Sherri Malouf wrote:
> Hi Doc..
>
> >I thought a lot about your dilemma. Started to compose a response twice
> >(once directly to you, once to the complex list). I stopped each time.
> >There's simply more to say than I can express within this medium, and
> >anything I put here will simply seem to superficial. So I listened,
> >instead, to what you said. My silence was respectful of you and your
> >question.
>
> Thank you for thinking and thank you for responding now.
Sherri--I don't mean to be oblique. It's just a way that I have.
My historical reference is to Thoreau's disagreement with slavery in the
south and the war being waged by the US against Mexico in a thinly veiled
effort to annex a huge chunk of property now known as New Mexico, Arizona
and California. Thoreau pointed out that he was in collusion with the
government pursuing unethical choices if he continued to pay taxes to
support those efforts. He went into great detail to explain his thinking
on this.
Thoreau was jailed (albeit only for a short time, in a pretty nice jail
compared to the ones most of us are familiar with) for refusing to pay
taxes. Emerson came to visit him in jail. He had offered to pay the
taxes for Thoreau, but his offer was rejected. When he asked Thoreau what
he was doing in jail, the response was, what are you doing outside of
jail?
Thoreau's ideas were later borrowed by Ghandi and King for their great
acts of civil disobedience.
It seems to me you have three alternatives. (1) Fight within the system,
through the use of initiatives, referendums, running for political office,
or litigation. (2) Live with it. (3) Refuse to pay taxes (or perform
other acts of civil disobedience).
What I'm referring to, when I speak of rescinding the power that I grant
to government, is to engage in engage in what others would refer to as
"lawless" behavior. That is what Thoreau did when he refused to accept
the government's sovereignty as greater than his principles. Jefferson
said, "In questions of power . . . let us hear no more of confidence in
man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution."
This great law became the contract between the people to allow them to
govern themselves. Unfortunately, as Thoreau found, man's mischief still
abounds, frequently thinly disguised as laws and executive orders that
courts later find unconstitutional. This is a debate that still rages
on--however it goes, though, you will make a choice. Whichever choice you
make reflects the energy and resources that you are willing to expend (or
the liberty you were willing to sacrifice) as the quid pro quo for your
choice.
That is the true price of liberty, Sherri--being forever vigilant.
sincere regards,
Doc
--"Is there some notion abroad that man must repeat himself? To repeat is to go against the laws of the spirit, its forward motion." -Pablo Picasso
Richard C. "Doc" Holloway Visit me at http://www.thresholds.com/community/learnshops/index.html Or e-mail me at <mailto:learnshops@thresholds.com> Your partner for workforce development Mailing Address: P.O. Box 2361 Phone: 01 360 786 0925 Olympia, WA 98507 USA Fax: 01 360 709 4361
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