Read this my feeble friends and fellow slaves… who tremble at the thought of the smallest inconveniences should they be so foolish as to believe Freedom was worth any personal risk or sacrifice…. is not such a celestial article of the highest value?
“Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence? Michael W Smith.
Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons in the revolutionary army, another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the revolutionary war.
They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.
What kind of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners, men of means, well educated. But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.
Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.
Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.
Vandals or soldiers or both, looted the properties of Ellery, Clymer, Hall, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.
At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson Jr., noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters. The owner quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.
Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.
John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart. Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates.
Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were not wild eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged: ‘For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.’”
The name of this blog is from a speech by John Philpot Curran, given in Dublin in 1790.
The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance
said Curran. The shorter form of the original quote is variously attributed to the likes of Wendell Phillips and Thomas Jefferson, but no one really knows who first came up with the exact phrase. Here it is in the Virginia Free Press and Farmers’ Repository, May 2, 1833.
Sadly, the sentinels on the watch-tower slumbered long ago. We’re still not free, we never have been, and likely never will be. Eternal vigilance is a big ask.
Just as well we’re not commies and we never had a first five-year plan!
So what’s the good news?
One issue close to the hearts of libertarians in general and at least two Eternal Vigilance bloggers is cannabis law reform. I’d like to take this opportunity to review the dramatic progress made towards sane, sensible and just cannabis laws in the last 5 years. Not here in New Zealand (not yet), but in the original land of the free, the United States of America.
For example, in Colorado, fatalities and injuries on the road attributed to DUI dropped after legalisation but are trending up again. And, although arrests are down, the racial disparity in marijuana-related arrests hasn’t changed.
These things have occurred. And it is a true adage that, “what has happened once, may happen again.”
“When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.” (NIV)
I wonder and worry about what frightful bureaucracies may supplant cannabis prohibition in New Zealand once it is finally driven out.
Tean Finicum stands up. — Will you rise with her and restore liberty or will you stay sitting down?FOLLOW: LaVoy Finicum's Stand For Freedom #LibertyRising
(SHARE)(WHEN TYRANNY BECOMES LAW REBELLION IS A MUST) We The People need to preserve our freedom and Liberty.#DEOVINDICE #LavoyFinicum #Patriots #WeThePeople #Tyranny #UniteAsOne
^ Must watch Video,
Published on 8 Mar 2016
Jake Morphonios discusses breaking news regarding the elite FBI strike force that set up the ambush and murder of LaVoy Finicum. The task force is now under criminal investigation by both the Deschutes Oregon County Sheriff’s Office and the US Justice Department’s Inspector General’s Office.
It is fantastic to see that there are still some Law enforcement departments with integrity enough to perform their duty in a professional manor and test the FBI story of killing a ‘Domestic Terrorist’…. FBI via the evidence…. and what they have found is Damnable towards the FBI.
They used provocation, *Planned* and executed this murder of an upright American Patriot, in such a manor as to fabricate a litany of Lies… and this ongoing investigation could lead to criminal prosecutions of these ‘Special FBI agents’ who not only set the Ambush up in such a way as to make it impossible to stop in time, but clearly lied about their use of firearms.
For People like myself who live outside the US, it is fantastic to see how the roll of ‘Sherrif’ comes to the fore on these situations where the Feds are involved.
And it has been Sheriffs whom have been at the forefront of the defense of the Patriots and Cowboys as they have been trampled underfoot by the FBI and BLM.
*After being fired upon while still in his pick up, Lavoy decided his best hope was to get to the refuge of the Grant County Sheriff whom was expected to be in attendance of the Public meeting Lavoy and co were travelling to attend… yet he would never make it.
*This whole episode was absolutely unnecessary*.
*The Patriots were a threat to no-one*
*The FBI wanted to create an escalation*
* They carried out their Crime where there were no witnesses, nor any Cell phone coverage*
*Their blockade and firing upon the vehicle was against procedure and acted rashly*
*They Murdered Lavoy in cold blood, and needlessly endangered the lives of others*
*They almost certainly planted a gun on him*
*They blanked out the Audio and degraded to footage that was released to the public*
*They told lies about what happened, and about the use of their firearms*.
etc. etc.
