Essential reading

[flexibeast]

Some essential reading - particularly for those who regard legislative change as the primary vehicle for social change:

• "Say what you think. The importance of giving offence", by Muslim writer Kenan Malik;


• "The 7 Never-to-be-Forgotten Principles of Government", by Harry Browne.

 

Comments

[foibey.livejournal.com]

Only if you believe what the government have to say. Although police surveillance of the few anarchist groups I've been a member of was a bit harsh, we never actually smashed any windows or blew anything up. Maybe that was where we went wrong. Apparently the mere idea that we were against the state and hierarchical authority was dangerous enough that we had to be watched all the time. Either that or (more likely in my opinion) the surveillance pigs and FIT squads had to justify their budget for the times they weren't following around and harrassing firms of organised criminal football fans so they kept an eye on us in their spare time. They do it to non-scary animal rights and environmental groups too. It's all a bit daft.

[flexibeast.livejournal.com]

Heh, no, my last comment was definitely tongue-in-cheek - due to many years of intense social activism, i'm much more familiar with left politics, and the various strands thereof, than most people (e.g. i'm aware that yelling "Kronstadt!" in a room full of lefties will probably create some, er, interesting discussions :-) ). Last time i checked the Political Compass (http://www.politicalcompass.org/), i came out as a far-left libertarian (Economic Left/Right: -9.38, Libertarian/Authoritarian: -8.36).

So yes, i've been following the decidedly anti- democratic behaviour of the governments of Australia, the UK, and the US (amongst others) towards residents of their respective countries - it's not only daft, but outrageous as well. :-|