Thomas Woods and Nullification

Miscellaneous General
1

http://www.tomwoods.com/nullification-answering-the-objections/

I am impressed. Woods just took on critics of his proposals in a very scholarly and serious fashion. I too had some qualms about nullification, but they are more smoothly addressed now.

Here’s why I am impressed:

  1. Nullification seemed to me something that could be abused for wicked intentions. Laws that respect peace, order, and smooth exchange could be overturned by opportunists. Instead, the general history of nullification shows it to be a tool of maintaining rule of law and order - not the opposite. For example:
  1. One of my other qualms was, “Who decides what laws are or are not to be enforced?” This has been the problem of civil disobedience in general. We may argue that only bad laws are to be overturned, but there is enough debate in deciding why a law is good or bad. The law as a single body may be too important to be subject to abridgment by whims of few individuals. But that too is addressed.

http://www.tomwoods.com/blog/james-madison-states-need-recourse-against-courts/

It’s not the abridgment of law but the enforcing of it. Communal power at a local organized level is the last line of defense against extralegal powers being used, after the judiciary, executive, and legislature have all exceeded it. It’s perfectly standard procedure.

  1. But the biggest qualm was this. You are trying to protest against a monopoly on violence. Stuff like that gets you killed. The fact that you’d avoid it simply means you are still sane and want to survive. In the US alone, they used a flamethrower on David Koresh’s followers and shot down an entire family at Ruby Ridge. Federal thugs are regularly sent over to remind a state or a region who is boss. When Bhindranwale, a Sikh leader, tried to rebel and secede from India when it was run by eugenics-supporting pro-autarky leader like Indira Gandhi, the result was Indian soldiers murdering an entire temple of Sikhs. Bhindranwale was no peaceful saint either, but responses used against dissenters will often exceed proportion. Isn’t that why Libya is killing any protestor who moves? Remember - these people slap lawsuits on you just because you talked back to an airport official.

This qualm, however, was not addressed. Remember that even Kennedy sent federal thugs to a state to get his way.