Hey Bro, Well, it's great that you are doing so well and thanks for acknowledging me! I always like the artwork you do and neglected to comment on the Simpson's drawing you did back in March which I just saw again; great:) We are all in the same boat as far as our own ignorance of solutions and being fixated on things which are not survival oriented; and I'm glad that people now have so much more to agree on than negative, non-survival things. I'm glad I can help. Sometimes it is hard to help people and often they get betrayed when they think they are being helped. So, it becomes hard for them to accept help because they become suspect of it. Well, you have shown me that you are eager to receive help as well as to give it; which is much appreciated. It's great that you are writing so much. Forgive me if I don't always keep up. The world is becoming a better place I believe and we have to have a positive outlook. We can change things for the better, but have to first believe that we can and have the knowledge necessary to do so. It is good to see that you have been seeking and using such knowledge. Many people that I meet every day are not even thinking this far. They are busy trying to survive, but not thinking of their fellow man as much as I think would benefit their own survival. We are making a better world. Definitely, behind bars or not; everyone needs it.
Please ignore my question earlier this week about your not posting since March 7th - I've just seen a new post that was dated April 2nd - 'Questions of Morality' - and am reassured you are still writing.
Just to let you know that "Little Buddy" beat 2 co-workers, Phyllis Harris and Janet Thermidor, with a hammer and then burnt them alive. Janet Thermidor identified him and did not die for 12 hours. Seems that one of the witnesses thought their death was cruel and unusual. All for a little over 1000 dollars.
Looks like the Dolly Parton story was a rumour. I found this quote online:
'Judy and I have been best friends since we were like in the third and fourth grade,' she said in the interview.
'We still just have a great friendship and relationship and I love her as much as I love anybody in the whole world, but we're not romantically involved.'
Here are some addresses I found for the Milwaukee, WI, Chamber of Commerce. There seem to be more than one.
Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC) 756 N. Milwaukee St., Suite 400 Milwaukee, WI 53202 p: 414.287.4100 f: 414.271.7753 e: info@mmac.org
West Allis / West Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce 6737 W. Washington St., Ste 2141 West Allis, WI 53214 (414) 302-9901 phone (414) 302-9918 fax
South Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce 2424 15th Avenue; P.O. Box 207 South Milwaukee, WI 53172 414-762-2222, ext. 141 laurac@smaconline.com
"The institution of private property was founded by acts of violence, such as our European forebears expropriating land that belonged to the Native Americans (who usually held land in common), and it continues to be maintained by violence to this day."
Canada was not formed this way. There are treaties with the First Nations back in the 1700's regarding peaceful relations between nations (both English and French), and how land was to be bought and preserved as First Nation land vs. Crown land.
There was much trading between the First Nations peoples and English and French traders as well, which supports the concept of property, even if that concept didn't look exactly European.
I am not an expert, and there were definitely mistakes made along the way, but there is a rich history of British and First Nation treaties that I'm just recently learning about.
For one thing, the First Nations are not conquered peoples. They have their own land, their own government, their own laws, and while their treatment is not stellar in Canadian history, as far as I can tell, the mistakes have been mostly bureaucratical and legal blunders of massive proportions rather than war. And such blunders can be fixed, and the work to fix these issues is continuing today.
It would be a mistake, I think, to consider ancient aboriginal culture and way of life as some utopia where no property, no government, and no laws were needed. Their versions may not have looked exactly like ours, but there were governments, there were laws, in general all men were armed, the death penalty existed, and there were wars between nations.
There's probably a lot we can learn from the First Nations. Their philosophy for dealing with wrongdoers may be significantly more advanced than ours. But to chuck the idea of government and property based on their history is going too far, I think.
I look forward to someday being able to chat more quickly about your views on private property, rather than through the slowness of snail mail. This abolition of private property seems to me to be one of the basic ideas behind anarchism, and I just can't see it, nor get behind it.
Does theft exist, to an anarchist? Is theft not violence? Is it only land that is to be shared communally? What about houses? Is my time not my own? What about my own work? Can I not claim the fruits of my own labour as my own?
If land were communal, and I could chop down the trees I needed to build my own house, and plant my own garden, would I have no claim to the result of my labour? Could another family move into the house I built and crowd me out? Could my neighbours come and harvest my garden in the night and I would have no recourse?
These are the basic questions that always seem to be glossed over in anarchic writings, but without answers to them, anarchy seems like a house of cards to me.
If property exists, then (potentially violent) defense of property must also exist, in order to preserve it. If property does not exist, then I am a slave to the first evildoer who knocks on my door and walks away with years of effort.
I think the concept of property is necessary, in order to demonstrate that theft is wrong. And if theft is wrong, then it is not wrong to punish it justly, and such punishment is necessary until the last thief disappears from the earth. Anarchists cry loudly against the government and the power it uses, but I hear very little cry against theft. Why is this?
