Thursday, November 27, 2008

"Declaration of Noncompliance"

My thanks to Clell for bringing this to my attention. I am reminded of the line in Michael Collins, "We have a weapon more powerful than any in British Empire, and that weapon is our refusal." Comments, Irregulars?

Mike
III

http://www.tuccille.com/resist/noncom.htm

Declaration of Noncompliance
We have seen our nation turned from one based in liberty to one based in expediency.


We have seen Constitutional protections for fundamental individual rights eroded by government that is actively hostile to the legacy of individual sovereignty we inherited from the American Revolution, and abandoned by countrymen who have surrendered to fear, laziness, and complacency.


We are entangled in laws that portray natural rights as vices and attack them in the name of false security, and by government that grows like a cancer until it occupies every area of human life.


We find our speech threatened, our communications spied upon, our privacy violated, our finances probed, our bedrooms monitored, our bodies controlled, our businesses regulated, our property stolen, our income taxed into nonexistence, and ourselves disarmed by officials who find comfort in the thought of prostrate subjects.


We have seen people fined, imprisoned, and even murdered by officials for doing no more than acting on their liberty in ways that draw the displeasure of those who treat independence as a threat and the coercive power of the state as a plaything.


To our neighbors who have lost their faith in freedom, we quote Benjamin Franklin: "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." The trade of liberty for promises of security is always a bad one, for it exchanges a priceless necessity for a hollow comfort that can not be guaranteed.


To the politicians and officials who treat our rights as if they were privileges that they might limit or remove at will, we say that we have had enough. You have overstepped your bounds and cut away at that which no government, no legislature, no agency, no referendum, no quorum, no majority, and no power of any sort may trespass against except at its own peril. By your actions, you have deprived the institutions in which you do your worst of their legitimacy.


From this day forward, we vow that we will no longer be bound by statutes, edicts, judicial decisions, or administrative regulations that violate our inalienable rights.


We pledge to practice principled noncompliance with such impermissible restrictions on our liberty, and to encourage others to do the same.


We pledge to monitor the activities of politicians and government bureaucrats who threaten liberty, and to share such information as we gather with others who also value freedom so that those who engage in abuses can not hide behind official anonymity.


We pledge to treat our presence in the jury room as an opportunity to engage in the ancient right of jury nullification, by avowing the innocence of those who have run afoul of one of the multitude of statutes and regulations that infringe liberty, for such people are truly innocent of any real crime.


We pledge to otherwise assist those who have incurred official wrath for doing no more than exercising their rights in ways that are forbidden by the whim of the state.


We further pledge, to the best of our abilities, to obstruct continued intrusions by the state upon our liberty, and to impede the enforcement of such violations of our rights as are already in place.

We make this declaration only after due consideration, and after long and continued provocation.


We do this not to turn our backs on our friends, relatives, and neighbors who have been duped into abandoning liberty, but to defend the rights whose value they have forgotten for them as well as ourselves.

We hope that our example will serve as an inspiration.

7 comments:

chris horton said...

I pledge all this as well. And I will never disarm.

CIII

j said...

A fine, sound and well thought-out statement, echoing the sentiments which resound in all of our hearts and minds. It could be perhaps
paraphrased and summed up in two words: No More! -
which words may, hopefully, remind some of our friends of another phrase ensconced in our memories - "Never again!".
Let us take all of these words to heart, and with them form a reasoned response to whatever circumstances await us.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a good idea to me, but it will take concerted effort and some intestinal fortitude of those willing to sign on.

When one looks closely at the implications of the "declaration", you are pledging "not one step back".

I really think the idea is as good as it's going to get, as I'm weary of this ineffective, frustrating, and generally opposition supporting and incrementalistic 'half-step forward (Heller) - 3 steps back (Let's elect a socialist executive and legislative branch)' approach adopted by an erstwhile free people who've apparently forgotten the most basic lesson of liberty: Reward is proportionate to the risk involved in the endeavor - the greater the risk the greater the reward. One cannot be free without risk, accountability, and responsibility for their own actions, security, welfare, and well-being.

Anonymous said...

Can I get an Amen from the congregation?

Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow ThreePers, and thanks Mike for posting this.

III

Phelps said...

It wasn't Franklin I was thinking of when I read that, but Henry:

"They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable--and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.

"It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace-- but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"

mdparr said...

It is a most difficult decision, as MPA states.

I think the key parts that ring for me are the last bits, esp. "but to defend the rights whose value they have forgotten for them as well as ourselves".

This is similar sounding to "secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our prosperity". It ought to be remembered that the Founders fought, not merely for themselves, but for the good of their countrymen.

Not everybody agreed. Some joined later or not ever.

Related to that, I see alot of discussion about tactics and such, but not much on strategy. What I mean by that is, 'take and hold' has somewhat mixed utility unless a Governor has the integrity to call up the militia in his State to defend against Federal abuses, so really its a 'hearts and minds' problem which may not be best served by tactical formations.

citizenx2 said...

I agree and pledge same. I hope and plan for my grandkids to live in freedom even if I have to sacrifice.