanted a sales-tax based system.
If the Libertarian National Committee would build a plank promoting a twenty year program of massive funding of public schools (as an experiment), I'd sign up today.
As for people who feel that increased military spending is a better choice than increased education spending, they are misinformed. No educated person dismisses the notion that education is the silver bullet.
Heck, I'd be ok if local communities decided whether to have public education or private education, because then I would just move to the town that suited me. I don't care how it looks, as long as we spend serious money on giving children a luxurious option of first-rate education. Take the money out of whatever you like, military, Social Security, parks, whatever. Let's take twenty years and see if we can't fix America by turning schools into palaces.
And how to solve the budget? How to give people real power over this type of stuff? Change from a Republic to a Democracy.
Your mileage may vary.
Well, we agree on the checkboxes!
We also probably agree, at heart, about the majority of what we're discussing. I think we're off on particulars more than anything else.
I'd like to see the possibility of parents opting their children out of state-funded schools and being given a tax rebate towards private schooling. This may exist in some locales already - not sure.
I certainly agree with you that education is key. I personally wouldn't be averse to seeing an experiment of the type you suggest - superfunding schools for a certain time period.
(Libertarians, while in agreement with each other more often than not, on more issues, than most political animals, are not always in lockstep. For instance, I'm a strong supporter of excellent publicly-funded public libraries, while some of my L brethren are much less favorably disposed to such things. My willingness to see what would happen with superfunding would probably not extend to the party in general, I'm afraid.)
I will make the disclaimer that I am not a parent, thus without real-world experience in raising children to judge carefully. I'd like to think that I'd do as you seem to be doing, which is grounding your children in good fundamental analytical thinking. Would that all parents did the same! I wouldn't have nearly the worries I do about kids in public education.
I was one of the kids - public school all the way through high school, by the way - who swallowed his civics lessons whole. In my day, that included a whole lot of out-and-out jingoism. As I reached my late teens, Vietnam was winding down. I had seen where the lessons and the reality didn't quite mesh. I adored the principles on which my country was founded, but my country on the whole didn't seem to be paying attention to them. Almost all of my teachers were well-meaning, but they had been feeding me a steady diet of bull along with the meat and potatoes.
Like your kids, I was raised to use my head. I could separate the wheat from the chaff and do some critical thinking. My fear is for those kids not raised in such a manner. I saw the kind of crap that was taught as gospel truth in my day. And I'd hate to see that perpetuated in any way.
I fear we MAY be headed down the same road soon.
Of course you'll make a great parent, it goes without saying. You're a smart, caring, responsible guy, what else do you need? (Patience)
I too was public school raised, except my civics lessons were taught in the late 70s and early 80s, so the teachers were very clear about not trusting the government. Mr. Narcisi in particular gave great head-clearing civics lessons.
I love the idea of libraries that are palaces. I also love the idea of parents having schooling options, and of getting tax rebates. Just so you know, the IRS allows deductions for educational material.
I also am wary of heading down the crap road. I'm definitely maintaining my laser focus on my kids' education, keeping in constant contact with the teachers and staff.
Seriously, I can't see where we differ.
Hey, Sully, you got quoted!
Blog Comment
Fascinating. Are quotes grabbed at random there? I could find no info concerning the exact purpose of the site. Anyway, anyplace that has to stoop to quoting me is probably in deep doo-doo.
Good conversation here, Stu. I think we're pretty much on the same page; only slight differences.
With your permission, I may want to re-print our parts of this exchange as an entry on my blog later this week. OK?
It is an odd thing, that the site has not discernable purpose detailed. I only found it through scanning my sitemeter log.
As for our differences, they are indeed slight. I think our biggest differences are in music, which I would love to discuss with you.
As for re-printing, allow me to paraphrase Otto from A Fish Called Wanda: "Re-print away pal. Quote her blue."
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