Eric Garner’s death was a senseless act of State brutality. But Eric Garner is not dead because he was a black man. He is dead because he was suspected of daring to sell a legal product without charging his customers an outrageously high cigarette sales tax the State demands. He died because in the eyes of the State, he questioned their authority to enforce tyrannical laws. The darkly ironic thing is, liberals are protesting the death of Eric Garner, but liberals are the reason Eric Garner is dead. Liberals are the ones who called for sales taxes of several dollars per pack on cigarettes. In fact, it was the Obama Administration that raised the federal sales tax from .39 cents per pack to $1.01 per pack. In New York City, where Mr. Garner was slain for not obeying the State, the total sales tax is $5.85 per pack. It wasn’t about “black”, it was about the green: Money the State wanted.
Now, I have a few questions. First off, Mr. Garner was accused of selling “loosies”, that is, individual cigarettes from an untaxed pack. So, where now are these cigarettes Mr. Garner allegedly had? And how can the State demonstrate he was actually selling them and they weren’t his own for personal use even if he did have a pack on his person? Everything I’ve read says he was “suspected” of doing it when the police approached. Did they see him doing it? Or did they assume it? Be that as it may, the so-called “crime” he committed was selling a legal-to-possess product that was his to sell without extorting a ridiculously high sales tax from his customers. If he was doing that. What difference does it make what price he was selling them at? If he wants to sell them below cost, what business is it of the State? If he got them in a state with lower taxes, so what? Is it just as illegal if a person buys a crock pot in a state with lower sales taxes, brings it across state lines, and sells it out of his trunk? In the eyes of the State, it probably is illegal. It probably says so in a law code book as thick as the New York City phone book. Do we actually own personal property or not? If we do, why are we not allowed to sell it as we see fit? Why is it the right of the State to demand some of that money? They already taxed the money we used to buy the product in the first place.
Now, New York City is the perfect place for smuggled cigarette sales, thanks to their astronomically high sales tax. The sales tax is designed to “stop smoking” but we all know that all it really does is provide a market for smugglers. The cigarettes are purchased in states with very low sales taxes and hauled up to New York City to be sold for a mark-up that is still dollars lower than the “legal” ones. Now if Mr. Garner was selling these or not is really not relevant to the conversation. What he had was his product to sell. Why would it be different if he was selling individual sticks of chewing gum? Why is an individual citizen prohibited from selling his own personal property? This is the question we must ask when searching for the way to stop another death at the hands of police. The more laws we have, the more interaction the police have with citizens, often for asinine reasons such as that which cost Mr. Garner his life. When the State finally respects the rights of individual citizens to own property and buy and sell that property at will without government interference and/or extortion for a cut of the proceeds, then we will see less deaths at the hands of the police. Mr Garner’s senseless death need not have happened if the State just left people alone that aren’t hurting anyone. Was Mr. Garner hurting anyone? No, he wasn’t.
The protestors of Mr. Garner’s death are repeating what he said before he died: “I can’t breathe!” Mr. Garner’s last words were prophetic. We all can’t breathe, because the State has all of us in a chokehold of oppressive laws and taxation. We see what happens when people try to struggle out of it. Because that’s a human survival mechanism, by the way. Both literally in the case of Mr. Garner and figuratively for us all.
The liberals marching for Eric Garner need to realize they have a hand in his death. Why? Because they demand the government do this or that thing with laws to regulate things they don’t like. Such as smoking cigarettes, for example. Thus, they make the normal behaviour of a man selling his property into a “crime” and here comes the government via the police to use force in order to stop him. And, to be sure, jail him for the so-called “offense”. And guess what? The “crime” Eric Garner allegedly committed was one of the same crimes some of the Founding Fathers committed—evading sales tax. Such as John Hancock, for example, a smuggler seeking to evade high British sales taxes. So in high school history class, the State lionizes John Hancock, but then the State kills Eric Garner for the same thing? Had he not died, he would have been jailed and no one would know to what ends the State will go in order to protect its tyranny. But let’s not forget something. He was accused of this, he was not convicted of it. And, again, where are the cigarettes he supposedly was selling?
