If a person employed in the private sector pulled a stunt like this -- a non-bureaucrat, in other words -- they'd be looking at fines, civil suits, and you bet your ass their NAME would be all over the media. They'd have a hell of a time ever getting employed again.
If such a private person pulled a stunt like this on a bureaucrat, they'd be in jail before you can say "quidditch"
Government being instituted for the common benefit, protection, and security, of the whole community, and not for the private interest or emolument of any one man, family, or class of men; therefore, whenever the ends of government are perverted, and public liberty manifestly endangered, and all other means of redress are ineffectual, the people may, and of right ought to reform the old, or establish a new government. The doctrine of nonresistance against arbitrary power, and oppression, is absurd, slavish, and destructive of the good and happiness of mankind.
I'm sure the CEO's of those companies will promise you they are defenders of the free market.
A corporation is distinct from a business. The former are granted limited liability -- by the government -- in return for being the government's bitch. It is often the case that the people employed by that government-created entity do not make the mental connection between their enterprise and government-controlled, inherently non-free, enterprise.
Government programs don't "encourage" free enterprise. At best, they steal from some people who would not have spent it The Right Way and give the money to the wonderful people who will use it the way the Bureaucracy feels is Much Better.
The way to actually encourage free enterprise, is to stop threatening violence against the people who practice it.
Stop stealing their money. End the "license raj". Let the people do business with anyone who will freely trade with them -- whether or not they have a government-granted "permit". Let the people do whatever they want on and with their own private property, as long as they're not harming anybody else.
Of course, all that will never happen. Not unless people who feel the same way concentrate their efforts in one place. Fortunately... we already are. See my sig
If you're already in NH, and you like the idea of reducing the size and scope of government, you might want to hook up with the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance -- the most effective pro-liberty citizens lobby in the USA
Peter, it's clear there's no arguing with you, since you know more from wherever your keyboard is, than a person living in NH & deeply involved with civic life here.
If "only wealthy people" ran for State Rep, how come one of mine is a farmer who'se on the brink of bankruptcy? How come another of my state reps is a carpenter who could really use a few more jobs during the hard winter season?
"But since you know everything, I'll make someone else a deal. Uh-huh the packet-MAN!"
There is no "balancing act" when one of the sides involves has an armed police force and is willing to use it to ensure their opinions win the dispute.
I'm not grateful to the FCC that they "let" me use my WiFi router, any more than a slave should be "grateful" master lets him have his own hut.
You know, cannons kill people -- even innocent bystanders -- pretty easily when misused. Yet somehow Thomas Jefferson didn't find it necessary to give the Federal government a monopoly on cannon design and production.
I'm happy for YOU to live somewhere where virtually every aspect of YOUR life is kept "safe" by the biggest gang in town. I just wish you didn't have the naive belief that everyone should be thankful to your gang for all their great beneficence.
I'd rather be a free man, and take my own damn chances.
I ain't saying its perfect (not that single poor mothers would somehow automatically make for better government -- they'd be more likely to vote for socialist tax increases, I'd wager)
I'm just saying, it's entirely tractable for "the people" to re-take the NH government specifically, due to the structure of the government, in this particular case. And because hundreds of activists have already moved here for that express purpose.
See my earlier post. Most NH State Reps and Senators are retired or have day jobs.
Most local government positions in NH are volunteer positions, that would be appointed and salaried in other states. The Board Selectmen in my town each get like $2,000/year.
You call a State Rep in NH, you're calling their home number. As often as not get their kid, who tells you "Daddys in the bathroom can you call back?"
Why do these people do it? To have a say. To get to vote on stuff like whether medical marijuana is legalized or not. Lots of them get into it after they've been abused by government -- like the ex-Marine who ran for State Rep in frustration after his house was taken by Eminent Domain (and the NH Constitution was amended in 2006 to forbid Eminent Domain for private takings). I got lots of stories like that.
But hey, like the Digital Underground said, since you know already know everything, I'll make someone else a deal.
400 reps, unpaid. Most of them are retirees, own their own small business, or work flexible hours. Each one serves about 3,000 constituents. I know you're an expert and know they must be on the take but that's because you've never had your State Rep build a deck for you. NH is just not like wherever you live -- the structure of the government is different here.
