Nexus - 1106 - New Times Magazine-pages

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National Convention in Boston into an area enclosed by netting, be a harrowing experience for him. She maintains an articulate chain link fence and barbed wire. Many demonstrators said the legal argument based on her deeply held belief that she is entitled area looked like a concentration camp. There were 5,000 police, to exercise her primary rights and is unwilling to acquiesce to army reservists and feds prowling the vicinity and helicopters cir- injustice. cling overhead. By all accounts, the city of Boston was making its début as a police state. Many demonstrators acquiesced to An inalienable human right is a right that is with you at all being herded into the barbed wire enclosure and vocally com- times; it is a part of you and cannot be separated from you. plained about it afterwards. However, a large number of demon- It is a right that cannot be granted to you by man or strators refused to enter the area which the authorities had ironi- governments. Inalienable rights are intrinsic to our cally called the "free speech zone".” They powerfully exercised existence. Inalienable rights are bestowed by the creator of their simple common law right to withhold consent to an injustice. creation, and cannot be granted by an earthly authority. The importance of that event eclipsed the other events of the day. They who seek permission from a court to live an inalienable Routine law enforcement has also taken a more sinister turn. A human right are seeking permission from persons who are middle-aged Fijian couple* from Sydney's inner west were driving pretending to have the authority over that right. their van to a business meeting early in 2004. The police stopped — Malcolm McClure the van and issued a minor traffic infringement to the husband, who was Creating Free People Zones driving. Moments after the woman took the By all accounts, there is a staggering wheel, the police stopped them again for the growth in social justice movements which same infringement. "There is rising anew are starting to change the current trend of The woman explained that the infringe- . corporatisation, political oppression and cor- ment had already been issued once and that, movement in the world. ruption. Increasingly, institutions and corpo- in any case, they intended to go to court to It is bigger than the rations are being held to account. argue the matter. (This kind of police movement of the 1960s. Malcolm McClure's UPMART movement harassment where persons are stopped ran is currently assisting health care consumers repeatedly for the same matter is known as Yet it is barely seen by the to require doctors to provide accurate infor- "hunting".) A short but polite discussion experts and analysts. mation about vaccination and other proce- ensted, during which time police cal led for They look only at the dures or be Hable for damages. het had surrounded the couple's van, with =| behavior of institutions © on behalf of vaccine-damaged children 15 officers attending for a minor and politicians, not at children unlawfully taken from their offence. A few minutes later, an offi- the underlying forces parents, consumers who demand their cer smashed the van's semi-open win- that eventually burst right to natural treatments, and practi- into visibility." dow and two police officers pulled the tioners who have been harassed by the woman from the van. The beefy young health authorities. officers descended on her until she fell One UPMART class action, UCAR, to the ground. She was left on the sets out to ensure the rights of persons roadside with a fractured shoulder and to be represented by the person of their bleeding from glass cuts. Two eyewit- choice—a move intended to make legal nesses corroborated the event. The representation fair and affordable. ** husband and wife are now taking the Meanwhile, alternative co-operatives first steps toward legal action against are emerging, as well as alternative the police involved. motor vehicle registration, banking and A feisty, middle-aged Melbourne insurance facilities. There has been an woman” was stopped in 2003 by a police officer and booked for _ increase in the number of self-sufficient communities that rely on an alleged minor traffic violation. She told him she was quite pre- their own resources and legal instruments. It appears that these pared to argue the matter of the infringement in court, but took are ideas whose time has come. Malcolm McClure has been exception to what she regarded as the officer's acting beyond the asked to bring his common law tools to other countries including powers of his jurisdiction. The officer seemed incensed that she the USA, New Zealand and Thailand. — Tom Hayden, "Evidence of Things Unseen: The Rise of a New Movement", ZNet, October 23, 2003 had not been intimidated by his display of power. This led to a With the help of a compliant mainstream media, governments hunting campaign against the woman, involving at least 17 sepa- continue to create reams of laws that seek to enslave humanity in rate occasions when police stopped her. One officer waylaid her "Free Trade" Zones". Yet a global network of "Free People vehicle five times and another one on four occasions. On most Zones" is coming into being, where millions of people are joined occasions, officers reached into her car in an attempt to detain her by the spirit of their collective values. They create their own further, after she had given them the necessary details and was media, literature, food, conservation projects, healing centres, ready to drive away. technology and politics. In the US, over 300 cities and four states Since then, the woman has represented herself at least nine have passed resolutions to have the Patriot Act repealed. times in court on the matter. Three occasions were in the Around the world, individuals, fellowships, entire communities Supreme Court. The woman had no prior legal training, but used and emerging movements have put governments on notice that the basic principles of common law that she learned at the constitutional laws and human rights will not be violated in their UPMART workshops she attended. She brought charges against area. oo the police whom she believes harassed her. Her cross- = se - . ne . Continued on page 74 examination of a police officer on the witness stand turned out to be a harrowing experience for him. She maintains an articulate legal argument based on her deeply held belief that she is entitled to exercise her primary rights and is unwilling to acquiesce to injustice. An inalienable human right is a right that is with you at all times; it is a part of you and cannot be separated from you. It is a right that cannot be granted to you by man or governments. Inalienable rights are intrinsic to our existence. Inalienable rights are bestowed by the creator of creation, and cannot be granted by an earthly authority. They who seek permission from a court to live an inalienable human right are seeking permission from persons who are pretending to have the authority over that right. — Malcolm McClure "There is rising a new movement in the world. It is bigger than the movement of the 1960s. Yet it is barely seen by the experts and analysts. They look only at the behavior of institutions and politicians, not at the underlying forces that eventually burst into visibility." area. 16 = NEXUS Continued on page 74 www.nexusmagazine.com OCTOBER — NOVEMBER 2004