The State says Mr. Garner was obese, so it’s his fault he died. Huh? Wait, wait, wait. So, to defend their enforcement of a “public health-related law” (high sales taxes on cigarettes to discourage smoking) they call in another liberal “public health” issue: Obesity. And to combat that, they want to pass sales taxes on “junk food”. Another sales tax to govern behaviour and products liberals don’t like, just like the cigarette tax which the enforcement of killed Mr. Garner. Bravo! Marvellous! Gosh, if we only had a junk food tax decades earlier, maybe we could have saved Mr. Garner from dying at the hands of the cigarette tax praetorians! Come on you guys! How long did you have to practice that story in front of a bathroom mirror before you could deliver it publicly with a straight face? That’s as bad as the police themselves saying people ought to eat a healthy, balanced diet and exercise regularly. So they don’t die when the police put them in a chokehold they ought to be so prepared to endure. “Hey Bob, nice to see you at the gym! Working off the ol’ Thanksgiving supper, eh?” “Why, of course, Bill! What if the police put me in a chokehold for having a garage sale? Wouldn’t want to die, you know. That’d be my fault and my police chokehold insurance won’t cover me…” Not to mention here we have the State on one hand saying Mr. Garner was so big they needed to subdue him with a chokehold. But on the other hand, that’s why he was so weak the chokehold killed him. Well, which is it, Praetor?
So, when marching for Eric Garner, people would do well to remember who it was that sent those cops to Mr. Garner in the first place: The State. And who told the State to have and enforce such a law? The people who want to regulate the lawful behaviour of others at the point of a gun. Liberals think they can pass laws and everyone applauds and skips hand-in-hand down The Yellow Brick Road of enlightenment. Wrong. Those laws must be enforced by police. In the end, it is the liberals who passed these cigarette taxes that sent the police to Eric Garner. And also the State that can’t see it’s a citizen’s right to sell his own property. “He needs a business license, he needs to pay business taxes, yada yada…” Yeah, whatever. That’s still State tyranny against individual citizens. Do we actually own property or not? What, the State actually owns it? You’d think so if you contemplate the concept of property taxes. The State destroys the entrepreneur and safeguards their corporate buddies. Any who think otherwise are jailed or die in the process of getting there. Yeah, that’s freedom. Yeah, that’s justice.
Eric Garner isn’t just the face of African-Americans. He’s the face of all Americans. Let’s move beyond race and realize that the State is successfully dividing us against one another using race to take the heat off of them. Because if we were united, we’d see who really killed Eric Garner: The State. And it wasn’t about color. That’s what the State would like you to think. It was about power and money: Money the State wants and power both the State and the police wield to extract it. We’re all Eric Garner now.
What was predicted would happen, did happen when NY implemented this terrible act. While I do agree with the author, it's neither surprising or unique, as this story has been told before.
Don't think it's that bad? We have a dedicated paramilitary task force to address it.
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced a new Cigarette Strike Force to crack down on illegal tobacco trafficking and sales. The multi-agency Strike Force is composed of state, local and federal agencies dedicated to stopping the influx of counterfeit and untaxed tobacco products into New York. The Strike Force also focuses on tracing any illicit financial earnings from that criminal activity.
"Approval ratings go up and down for various reasons... An example is the high post 911 support for GWB even though he could be said to be responsible for the event." --- Box A Rox '9/11 Truther'
Melania is a bimbo... she is there to look at, not to listen to. --- Box A Rox and his 'War on Women'
I wonder how our local meatheads are coming with that much-publicized campaign to crack down on the scourge of single-cigarette sales locally? I imagine the governor was holding that casino over their heads to get them to say "How high?" when he said jump.
What was predicted would happen, did happen when NY implemented this terrible act. While I do agree with the author, it's neither surprising or unique, as this story has been told before.
Don't think it's that bad? We have a dedicated paramilitary task force to address it.
I believe this quote was discussed on the forum....I think it had something to do with the 'healthcare' laws/CVS....
you see....controlling the sheep and what they ingest helps the slave masters on the bottom line.... they need to spend $$ on war NOT health insurance that the term healthcare still gets interchanged with......
you see, the ACA has crossed over between 'healthcare' and criminality.....
