porcfest

so i just got back from new hampshire a couple days ago, and it was amazing. spending a week around that many liberty activists has a way of changing one's perspective.

tyrannical laws (you know, the victimless ones) were being broken constantly. people were putting whatever they wanted into their bodies. people were selling whatever they wished without begging the government for permission (licenses). even when there were problems (there were a couple incidents), interference from the authorities was unnecessary. a combination of arbitration and/or ostracism were enough motivation to elicit restitution.

the one time a cop did show up, he had a swarm of followers; many of them with video recording devices in hand. if he'd tried anything, i'm sure their station's phones would have been flooded, and there would have been a huge crowd of protestors outside barraging anyone in a police uniform with questions. and if you're one of those types that love cops, i'd encourage you to run over to copblock for a list of police abuses. the vast majority of which result in no punishment for the offending privileged class (cops, lawyers, judges, politicians, anyone that is given leeway where a 'common citizen' would not).

i was also able to do a good deal of bartering (with the silver i brought). the only vendors that wouldn't take my silver dimes were the metal dealers (gold, silver, copper) because they re-stock via federal reserve notes, and one of the food vendors that needed to run into town to buy supplies. neither of these instances would have been the case if the federal reserve in tandem with the government hadn't indoctrinated and/or coerced the general populace into accepting paper and cupronickel as something of value for decades.

i also got to meet a lot of activists. they ranged from bloggers, radio talk show hosts, entrepreneurs, professors, some liberty minded politicians, and even one with his own tv show. not a single one of them was stuck-up. all that was necessary to meet them was to walk up, shake their hand, and introduce yourself. many of them even came to me and introduced themselves. this was completely unexpected.

what had the biggest impact on me, though, was the veterans for ron paul meeting i attended. being around all those veterans each with their own story of how they came to believe the current united states government is evil was the last thing i needed to fully open my eyes. all these years of 'serving' i'd thought i was doing something noble; i'd thought i was protecting 'my country' from terrorists. now i realize the biggest terrorist of all is the united states government. i have helped spread tyranny across the globe. i am part of the reason so many people hate americans. i look back on it, and i am ashamed.

i've accepted the government's blood money for 14 years, and i've finally broken though the propaganda. i'm stuck in the system for 2 more years. when my current enlistment is up, i'll be leaving the service of uncle sam. i'm having issues with my conscience right now, and i can't imagine perpetuating my current situation longer than i've enslaved (contracted) myself to. i don't know what i'll do, but at least i will have peace knowing my money will not be acquired by the threat of violence.

government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.
-george washington

so let mercy come
and wash away
what i've done
i face myself
to cross out what i've become
erase myself
and let go of what i've done
-lincin park what i've done

arab spring not just for arabs

i've heard several media reports referring to the 'arab spring' lately. while there's no doubt things are pretty intense in the middle east and north africa, the people that talk about an 'arab spring' have their vision narrowed a little too much. the cry for freedom from oppression is global.

in debt laden greece, thousands crowd into public squares to protest austerity measures. in spain, tent cities reminiscent of hoovervilles are springing up filled with young unemployed people protesting all parties of their political establishment. in france, pretty much the entire country was locked down by military and police personnel in an attempt to quell the rampant g8 protests (actually, every g8/g20 meeting since '08 has been met with protests and police crack-downs). in switzerland, independent journalists harassed police outside the bilderberg meeting. in china, they've stopped reporting the number of protests because there have been so many. in australia and new zealand, people have continued planking despite government crack-downs.

here in the united states, a judge decreed it was just fine for police to arrest people dancing at public memorials (specifically the jefferson memorial in the district of columbia). a small group of protestors went and danced at tj's in protest and were arrested. the videos went viral, and a week later hundreds of people showed up to dance around the statue of thomas jefferson. but they weren't dancing alone. all across the world, there were dances on the same day in support.

the world is in revolt. every day, more and more people are waking up to realize just how much their inalienable, natural rights are being trampled. as their eyes are opened, increasing numbers are taking up the mantle of political activism by getting into politics (tea party), or outright civil disobedience.

ever wonder why ron paul has such insane support? the people are awakening. in '08 he raised more money from active duty military members than any other candidate. even with miniscule name recognition he managed to run a relatively successful campaign for president in the face of clear attempts by the media to block him out. this time he's too popular for the media to ignore. a number of the republican presidential hopefuls have even begun to sound like him. but they don't have the decades long record of voting for liberty.

next week, i'll be in new hampshire for porcfest (the porcupine freedom festival). for those that are unaware, it's a week long celebration of freedom. this year, expected attendance is over 1000 people from all over the country. i'm sure quite a few liberty minded politicians will be there too.

on résiste à l'invasion des armées; on ne résiste pas à l'invasion des idées.
-victor hugo

translation: One resists the invasion of armies; one does not resist the invasion of ideas.

or a variant...

one cannot resist an idea who's time has come.
-ron paul

bradley manning

i'm a little behind the power curve on this, but i came across an awesome interview about bradley manning today. for those of you who don't know that name, he's the one the government is convicting of being responsible for some of the items wikileaks has released. the audio is of a private conference call given for the benefit of a the media. it's been tacked onto the back end of an episode of free talk live. to get it, just go to their archive page, and download the podcast for 25 may. if you don't want to listen to the whole show, skip ahead to around 2:18 (2 hours 18 minutes). you'll know you're in the right place if you hear them talking about a cruise as that's right before they tacked on the call.

i think what's said throughout the call makes it quite clear just how corrupt the united states government (of which the military is a part) has become. i got to experience some of this corruption when i was in afghanistan. fortunately, i didn't observe any war crimes. however, the minor instances i did see were responsible for most of the stress i had while i was there. it seemed like every day i was either in an argument or trying to decide if it was worth starting one.

the one thing i did learn was that it's a rare person who can remain impervious to the siren call of power. i even managed to catch myself abusing my position sometimes...and i was near the bottom of the chain.

a couple nights ago i watched the documentary 'fair game' (the 2010 film...there are several with that name). it's about a CIA agent and an ambassador who end up on the wrong side of the bush administration during the second invasion of iraq. add that to the evidence of power corrupting government.

it's rather ironic that the US government is becoming more and more like the brittish government our forefathers fought against 200 years ago. if there's one thing government needs it's a healthy dose of transparency. it's people like bradley manning, daniel ellsberg, julian assange, etc that bring it. instead of being prosecuted, they should be praised for their courage to stand up to the powers that be, and bring the truth to the ignorant masses.

the internal military mechanisms do not work to bring justice or accountability.
-julian assange