*And remember that *This is a police report*…. not a propaganda piece for ‘Radical Christian domestic terrorists’.
PRAISE THE LORD! The Federal Government is facing serious resistance from many of these local State law enforcement personnel whom still uphold their oaths to the Constitution and the People they serve… *Above the political Elites* in Washington.
And The American peoples need to count on such Brave and principled Men and woman will increase by the hour as their country marches ever closer to the Fiscal Cliff… and Civil War.
*It is the Political Class and the special interests they represent that are eager to overthrow the constitution… to disarm the People and to subjugate them so that in the event of collapse, or growing unrest… the people will be in no position to overthrow them… put them in jail…. take away their power and privilege… which is their Right to do.
Tim Wikiriwhi.
Christian Libertarian.
New Zealand.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness…”
From The American Declaration of Independence. 1776.
Read more…. Judge Napolitano: The Right to shoot Tyrants, not Deer…. here
Update: Here (below) is the Press conference with the police report….
The deafening silence of America in respect to the murder of Lavoy Finicum and the imprisonment of the Bundys Beggars belief!
Patriots and defenders of Liberty and the constitution are slaughtered and wrongfully imprisoned with impunity!
The people slumber… wallowing in their Obese Apathy!
Ichabod!
The Buzzards circle the America born of the Enlightenment.
The Evil Empire is crushing the seeds of Defiance.
It is a great tragedy playing out before our eyes.
Tim Wikirwihi
Christian Libertarian.
New Zealand.
LaVoy Finicum; One Cowboys Family Stand For Freedom. Sunday, February 21, 2016
We never imagined it would be the blood of our husband and father watering the ‘Tree of Liberty’ that Thomas Jefferson spoke of in years past.
For those new to the LaVoy Finicum Assassination storyvideo of his murder, it began years ago as he practiced daily diligence in the things that develop mind, body and spirit. Such practices enabled him to be the powerful voice America knows him to be.
The more he studied the more he began to recognize how tyranny’s iron fist was intimately in the lives of the American people. This weighed heavily on his soul because he was a man of principle. As a God fearing man, he understood the responsibility and obligation he had to stand in his respective sphere for the cause of liberty.
The Political Assassination of LaVoy Finicum. Revised and Enlarged, Jan 30, 2016
Professor Hall brings his original article, written within hours of the assassination of LaVoy Finicum, into conformity with more recent developments. He refutes those such as Gordon Duff who have misrepresented Finicum’s assassination as “suicide by cop.” The author concludes that the Finicum family are justified in their conclusion that “the FBI chose to escalate the situation to force a confrontation, and violent ending.”
“The vehicle was fired upon before Finicum drove off from the first stop. That was the planned manuver by the FBI to panic him to accelerate out of danger. They left the road wide open for him to leave all of the witnesses at the first stop out of view for what was a planned execution without witnesses at the second stop. LaVoy was first deliberately shot in the lower intestine to cause a reaction that would appear he went for his gun. Of course he reached for the area of excruciating pain. After the final shot murdered him they riddled the truck with bullets and shot flashbangs that’s when Ryan Bundy was struck in the shoulder FROM A BULLET not a toy pellet. To the FBI’s amazement the Bonney and Clyde style shooting victims were not killed. Now they are witnesses to attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and murder in the first degree. Why doesn’t the FBI release pictures of the vehicle? That will prove the criminal acts as will the autopsy of Finicum.”
The US Government has murdered a peaceful yet resolute Patriot and defender of the American Constitution, and arrested 7 others… all of whom were forthright dissenters against the governments ongoing violations of constitutional Law and the rights of Individuals.
They chose to commit this crime in a place where there would be the least amount of witnesses and in such a way that would allow them to control the media dialogue about what transpired.
They now await to see what reaction… if any… how the American people will respond.
This is a precursor for Martial Law and the crushing of the approaching Revolution which will occur when the America plunges off the Fiscal cliff.