Hey, I escaped from California. I know what it's like out there in the People's Republic. But since you can't handle winter, you'll keep getting more and more government every year, and no realistic hope of that ever changing for the better in your lifetime. I can understand why you'd be sour.
But... why not just click around the FSP website? Or better yet, just come on out here and take a look for yourself? Just for giggles. After all... what if I'm right?
News flash: 90+% of Americans will never, ever vote for anything other than a Democrat or a Republican. Even if they agree with the 3rd party.
Why bother fighting that fight? We have libertarians who are running -- and WINNING -- as Republicans and Democrats. We're already electing the "good guys". In 10 years, if your efforts succeed beyond your wildest dreams, 50% of Americans will vote 3rd party -- and those 2-3 3rd-party candidates will split that 50% of the vote between them, and continue to LOSE every election they run in.
States with great weather -- like California and Florida -- tend also to be hopelessly big-government.
New Hampshire really is unique in terms of the structure of its government. You know we don't pay our politicians? There's no money to be made. Does wonders at reducing corruption.
The Federal US government is unfixable. Too much money and power, power and money, and too many average US citizens who think "more government" is the solution to their problems.
See my earlier post, or my sig, for details on a more realistic target.
NH is not "free", not by a long shot. But it's a lot better than most other US states, and I have seen the growth of government halted here many times. I've seen my friends elected to the state legislature. You owe it to yourself to check it out.
The FCC is unconstitutional -- the legislature gave wide-ranging power to an unelected bureaucracy, which it is not authorized to do (not that the US Constitution matters a damn nowadays)
The FCC does nothing to protect my life, liberty, or property. In 99% of the USA, there is so much wide-open bandwidth, there will never be a serious problem with conflicting signals in the electromagnetic spectrum.
If it were not a Federal crime, I'd probably throw up an antenna and broadcast community radio in my town. But for the tens of thousands of dollars in license applications and hours of paperwork, it's not worth my while. Sure, there's Part-15 radio, so weak you're lucky if you can hear it 3 blocks down the street -- not worth it either.
Government does what it does best -- squashing the little guy, protecting the larger moneyed interests, all in the name of keeping us safe.
Yeah Depublicans! Beat the Remocrats! It's all so different when the communists control the USA instead of the fascists.
I'm not pessimist. I'm an optimist. I am right in the middle of a real change -- a return to small, Constitution-sized government. It's exciting and fascinating to watch it unfold. If you'd like to see it too, click the link in my sig.
it just could be that nobody is interested in what he has to say?
Bingo!
I read the guy's name, and immediately remembered a picture of him in the 1990's in full troglodyte Virtual Reality garb -- goggles and gloves -- ranting about how VR was to be the future of humanity, and his (presumably now-failed) startup efforts in that direction.
He's lost the ability for his rants to be relevant, until such time as he himself produces a Big Thing, is part of the team that makes the Big Thing, or at least correctly calls a Big Thing before it happens. Till then... sorry Jaron, but tl;dr
And, if the developer subtly fucks up his machine, so that my application doesn't work anymore -- maybe he horked up a service, maybe the new RPM he downloaded has a bug that subtly screws up the networking -- is he going to say, "gee, I have been administering my local box and I must have fucked up Plugh's application so I'll troubleshoot and fix it myself!"
NO
He is going to log a P1 trouble ticket against me and my team, then he's going to send emails to everyone he can, as high up the food chain as he can, complaining about my how my POS application is the reason he can't deliver on time.
A few hours later when I or my team have figured out what he did to subtly shoot himself in the foot, he's not going to send a flood of apologetic emails. It'll go quietly by the wayside, and I an the unsung heroes on my team will continue to be... unsung.
Slashdot Mirror
Crap. Botched my link.
http://www.nh.gov/constitution/billofrights.html
If a person employed in the private sector pulled a stunt like this -- a non-bureaucrat, in other words -- they'd be looking at fines, civil suits, and you bet your ass their NAME would be all over the media. They'd have a hell of a time ever getting employed again.
If such a private person pulled a stunt like this on a bureaucrat, they'd be in jail before you can say "quidditch"
Crap like this makes me invoke NH Constitution, Article 10, aka "Right of Revolution".
