Getting Free

If your response is “helping, of course!”, I have to ask: Are you sure? I was, but it turns out I was wrong. And evidence suggests I’m not alone.

Rasmussen Reports recently announced the results of an interesting little poll of American voters, regarding the idea of “the consent of the governed”. Shall we poke around in the data a bit?

What with all the military madness this country maintains, I’m rather surprised it took the winter Olympics to bring one of my favorite Rush songs out of the recesses of my memory:

I ask the question with solemn seriousness. No, I haven’t been smoking or otherwise ingesting anything to make my brain go wonky. I have actually been thinking about the issue—from a very different context—for some time now, and trying to find a way to gather my thoughts for presentation here. I’ve not yet accomplished that, but a news article I just read crystallized the above question out of my mind.

What a fitting set of ideas to contemplate now—well, for those who are attached to the Gregorian calendar, anyway. Be warned: this isn’t a typical “bucket list” or similar set of externally–driven “achievements”—the short essay Joshua Zader posted may have most individuals squirming uncomfortably a few times. But it brims with the stuff that is most important in living a conscious life.

In Costa Rica, as in many other places, this year is a census year. I intend to do everything possible to avoid being counted.

My experience with the census started in 1970, when my parents received "the long form" (for lack of a better name). I recall my father feeling important because "they" wanted to know all about him. I saw the form and felt creeped out. It asked things like how many bathrooms in the house, how many TVs you owned, etc. I remember thinking that this was none of their business.

I have a lot of conversations with folks who understand the growing problems and potential for disaster. Many of them are already well down the road to preparations for survival, many have just started, and most are somewhere between. Unfortunately, a few still cling to the idea that - if "we" ALL just would pay attention and DO SOMETHING - the old US Constitution could be resurrected, we could elect the "right people," and the police state would be gone.

Bill St. Clair very kindly emailed me this morning, bringing my attention to an addition to one of his web sites that he thought I would particularly appreciate. Even though we’ve not yet met in person, he knows me well.

I saw this article this morning and thought we might continue our discussion of the agora and its importance in our struggle for liberty. Kyle is a good friend, and a member of my FSW family - as well as a contributor to The Price of Liberty.

David Gumpert has become something of a hero to me—not because his blog focuses on the healthful properties of raw milk, but rather because he actively seeks to understand, and to present, all the players’ perspectives in the complicated regulatory dance that has developed around it. Recently, he’s focused on challenges in Wisconsin—an area that doesn’t make the news frequently, but which is suffering economically along with much of this country.

I expect that many freedom-loving individuals would answer that question in the negative; but some would aver otherwise, pointing to the power of a jury as a (perhaps “the”) remaining check on the state’s dominance. I’ve pondered that issue for some time—wanting to be convinced by the arguments, truth be told, but never making it that far. The primary obstacle is the vanishingly small role juries directly play in most people’s lives. How many adults are tapped for jury duty? Out of those who go, how many actually serve? How many times does an average person sit on a jury? I have no numbers to pin to those questions, but it should be clear that I am skeptical that an activity that at best probably commands only a few hours of a person’s life is going to be seen as enormously important to him.

Another assertion that would likely be offered is that juries can make or break laws—and that does affect many people, as we all live under the burden of the laws of our jurisdiction. But again, I have problems ... Jury nullification depends upon at least one informed, courageous person; and the voir dire process actively seeks to eliminate such individuals from juries. That person must also keep his intentions secret until deliberations, else a mistrial could be called. Even that doesn’t guarantee that a mistrial won’t happen.

But—and here’s the heart of the matter—all the jury power in the world won’t make a bit of difference if the judge plays fast and loose with his power in the courtroom. A judge has a variety of means by which he can skew a trial, including what he allows as evidence, lines of questioning the lawyers are allowed to pursue, and the instructions he gives to the jury before they retire for deliberation.

Some judges have apparently become so brazen that they will not allow the jury access to the actual law(s) under consideration in a case. Pete Hendrickson says that’s what happened to him in his recently-concluded trial with the IRS.

... along comes William James.

My friend Peter and I have discussed the speculation surrounding what may lie ahead for this country, and those who live here, a fair bit. Being a much better multi–tasker than I, he has offered a stimulating perspective in a new essay, American Winter. It’s fairly long, full of cogent observations and asides, and I barely finished skimming it before starting to tell you nine about it—so I don’t have any deep thoughts of my own to offer at present.

I ask the question not from the context of the reality that the current health care system is shot through with socialism; but from the context of reading that Our Great Leader and his minions object to that term being applied to his proposals. Simply examining the process reveals how completely the socialist model suffuses it.

Books are marvelous wonders. They can take one places one never even knew one wanted to explore, subtly or boldly challenge one’s thinking, or offer fresh perspectives on any number of subjects or ideas. The Power of Premonitions unexpectedly did all these things, and more, for me. And I thought I knew what I was in for when I accepted an offer of a review copy ...