Disclaimers

Statement of Policies and Positions by the DownsizeDC.org, Inc. Board of Directors

November 16, 2009; updated November 26, 2015

General Principle

We, at DownsizeDC.org, Inc. do not believe in, advocate, or employ the use of coercive or destructive force or fraud, to achieve our goals. This is our core principle.

Email

We abhor spam. It is our policy to assist, promptly, all of those who wish to be unsubscribed from our list, and/or be removed from our databases.

Utilizing Our Rights

DownsizeDC.org, Inc utilizes inviolable First Amendment rights to educate. On both First Amendment and Creator-endowed/Natural Rights grounds, we will strongly defend our right to continue in this peaceful activity.

Resistance Strategy and Opinion

We do not advocate violent revolution or overthrow of the government, even though we believe the “government” is presently guilty of gross abuse of the Constitution and in violation of our core principle. While the politicians have not played by the rules, we shall make all efforts to act in a manner that is consistent with the spirit of open debate.

Nor do we recommend to individuals that they cease paying taxes, drive without licenses, etc. Capable adults must make their own decision in these matters, based on their own philosophy, moral compass, as well as the counsel of friends, family, and experts. But as methods of combating the injustice and harm done by Monopoly Government, they are not part of the DownsizeDC.org, Inc plan.

As for those individuals who do take such actions and/or others . . . so long as they are doing so on principle, are aware of the consequences, and are non-violent, then it is likely we would respect their stand. However, we believe that there is an industry of hucksters designed to lead people into financial bondage and even prison by providing seminars, books, and other materials designed to show people how they can avoid paying taxes — and that we firmly oppose. We certainly do not want to see well-meaning voluntaryists end up penniless and in jail. [DownsizeDC.org, Inc Co-Creator, Jim Babka, provides greater detail on tax resistance in this archived blog article.]

The Limits of Our Responsibility

It should be recognized by any reasonable person that it is impossible to predict the future. And all the attempts in the world to detect and prevent malicious actions cannot absolutely guarantee that individuals or groups – even agent provocateurs and government agents – will not use our name and values in a malicious fashion, sometimes in an attempt to discredit us.

What can be guaranteed is that we at the DownsizeDC.org, Inc would abhor such activities and would do what was in our power to prevent them, speak out against those actions, and stop them once underway.

On Racism and other forms of Collectivist Bias

Originally published April 12, 2010; Most recent update November 26, 2015

We at DownsizeDC.org, Inc believe in the value of and advocate for the rights of individual human beings. Each individual is unique. A person should be “judged by the content of their character – not by the color of their skin” nor for their ethnicity.

Both statist philosophy and its manifestation in practice are collectivist disorders. That is, the State seeks to categorize us, and then to utilize these categories to extend various discriminations and special privileges based on demographics.

All of God’s creatures should be equal before the law — free to live their life, enjoy their freedom, and pursue their bliss. That was the vision expressed in the Declaration of Independence. And that is the lofty goal for which we should (and do) strive. We are for liberty.

We advocate an empathetic, social bargain of mutual respect that honors each individual. Aggression (a.k.a., initiated force) is immoral. To have liberty, one must permit others to have it too.

Racism and anti-Semitism are ugly forms of collectivism. In addition to being wrong-headed, those who espouse such views are judging others by their demographic group, and not as unique, inviolable individuals. As long as one judges others in this fashion, they cannot truly be for liberty.

It may seem trite to say that such thinking comes from ignorance. Yet many sincerely believe they are justified when they advocate that something more than the content of an individual’s character must be judged. Special privileges and racial profiling (even the notion of so-called “white privilege”) represent examples rooted in the same error. All human beings should be treated with dignity.

The DownsizeDC.org, Inc team does NOT believe that the challenges we’re facing in this country today can be dropped at the feet of any race or nationality, be they Hispanic immigrants, Jews, African-Americans, etc.

Each individual — everyone reading this — belongs to a race and nationality. Each of us wants to be appreciated individually, rather than be judged by the ugliest stereotypes of our demographic group.

We know, both in our hearts and from experience, that most people are hardworking, love their country, and care about their families. Human beings seek happiness and a better life for those they care about. America is a wonderful land of opportunity. At DownsizeDC.org, Inc, we presume human beings to be innocent and well-intentioned until they, individually, provide evidence to the contrary.

Can groups ever be judged? Well, ideas matter. Wrong ideas can do a great deal of damage. Therefore, to the extent that any INDIVIDUAL or voluntary political union or party espouses a damaging philosophy, they are to blame for the harms their policies do to our country. We will criticize their ideas and offer up a better way…

…and that better way is the opposite of collectivism and statism. The “post-statist” path to human progress is the empathetic path, expressed by the Golden Rule, the Zero Aggression Principle, and the Equal Liberty Rule.