Should there be no mass rallies about the country in outrage of this monumental crime, such apathy will no doubt signal to these Malevolent Powers that Americans dont give a shit about a few Bible believing 2nd amendment loving Honkeys and so they will be able to escalate their systematic implementation of measures designed to protect the Corrupt Status Quo from an uprising of the people … whom the founding documents of their nation… the American declaration of Independence and the constitution say Citizens have both the right and the moral duty to *Abolish the government* … by armed revolution if necessary…. when it becomes tyrannical and corrupt.
We all know the American government/police/etc murders people all the time… and that the ranks of the American Law enforcement are filled with Evil thugs that think little of Beating and shooting Americans to death… Men, women, and children.
The activities of Lavoy, nor his murder had anything to do with his Colour, yet we…. at the very ends of the Earth have witnessed the outrage of Black communities when *Innocent Black Americans* get slaughtered… yet who will protest when the victims of State violence are white?
You see what makes *this murder* particularly dire is that while it is very Politically correct to be outraged when a Black person gets killed by trigger happy Cops…. because ‘Black lives matter’…. yet when you are a seen as a Bible believing hick who refuses to surrender their right to bear arms…. then *It’s not PC* to give a shit about them!
The Media, and The Democrats under Obama has successfully labeled these defenders of Liberty and the second amendment… not as True American patriots… but as heartless and crazy scum who are responsible for all the Gun deaths in America.
Domestic Terrorists.
Many of the Police want to completely disarm the American people so that they can Beat, Kill, and arrest anyone they desire without facing resistance to their jackbooted tyranny.
Many are Brick Stupid and will obey any order.
Others… more righteous Police… understand why they were employed…. what the Constitution expects of them… and that Guns save the lives of Citizens by giving them the means of protecting themselves from violent offenders… and rouge police.
Many have already declared they will disobey any ‘executive orders’ or ‘Legal fabrications’ that attempt to justify the confiscation of Arms from the American citizenry .
Yet we can be sure that in the short time that remains before the whole bankrupt house of cards collapses… that the powers that be will busy themselves ‘weeding out’ these Good, and righteous Police and Military personnel whom would ‘Refuse to follow orders’… just as they will be systematically removing Judges whom respect the constitution… the longer they can prolong the collapse… the more of their ambitions for consolidating their stranglehold over the American people will be implemented.
Satan Laughing spreads his wings.
‘Evil prevails when Good men do nothing’.
Unless the American people Rally in outrage… these things are inevitable… This much is clear to anyone who understands the modus opperandi of tyranny.
*Dont for one minute accept the sycophantic Idea that these patriots who the government has moved against are the dangerous criminals!*
The Greatest, Highest Law of the land is on their side!
The Criminals are the ones wearing the Badges, and giving the orders to Kill and arrest.
Lavoy Finnicum understood all of this.
To him the principles upon which America was built were sacred, and essential for the Life and liberty of himself, his family, friends and countrymen…of all races and creeds, and he has now sealed his commitment to the cause with his Life!
His God-Given Life was Stolen from him by the Powers of Mammon.
He is now an American Hero of the most important species.
I watch these events with sorrow and alarm.
It is far from over!
Please watch Gavin Seim explain what has happened… observe the righteousness of the cause… the nobleness of the manor of these Patriots whom are now labeled as ‘Enemies of the State’.
What has America become?
These are the sorts of Evils committed in Stalin’s USSR!
Watch this good mans vocal warning to America and understand why Governments around the world want to have the power to censor the internet… and silence the voices of principled dissent.
Take care all you peoples of the world to protect those voices among you whom boldly expose the evils of Officialdom… for they are the targets of the powers that be.
They desire nothing better than to Jail, torture, and science forever the voices of those who would rally the people to overthrow their Corrupt operations.
I shudder at the thought of just how apathetic… just how subservient and sheepish the average westerner is.
And it is this apathy and ignorance that allows the tyrants to Bankrupt, imprison, and destroy so many lives.
I implore you all *to get interested in politics* and not just the fashionable nutbar politics of Socialism, but learn about the inalienable rights of Individuals!
Learn what *Libertarianism* is all about and how it is the only true resistance to Tyranny and oppression in all it’s political forms.
Ignore my words at your peril.
Tim Wikiriwhi.
Christian Libertarian.
New Zealand.
