From: QueeneMUSE@aol.com
Date: Fri May 05 2000 - 10:06:49 MDT
In a message dated 5/5/2000 8:49:03 AM Pacific Daylight Time, lee@piclab.com
writes:
>
> > >I consider it a moral duty to hide from and cheat a tyrannical
> government.
> >
> > I would agree that it would be the right thing to do to try to evade the
> > strictures of a malevolent government (tyrannical or otherwise), but
since
> I
> > do not have that opinion of my government, I am content to cooperate
with
> > it.
>
> If you cooperate with the present US Government to a greater extent than
> to protect your own safety (i.e. paying to taxes to stay out of jail is
> OK, but buying T-Bills is not), you are morally complicit in the
> atrocities committed by that government. One MILLION Americans are
> rotting in prison having harmed no person or property; armed agents of
> the government routinely confiscate billions of dollars worth of property
> without trial or even accusation; thousands of immigrants are collected
> and returned to more oppressive governments; if that's not tyrrany, then
> what is?
Yes, and it is entirely legal and extremely costly to support the laws
against victimless & political crimes. On this one, I have to agree with lee.
It may be that we disagree on WHICH activities our law should and should not
involve itself in (I for one don't think taxation is a crime, yet many of my
friends do, yet I think the things my taxes go for could be amended).
I don't share the viewpoint that we live in a totally harmful nation, we have
many lovely things to be thankful for : )
But to state that you back every single political move as "non-malevolent"
(and we probably have no idea just how corrupt things really are) is an
ostrich-head move if I have ever seen one!
N
(PS: Lee: Notice that ostrich-head is a metaphor for not *wanting* to think
about stuff, which is entirely different from calling an idea itself stupid,
and actually more harmful than sheer ignorance or lack of intelligence).
(PSS: Just because you're not paranoid does not mean they're not after you)
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