Here is an interesting strategy to use against your current governor who vetoed medical marijuana legislation. Invite non-libertarians to participate and discuss this before you have a sit-in at one of his events. Don't be obnoxious, or scream but make your point in a non-dangerous way and be prepared to get arrested.
One of the reasons that crime is punished and the criminal so dramatically humiliated is so that others who might consider such acts are warned by the consequences of criminality. This is accepted as the basis of any society that holds to a theory of justice. For if it becomes relatively easy for a person to do crime and enjoy the fruits then what happens to the general mores of society? How do we uphold the standards of non-coercion, honesty, thrift and work? How do we instill a sense of guilt to the perpetrator? If we don’t, then soon it will be regarded as foolish to work honestly. The country then can become a war of all vs. all where more and more assets are based on stealing and protection against rather than being engaged in productive behavior. A poor, frightened society ripe for tyranny emerges after such times.
This goes in spades when we are considering the greatest theft in the history of civilization. The current international regime of Bush/Obama has orchestrated bailouts, nationalizations and inflationary debt that have run into trillions of dollars. What’s worse it shows no sign of stopping. The protests against this are laudable and loud. But the politicians involved ignore this and are only stand-ins for those who really rake it in. The rate of return of political donations to the banks and other financial institutions is obscenely high. Donations of a few hundreds of thousands have resulted in returns of billions in bailouts to the same firms that have given them, as one example.
We all know this or should by now. The question is: What can we do about it? Is there anything that can be done by a small group of people that works and would not be seen as a stupid, dangerous act? Can anything be done effectively in a short period of time? The answer is yes. Here’s how we can do it.
First we have to identify the chief culprits. It is not enough to just go after politicians that are in the pay of those who rule us. There seems to be an unending line of blow-dried political and media characters of every race, color and creed that are mesmerized by the chump change and perks of doing the bidding of the banksters. They also have no idea of how economics works or even politics. It is like going after the hit men and goons and not going after the ones who hired and profited by their heinous actions. We need to identify those who profit most by the predatory actions of the state. For they are the ones who organize and run such crime syndicates.
Much of this has been done already. A list could be easily made. So what’s next? What do we do with this knowledge? With the help of researchers on the internet we can discover everything about these criminals and those that work for them. We need to know where they work, their health and country clubs, their vacation spots and hiding places. We need to know who they party with, sleep with, worship with, and other affiliations. We need to know everyone they care about; such as their families, friends, neighbors, associates, teachers, therapists, counselors, employees, civic associations, doctors and lawyers and other experts that they consult. We also need to know what they really believe in. As Sun Tzu has said: To win, you must really know your enemy.
Every person that they communicate with on a meaningful basis must be interviewed about the criminal(s) that they interact with and questioned about them. This could be done under a journalistic cover or idol curiosity. Former employees and others who have had bad interactions with them are especially interesting as a source of knowledge and funding. College acquaintances are also a good source for youthful indiscretions. A good book, story or film may be a consequence of this project.
This must be done on a non-threatening basis. It shouldn’t even be done as an act of harassment. This is why. What is being done is to identify this group of people in their wealthy and powerful community of this criminal band’s behavior. Perhaps all those people are part of this conspiracy, but don’t know it, or maybe they don’t wish to acknowledge this. We want all these people to know of these crimes. Perhaps they know of something about these behaviors that will give us valuable information. Maybe they just need to be educated. We do not want to do anything here that we would be afraid of appearing in a courtroom or in the headlines. And most of all we do not want to help create sympathy for the criminals. One effect of this should be to help isolate the criminals from those who have helped him out of good intentions. After people know that this criminal is a target go after these sources again letting them know that this criminal syndicate is under investigation. Explain also that you are always ready to negotiate with him. He will most likely ignore you.
But the most important effect is to make criminal lifestyles unbearable. These thugs spend fortunes on public relations, advertising, charitable contributions (with our money). They do this not just to improve their image but also to convince themselves that they are good and important players. They spend much effort to isolate themselves from critics and surround themselves with yes men so that they forget that they are criminals. We need to break through this barrier in a non-violent way so to remind them of their crimes. They should not be able to enjoy the fruits of their crimes in peace.
Here is an example. Every father, no matter how humble in position or his values, regards as one of the proudest moments of his life the day one of his children gets married. These occasions are in every culture are marked by celebration and the renewing of ties of friendship, business and family. These are powerful yet vulnerable events.
Imagine if you will, a powerful banking crime magnate is having such an affair and our people disguised as guests or employees of the catering hall or the church were to pass out during and in the event. informative fliers to those attending that all the food and drink at reception were bought with stolen money. Imagine how quickly guests would blanch, stare at the host, be shocked, and start to feel very uncomfortable. If you knew other guests by name and their criminal associations and informed the audience about it that would be a plus. If there were attempts by the host or his security to use unwarranted force an array of cell phone cameras would appear to the chant of You Tube, You Tube! At this point because you have done your research you my reveal any scandal involving the parents, the bridal couple or of the important guests. This could include such items as marijuana use. As soon as everyone got the point, and hopefully before the police arrive, you can leave. Many of the guests will have left by then. You have just ruined a lifetime event for him that cost tens of thousands of dollars that involved months of planning and embarrassed him in front of everyone that he really cares about. This will be on news shows and the topic of gossip among the people he cares the most about for months. He and his cohorts will be so rattled that they won’t be able to get much done for a long time.