Lavoy Finicum’s stand for Freedom facebook page >Here<
His family Responds to his murder..."
****Finicum Family Response to LaVoy’s Murder****
***1/27/2016***
We thank all those reaching out to us in love during this difficult time. Your faithful prayers are felt. Please keep praying and keep using your voice to get the truth out. This fight against tyranny is not over. Press forward.
Forgiveness is what we can extend and understanding is what we want.
Christ was and is LaVoy’s exemplar. Though there are evil and conspiring men at work, Christ still forgave the executioners for they knew not what they did.
We give permission to all media to use this statement in their reports."
Watch Gavin!!! (Below)
Update: The FBI have released Drone/ chopper footage of their operation that resulted in them gunning down Lavoy.
See what transpired and commentary Here>>> The Murder of Lavoy Finicum. (2).
Princeton, OR — On Saturday, multiple armed ‘militiamen’ took over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge HQ to protest the sentence handed down to two Oregon ranchers accused of arson.
The ranchers accused of arson are Dwight Lincoln Hammond, Jr., 73, and his son, Steven Dwight Hammond, 46, both residents of Diamond, Oregon. They were each sentenced to five years in prison by Chief U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken for alleged arsons they committed on federal lands.
According to the Washington Standard, the problem is multifaceted.
First, both men were sentenced in 2012 by now-retired U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan, following the trial. Steven received one year and a day in prison for setting fires in 2001 and 2006. Dwight got 3 months for his 2001 involvement. Hogan did not believe the men had malicious intent to be labeled as terrorists under theAntiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, even though he sentenced them to jail for the time he did.
The men agreed to a plea deal that they would not appeal the 2012 sentence in order to bring the case to a close.
Both men served their sentences and were released. Now, the feds have appealed those sentences and want the mandatory minimum five-year sentence imposed on the men, and so they appealed to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, who agreed with the feds that the judge ruled illegally. However, now they are wanting to label the Hammonds as terrorists under the 1996 law in order to put them back in jail.
Aside from being thrown in jail for a second time, the Hammonds are upset because they allege no crime was ever committed.
“They called and got permission to light the fire… We usually called the interagency fire outfit – a main dispatch – to be sure someone wasn’t in the way or that weather wouldn’t be a problem,” said Dwight’s wife Susan.
In a post to their blog, the Bundy family explained that the Hammonds were merely engaging in prescribed burns to keep the land healthy and productive. And, they assert that the Bureau of Land Management also conducts these burns.
The Hammonds lit a fire on their own property that spread to public land. No one was injured, no property was destroyed and the Hammond extinguished the fire themselves, according to the Bundys. The court even ruled that the fires actually had a positive impact on the land.
“With no authority or justification to prosecute, eleven years after the fire, federal attorneys have obtained judgment that the Hammonds are terrorists and must be punished severely for their actions,” explains the Bundy Family.
On November 3rd, the Bundys issued a warning, which stated,
Read more at http://thefreethoughtproject.com/mow-down-americans-critical-police-killings-beg-feds-slaughter-citizens/#fxfk3eEGCDzEGMX0.99
I am watching these events with interest.
The only comment I have to add now is with regards to the very Subtil way the powers of darkness work to destroy those brave souls who would dare to resist their diabolical plans… a perfect example being Obama’s recent attempt to get the Senate to remove the second amendment rights of Americans on ‘the terrorist watch list/ no fly list’…. saying such a move was simple ‘common sense’.
Watch his speech >here<
Now on face value this may seem like a prudent measure to keep the population safe from domestic terrorism... you get the idea.... take the guns off 'Radical Islamics who vocalise support for Isis', etc before they start shooting.... who would deny the sagacity... the humanity of such 'forward thinking' in light of all the terrorism of our day?
well Amazingly enough... Congress was not fooled this time... in fact it is *not common sense at all* but a sneaky ruse to remove 2nd amendment rights from anyone *the government* deems to be a threat *to the government*... which goes to show that this ruse was nothing short of a Constitutional removal of the second amendment itself!
A Machiavellian power grab!
You see *anyone* can be put on 'the terrorist watch list'.... esp if they are vocal about resisting government tyranny.
These are people who by and large have not been convicted of any crimes.
