:: Friday, November 17, 2006 ::
Disarming Jack Wakeland
::
Posted by Nicholas Provenzo at 12:08 PM
Yesterday, a reader asked me to make an explicit statement on the position taken below, made by The Intellectual Activist contributor Jack Wakeland at the Forum for Ayn Rand Fans.
The injustices under Kelo and other draconian regulatory orders that dispossess and ruin individuals always wakes the fury in me. When I read about these legalized crimes, I can feel the grip of my AR-15 in the palm of my hand, smell the cleaning solvent (I keep 'em clean), see the front sight settling on the target (some bureaucrat, judge, or neighbor's head) and the cool pressure of the trigger against the center of the last pad of my finger...
It is a good thing that I have never been in the position of victim in one of the state-sponsored crimes. If I were financially ruined and could not get a hearng (sic) and just compensation, I would serious consider becoming a murderer. I would consider it because I know I'd be in the right. Killing a regulator who does not answer to the will of the people is justice.
It is the full measure of the evil of regulation that one could reach such a conclusion in (supposedly) civil society. Regulation is the end of the rule of law, representative government, free speech, and society itself. It is dictatorship and when one cannot remove a dictorship (sic) by peaceful intimidation, one makes war on it. I am unsure if this is a restatement of an earlier position taken by Wakeland many years ago in the pages of Robert Tracinski's "The American Republic" or a fresh recitation of Wakeland’s current convictions. At best, it reflects the deeply disturbed thinking of someone who has given up on persuasion as his primary tool and instead fantasizes about committing homicide. Rage and revenge is no substitute for reason and the principle of individual rights.
Additionally, the statement about "killing a regulator who does not answer to the will of the people" would be outright laughable were it not so frightening. Does Wakeland actually think the myriad of regulators foisted upon us though our government do not reflect the will of the people (and the ideas that animate them)? Does he think that he has the power to kill everybody who disagrees with him? Hell, he's called Objectivists who disagree with his position on George Bush traitors. Does Wakeland now fantasize about killing us too?
If Objectivists are ever going to have their day, it will be the product of years of disciplined and dedicated efforts to persuade the public mind. It will come though the creation of new intellectuals, and not new marksmen. Quite frankly, Objectivists should offer no comfort to people who engage in masturbatory libertarian fantasies of murder when the courts are still open and freedom of speech still exists. Wakeland should either rescind his remarks or cease refering to himself as an Objectivist.
Update: Wakeland has recinded his remarks here.
::
help support this website |
link
|
8 Comments
|
