A recent conversation with a couple of NH Anarchists left me wondering about freedom.  As the Free State Project continues to thrive, along with the small government conservatives, libertarians, confused liberals and others who move here as part of the project several anarchists looking to avoid government altogether have also made the move.  As part of their quest for freedom they have chosen to give up all constraints placed on them by the government.  They've burned their Social Security cards, tossed out drivers licenses, chosen to no longer vote and stopped paying taxes.  In doing so several have already landed themselves behind bars yet they declare themselves free.

This week a couple looking to move across state sent out a call for help in their move since they are unable to rent a moving van or truck since they no longer use government issued licenses to drive.  That's when the question occurred to me, how free are they really if they are limited in what they can do and need to fear that things many of the rest of us take for granted may be the thing that lands them behind bar deprived of all their freedom?  How free are they if they cannot hold any job they choose because they do not want to be tied with a social security number?

Since ideal governments should be limited to only preventing one person from infringing on the rights of others, most people can agree our government has grown far beyond its legitimate role.  The problem stems from how we continue to define everything as "rights".  Rights do not, nor should they include the ability to dip into the pockets of others to pay for things another wants.  But I digress as I am straying from the main point here...  Freedom would be the ability to live however you wish as long as you do not cause harm (i.e. take away rights) from others.  So how free are anarchists who choose to go off the grid really?

Ironically I see their flaw (I use this for lack of a better word as many I've spoken to understand the limits) as the same flaw many who live unaware that they are deprived of freedom in this country share.  They see themselves as free just as many of us living in this country following the rules see themselves as free.  The problem is none of us are truly free.  Having your choices limited is no different then having to ask permission before doing something.  Most Americans think they are free yet cannot do basic things without government permission.

The only way things will change is when we all wake up to the fact that our freedoms are limited and work to slowly get those freedoms back.  Until then deluding ourselves that we can either live off the grid or that we are truly free only allows more freedoms to be stripped away one by one.

Yesterday, April 30th, Dave Ridely set up on the sidewalk in down town Concord directly in front of the state house and performed a puppet show for money.  Now you may read this statement and say so?  The so here is that there is a law against what he did.

RSA 286:1 reads as follows:

286:1 Showmen. – No showman, tumbler, rope dancer, ventriloquist or other person shall, for pay, exhibit any feats of agility, horsemanship, sleight of hand, rope dancing or feats with cards, or any animals, wax figures, puppets or other show, or promote any public competition, without a license from the selectmen of the town.

 The fact that Dave put on such a show in blatant defiance of the law and notified state officials in advance of his performing the show to which the state shrugged and did nothing weakens not only this law but our whole legal system.  Do we want to evolve into a society in which the state can pick and choose which laws to enforce?  I would hope not.

The question then becomes what should be done here?   Should Dave be shackled and tossed away for reckless puppeteering?  Should he be fined for trying to earn money with his puppeting skills?  Should he be put in the stockades for an afternoon?  Clearly I would hope most thinking people would come to the conclusion that this law is foolish and unneeded and nothing should be done to Dave.  One would hope then that our state government who clearly doesn't see the need to enforce such a law has likewise come to that conclusion and will eliminate it from the books.

A counter argument is that this law prevents say a puppeteer or showman from setting up a show on a sidewalk blocking local businesses however there are already several other laws which could be used to prevent that so out goes that argument.  Beyond that I have not heard any valid arguments for keeping this law and quite frankly if there is a valid argument then the state needs to uniformly enforce it.

Dave, keep up the good work at challenging laws and getting people thinking; hopefully you wont have to explain to a large man named Bubba that your in with him because you put on an illegal puppet show.  I would hope our elected officials use this not only as an excuse to clean this law up but to also begin a dialog of which other laws are unnecessary and can be either cleaned up or eliminated. 

April 13th marked Thomas Jefferson's birthday, to celebrate a group of like minded people choose to exercise their freedom of expression by openly dancing at the Thomas Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C. While admittedly they were not the best of dancers (see video found here)  clearly they were remaining peaceful and not harming anyone as evident in the video. Along come the police and arrests at least one protester (see video here), Brooke Oberwetter for dancing while asking the rest to leave the grounds of the memorial.

What would Thomas Jefferson say if he were alive and witnessed those dancing in his honor being tossed out and arrested from his very own memorial on the day of remembrance for his birth? 