They may belong to groups or have associations with people the government dont like.... like the Bundy's.
They may simply be vocal bloggers against Police brutality, against the war on drugs,... like me.
The Darkest period in human history lies before us…. saith the scriptures.
It is going to be a period of Absolute Tyranny…. of absolute State worship.
The powers of darkness will surely strangulate all outspoken dissenters, and will crush all resistance.
The will dis-arm their captive populations, and label anyone who stands against their Leviathan system as ‘domestic terrorists’… and use any Nut bar crimes as excuses to push through their agenda…. all to the applause of the Billions of dumbfounded dipshits who themselves *hate* independent libertarian minded individuals who refuse to swim with the flow.
This is a powder keg waiting to blow…. yet the Powers of Evil are playing their game…
The Stakes are as high as they can get!
Obama would love these guys to kill a few cops so that he can paint this whole Libertarian movement as Domestic terrorists and Crush this Patriotic movement, and remove the 2nd amendment.
It is the only thing which prevents an absolute police State in America.
Tim Wikiriwhi
Christian, Libertarian Independent.
Update: 6/1/16…. Obama is now moving to impose his agenda against the 2nd amendment via ‘executive order’ bi-passing the safeguards of Congressional mandate while admitting the absolute impotence of these measures to achieve the supposed objectives he pretenses to underpin his actions!
“These are not only recommendations that are well within my legal authority and the executive branch, but they are also ones that the overwhelming majority of the American people – including gun owners – support and believe in.” Moments ago, President Barack Obama addressed his meeting with Attorney General Loretta Lynch regarding new executive actions aimed at tightening gun control.
Why this Pic?….. Bloody Internet would not give me a Pic of Pete!
From Stuff…. Would you vote for Peter Davies – if you were given the opportunity?
He’s a maverick English mayor elected after promising to slash council spending, clear the streets of yobs and ditch politically correct services – the torchbearer for how towns should be run.
On his first morning as mayor of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, Peter Davies cut his salary from 73,000 to 30,000 then closed the council’s newspaper for “peddling politics on the rates”.
Three weeks into his job Mr Davies pressed ahead with plans he hopes will see the town councillors cut from 63 to 21, saving taxpayers 800,000.
Mr Davies said: “If 100 senators can run the United States of America, I can’t see how 63 councillors are needed to run Doncaster.”
He’s withdrawn Doncaster from the Local Government Association and the Local Government Information Unit, saving another 200,000.
“Doncaster is in for some serious untwining. We are twinned with probably nine cities around the world and they are just for people to fly off and have a binge at the council’s expense.”
The mayor’s chauffeur-driven car has also been axed by Mr Davies and the driver given another job. Mr Davies swept to power in the May election with 24,244 votes as a candidate for the English Democrats, a party that wants tight immigration curbs, an English Parliament and a law forcing every public building to fly the flag of St George.
He’s promised to end council funding for Doncaster’s International Women’s Day, Black History Month and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender History Month.
He said: “We need to cut costs. I want to pass on some savings I make in reduced taxes and use the rest for things we really need like improved children’s services.
“Politicians have got completely out of touch with what people want.”
– These facts are from reader Ian Sprott
Does that quote “completely out of touch with what people want” sound familiar?
Would he have okayed hundreds of thousands of dollars on a brochure telling ratepayers what clever people he and the councillors are – ignoring specialist staff warnings about the cost?
Would he have allowed yet another expensive switch on Auckland’s logo – after $329,000 was spent on a design in 2007?
How would he have reacted to the shambles on the first night of the world cup?
The mailbag reveals other drums being beaten in Auckland’s far-flung suburbs:…. read more..
Davies Reforms mirror my own campaign policies that I have represented in Local body elections over the last decade.
Google this guy and you will see how his reforms are met by seething hatred by those whom parasite off Heavy rates Big spending Busy Body Councils.
The Devils wail and gnash their teeth… yet it is their own Vampire which has brought them to ruin!
Their Victims have had enough.
Read about my personal efforts to halt Socialist Tyranny and Bankruptcy below…
The terms ‘libertarian’ and ‘libertarianism’ mean different things to different people. In a broad sense, a libertarian is anyone who favours more freedom and less government. In a narrower sense, libertarianism is minarchism.
