Articles

Civil Disobedience Weekly Spotlight

Written by Marc Stevens Saturday, 28 August 2010 19:17

We're going to have a new segment on my radio show, the No State Project, called the Civil Disobedience Weekly Spotlight.  Each week we're going to dedicate part, or all of the show, to an act or acts, of civil disobedience.  The qualifications are they must be consistent with the non-aggression principal, only non-violent, non-cooperation.  As the purpose of the show is to help bring about a voluntary society; non-violent, non-cooperation is one of the most effective tools we have to chip away at the perception of legitimacy those commonly called "government" still enjoy - for now.  To borrow a phrase, we want to continually hack away at the root of evil; to attack the perception it's moral to kill, steal and lie when done by majority vote or with a silly political title. 

"Governments" are gangs of killers, thieves and liars and non-violent, non-cooperation is an effective tool to show the masses the true nature of "government".   We use civil disobedience for two main purposes: 1)  to show "governments" are the criminals, they're the one's who initiate the use of force and 2) to hack away at the sacred reverence people have for the ramblings of the insane viz., political laws. 

What I encourage, if possible, is to record your own acts of non-violent, non-cooperation with some political fiat or bureaucratic whim.  Pick a political "law", a so-called "mala prohibita"  type where there is no victim, and don't comply.   We'll also have a separate part of the website to keep a record of everything.  The more people see us engaging in civil disobedience, the more likely people will get off the fence and stop just talking about freedom, but living free.  Some examples are getting traffic/parking tickets and of course, broadcasting the No State Project with your own micro AM/FM station without permission.  Feel free to call into the show and ask for ideas on what you can do and this is not limited to North America.  

With that in mind, I'm kicking this week off with another one of my acts of civil disobedience.  It's from a phone call to a man working for the IRS; I did not initially tell him I was recording the call.  Once again, I ask a simple question: "are there witnesses with personal, first-hand knowledge Mr. [x] is a taxpayer..." and the tax bureaucrat refuses to answer.  To deflect attention away from his lack of evidence, he asked if the call was being recorded and I did tell him I was recording.  He then accuses me of violating federal "law" and uses that as an excuse to not answer the questions.  Some people, such as lawyers, may also argue I was "practicing law without a license" because I was assisting a friend resolve a tax matter an I do not belong to the bar association cult.  So this was a 2 for 1 special: 

We need to always keep in mind we are changing people's perceptions; so it's very important when we engage in non-violent, non-cooperation, we are always professional.  The more calm and rational we are, the worse the politicians look and that's the point of civil disobedience.   Do not even let them be able to call us rude.   Whatever happens, do not start yelling, taunting or degrading the bureaucrat you may be dealing with.  And don't use profanity; it's very powerful for our children to see the politicians are the problem, not us.  My little girls got a real good lesson in the West Mesa Justice Court when the clerk and security suddenly started screaming at me to calm down and treat them with respect.  My then nine year old daughter was horrified and came up to me and said, while looking right at the clerk: "Daddy, why are they yelling at you to calm down, they're they ones who are upset, not you?"  You'll have a pretty difficult time trying to convince her that bureaucrats are nice people. 

In other words, let's not act like politicians when we engage in non-violent, non-cooperation.