Doctor: 'do you have a gun in your house' 'do you wear your seatbelt' (wait, I didn't have to ask that, the black box in your car will record that for the insurance company) 'what is your BMI' 'do you smoke and if you do are there children in the house'
HELLO FOLKS.......DOES ANYONE...ANYONE AT ALL...REMEMBER 1984? OR ANY OTHER SCI-FI/DYSTOPIA (which Box wouldn't be able to understand if Box read it)
The IRS will make sure you pay The police will drag your a$$ to jail for smoking(screw the taxes) The payroll companies will be required to garnish wages until 'preventative healthcare' is done...(don't forget your colonoscopy)
stupid stupid stupid.....
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
Here’s What Happens When A White Man Pulls A Gun On Cops
ARMED WHITE MAN PULLS GUN ON POLICE
Quoted Text
A man is behind bars after a nearly eight-hour SWAT standoff at the Luxury Inn Motel Sunday night. Albuquerque police have identified the man as Stephen Fought, 54. According to police, dispatch had received a call from Fought saying that he needed to talk to police. Upon arrival Fought pointed a hand gun directly at the officer through the window and barricaded himself inside a motel room, according to the criminal complaint. They say he also made numerous threats that he was going to kill someone before police killed him. APD says Fought physically fought with officers and still had the firearm in his possession when police apprehended him just after 7 p.m. Fought was transported to a local hospital for a precautionary medical exam before being booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center for an outstanding felony warrant and an additional charge of aggravated assault on a police officer with a deadly weapon.
HERE'S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN AN UNARMED BLACK MAN HAS A CONVERSATION WITH POLICE OR
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
Really??? An ARMED white man with a gun who says he's going to shoot people is taken down and captured with very little injury. An UNARMED Black man is shot and killed as a SUSPECT for stealing some cigars. and An UNARMED Black man is choked to death for the crime of selling cigarettes.
And instead of being outraged, you think that just the mention of these FACTS is "low"?
I stand by my post.
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
Really??? An ARMED white man with a gun who says he's going to shoot people is taken down and captured with very little injury. An UNARMED Black man is shot and killed as a SUSPECT for stealing some cigars. and An UNARMED Black man is choked to death for the crime of selling cigarettes.
And instead of being outraged, you think that just the mention of these FACTS is "low"?
I stand by my post.
You couldn't find any unarmed white men getting beaten and shot by cops?
You couldn't find any unarmed white men getting beaten and shot by cops?
Cissy is an argument looking for a place to happen!
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
Cissy is an argument looking for a place to happen!
Just curious. Your post suggests white people don't get beaten by police and that they are treated differently than black people. I was just wondering if during your research, if you had come across any white men getting shot or choked to death by cops. Maybe it doesn't happen.
Just curious. Your post suggests white people don't get beaten by police and that they are treated differently than black people. I was just wondering if during your research, if you had come across any white men getting shot or choked to death by cops. Maybe it doesn't happen.
If I read that a WHITE OR BLACK man who was ARMED and threatening to kill the police and others, was shot. I wouldn't be surprised. An armed situation can easily lead to shots fired. If I read that a WHITE OR BLACK man who was UNARMED and not threatening anyone, but instead selling cigarettes on the street was killed by police, I would be surprised.
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
Cops who beat homeless man to death walk free Kelly Thomas, schizophrenic and homeless, cried for his dad as he was beaten. His assaulters were found not guilty
police 'follow' and 'enforce' laws through a means to an end all depending on the public fears instilled by our leader legislators.....
we cry 'they need to do something' and there you have it....bad laws....
kind of like sodomy laws...used to criminalize gay people,,,specifically male....
so I wonder who the 'loosie laws' were written for...
think about it folks...what have we created? utopia? dystopia? a house of horrors? a slave/master relationship?
the police attack crime that the leaders want to stomp about.... 1. animal cruelty 2. tax evasion 3. seat belt laws 4. DWI etc etc......
it's all about behavior modifications kinda like guilt used in church.....the difference is in church EVERYONE is guilty...the state CLAIMS innocent until proven guilty, but that is no longer the case....now it's 'we're gonna kill the behavior right out of you so we're all safe', and the media helps with this crazy church/state......
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
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