(emphasis mine)
I'm sure the CEO's of those companies will promise you they are defenders of the free market.
A corporation is distinct from a business. The former are granted limited liability -- by the government -- in return for being the government's bitch. It is often the case that the people employed by that government-created entity do not make the mental connection between their enterprise and government-controlled, inherently non-free, enterprise.
Government programs don't "encourage" free enterprise. At best, they steal from some people who would not have spent it The Right Way and give the money to the wonderful people who will use it the way the Bureaucracy feels is Much Better.
The way to actually encourage free enterprise, is to stop threatening violence against the people who practice it.
Stop stealing their money. End the "license raj". Let the people do business with anyone who will freely trade with them -- whether or not they have a government-granted "permit". Let the people do whatever they want on and with their own private property, as long as they're not harming anybody else.
Of course, all that will never happen. Not unless people who feel the same way concentrate their efforts in one place. Fortunately... we already are. See my sig
http://xkcd.com/386/
You win. Move along, nothing to see here ;)
I prefer the term anarchocapitalist
Yipes! Britain?!
You're not seriously going to stay under INGSOC rule, are you?!?!?!
If you're already in NH, and you like the idea of reducing the size and scope of government, you might want to hook up with the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance -- the most effective pro-liberty citizens lobby in the USA
Peter, it's clear there's no arguing with you, since you know more from wherever your keyboard is, than a person living in NH & deeply involved with civic life here.
If "only wealthy people" ran for State Rep, how come one of mine is a farmer who'se on the brink of bankruptcy? How come another of my state reps is a carpenter who could really use a few more jobs during the hard winter season?
"But since you know everything, I'll make someone else a deal. Uh-huh the packet-MAN!"
There is no "balancing act" when one of the sides involves has an armed police force and is willing to use it to ensure their opinions win the dispute.
I'm not grateful to the FCC that they "let" me use my WiFi router, any more than a slave should be "grateful" master lets him have his own hut.
You know, cannons kill people -- even innocent bystanders -- pretty easily when misused. Yet somehow Thomas Jefferson didn't find it necessary to give the Federal government a monopoly on cannon design and production.
I'm happy for YOU to live somewhere where virtually every aspect of YOUR life is kept "safe" by the biggest gang in town. I just wish you didn't have the naive belief that everyone should be thankful to your gang for all their great beneficence.
I'd rather be a free man, and take my own damn chances.
Yeah, we're working on the Fed issue also
http://nhliberty.org/hcr6
I ain't saying its perfect (not that single poor mothers would somehow automatically make for better government -- they'd be more likely to vote for socialist tax increases, I'd wager)
I'm just saying, it's entirely tractable for "the people" to re-take the NH government specifically, due to the structure of the government, in this particular case. And because hundreds of activists have already moved here for that express purpose.
See my earlier post. Most NH State Reps and Senators are retired or have day jobs.
Most local government positions in NH are volunteer positions, that would be appointed and salaried in other states. The Board Selectmen in my town each get like $2,000/year.
You call a State Rep in NH, you're calling their home number. As often as not get their kid, who tells you "Daddys in the bathroom can you call back?"
Why do these people do it? To have a say. To get to vote on stuff like whether medical marijuana is legalized or not. Lots of them get into it after they've been abused by government -- like the ex-Marine who ran for State Rep in frustration after his house was taken by Eminent Domain (and the NH Constitution was amended in 2006 to forbid Eminent Domain for private takings). I got lots of stories like that.
But hey, like the Digital Underground said, since you know already know everything, I'll make someone else a deal.
Crap. slash fuxked up my link
http://freestateblogs.net/history_and_purpose
400 reps, unpaid. Most of them are retirees, own their own small business, or work flexible hours. Each one serves about 3,000 constituents. I know you're an expert and know they must be on the take but that's because you've never had your State Rep build a deck for you. NH is just not like wherever you live -- the structure of the government is different here.
Hey, I escaped from California. I know what it's like out there in the People's Republic. But since you can't handle winter, you'll keep getting more and more government every year, and no realistic hope of that ever changing for the better in your lifetime. I can understand why you'd be sour.
But... why not just click around the FSP website? Or better yet, just come on out here and take a look for yourself? Just for giggles. After all... what if I'm right?
