Man there is a lot I could say on this.
I have done a lot of it -- online and in person. There is a ton of it on my one YT channel if you get bored. Evidence of the police harassing me as an informed resident since 2009 and standing up to city hall.
Speeches, protests, standing up to them quite loudly to try and lead and show people they are getting screwed and DOING stuff not just talking ABOUT it.
I have tried to lead by example and once I had learned enough, of what is going on, for me it was time to act and the gov't and police have leaned on me and harassed me ever since I told them I had enough of their garbage and theft of our liberties.
https://www.youtube.com/user/BarryDuttonHomes
Of the activism you've done, what would you say was your biggest victory? I.e. what action brought about the most positive changes and what shape didn't that change take?
I had a reply half typed here and one of the glitches here is if you hit a key ykour draft is not saved and vanishes.
As I said/agreed in a reply to this post -- different forms are required for different things.
If you consider spreading awareness by whatever means, that is a victory.
So to answer you -- it is sort of subjective. I've had mainstream (LOL, we know what kind of bias and lies they tend to support LOL) -- media coverage on several things and that does get the word out. So that is victory when you can raise awareness like that.
I have leaned hard on politicians when warranted with others and backed them off position that were wrong - so that is victory.
Embarrassing the odd politician publicly is victory to let them know the people are watching - since they generally only care about votes and don't want to lose their base of support - so that is victory.
Saving the 2-pad ice rink for the kids when city hall and the region I live in wanted it closed and no rink for miles for those kids was a good victory and combined a lot of the elements above.
There are just a lot of ways you can measure that. And without awareness raised, you can rarely shift public opinion on things. There really is a lot you can say on this topic.
Good question Luke.
I like the sound of that. :)
My hesitancy with playing the game of asking for permission from politicians is it legitimizes their rulership, to some degree. Larken Rose has done quite a few videos and written a lot of commentary on this. I'm not sure it fully applies on the local level, but even then, if funds are being taken involuntarily via taxation, should we get involved in determining how those funds are spent or should we advocate for a voluntary approach to meeting the needs and desires of a community?
When you are addressing the stand alone/ prior existing issues of Voluntaryism or the Freeman on the Land type stuff, that is an issue on its own and the fact is -- 95% of the masses don't get it and the Cognitive Dissonance is strong as is the media towards this.
In my province, (like a state in the US) we have one person overseeing a lot of the Municipal sector for certain things, they are usually a lawyer. They are called an Ombudsman.
Here is our Ombudsman Andre who knows me -- and also knows the issues in my town and has investigated complaints about politicians -- here is the Ombudsman admitting to me that my town's leaders politically are a real problem:
here is me standing my ground with the police after (see the video that precedes this one) -- the gutless mayor of my town called them to city hall after I openly challenged them naming names and policy and files and issues and embarrassed them all on public property after MONTHS of them knowing the corruption many of us pointed out with public boards ----
You don't have to post your whole YouTube channel here. :)
Often those who are the most into activism do it for the attention. They want to matter to the world and be seen and heard (such as using bull horns to shout over others). Maybe they are insecure? I don't know. Their actions seem to support my opinion that's it not so much about effectiveness as it is about "feeling" like we matter and we did something valuable.
I hope you don't take offense at what I'm saying, but I do have a slightly different perspective on this than you do. I'm not an activist in the sense you are, so we're taking different approaches.
For me, it's hard to watch your videos to the end because they are a bit exhausting. To me, they seem to be complaining about the system as if it was a legitimate system which could be improved. It's like playing their game according to their rules and then being surprised at the result. I prefer education and I guess, to the extent theses videos spread education, they are great! :)
Gutless mayor calls the police into city hall AGAIN after I challenge them a few mins earlier on public record wasting our tax dollars and harassing residents OUTSIDE city hall, on public lands -- naming names and file numbers. That video is just before this one.
I stood my ground.
Different forms of change and activism are required at different times. I've got nothing against this form of activism as well.
You are 100% right.