Eric,
Good question.
If a new system of governance is installed by force it's unlikely to survive. Ron Paul and most libertarians aim to create a freer society by changing the hearts and minds of the people.
It's a slow and painstaking process.
Have patience. Spread the freedom message.
BTW, are you Eric Dupree?
Warm regards, Michael
"Change by changing the hearts and minds of the people. It's a slow and painstaking process." So true -- but sometimes events converge that make things happen faster. And with the Internet, it can happen.
I've been trying to do change hearts and minds about cannabis, and the Internet and the feds themselves have actually given us a GREAT weapon. When people find out that in 2004 the federal government very quietly took out the U.S. Patent on cannabinoids as anti-oxidants and neuro-protectants, and that its patent says cannabinoids are good for treating Parkinsoin's, Alzheimer's, AIDS. HIV, autoimmune diseases like my MS and even stroke, they are startled awake.
And then I tell them that the patent doesn't mention cancer, even though the government KNOWS that the cananbinoids, especially the THC along with the other contents of the herb, have anti-tumor -- major anti-tumor -- qualities, they get REALLY mad when I also tell them that Big Pharma pays for TWO full-time lobbyists for each congressperson and senator in DC -- and cancer drugs and drugs for side effects of anti-cancer drugs make up at least 40 percent of Big Pharma's profits, and that although the National Cancer Institute's website (it's a federal agency) BRIEFLY said clinicians could prescribe cannabis for its anti-tumoral qualities as well as for nausea and pain, it REMOVED that tumor info three days later -- probably when Big Pharma got wind of it and squashed that info on a federally-controlled website.
The feds and Big Pharma are trying to keep the lid on this info until they can consolidate control over cannabis by "legalizing" it through taxes, regulations and controls so they can keep making tons of money off the masses. If we can get the truth out quickly enough, it won't work, because people still have to VOTE for that stuff in California.
People ARE ready for a change -- so that's the area of opportunity and danger both. We need to tip (see The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell) this issue into true liberty -- freedom to grow all plants and use them without enforced-by-the-government intercession by Big Pharma. That's why we need to derail Regulate Marijuana Like Wine and go for the grapevine model: no stinkin' licenses, taxes, regulations and fines.
Is it too late for the Libertarian Party to reconsider its support for Kubby's initiative and come over to the light? I hope not. Wouldn't that be great, now there's a better initiative? Kubby sought the party's endorsement very early, before all the entries were available to consider and compare. And then he's changed the initiative considerably since the Libertarians endorsed it. I'd say that sets the party free to reconsider its endorsement, wouldn't you?
Michael:
I'm not Dupree. But what I've seen, our current government has no problem using force, and what I'm arguing is simple Newtonian physics: A force will continue unabated until stopped by an equal or opposing force. So far, I've not seen any of this passivity being the least bit effective.
Have any of the anti-war protests stopped imperialism in Europe and the Middle East? Have any of the petitions we've circulated or signed done any thing to curtial or repeal attacks on civil liberties. Has all the blogging and education made any positive difference? No, they haven't.
The elites are where they are precisely BECAUSE of their ruthlessness and lack of humanity. Has moral indignation changed their behavior? No. They despise everyone besides themselves as inferiors and utterly expendable. What method other than force will be effective against such a cabal?
As for the future government not surviving, that is to everyone's benefit. The future government, after it dismantles the current one, should dismantle itself or the revolution will have been pointless.
Eric's comment: "A force will continue unabated until stopped by an equal or opposing
force. So far, I've not seen any of this passivity being the least bit
effective."
There are many analogies we can use about how change occurs. And passivity can work -- and can also be defeated. A drop of water, repeated, can wear away rock -- more or less slowly depending on the kind of rock (e.g., sandstone versus granite) and the kind of water (acidic or not). Ghandi's use of passive resistance was effective, too.
In terms of opposing forces, I'm most thinking about cannabis\. The liberation \-\- not "legalization" of cannabis is the proverbial camel's nose under the tent to change a LOT of things that need to be changed\.
I learned "this" \-\- my belief that the liberation \-\- not legalization \-\-of cannabis is the wedge we need to change things from participating in the GlobalMarijuanaRelegalization Yahoo discussion group\. All sorts of things began to tie together with the cannabis issue \-\- globalization, the banking system, economics, corporatiz\-ation, etc\. It involves so much information and topics that the average person with little time to think and study and discuss will never get a full view of how these things are all linked together\.
People care about health and about being sick\. And most people have someone they care about who's sick\. If and when people learn that the government and corporations, working hand in glove \(the definition of facism\) have been intentionally hiding the preventative and cure for cancer, I think it will cause a shift in what people are able to "see" and to believe\. And that's what we need\.
If enough people can begin to question the reality with which we are currently stuck, there won't need to be a huge, violent revolution \-\- or so I suspect\. There have already been warriors in this battle on our side who've paid heavy prices\.
But there are more and more troops massing on our side because of the decriminalization of marijuana for patients here\. We just need to decriminalize marijuana for all adults here in California, and the rest of the dominoes will begin to tip in the right direction\.