The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it always to be kept alive. - Thomas Jefferson

The will of the people is the only legitimate foundation of any government, and to protect its free expression should be our first object. - Thomas Jefferson 

Over the past few weeks I've engaged a number of anarchists in discussion in an effort to further understand anarchy.  That is they support the idea of living without any form of government.  As a strict constitutionalist I'll admit up front that I don't agree with their views of total anarchy but much of what they said makes sense.

The whole discussion went along these lines, we all agree our current governmental system is broken.  We all agreed that the key reason for many of the problems we have today is due to government over stepping its bounds.  We also agree that in many cases a free market solution would solve many of the problems and create better solutions then anything the government could implement. 

The two areas we disagreed were roads and protection (military, police and fire) where I believe there needs to be some level of organization. But even if you disagree with the total concept of anarchy, I would still encourage you to read up on it.  I came out learning quite a bit from the discussion and while still not sold on the idea I feel a lot less threatened by the thought of anarchy then I do of more government.

One of the key issues I think that prevents people from accepting even exploring it is fear.  Fear of change.  That's a shared element of why we allow government to over step its bounds and continue to grow.  Who will care for the children, who will care for the poor, who will take care of the plants etc etc etc.  We've lost the concept of individual responsibility.

If we don't change, what will happen when more then half of our society can no longer produce or survive but instead lives as parasites off the other 49% or less?  That's where we are headed.  

I will close by sharing with you 10 quotes that can help explain that idea of anarchy or at least in my own case the idea of less government being the answer to our problems.

1) In our government-controlled schools we are taught that Lincoln was our greatest president because his war ended slavery and saved the Union. As usual, the other side of the story – the side that reflects poorly on the government – somehow gets lost. – Richard J. Maybury, The Abe Lincoln Hoax (I suggest you read it!)

2) Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable, a most sacred right – a right which we hope and believe is to liberate the world. Nor is this right confined to cases in which the whole people of an existing government may choose to exercise it. Any portion of such people, that can, may revolutionize, and make their own of so much of the territory as they inhabit. – Abraham Lincoln [!], January 12, 1848 speech in Congress (Hmmmm...)

3) If you would not confront your neighbor and demand his money at the point of a gun to solve every new problem that may appear in your life, you should not allow the government to do it for you. – William E. Simon

4) Fifty-one percent of a nation can establish a totalitarian regime, suppress minorities and still remain democratic. – Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn

5) The New Deal Court essentially told Congress: It doesn't matter what the Constitution says or what limits on government it establishes, you are empowered to spend money on whatever you please. And so Congress does, even though its profligacy has placed the nation in great economic peril. – Stephen Moore, Director of Fiscal Policy Studies at the Cato Institute, March, 1997

6) Experience [has] shown that, even under the best forms [of government], those entrusted with power have, in time and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny. – Thomas Jefferson 1779

7) Government is not the solution, but rather the cause of our problems. – Ronald Reagan

8) If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there'd be a shortage of sand. – Milton Friedman

9) Man is not free unless government is limited. There's a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: As government expands, liberty contracts. – Ronald Reagan, farewell address, 1/11/89

10) Whatever the issue, let freedom offer us a hundred choices, instead of having government force one answer on everyone. – Harry Browne

The Boston Globe reported over the weekend about a program in Boston in which police will be going door to door without warrants asking to search homes.  The idea is that they will be searching for illegal weapons.  I have to ask who actually thinks this is a good idea?  Do they really think those who have criminal activity in their homes are going to let them walk in and search?  And by intimidating those who legally own guns, forcing them to show their papers etc, discourage people from legally defending themselves from the criminal element.

If they want to stop crime show the law abiding citizens how to arm themselves.  After 5 or 10 punks are shot dead while trying to commit crimes they'll start thinking twice before trying to do anything illegal. 

Folks this is exactly the reason why MA is what it is today.  If anyone thinks Democrat "solutions" work, one need only to look to our bordering state to the south and witness first hand the tyranny and flawed thinking at work on a daily basis there.  Police going door to door searching homes... what's next?

 After a shooting spree, they always want to take the guns away from the people who didn't do it. I sure as hell wouldn't want to live in a society where the only people allowed guns are the police and the military. – William S. Burroughs