It may not seem like it yet, but spring is almost here and it will soon be time for gardeners to begin planting.  Most people know that gardening can be a rewarding and fruitful [zing] hobby but they may not know that gardening can help forward the ideals of liberty and freedom.  Here are some reasons a liberty lover may want to start a garden.

Reaping the benefits of land is at the heart of all intellectual thought concerning property.

If you want to understand why property is and was such a big issue, you need to work the land.  Farming highlights the link between being able to work the land and having enough to eat.  For many centuries denying someone the right to cultivate was tantamount to denying them the right to survive.  Taxing people for owning land is effectively the same thing as charging them rent.  Without true land ownership people are separated from the method of subsistence that has served them for thousands of years.

Gardens encourage mutual aid and increase wealth.

Gardening lends itself to surpluses at harvest time and a greater demand for labor during planting and harvest time.  This is true at any scale.  Even if you start a small garden, you’ll likely have more vegetables than you can use.  This excess wealth does not lend itself well to hoarding without significant preservation effort.  Working with your neighbors to allocate these newly created resources can be very empowering.  It demonstrates how people-scale interactions can work in the absence of coercion.  This can be anything from leaving a bag of veggies on your neighbors door step, to organizing a community garden and giving the proceeds to a local food bank.

Gardening takes money away from heavily subsidized agri-business.

The majority of government farm funding goes to large corporations that churn out a mediocre, chemical-laden product.  These corporations are usually too large to rapidly adapt to changes in technology or meet local demands.  Even to divert a minor amount of money from these state profiteers would be a victory.

The study of agriculture continues to advance and it is a field which is critical to human existence.

It’s amazing that something as old as farming continues to have technological breakthroughs.  New types of plants and cultivation techniques are created every year.  These advances help address our critical need for quality food.  By starting a garden your understanding of this field will grow.  A greater interest in gardening as a society will also inspire the young minds that will create the agricultural technology of the future.

So don’t miss out on the upcoming growing season.  Start planning your garden and plant in early spring.  You’ll be surprised how much fun you can have and how much you can learn about libertarian ideals.

From an email received around noon, 2010-01-15:

Hi Tyranny Fighters:

I received 4 summons from the District Magistrate of the U. S. District Court in Manhattan. These were 3 citations and one misdemeanor criminal charge that I received while distributing FIJA literature in front of the courthouse. The fine for each of the citations was $100.00, which I could pay by mail or appear in court on January 19, 2010. I was ordered to appear on January 19, 2010 in court for the misdemeanor charge of forcibly resisting arrest.

I notified the magistrate by mail that I would not pay the fines nor appear in court. Four reasons were given in my letter. The complete letter is posted at:

http://www.personal.psu.edu/jph13/…

From the above you can see that I have resuscitated my web page, which has been idle for over seven years. I completely forgot how to use the web. I have spent 5 full days relearning how to do this. Much more material will be appearing there in the near future concerning the court cases. If any of you have freedom pages on your websites, let me know. I would be interested in looking at them and linking any appropriate sites.

I am adding a section to my periodic E-mails to inform you of freedom activities of other tyranny fighters. If their activities are of interest to you, please contact them. Their E-mail addresses will be in my E-mail open addresses at the top of my E-mails. There are at least 3 people who would be delighted to hear from you. They are listed below. If you would like to be added to the list, let me know in what activities you are involved.

Contacts

Iloilo Jones is Executive Director of the Fully Informed Jury Association (FIJA). You can purchase jury information and pamphlets from her. I encourage you to do so and distribute them at courthouses on jury selection days. The FIJA website is www.fija.org.

Mike Benoit is a libertarian activist in the San Diego, CA area. He founded and operates the Freedom Library. He runs a radio program called Tyranny Busters on Liberty Works Radio Network, Monday thru Friday 7 to 8 pm PT www.lwrn.net, www.blogtalkradio.com Call in number 646 721 9122. Recently he has written a book entitled “Sham and Shame of the Federal Income Tax,” which can be purchased for five dollars by contacting Mike directly. He is very knowledgeable about income tax law.

Garry Reed writes regularly for the Libertarian News Examiner. He is eager to get news about liberty issues that he can publicize. He has been great in publicizing my activities.

I am sure that there are others of you who should be on the list. Let me know.

Warning: You should know that the Federal Protective Service, and possibly the FBI, is intercepting my E-mails. Be prudent in what you write to me.

THE PRICE OF FREEDOM IS ETERNAL VIGILANCE

THE PRICE OF JUSTICE IS ETERNAL PUBLICITY

In related news the NYCLU is representing me next Tuesday with regard to my November 9th, 2009 arrest for filming on federal property.