News flash: 90+% of Americans will never, ever vote for anything other than a Democrat or a Republican. Even if they agree with the 3rd party.
Why bother fighting that fight? We have libertarians who are running -- and WINNING -- as Republicans and Democrats. We're already electing the "good guys". In 10 years, if your efforts succeed beyond your wildest dreams, 50% of Americans will vote 3rd party -- and those 2-3 3rd-party candidates will split that 50% of the vote between them, and continue to LOSE every election they run in.
Democracy sucks. Simple math.
States with great weather -- like California and Florida -- tend also to be hopelessly big-government.
New Hampshire really is unique in terms of the structure of its government. You know we don't pay our politicians? There's no money to be made. Does wonders at reducing corruption.
http://www.freestateproject.org/files/101-Reasons-to-Move-to-NH.pdf
The Federal US government is unfixable. Too much money and power, power and money, and too many average US citizens who think "more government" is the solution to their problems.
See my earlier post, or my sig, for details on a more realistic target.
The Federal government will grow till the empire (and its currency) collapses.
A State government, however, can be pared back... if we concentrate our efforts.
There are 4 of "us" (Free State Project members) who have already been elected to the NH House of Representatives. NH has no income tax, no sales tax, no seatbelt law, no helmet law, shall-issue concealed and no-license open-carry. NH will not participate in the Real-ID program. We're pushing forward on jury nullification, marijuana decriminalization, and, possibly, secession.
NH is not "free", not by a long shot. But it's a lot better than most other US states, and I have seen the growth of government halted here many times. I've seen my friends elected to the state legislature. You owe it to yourself to check it out.
The FCC is unconstitutional -- the legislature gave wide-ranging power to an unelected bureaucracy, which it is not authorized to do (not that the US Constitution matters a damn nowadays)
The FCC does nothing to protect my life, liberty, or property. In 99% of the USA, there is so much wide-open bandwidth, there will never be a serious problem with conflicting signals in the electromagnetic spectrum.
If it were not a Federal crime, I'd probably throw up an antenna and broadcast community radio in my town. But for the tens of thousands of dollars in license applications and hours of paperwork, it's not worth my while. Sure, there's Part-15 radio, so weak you're lucky if you can hear it 3 blocks down the street -- not worth it either.
Government does what it does best -- squashing the little guy, protecting the larger moneyed interests, all in the name of keeping us safe.
Yeah Depublicans! Beat the Remocrats!
It's all so different when the communists control the USA instead of the fascists.
I'm not pessimist. I'm an optimist. I am right in the middle of a real change -- a return to small, Constitution-sized government. It's exciting and fascinating to watch it unfold. If you'd like to see it too, click the link in my sig.
Ahhh... but I don't try to make a Big Name for myself as an Internet Prognosticator. In that respect, I am quite different from Mr. Lanier.
As it turns out, however, I am part of a team making a Big Thing, but I can't talk to you about it unless you sign an NDA with my employer ;)
it just could be that nobody is interested in what he has to say?
Bingo!
I read the guy's name, and immediately remembered a picture of him in the 1990's in full troglodyte Virtual Reality garb -- goggles and gloves -- ranting about how VR was to be the future of humanity, and his (presumably now-failed) startup efforts in that direction.
He's lost the ability for his rants to be relevant, until such time as he himself produces a Big Thing, is part of the team that makes the Big Thing, or at least correctly calls a Big Thing before it happens. Till then... sorry Jaron, but tl;dr
And, if the developer subtly fucks up his machine, so that my application doesn't work anymore -- maybe he horked up a service, maybe the new RPM he downloaded has a bug that subtly screws up the networking -- is he going to say, "gee, I have been administering my local box and I must have fucked up Plugh's application so I'll troubleshoot and fix it myself!"
NO
He is going to log a P1 trouble ticket against me and my team, then he's going to send emails to everyone he can, as high up the food chain as he can, complaining about my how my POS application is the reason he can't deliver on time.
A few hours later when I or my team have figured out what he did to subtly shoot himself in the foot, he's not going to send a flood of apologetic emails. It'll go quietly by the wayside, and I an the unsung heroes on my team will continue to be... unsung.