Molon Labe! (66 page)

The national outcry was deafening and blistering. Wyoming was accused by the East Coast liberals of "exchanging education for ignorance." A nationwide boycott of Wyoming goods and tourism was threatened, and a swelling uproar demanded that the Federal Government step in to prevent Wyoming's proposals.

Far too few people acknowledged the long since buried fact that public education had been created by the
states
, and what the states created they could also abolish. The simple logic of this argument was drowned out by nothing less than mass hysteria. Americans had long forgotten that they were supposedly given a
republic
where local and state prerogatives exceeded all but the most explicit and urgent of federal concerns.

Taxation is far greater an evil than theft. It is a form of slavery. If you cannot choose the disposition of your property, you are a slave. If you must ask permission to work, and/or pay involuntary tribute to anyone from your wages, you are a slave....

How is it that so many have so much difficulty with this?

And spare me the arguments that begin with, "But how could we (whatever) if there was no taxation?" If a person will not concede the moral wrongness of forcible confiscation of property, no fruitful discussion of this subject is possible. Without first getting an understanding that taxation is wrong, no serious effort will be made to find an ethical and moral way to do "whatever."

Furthermore, those who want to enjoy the "benefits" of taxation (a "free" school, a "free" highway) generally prefer to do so without acknowledging the uncomfortable fact that they supported the underlying convenient theft. Thus, the taxmen and their supporters inevitably drag us into a culture of lies and deceit, which must in the end corrode and destroy all that is good in any culture, finally rendering the language so twisted and full of euphemism and misnomer that it becomes almost impossible to even
describe
a moral system of exchange and equity, let alone claw our way out of the pit to rediscover one.
(at 98-99)

If you have ever voted in favor of a school bond — taking money from your neighbor on the threat of the government seizure of his or her house, in order to school your own kids — then you are a socialist. And as with alcoholism, you are not going to get cured until you admit it....

But if we haven't established anything else by now, surely it's clear that the kind of vested interests who now fatten at the trough of "public education" will run us in gleeful circles and never allow us to get there through any "gradual transition." The rule of nature and of history is that the new seeds sprout in the sun only after the old tree has finally toppled in ruin.

So: Why prop up this rotting hulk any longer? Why?
(at 203)

— Vin Suprynowicz,
The Ballad of Carl Drega

To further explain the admittedly dramatic initiatives, Governor Preston makes a televised speech.

"Let me discuss the privatization of Wyoming's education. This is not a vote of no-confidence against our public school teachers or administrators. They have done the best they can given all the restrictions the federal government has placed upon them. But since we
do
have government schools, it is the equivalent of our children being taught with an effectiveness similar to Amtrak or the US Postal Service. Our children deserve better!

This is our chance — our one chance — to return control of our children's education to the people of Wyoming. We can give our children better and more responsive schools for less money.

"The buildings, teachers, and students will be no different from the previous year. Only the landlord will change. Ladies and gentlemen, here is your chance to own and control your local schools. You already have been paying for them through property taxes and bond issues. You will still pay for your local schools, but without the needless middleman of government. Here is your chance to improve your children's education, to experiment and to learn from other schools. To cut or increase budgets wherever and whenever you deem necessary. To enjoy a
choice
of schools for a change. This has always been the right of parents, but it was taken from you over a hundred years ago. And now, your government would like to return to you that stolen property. It is your choice whether to accept it.

"Government education is not consistent with any free country, much less with America. Since the states unlawfully took over the education and indoctrination of our children, have they produced any more Jeffersons? Any more Madisons? Any more Hamiltons? No. These brilliant men — these Founding Fathers — were all products of home-schooling, private education, and parochial universities. Somehow, America flourished for over a hundred years without government schools.

"Since public education, however, only those with enough money could afford private schools. Only those with enough time had the option of homeschooling. Everyone else with average time and money had no choice but public schools, which have been declining in quality for fifty years. Their "product" — our children — cannot compete against the Germans and the Japanese, or even against the British. High-school exams of 1917 cannot be passed by college graduates of 2017. Students are taught less and less each year and graduate without the skills needed to survive, much less succeed, in the real world. Nearly a third are functionally illiterate. This is absolutely criminal! And we will no longer tolerate it in Wyoming!

