On Fri, 11 Jul 2008 14:02:46 -0400 Joel and Sarah Gagnon
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> In terms of political realism, you are probably right that a
> national
> carbon tax is not yet feasible. Is a state tax doable, or would it
> be
> regarded as in restraint of trade? To be doable at all, it has to be
>
> legally possible.
Technically that is true at this time. But seen in the context of
building a political strategy that unfolds over a realistic time frame,
it seems to me to limit the options considered. Imagine this scenario:
If eventually the people of a county managed to enact enough of a carbon
tax to provide a platform for a major relocalization of the county
economy , that would be a major hurdle in itself, and send stimulating
signals to other counties as a model for change. Moreover, because it is
illegal, the citizens of the county would be committing an act of civil
disobedience to the state and federal governments. It would provoke a
dramatic confrontation on a level not seen in US history in quite a while
(remember the Shays Farmer Rebellion of 1786?). If the time were ripe,
such a confrontation would have a ripple effect far and wide to galvanize
similar actions (as in fact occurred in several Northeastern states after
the Shays action).
Of the Shays farmer insurgency, Thomas Jefferson, unfortunately out of
the country as Ambassador to France at the time, said, "God forbid that
we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion... The tree of
liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots
and tyrants. It is its natural manure."
Writing as a farmer (full disclosure here), I find it hard to disagree.
At some point I believe the time will be ripe when even a bloodless
confrontation of this sort will have great repercussions and eventually
win local control, because upper levels of government, enfeebled by
deepening economic crisis, will no longer effectively enforce such laws.
We need to consider that state and federal government, undermined by
decades of debt, are already technically bankrupt, and bear in mind the
high probability that accelerating debt will gradually debilitate central
government as the "long emergency" of the 21st century wears on.
Karl North
Northland Sheep Dairy, Freetown, New York USA
www.geocities.com/northsheep/
"Mother Nature never farms without animals" - Albert Howard
"Pueblo que canta no morira" - Cuban saying
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