Sorry to keep this one going (if anyone is tired of it by now).  I agree
that this "important" letter from Ron Paul has a lot of good AND bad
elements.  Sure, we'd all like to see an end to taxation (which, by the
way, IS illegal- and not from an anarchist point of view.  There is no
REAL tax LAW in the United States.  Supreme court decisions have
consistently been that the Federal Government has no inherent right to
tax in the way it does.  According to many court cases, the income tax
system is optional... but that is another letter.)

        I was troubled by this person's references to the afflicted in our
country as the "poor" (with use of quotations).  The fact that we pay
these congressman over 160 THOUSAND dollars a year is a part (although
small) of the problem that keeps money away from those who truly need
it.

        However, I would not be so quick to shun a person because he is a
'politician'.  We've seen the degredation of certain political
terminology in these last few decades (cite Chomsky on "War is Peace,
Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength" in WHAT UNCLE SAM REALLY
WANTS).  The next victim, I'm sure, will be the word "politics".  This
last election (US), we saw many Democrats criticize the new congress for
"playing politics".  Isn't that what POLITICianS do?  Also, I have often
supported the idea of actually electing someone into congress that could
be influential.  Remember that congress has been SOME help (admitadly
little) with East Timor and some other events.  Now I know that
"anarchists" do not support representative democracy, choosing to favor
Direct democracy.  I am in full agreement here, but I would like to
stress that while peacefully resisting governmental actions, protesting,
and educating and organizing the public, it would not hurt to have a
couple people on our side on the 'inside'.
        There is an environmental group in the US called "Earth First".  While
living in California, I got to be involved with both sides of some very
poignant issues reguarding deforestation.  The president of Earth First,
in a Speech at HSU, told members to "become viruses within the
institutions".  Chaining yourself to trees (and other forms of protest)
are good to bring public attention to the public, but we all
(anarchists, socialists, and the left in general) need to be sure we
have supporters WITHIN the very institutions we seek to destroy.  Media
may be a major hurdle, but let's not discourage persons with our
convicions from becoming journalists, where they may be able to give us
some good press.  Many of us (followers of Chomsky) have an animate
dislike for Television, but know we can do some good by PAYING FOR
"non-commercials" that raise public awareness (see
http://www.adbusters.com).  And while in general, congress is not doing
anything to help us, it should be made clear that congress (more
specifically the House) is filled with men who are honestly doing what
they think is best for the country.  I have had the pleasure to know a
few, and in general they are good men with morals and standards to
uphold.  Simply educating a few of these men (helping them open their
eyes to the consequences of their own actions) should not inspire them
to leave, but to work even harder to bring forth change.
        Like many people, I have had a difficult time defaming the police,
judges, politicians, reporters, and the lot because I happen to know
some of them, and know that they are doing what they feel is right.  The
2 police officers I know are not responsible for beating minorities, but
1 is an officer (LT.) who may be able to implement harsher penalties for
police beatings.  Let's remember that many members of "the elite" are
not even AWARE that they ARE members.  Chomsky has said that many
high-ranking journalists feel they are acting freely because they have
internalized the values, thereby siding with the Elite on most issues.

        As with most of these issues, the key is education.  (I remember in my
youth as a fan of Rush Limbaugh, how he criticized 'education' as the
answer to problems.  I know better now.)  Raising public awareness is
needed before we have any hope of public outcry.  We can do this through
Television, anarcho-friendly journalists, congressman, and anyone who
has the power to 'break through' to bring our point of view across.  As
I said, many of these men are good men who are only doing what they feel
is right... but what if we could show them the error of their ways?  We
will have created a 'virus' within the system, as Chomsky said, the
media is full of internal contradictions.  If we could turn enough
people to our side, we could crush the empire from the inside out.

        Now, don't send me flames about this, issue before you read this
paragraph...  I am not willing to stand by and HOPE that the system will
crumble.  Public outcry (no matter how small) is absolutely necessary.
We need ordinary people working from the outside much more than we need
followers on the inside.  There should be more groups trying to buy time
on television to promote our causes.  We should have more groups with
members CONTINUALLY writing editorials to their newspapers.  What we
need is CONSTANT pressure from the outside.  There are too many of us
who subscribe to anarchist mail-lists, read Z magazine, and then decide
our work is done.  It's not enough to sympathize... action must be
taken, but it must be (as Chomsky states over and over) organized and
constant.

        I'm not preaching to anyone... I am as guilty as everyone else.


        It's not important to argue over whether the Fed is illegal, or over
the percentage of taxes, or CFR, or other trivial ideas.  We are not in
any place to crush the Federal Reserve, so let's save debate until we
ARE.  Basically, I am saying that we should take these things one step
at a time.  These side issues deter us from our main course... instead
of carrying out a research project or calling a meeting, we argue over
whether or not this guy 'really means it'.  I'm not flaming anyone, or
putting you down.  After all, this IS a DISCUSSION group, and what you
are doing IS discussing.  But let's do more to ORGANIZE, then to argue.

        By the way, I am in Nebraska, US.  If there are any Nebraskans reading
this, please email me, so WE can organize.  The left is too marginalized
to be effective.


        Thank you for hearing me out.

        Keep up the good discussion, everyone, and have a great new year.

-Joshua Harper
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Thanks!

        -j.