I'll probably take some heat from the holier than thou anarchists (I'm just a regular garden variety anarchist), but here it goes.
In a free society, there should be no public, i.e. government property. But right now, there is. And its use must be sorted out. It is within these parameters that I am going to ask my question and give my comments. Let's say there is a public park, public square or even a public sidewalk in some town. If a bunch of people decide to stage a protest and block the use of the public property by the rest of the public, what should be done? Do the protesters, for example, have the right to block the use of a swingset by a mother and her child? Now, let's look at the pepper spray incident which I believe happened at UC Davis. The students were obviously blocking the sidewalk and were refusing to leave. I don't think they should have been pepper sprayed. They probably didn't need to be physically removed because any other person or student could have walked around them. But what if they were blocking the entrance to an academic building that another non-protesting student wanted to enter. Would the police be justified in dispersing the protesters or removing them physically? What if the protesters resisted their removal? Contrast this to many protests I have seen take place on sidewalks where the crowd is spread out and not interfering with anyone else's use of the sidewalk.
These are important questions that libertarians need to answer.
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Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it
Learned Hand
In the past men created witches: now they create mental patients.
Thomas Szasz
Relinquish liberty for the purposes of defense in an emergency?
Why? It would seem that in an emergency, of all times, one needs
his greatest strength. So if liberty is strength and slavery is weakness,
liberty is a necessity rather than a luxury, and we can ill afford
to be without it—least of all during an emergency.
I'll probably take some heat from the holier than thou anarchists (I'm just a regular garden variety anarchist), but here it goes.
In a free society, there should be no public, i.e. government property. But right now, there is. And its use must be sorted out. It is within these parameters that I am going to ask my question and give my comments. Let's say there is a public park, public square or even a public sidewalk in some town. If a bunch of people decide to stage a protest and block the use of the public property by the rest of the public, what should be done? Do the protesters, for example, have the right to block the use of a swingset by a mother and her child? Now, let's look at the pepper spray incident which I believe happened at UC Davis. The students were obviously blocking the sidewalk and were refusing to leave. I don't think they should have been pepper sprayed. They probably didn't need to be physically removed because any other person or student could have walked around them. But what if they were blocking the entrance to an academic building that another non-protesting student wanted to enter. Would the police be justified in dispersing the protesters or removing them physically? What if the protesters resisted their removal? Contrast this to many protests I have seen take place on sidewalks where the crowd is spread out and not interfering with anyone else's use of the sidewalk.
These are important questions that libertarians need to answer.
Liberty lies in the hearts of men and women; when it dies there, no constitution, no law, no court can save it
Learned Hand
In the past men created witches: now they create mental patients.
Thomas Szasz
Relinquish liberty for the purposes of defense in an emergency?
Why? It would seem that in an emergency, of all times, one needs
his greatest strength. So if liberty is strength and slavery is weakness,
liberty is a necessity rather than a luxury, and we can ill afford
to be without it—least of all during an emergency.
F.A. Harper