Previous

Contents

Next

Apathy?
by Dennis Lee Wilson
DennisLeeWilson -+at+- Yahoo.com

Special to The Libertarian Enterprise*

Apathy? Hell NO! I ACTIVELY BOYCOTT political conventions of ALL political parties as well as boycotting the voting booth (see "Can there be a better time to STOP VOTING?"). And I actively urge others to consider the virtue of doing the same!

The scenes both inside and outside the recent political conventions offer a sad spectacle of people trying to "fix" a government that has been illegitimate from its inception and defunct at least since Abraham Lincoln violated its Constitution and killed more than 620,000 Americans while brutally conquering the Confederate states and forcing them into servitude under a government not of their choosing.

I watched the videos of the militarized police activities in Denver and Minneapolis/St Paul and I cannot help but wonder how much financial and political embarrassment those governments would have if NO protesters had shown up. It would be like making a Grand Declaration of War and having nobody show up to fight.

Various protesters did visit the political conventions in Denver and Minnesota, in force and on schedule to justify the ever-growing tax burden of the ever-growing police state in an era of dwindling real crime due to an increasingly armed and aware citizenry. However, I detect indications of changing times. The police seemed to have a dwindling supply of victims from which to choose, because they had to preemptively raid private houses outside of the convention areas and also direct their actions against visibly marked members of the visiting press who have never been demonstrators.

Something similar has recently happened in Scottsdale Arizona (and other cities—see references [4 & 5]). Although traffic speed cameras on the freeways thru Scottsdale were originally projected to collect $20 million per year [1], apparently there were not enough violators and Scottsdale netted only $1 million for each of the last 2 years.[2] Freeway users simply refuse to exceed the artificially low speed limits while being photographed. In other words, the intended victims withdraw their sanction of the government's action by refusing to be victims. Now the State of Arizona has taken over Scottsdale's speed traps and by expanding it state-wide, expects to net $90 million [3] where Scottsdale projected $20 million and netted $1 million!!

Is it apathy that keeps me from being among the political demonstrators and voters? Or is it perhaps the discipline of rational thinking followed by rational action—much like the example of the Scottsdale drivers? Governments NEED active opposition in order to justify the militarization of local police, just like the Scottsdale government NEEDS traffic violators in order to justify and pay for cops, cameras and courts.

There are many ways to be rid of government, I describe some of them in the Individual Sovereignty section of my TLE article here.

One may also just starve the beast, such as do Scottsdale motorists, by simply refusing to feed it.

References:

[1] http://www.thenewspaper.com/news/11/1177.asp Published: 2006-06-12
Scottsdale, Arizona Speed Cameras to Make $20 Million
A set of six speed cameras on a Scottsdale, Arizona freeway will make $20 million this year.

[2] http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/ss/fromcomments/80809.php Published: 2008-03-26
Scottsdale nets $2 million [in 2 years] from Loop 101 speed cameras

[3] http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/ss/fromcomments/80809.php Published: 2008-03-26
Scottsdale nets $2 million [in 2 years] from Loop 101 speed cameras
"Napolitano's proposed state budget for the next fiscal year includes $90 million of new revenue from camera-produced citations"

[4] Federal Highway Administration study of cameras (PDF)

[5] http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23710970
Red light cameras too good for their own good?
Some cities rethink devices as drivers pay heed, reducing fine revenue

Dallas Texas officials shut them down.
Charlotte and Fayetteville, N.C., red light cameras recently turned off
Bolingbrook, Ill., officials ended their red light camera program after statistics showed a 40 percent drop in ticketable offenses.
Lubbock Texas

Dennis Wilson is philosophically an Objectivist and the creator of Atlas Shrugged Celebration Day in Ouray, Colorado which features Judge Narragansett's New Constitution Project which in turn demonstrated to him the unworkability of "constitutional" governments. (Note: There is no formal "Objectivist Politics", only indications of Ayn Rand's preferences). As a consequence, he discovered and became a Signatory to and ardent advocate of L. Neil Smith's Covenant of Unanimous Consent and has written articles about it and other libertarian issues

He is a semi-retired architectural designer, computer software engineer and commodity speculator who has witnessed Arizona change from Goldwater Libertarianism to McCain Madness and plans to change his residence to Free State Wyoming. Visit his personal website and blog at http://groups.msn.com/DennisLeeWilson and his graphic designs at Artemis Zuna Trading Post

*Originally published at Dennis Wilson's web/blog
Permission to redistribute this article is herewith granted by the author—provided that appropriate credit is given.

TLE AFFILIATE

Help Support TLE by patronizing our advertisers and affiliates.
We cheerfully accept donations!