Minarchism (also known as minimal statism) is a political philosophy. It is variously defined by sources. In the strictest sense, it holds that states ought to exist (as opposed to anarchy), that their only legitimate function is the protection of individuals from aggression, theft, breach of contract, and fraud, and that the only legitimate governmental institutions are the military, police, and courts.
The libertarianism on which I cut my teeth is libertarianism in the latter sense. It’s the libertarianism that was espoused by the now deregistered Libertarianz Party and is promoted by Objectivists such as Lindsay Perigo. In what follows, I’ll use the term ‘libertarianism’ in the minarchist sense.
Sadly, in today’s Western world we are very far from a minarchist libertopia. The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground. Our government departments ever increase in both size and number. Our surfeit of statism won’t be gone any time soon, let alone gone by lunchtime.
In a libertarian state, all government departments—save for the military, police and courts—would be gone. There would be no public health system. There would be no state welfare. There would be no state schools. Even the roads would be privatised.
But persuading most people—who are thoroughly inculcated in statism by the very state education system that libertarians seek to dismantle—that we should roll back the state is difficult. How can libertarians possibly justify getting rid of government-run hospitals? How can libertarians possibly justify ending state education? And how can we even envisage life without state highways? Muh roads!
How can we justify paring back the state to the barest minarchist minimum?
Actually, it’s the wrong question. The right question to ask is this. How can we justify even the barest minarchist minimum? How can we justify having any state at all?
There are plenty of problems with libertarianism. Underlying philosophical problems. I called attention to a couple of them here, here and here. And I’m about to present another problem. It’s a compelling argument for anarchism and against minarchism. (I’m not going to go into all the reasons why I think anarchism, rather than minarchism, looks set to win the day. For that, I suggest readers follow the arguments of anarchist thinkers such as Stephan Kinsella. See, e.g., his paper What It Means To Be an Anarcho-Capitalist.)
Here’s the problem. Libertarians think that taxation is theft, and that all giving, including the giving of money to the government, should be voluntary. Libertarians (of the minarchist/Randian variety) think that the (only) legitimate functions of government are providing defence and police forces and a judiciary, and that these functions should be funded voluntarily by the citizenry. But what if the citizenry don’t want to fund a minarchist state voluntarily? What then?
“Now, which one of you punks is going to pay me to investigate this crime?” No one spoke up.
“Come on,” I said. “Don’t you all understand that the protection of private property is the foundation of all personal liberty?”
It didn’t seem like they did.
“Seriously, guys. Without a strong economic motivator, I’m just going to stand here and not solve this case. Cash is fine, but I prefer being paid in gold bullion or autographed Penn Jillette posters.”
Nothing. These people were stonewalling me. It almost seemed like they didn’t care …
Elsewhere I presented the case for compulsory taxation. In the comments section to that post, a battle erupted between Damian Grant, a libertarian in the loose “More Freedom, Less Government” sense, and Mark Hubbard, a devout minarchist. Damian didn’t manage to better my case for compulsory taxation, but Mark didn’t score any points either. The whole thing was left hanging.
When Christian libertarians confront statists, statists just love to throw the Good Book at them! There are two Bible passages commonly mentioned.
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been confronted with Jesus’s injunction to render unto Caesar. But this objection is easily demolished. To render is to give back. Jesus tells us to give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and give back to God what is God’s. But what do we have that is Caesar’s? What have the Romans ever done for us?
Elsewhere, of course, the Bible tells us that all things belong to God. So the objection is easily dealt with.
Seemingly more difficult to deal with is the second objection, viz., Romans 13.
Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.
This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor. (NIV)
This objection is taken so seriously by Christian libertarians that the Facebook group of the same name deals with this passage (and only this passage) specifically in its “About” section.
But, far from dooming minarchist libertarianism, Romans 13 is its salvation! For, without this crucial passage, there is nothing in the Bible or anywhere else to stop the slide into anarchism.
I’ve been looking for a Biblical justification of libertarianism ever since I heard this speech. Now I think I’ve found it. In the last place I ever thought to look.