The important consequence is that in the subsequent You Tube discussions and news coverage you want to appear as informative, non-threatening protesters. You want them to lose their temper first, not you. You want therefore to have the whole event videotaped with an explanation of your reasons for it as a prologue. You need supporters there in order not to look like a kook. After the few infiltrators have distributed some fliers and attracted the attention of security and his friends away from the entrance. Then a whole smart mob appears of at least 10 people and hopefully more come in and pass out more fliers dispersing through out the audience while the host is trying to eject the initial troublemakers. You could even disguise our smart mob as guests or staff that has come in and cause total confusion. One of he smart mob, disguised as head of security would ask what the problem is about. He could at some point in the inquiry identify the host as the cause of the problem by identifying him as the head of an organized crime family. This will start an impromptu debate in front of his closest circle, which is one of your goals. This discussion will then be argued and transmitted to the world, as it happens on camera, before he understands what is going on.
If the criminal has been involved in war profiteering or supporting dictatorships bring that in with another theatrical production. If that is the major reason for your protest this could be explained to viewers by appropriate costumes of dead soldiers, shackles and those with garb from the oppressed area’s culture. Those so attired might then lie down so as to demonstrate their commitment to non-violence as well as to show the obscene, deadly consequences of the criminal’s actions. Think of it as guerilla dinner theater where the object is to close down the same night.
Of course one does not want to appear to be a violent uncouth mob at such a formal occasion. One can do great radical actions by working within etiquette and theater. One might ask “At such a banquet, which pitchfork do I use?” Pitchforks are props, not weapons and are to be used outside only. As Shakespeare has taught us in Julius Caesar: Knives are reserved for the senate only. It is they who carve up and only rare do they serve anyone and who they serve up is rare. We don’t want to be seen as one of them.
Remember that in all of this is that they are the ones who raise their voices first, and decide to raise or lower it to each level of sound and anger. The same holds true for in the initiation of the use of force and each level of force. It is highly recommended to be non-violent even if they are not. If you do such an action and it is not expected the chances for violence is higher. At the same time your action will have a greater emotional effect among all because it is not expected. The greatest success will be if you get support or sympathy from some of the guests. Although that may come later and anonymously it is to be valued. As soon as you’ve made your point, leave. This should be considered in case you want to turn this into a sit-in and risk being arrested.
The flier should contain a list and description of the crimes in simple terms. This should be no more than one page. Your intent is to expose the host’s crimes to those that know him so that they will see him differently and as a risk. You should ask that you want their help in negotiating with him. Explain that you have no hostility to the family and guests but that your grievance is with the host (and his firm or the state) specifically. If you want to cite a case or other lengthy material put in the website and a discussion group. Expect angry emails. Send this info to the media as well as an explanation of why you are doing this.
At the very least the consequences of intruding on such personal events will require them to have massive security wherever they go and therefore less fun and profit for them. Knowing that we will have been in touch with everyone who knows them will also cause them to more circumspect, suspicious and defensive. Eventually they might even want to search us out and bargain with us. More likely they will in some way strike out at us in a way that we can’t strike at them. So be careful out there and be prepared for legal consequences. Above all, no threatening behavior, use humor to diffuse tensions, if appropriate. It is possible to be obtrusive and not be obnoxious as well.
Signs, props as chains, and costume are part of the repertoire. Have a rehearsal in which you have a response to every question or potential threat. Have lots of cameras, literature and consider bringing in outside media. And offer right then and other times the possibility of negotiation.
Also in your communications offer the possibility of forgiveness. Allow for trusted others not involved in your protest to act as intermediaries. Clergy can work here but try to find those who have experience with criminal psychology and negotiating to handle your side. This will be an opportunity to learn about the psychological makeup of the criminal and to get more information on other criminals. At such meetings pay careful attention to body language as well as threats and explanations. Accept arbitration if unbiased and knowledgeable. Be open to compromises offered on just a reduction of bad behavior, as a victory that will feed the need of your friends to see an accomplishment. One thing that they might offer is evidence of evil done by others that they know. This could be a way of sidetracking you or a gold mine of information. Remember that by getting them to negotiate is a victory of sorts. And you can always pull another action to get results. He will interpret your action as assign of how vulnerable and hated he is. His paranoid interpretations of your intents will get you much attention.
The results of such action if done correctly will result in isolation rather than sympathy for the criminal concerned. This should result in conversations in their community about the validity of the charges. Then the conversations will lead to if the criminal had alternative options than continuing down the statist path. Your behavior, though shocking should not be the main topic in the media. If you did your homework and have been interviewing the criminal’s associates you should get some interesting feedback. At this time you may see changes in behavior and offers from his associates first so as not to become targets of humiliation themselves. This is psychological warfare and one result of this is that this spectacle will rattle the host and his associates so that they can accomplish little work. They should think that they have no personal space to celebrate or enjoy the fruits of their oppression.
Do not expect to accomplish this sort of action with a Rockefeller or head of state. The level of security is too high. There is already heavy security at these events to defend against paparazzi and the curious. Try the next level down. A chief executive or financial officer, a cabinet official, senator or other key player who is not known to the general public. You can then go on to another criminal and enforce a standard of behavior on the rest of them. By sending them videos of your actions and news of your accomplishments to the media should do it. When you see other radical groups copying your tactics you’ll know that you are on your way to success. So be sure to follow the rules given here. Please keep us informed and good luck.
OK, now say all that in one paragraph so we guys who read Mens Health can graps it…
Thanks for the advice, Don.
So tell me how having a sit-in at a governor's event has worked for you in the past.
[quote]So you want to legalize the herb?[/quote]
Erroneous assumption.