Agorism

I’m not sure if whatever cheer you seven gain from my recent slump being so short–lived will offset my returning to a theme that some may find tiresome. Be that as it may; it’s a topic that is only going to be increasingly important unless (or until) the collapse comes.

Most of the regulars here already know that the Senate’s version of the food fascism bill, alternatively known as S.B. 510, was passed yesterday. According to the sources I follow on this issue, a few issues stand in the way of it becoming law—more than the usual reconciliation with the House version, which was passed some time ago. Some see hope in that; but I don’t ... since the general idea has gotten congressional approval, I expect some sort of food tyranny will become the law within the next year or two. I don’t like it one bit, but am inured to it. Anyway, that isn’t what I want to focus on at the moment.

A friend and I formed a sort of "steering committee" about a month ago to bring a Bountiful Baskets co-op drop site to Newcastle in order to obtain really fresh fruits and vegetables. Some here may remember that lack of same was one of the real problems with living in rural NE Wyoming. Little is produced here, and shipping makes the cost at the grocery stores very high.

It’s a simple idea, really; but all the same, I’d like to test it before investing a lot of time and effort into it.

I am, that is ...

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.

That is probably not news to regulars here—after all, my interview of B.W. Richardson displayed my high regard of him; and I’ve pointed to several of his blog posts here. But if you’ve not been by Montag ... lately, take a mosey over there and you should easily see why I’ve titled this ramble thusly. He’s been on a powerful tear lately—and lest you think you can suss out my favorites based on my commenting pattern there, to that I say “Nay!” Of late I’ve been racing the heat as well as very busy, so I often let great bits slip by without comment.

But today’s post is simply too good to let pass, nor to keep to myself. Hie thee over there and bask in his inspiring words. Thank you very much, my friend.

Many people seem to be turning to gardening in anticipation of hard times and/or increasing state interference in what one is permitted to eat. Lila asked about good places to buy seeds the other day, and a friend’s answer was so good that it deserves more attention than it’s likely to get buried as a comment. So, Plug Nickel Outfit’s response is elevated to guest post, with some extra links and commentary added by yours truly. If you have good resources and/or ideas to add, please do.

A friend sent me a link to the Locallectual web site, along with a suggestion (or was that a hint?) that I blog about it. I’ll admit that upon seeing the term, I wasn’t very inclined to agree with my friend, but after poking around the site for a bit ... well, here I am.

Given how frequently I’ve been pointing to him of late, it probably comes as no surprise that I’m pointing to another essay by Peter Saint-Andre this morning.

I had been slowly working at cleaning and organizing my desk area [yes, again!] ... but with my computer out of commission I have more time offline than I’m accustomed to. So, over the weekend I started to get serious about organizing my mess—and in the process, rediscovered gold: a disc of music Warren Bluhm gave the snolfs and me some years back, titled The Will to Fly.

Okay, most of us have probably gotten our April 15 frustrations vented by now. I have a couple of recent stories to tell regarding other ways the state’s agents are coming up with to rob us.

Not just any ol’ month, though. As I mentioned yesterday, we had a farewell feast last night. For the past month we’ve had a Belarusian houseguest. He works with Lobo at Casey Research, and was here primarily to get a lot of hands-on training. That was accomplished; and of course, we tried to give him as rich a sampler of American life and Pacific Northwest beauty as we could. Naturally, woven through our interactions were many threads relating to freedom. He may have provided me as much food for thought as we did him.