RSS
I always like the artwork you do and neglected to comment on the Simpson's drawing you did back in March which I just saw again; great:)
We are all in the same boat as far as our own ignorance of solutions and being fixated on things which are not survival oriented; and I'm glad that people now have so much more to agree on than negative, non-survival things. I'm glad I can help. Sometimes it is hard to help people and often they get betrayed when they think they are being helped. So, it becomes hard for them to accept help because they become suspect of it. Well, you have shown me that you are eager to receive help as well as to give it; which is much appreciated.
It's great that you are writing so much. Forgive me if I don't always keep up.
The world is becoming a better place I believe and we have to have a positive outlook. We can change things for the better, but have to first believe that we can and have the knowledge necessary to do so. It is good to see that you have been seeking and using such knowledge. Many people that I meet every day are not even thinking this far. They are busy trying to survive, but not thinking of their fellow man as much as I think would benefit their own survival. We are making a better world. Definitely, behind bars or not; everyone needs it.
All my best,
Pal
This one has the wonderful feel of an old English nursery rhyme--something that should come somewhat naturally for you! :-)
Meribeth
Please ignore my question earlier this week about your not posting since March 7th - I've just seen a new post that was dated April 2nd - 'Questions of Morality' - and am reassured you are still writing.
I hope you get some kind of answers really soon.
With kind regards
Lavender
Looks like the Dolly Parton story was a rumour. I found this quote online:
'Judy and I have been best friends since we were like in the third and fourth grade,' she said in the interview.
'We still just have a great friendship and relationship and I love her as much as I love anybody in the whole world, but we're not romantically involved.'
- Chris
Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC)
756 N. Milwaukee St., Suite 400
Milwaukee, WI 53202
p: 414.287.4100
f: 414.271.7753
e: info@mmac.org
West Allis / West Milwaukee
Chamber of Commerce
6737 W. Washington St., Ste 2141
West Allis, WI 53214
(414) 302-9901 phone
(414) 302-9918 fax
South Milwaukee Chamber of Commerce
2424 15th Avenue; P.O. Box 207
South Milwaukee, WI 53172
414-762-2222, ext. 141
laurac@smaconline.com
http://www.ajic.mb.ca/volumel/chapter2.html
Perhaps I can mail this to you in the next letter.
- Chris
You wrote:
"The institution of private property was founded by acts of violence, such as our European forebears expropriating land that belonged to the Native Americans (who usually held land in common), and it continues to be maintained by violence to this day."
Canada was not formed this way. There are treaties with the First Nations back in the 1700's regarding peaceful relations between nations (both English and French), and how land was to be bought and preserved as First Nation land vs. Crown land.
There was much trading between the First Nations peoples and English and French traders as well, which supports the concept of property, even if that concept didn't look exactly European.
I am not an expert, and there were definitely mistakes made along the way, but there is a rich history of British and First Nation treaties that I'm just recently learning about.
For one thing, the First Nations are not conquered peoples. They have their own land, their own government, their own laws, and while their treatment is not stellar in Canadian history, as far as I can tell, the mistakes have been mostly bureaucratical and legal blunders of massive proportions rather than war. And such blunders can be fixed, and the work to fix these issues is continuing today.
It would be a mistake, I think, to consider ancient aboriginal culture and way of life as some utopia where no property, no government, and no laws were needed. Their versions may not have looked exactly like ours, but there were governments, there were laws, in general all men were armed, the death penalty existed, and there were wars between nations.
There's probably a lot we can learn from the First Nations. Their philosophy for dealing with wrongdoers may be significantly more advanced than ours. But to chuck the idea of government and property based on their history is going too far, I think.
- Chris
I look forward to someday being able to chat more quickly about your views on private property, rather than through the slowness of snail mail. This abolition of private property seems to me to be one of the basic ideas behind anarchism, and I just can't see it, nor get behind it.
Does theft exist, to an anarchist? Is theft not violence? Is it only land that is to be shared communally? What about houses? Is my time not my own? What about my own work? Can I not claim the fruits of my own labour as my own?
If land were communal, and I could chop down the trees I needed to build my own house, and plant my own garden, would I have no claim to the result of my labour? Could another family move into the house I built and crowd me out? Could my neighbours come and harvest my garden in the night and I would have no recourse?
These are the basic questions that always seem to be glossed over in anarchic writings, but without answers to them, anarchy seems like a house of cards to me.
If property exists, then (potentially violent) defense of property must also exist, in order to preserve it. If property does not exist, then I am a slave to the first evildoer who knocks on my door and walks away with years of effort.
I think the concept of property is necessary, in order to demonstrate that theft is wrong. And if theft is wrong, then it is not wrong to punish it justly, and such punishment is necessary until the last thief disappears from the earth. Anarchists cry loudly against the government and the power it uses, but I hear very little cry against theft. Why is this?
- Chris
Huron
Ontario
Michigan
Erie
Superior
- Chris