The Workermonkey

Monday, October 24, 2005

On The Duty of Civil Disobedience 

# posted by Damon @ 10/24/2005 02:05:00 AM

The government itself, which is only the mode which the people have chosen to execute their will, is equally liable to be abused and perverted before the people can act through it. Witness the present Mexican war, the work of comparatively a few individuals using the standing government as their tool; for in the outset, the people would not have consented to this measure. This American government - what is it but a tradition, though a recent one, endeavoring to transmit itself unimpaired to posterity, but each instant losing some of its integrity? It has not the vitality and force of a single living man; for a single man can bend it to his will. It is a sort of wooden gun to the people themselves. But it is not the less necessary for this; for the people must have some complicated machinery or other, and hear its din, to satisfy that idea of government which they have. Governments show thus how successfully men can be imposed upon, even impose on themselves, for their own advantage. It is excellent, we must all allow. Yet this government never of itself furthered any enterprise, but by the alacrity with which it got out of its way. It does not keep the country free. It does not settle the West. It does not educate. The character inherent in the American people has done all that has been accomplished; and it would have done somewhat more, if the government had not sometimes got in its way.
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How does it become a man to behave toward the American government today? I answer, that he cannot without disgrace be associated with it. I cannot for an instant recognize that political organization as my government which is the slave's government also. All men recognize the right of revolution; that is, the right to refuse allegiance to, and to resist, the government, when its tyranny or its inefficiency are great and unendurable. But almost all say that such is not the case now. But such was the case, they think, in the Revolution of '75. If one were to tell me that this was a bad government because it taxed certain foreign commodities brought to its ports, it is most probable that I should not make an ado about it, for I can do without them. All machines have their friction; and possibly this does enough good to counter-balance the evil. At any rate, it is a great evil to make a stir about it. But when the friction comes to have its machine, and oppression and robbery are organized, I say, let us not have such a machine any longer. In other words, when a....whole country is unjustly overrun and conquered by a foreign army, and subjected to military law, I think that it is not too soon for honest men to rebel and revolutionize. What makes this duty the more urgent is that fact that the country so overrun is not our own, but ours is the invading army.
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They who know of no purer sources of truth, who have traced up its stream no higher, stand, and wisely stand, by the Bible and the Constitution, and drink at it there with reverence and humanity; but they who behold where it comes trickling into this lake or that pool, gird up their loins once more, and continue their pilgrimage toward its fountainhead.

Henry David Thoreau

I have a pdf of this and Walden together if anyone would like to read the whole text.

6 comments

the problem i see with civil disobedience in america is that people would do it for the wrong things (fast food, drug legalization, and the right to be racist).

maybe it's a cynical view of the general public, but hey, they earned it!

ps. this is josh, i just changed my name. dicta is the part of a judicial decision that is irrelevant/off topic, but the judge wants to spout off on it anyway. yes, it's a legal term. get over it.

By  josh, at Monday, October 24, 2005 9:02:00 AM  

I'm sorry, but i just can not read that right now.

By  Brancibeer, at Monday, October 24, 2005 12:21:00 PM  

"who would win in a fight? dicta or a hurricane?", "um, is the hurricane named dicta?"

damon, planning a revolution or something? how about this plan....

http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/commentary/hc-commentaryprobate1023.artoct23,0,7498979.story

if you lazy asses decide to read it, (josh please read it). its about probate courts in CT and how there are too many and raping people with fees.

instead of fighting it, exploit it. lets start a probate court. I'm sure engineers are qualified to sit as judges.

By  ron, at Monday, October 24, 2005 2:52:00 PM  

i agree with ron, we all know the slimmy/evil/corrupt ways things get done in this country, why not use them to our advantage? before you can change the system you must first be part of the system. the above statement makes me look like a republican. of course, when you want to change things for the worse, it's usually easier then trying to fix things.

civil disobience is not a new concept but it's been beaten into us for a long time. plus the government is getting better at crushing it before it gets out of hand. any form of it nowadays comes from corrupt corporations and people with enough money to just buy what they want. its a fucked up system but if thats the game they want to play then BRING IT ON MOTHER FUCKER!!!

By  Supreme Monkey Overlord, at Monday, October 24, 2005 5:00:00 PM  

ron, interesting article. i do have a few comments (of course). but let me qualify my comments by saying that i do not disagree with everything langbein said.

that being said...
1) langbein (the author, for those who havent read the article) is a yale professor. degrees from harvard, columbia, and cambridge. great. but if you look at his work experience he has never actually practiced. he has only taught. while this might seem like a minor thing, years of probate experience would give him far more knowledge about the system than academia ever could. it really does make a big difference. professors who have practiced can teach things on a more practical level, whereas those who never have deal better with the theoretical side of things. that's not to say these are mutually exclusive, but there's a definite tendency.

2) to a certain extent, it's all a matter of timing. do you want fewer probate courts and a longer waiting period, or do you want more and so you get your shit right away? certainly 12 courts, as langbein suggests, is too few. it would be years before people ever saw anything. so maybe a balance is appropriate. arbitrarily i'll throw out 60.

3) on page 1 he complains of the lack of legal training of some of the judges, but then on page 2 he says "fortunately, many of our probate judges are legally trained." that's just confusing.

4) if you talked to a good tax attorney, he/she could tell you it would be wise to domicile yourself in another state, and could help you plan it and find a state suitable to your needs.

good article though. domicile yourself elsewhere.

By  josh, at Monday, October 24, 2005 6:10:00 PM  

Sorry I haven't yet read the article, but I guess it's just one more reason I am domiciled in VT. Josh as witness and executor of my will should know that I am a Vermonter, now not just for cheaper auto insurance and no property tax on that nice car I used to have. I am not sure about income tax, I may be paying more as a VT resident because the standard deduction is so much lower than CT's. Ah where is this going? When I get back I am thinking about Burlington. It's late and I lost two games of poker tonight. My last win was the last free game we played. Oh yeah, and no lines in the VT DMV, they use common sense not nutty "rules," that make you wait in line 3 times.

By  Damon, at Monday, October 24, 2005 7:02:00 PM  

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