“Hats off!” to This Week’s Rebels: Pete Eyre and Adam Mueller
January 26th, 2011
Our two lovely protagonists this week have gone and gotten themselves captured by the state…. again. Pete Eyre and Adam Mueller, primarily of Motorhome Diaries and Liberty on Tour fame, have been actively working for the emergence of a voluntaryist world in Keene, New Hampshire as members of the Free State Project for a few years now.
Pete was very recently in court for some of his innumerable actions for liberty and was wearing a baseball cap. When asked by the bailiff to remove the hat before court was in session he declined on the grounds that it was his property and he was not hurting anyone.
Now, I originally heard about the incident and then saw the footage and my initial thoughts were approximately that this was perhaps not the most effective act of civil disobedience I’d ever encountered. That is, until I read perennial libertarian George Donnelly’s take on the matter, primarily this one paragraph:
Think back to George Fox, who founded the Quakers in the 17th century. The custom of taking off one’s hat, bowing and scraping to others in deference – it offended him. So he stopped doing it. He stood against the multitudes of powerful people – even in court – and defied what he believed to be wrong. And he went to jail for it.
In his video George Donnelly also made a point I really liked which I’ll paraphrase.When you enter a courtroom you are not entering a place of equal individuals where negotiation and egalitarian approaches to authroity are in play. There is a man judging you from above, and violent men are ready to hurt you and/or cage you on his behalf.
Pete did not bow and submit himself to the authorities which beckoned him to adhere to the language of hierarchy. He didn’t physically resist or fight back but he did refuse to help his oppressors in his own assault and oppression. And after this delightful scene an officer donned the hat and proceeded to wear it while court was in session.
Double standard much?
He is now being held in segregation in the county jail for sixty days during which he has vowed to go on a hunger strike. He may have an IV forcibly inserted into his arm as a consequence of his continuing acts of civil disobedience but this aspect of the story is still developing.
Adam Mueller was held in contempt of court during Pete’s subsequent arraignment by what my mind amounted to “I’m out of order? THIS WHOLE COURT IS OUT OF ORDER!” I certainly can’t blame him for expressing contempt of the court. I feel it too. Thank you Adam for having the courage to speak the truth to the faces of your oppressors and put your time, body and life on the line for your beliefs.
Find out how you can help our Silver Underground Rebels of the Week and join the call flood/letter writing campaigns by following the updates at the official site. Please donate if you can to our courageous voluntaryist Rebels of the Week, Pete Eyre and Adam Mueller!
Free Pete Eyre, Caged for Wearing a Hat from George Donnelly on Vimeo.