Romans 13 is libertarianism’s last bastion against the unrule of the godless.
Militias Are On Route: Is the 2nd American Revolution Starting in Bunkerville, Nevada?
An area just outside of the little town of Bunkerville, Nevada, with a population of around a thousand people, may go down in history. This little spot in the desert may be compared with Lexington, Massachusetts, the site of the “shot heard round the world” – the first shot fired in the American Revolution. Because it looks like the second American Revolution may start there…and soon.
Read more… DC Clothesline…. >>> here <<<
*****************************************************
The Obamaites must be freaking out because if they cause another Waco it could escalate into a full on Nation wide Revolution.
A vast number of Americans have been pepping for exactly this.
We have all herd about the Fiscal cliff and seen chaos break out in Europe with the financial collapse of various Nation States.
Waco Texas 1993
The US economy has been living on borrowed time and any armed conflict between Americans and their government could trigger collapse, and then we shall see the truth!
That far from being the saviours of the American Dream… Obama’s democrats have been the final Nail in its coffin!
Only Foolish Morons could have ever believed his shameless promises for ‘Change’.
The Obama Democrats are the enemies of the American people!
They will try and blame the collapse on the Rebels yet it was their Big spending and tyrannical laws which really are to blame.
And we shall see why the government has been making FEMA camps and buying up Billions of Rounds of Ammo, and has been strategically installing Military vehicles in police stations around the Nation.
These things were never meant for ‘Terrorists’…. but for controlling and suppressing the outrage of the American People against the Obama Government.
Obama will no doubt also play the ‘Race card’ and say that the trouble was cause by ‘White supremacists’ ….etc etc.
Yet still Only Foolish morons could still believe that the Republicans are any better!
They proved their corruption too when the shafted Ron Paul… the last Great hope America had.
We shall see in the coming civil unrest that the Republicans to a large extent will join with Obama in the hope of putting down any unrest… out of pure greed.
Just because they are not in power does not automatically mean they will support the Revolution.
They have vested interesting in maintaining the status quo.
“It is easier for a Camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of heaven.”
It has been the threat that the American people themselves pose to the Obama government which has been the real reason He has been hell bent on attempting to remove the 2nd Amendment rights, and to Dis-arm the American people…. esp to take away their Automatic weapons, and High capacity Magazines.
So that he can Subjugate them utterly, and maintain the corrupt State indefinitely…. no matter how terrible things get for the people…. how much poverty and police brutality ensues…
With regards to the rebellion in Nevada, it will be ‘interesting’ to observe how the Obama Regime behaves in respect to Social networking and the Net.
Will we witness a tyrannical ‘shut down’ of parts of the net? Of people who are on those government ‘watch lists’ for ‘Libertarian extremism’…. being suddenly blocked on Facebook, twitter etc???
How will these companies behave when the Hour of Crisis is at hand… when the Government threatens to confiscate their wealth and property?
No doubt self interest will overcome any sense of Justice and they will side with the Beast!
And the tyrannical Rot could spread around the Globe…. people like myself could even get arrested… here at the bottom of the World.
If not today…. some time soon.
Get Prepping People…. the world could be thrown into Darkness at any time.
The biggest problem is that though I can speak of the Times and the Seasons…. I cannot predict the Day nor the Hour.
Though all the Auguries forsooth ill… the Collapse and chaos may yet be avoided…. delayed …. yet with time the situation gets worse not better.
Yes It is all about Money and Power!
The socialists around the globe have Ruined western civilisation and they know it…. and they have prepared for the coming storm of their own creation.
The only Course which can result in the least Death and Mayhem would be for the entire American government to Resign… and a new Government to be re-constituted upon the original foundations of the Republic…. an absolute end to socialism and big government, and a return to self reliance… and voluntary community action.
And for the rest of western civilisation to follow suit.
Yet as you know…. there is virtually no hope of the powers that be surrendering…. of admitting they have failed the American people.
They are far more likely to drag the world to hell rather than surrender their power and filthy lucre.
THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated. Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to TAX) but “to BIND us in ALL CASES WHATSOEVER” and if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth. Even the expression is impious; for so unlimited a power can belong only to God. …