PDA

View Full Version : Oregon, Black Lives Matter, and the OG George W. Bush




jasongpeirce
01-15-2016, 07:52 AM
Oregon, Black Lives Matter, and the OG George W. Bush Updated: January 14, 2016 (http://www.voicesofliberty.com/article/oregon-black-lives-matter-og-george-w-bush/)

“Racial hatred is not a natural phenomenon innate in man. It is the product of ideologies.” – Ludwig von Mises (https://mises.org/library/human-action-0/html/pp/709) January 14, 2016—One of the more disturbing elements of the Oregon standoff – and alarming for those concerned with liberty — has been the degree of vitriol hurled at the Bundy family (and other pro-Hammond family protesters) from the left and right establishment and groups such as Black Lives Matter (BLM, not to be confused here with the Bureau of Land Management).


Yes, the style and tactics of the Bundys, like BLM, are often off-putting and arguably just plain stupid. But you’d think that many of the Bundy haters, especially those professing to be concerned with the government’s assault on liberty and basic common sense, could see that at the core this standoff is a protest against government over-reach. More specifically in the Oregon case, it’s about the oppressive absurdity of mandatory sentencing laws. In light of the full facts of the case against the Hammonds, does the punishment fit the crime?


The general point is that groups like Bundy and BLM share common ground. They’re both protesting government aggression. Yet there’s calls from BLM supporters in the news and on social media to see the Bundys and their fellow “terrorists” and “gangsters” shot or drone-bombed into oblivion post-haste. Beyond the oft-repeated point that if the Oregon protesters were black they would have already been murdered by the government, what gives?


The Oregon standoff should be a teachable, unifying moment for all of those opposed to government aggression. Not just for the various protest groups to sensibly refine and refocus their tactics, but also to identify government as the problem, rather than each other. Really, all Americans would be well-served to remember Dr. Murray Rothbard’s definition of government:

“I define government as an institution which acquires its revenue by theft — by coercion. The only institution in society (that does so) besides the Mafia.”

Read the rest here: http://www.voicesofliberty.com/article/oregon-black-lives-matter-og-george-w-bush/