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Tue 9 Jan, 2007 11:52 pm
here's a little thing I typed up partially inspired by Henry George and Tolstoy. I would love to get any feedback if anyone wishes to comment.
The Morality of Going to Jail
"The equal right of all men to the use of land is as clear as their equal right to breathe the air-it is a right proclaimed by the fact of their existence. For we cannot suppose that some men have a right to be in this world and others no right." -Henry George
"Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a
just man is also a prison." --Thoreau
One reason why going to jail seems to be the most honorable and reasonable course of action is the issue of land injustice. This reason naturally presented itself to me since it concerns my, and every individual's, life and subsistence in this world. And wishing to get my living in a simple, respectable way, such as farming, I was surprised to find how complex this matter really is and how obvious (yet often ignored) the injustice around it is. As Henry George says: "How can a man be said to have a country where he has no right to a square inch of soil; where he has nothing but his hands, and, urged by starvation, must bid against his fellows for the privilege of using them?" Especially the part "...must bid against his fellows...", this is something which I cannot in good conscience do since obviously my gain will be someone else's loss. This puts each of us in a bind where we feel like we either have to go along with this corruption and compete against each other, or die. The root cause of poverty and economic injustice (which is responsible for the majority of social ills) revolves around this issue of the land not being fairly handled. Strange that this problem has gone on for so long that it no longer seems a problem or an injustice to many, but seems quite natural and seems to be the way things have to be. They will say at most "I see the injustice, but reform in this area is hopelessly impractical". I agree that this problem has been neglected for so long that nobody thinks about it anymore, but this does not change the injustice of it, and this ignoring of the problem and fighting more easily won battles for social justice, could be seen as treating the symptoms of a disease without treating the cause. And wouldn't the only truly practical course of action be to treat the cause first. However it will be justly argued that the cause of this injustice is even deeper than this, and lies in the lack of a moral/religious sentiment among the general population. And how better to speak to this than with both actions and words? And since I am only responsible for my actions and beliefs, I cannot ignore this land issue as it presents itself to me. And so going to jail seems like the most powerful way to place my whole weight against this problem, and the only way to legitimately stand aloof from contributing in the corruption. It would say to our government, "There is no place for simple people, who want to get their living in a simple, natural way, because this option has been taken away from them, and not because it was necessary, but because of laws that support inequality and exploitation." I have no delusions about this problem being fixed within any certain time frame, as effort and inspiration will no doubt be the rate limiting factors, nor can I know for certain whether I can change anyone's mind about it, as open-mindedness is the main factor, but is it not our duty to try? I will ask, what else are we to do, ignore it?
Other issues worthy of extreme action include general prison injustice and war. In this country, the government and the general consensus of the public believe in returning evil for evil, in punishment. I unfortunately used to hold this same belief, but have now come to regard it as not only immoral but also irrational. I have come to the decision that the truly reasonable way of dealing with evil in the world is with love, as I contend that evil cannot be driven out by evil, and that violence ultimately only begets more violence. I am not alone in these beliefs as they could even be deemed common sense, but in their practical application there seems to not be much interest, or at least a great deal of confusion. When our brothers and sisters are treated like caged animals and are punished for the crimes they commit, we teach them violence. Violence and punishment are incompatible with moral regeneration (which should be our aim for everyone). Taking a stand against this injustice and doing something about it, rather than simply saying something, seems like the most honorable thing to do. Indeed if we all said to this system, "If you are going to treat others with such hostility, then you can do the same to me, an otherwise law abiding citizen." This brutality would stop or at least lessen. With regard to war, I would rather be openly against a government which is sending our brothers and sisters to kill and be killed in the ongoing war. And since only actions can speak to institutions effectively, my dissent would most strongly be expressed by going to jail. If they say that our "freedom" comes from these wars, then my belief is that they can have our "freedom", our mental freedom and dignity are worth more.
Several possible objections and their answers:
Doing this would be wasting your life.
In fact doing anything else would be wasting my life. If I care about living honestly, and not conveniently ignoring this injustice after my attention has already been brought to the matter, it would seem cowardly not to act accordingly.
I know you are trying not to be a burden on others, but going to jail you will be a burden on society.
This would be true, if I wanted their support (via taxes). I do not want others to burden themselves with paying for me to do anything, I would like them to do the same thing I would be doing, and also not cooperate with an unjust government. Just because they choose to pay their taxes (the biggest part of which goes to fund war), does not mean that I want them to. I believe that everyone would be better off if they didn't. I have no problem with taxes that may be used to benefit society, but we have a responsibility to make sure we are not funding injustice in the process.
Why don't you move away to somewhere where you wouldn't have to "bid" against anyone and work on a farm or doing something that needed workers?
To do this I would have to ignore this injustice and implicitly comply with the injustice by going off to be nothing less than an indentured servant to whoever "owned" the land. It would be his or her favor to me to let me work on his or her land and why would I set up any kind of living arrangement, (say build a house), when I could be ordered off the land at any time? You are essentially a slave to whoever's land you are on, no matter how well they treat you, and if they wanted to they could cut off your sustenance, and would feel that they had the right to do so under our current land laws. Also I was born here, so I do feel a responsibility to the land where I was born not to abandon it and let the corruption grow worse. Running away and doing nothing about this problem would again be cowardly.
What are you suggesting instead of the current land laws and their injustice?
There have been several more fair solutions brought up for the people who like legislation. However I'm not very interested in solving problems through legislation, since I believe that when people are good enough to change the laws they will be good enough to abide by them on their own. As they say, "good people don't need laws and bad people don't obey them". I realize this is an oversimplification, since most people simply follow laws assuming they are just, but this is besides the point. I only know for certain that I should be guided by my conscience and if I will share the land with others and work in a cooperative way, then I know there are others who will too, but this can't be done until land injustice is corrected and this comes from public awareness and consensus. Again I don't expect this to happen within any given time frame, but this doesn't change my duty regarding being part of the solution rather than part of the problem, so as to speed up this progress anyway I can.
Why don't you wait for the majority of people to go along with these ideas? Vote for a good candidate in the next election, take this route rather than the impossible one.
First of all, how is the majority to even become aware of this injustice, if people aren't willing to self-sacrifice a little for it? Think of all the people who had to self-sacrifice before slavery was finally abolished. Think of how many people had to be jailed before that injustice was rectified. Regarding voting for the "good" candidate, Ammon Hennacy says it best "A good man is worse than a bad man for he finds a good reason for doing a bad thing that a bad man couldn't figure out, so he lends his goodness to evil. The devil doesn't have horns, he has a halo as big as a hoop....A good man cannot get any legislation passed or enforced unless he plays ball with the bad men who have a head start on him and surround him". Also this is not touching the source of the problem, because our political leaders are only representatives of the aggregate moral sentiment of the people, and so the people must change first before we can expect their representatives to change. I would encourage everyone not to vote for the lesser of two evils, but to stand up for justice.
@Mark W phil,
That would take immense courage, to do something like that for a cause, but I can't imagine that you would do a whole lot by going to jail for something like this. You can actively campaign and get the word out through flyers, brochures, and such. Make up nifty slogans and campaign strategies. And besides that, use all your internet alibis to advertise this abomination in the system.
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