In my inbox today:

Dear ACLU Supporter,
Negotiations on the final health care bill pick up speed this week. As you may know, anti-choice forces in Congress have used this legislation as a vehicle for advancing their agenda.

We must make sure that the final bill will protect reproductive freedom, not put it in peril.

Tell Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg and Sen. Robert ‘Bob’ Menendez and Rep. Steven ‘Steve’ R. Rothman to protect women’s access to abortion in health care reform.

Health care reform should improve people’s lives. That’s why we have to make the most of our last opportunity to insist that health care reform should improve women’s health and lives — not interfere in their ability to get the health care they need.

Representative Bart Stupak and other architects of the severe restrictions on women’s health in both the House and Senate bills are campaigning hard, threatening to derail health care legislation altogether if anyone tampers with the severe restrictions they forced into both bills. Even our allies in Congress are feeling pressure. That’s why it’s so urgent that you take action today.

Both bills stigmatize abortion coverage and ignore the reality that abortion services are basic health care for women.

Tell your members of Congress that Stupak-style restrictions must not be part of any final legislation that goes to President Obama’s desk.

Anti-choice forces are working round-the-clock to keep severe abortion restrictions in the health care bill. We have to work just as hard to get those restrictions out.

Negotiations on a final bill are happening now.

Please act immediately to insist on health reforms that will protect reproductive freedom, not put it in peril.

Thank you for standing with us.

Sincerely,

Vania Leveille
ACLU Legislative Counsel

1. Women’s “reproductive freedom” is not in peril as a result of the upcoming bill.
2. I seriously doubt the bill will “interfere in their [the women] ability to get health care they need.” It will likely require them to pay for it explicitly.
3. Health care reform should improve people’s lives. I find it sad the ACLU is incapiple of recognizing that this or any similiar bill will do nothing of the sort. The health care problem stems from government intervention. Continuing the fascistic takeover of health care by corporations and the government is not the right solution. Reversing those interventions which create the problems are.
4. Abortion services are in no way a “basic health care” for women. According to a quick Google search there are 4.0945 abortions per 1,000 people in the United states. Of those 1,000, 508 are women (50.8% of population). Therefore, assuming no woman has more then one abortion, 4.0945/508 = .00806 or .8% of women “require” abortion services.

I appreciate some of the actions taken by the ACLU, including the NYCLU helping me with my arrest and upcoming court date, but things like this are completely contrary to any form of liberty I’m a subscriber of. The government has no role, morally or constitutionally,  in health care or insurance.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/supreme-court-hands-victory-to-media/article1408613/

The Supreme Court of Canada transformed the country’s libel laws Tuesday with a pair of decisions that proponents say will expand the boundaries of free speech.

The court ruled that libel lawsuits will rarely succeed against journalists who act responsibly in reporting their stories when those stories are in the public interest.

It also updated the laws for the Internet age, extending the same defence to bloggers and other new-media practitioners.

Ideally there would be no laws regarding libel but this is better than nothing.

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http://www.sons-of-liberty.net/

Hi Freedom Fighters

I will NOT be at the District Courthouse on Monday, since I am leaving town for three weeks on December 2. You will not be receiving any e-mails from me for the next month.

I have completed the first draft of the civil complaint and sent it to our judicial advocate for comments and corrections. From it he will prepare the criminal complaint.

Both complaints will be submitted on or about February 1, 2010.

I am suing the Department of Homeland Security, the New York City Fire Department, Saint Vincent Hospital, Bellevue Medical Center, the New York Downtown Hospital, and many of their employees for kidnapping, larceny, extortion, assault, perjury, coercion, unlawful imprisonment in the first degree, robbery in the third degree, official misconduct, and violation of my civil rights under U. S. Constitution Amendments I, IV, V, and XIV.

Your job is publicity, publicity, publicity. Also, I am hopeful that each of you can recruit 1, 2, or more freedom fighters for my Freedom Fighters list. We need to build our numbers so that we can swing into

larger actions. Currently there are 6 Freedom Fighters on the open list and 94 on the closed list. This brings us to 101 (including me) members, which in my mind makes us officially a movement. We are now ready to move into some stepped up activities, which I have planned after the civil and criminal complaints are filed.

However to move into major action, we need an army of 1000 freedom fighters. I am counting on you to provide that army.

Seasons greeting to:

Christians: Merry Christmas
Jews: Happy Chanukah
African Americans: Fulfilling Kwanzaa
Atheists: Thank you for doing God’s work

THE PRICE OF LIBERTY IS ETERNAL VIGILANCE

THE PRICE OF JUSTICE IS ETERNAL PUBLICITY

Yours in freedom—Julian