"If we don't embrace a separation of school and state today, our children will be fully indoctrinated by the socialist bureaucrats of Washington, D.C. and the UN. They've gradually been doing so for over thirty years as it is. Upon ratification, Wyomingites will no longer be coerced into educating the children of strangers. We believe in the simple right of people to fully receive the
local
quality of life they pay to enjoy. Perfect economic equality is not possible, not even by stealing from the more wealthy to give to the less wealthy. Let's concentrate on increasing the
size
of the pie instead of squabbling over ever-shrinking slices.

"Upon ratification, we expect a proliferation of privately-funded scholarships to make up the gap for families temporarily unable to afford the quality of education they desire for their children. Mrs. Preston and I have started such a fund ourselves, in which we welcome fellow donors.

"In closing, let me remind us all of something long since forgotten. These recent initiatives are fully within the prerogative of any state in the Union. The states created drivers licences, vehicle registration, and public schools. And by the same token, the states may amend or abolish their own systems whenever their citizens so choose. And Wyomingites have chosen to return to the heritage of our once free nation and shun the shackles of licenses, permits, and prior restraint. Behave responsibly and nobody will bother you unless you mess up.

"If the rest of the country does not agree, then they do not have to come here. Neither the states nor the Government have any right to interfere with the internal matters of Wyoming. We mind our own business and expect others to do the same. In five years, we'll see who has the brightest students!

"Thank you, and may God continue to bless Wyoming and her people."

Washington, D.C.          FBIHQ

March 2017

"Our increased security may have paid off," says the CT DAD. Director Klein frowns. "Or maybe 'The Leopard' is taking a break." "He could have been arrested. Retired. Or even deceased."

Cheyenne, Wyoming

March 2017

"If we lose in district court, we will appeal to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals. If we win in district court, the Government will appeal."

"So, either way, it's going to Appellate Court in Denver?" Preston asks. "Yes, sir."

"Do you still think it will go as far as the US Supreme Court?"

"Very likely. The Government will want to nip this in the bud, not only to maintain public education, but to forestall secession in violation of section 24 which declares Wyoming an
'inseparable part of the federal union.'
Also, the Government must convince those other states with similar clauses to our section 23 that, as the Borg in
Star Trek
would say,
'Resistance is futile.'
So, yes sir, it will probably go to the Supreme Court. If we are the petitioner, they will most certainly deny
certiorari
and let the 10th Circuit Court ruling stand. What we do about
that
will be your decision."

Preston sighs with a grin. "That's why they pay me the big bucks."

Wyoming

Spring 2017

Since most of the nation's shooting academies had been squeezed out of business by regulation stopping just shy of prohibition, many of them simply relocated to Wyoming's ample space and supporting gun culture. Consequently, Wyoming enjoyed the highest quality of shooting instruction in the world. Thousands of annual students from across the country and globe enrolled, especially ex-gunowners from England, Australia, and Canada. Attending a 1000yd .50BMG rifle course at "Half-Inch Harvard" became the newest sport of the wealthy. The gun-free Japanese flocked in by the hundreds to shoot Winchester .30-30s and single-action Colt .45s. Germans, forbidden to own
any
military-pattern rifle, loved to rent battle rifles.

Schools blatantly serving outsiders tended to be located near Cheyenne (just 2 hours from Denver's DIA), or Evanston (an hour from Salt Lake City). The "domestic" schools were sprinkled about Wyoming, many of them in the Big Horn Basin for its good year-round weather.

In a phenomenon not seen in America since the 1770s, thousands of statewide riflemen are training together in the form of citizens' militias. Many drill as 4-man teams — popularly called "knots" — for their flexibility (
e.g.,
as a .50BMG countersniper team, or battle rifle patrol), divisibility (
e.g.,
a pair of sniper/observer teams, or four recon scouts), and blendability (2 per squad, 8 per platoon). Four-man knots offer concentration of force, yet can move with stealth. As most knots are composed of men who have known each other for years (and thus nearly impossible to infiltrate), their unit integrity — a main key to effectiveness — is superb. Their security is tight, and improving.

They generally practice fieldcraft, fire-and-maneuver drills, and target recognition out to 600yds. Specially constructed "jungle lanes" are used by competing knots to test their skills. Also, shooting competitions open to the public attract much local weekend interest and further enhance popular support of the gun culture (as was common in Switzerland until the 1990s).

In most of rural Wyoming, a man going about his daily business with a slung rifle is rarely cause for concern, or even comment (except perhaps to ask about sights, trigger, stock, etc.). In the towns and cities, nearly half the adults openly wear sidearms, and another 20% or so carry them concealed. This was not an affectation, but a badge of citizenship. Nearly every Wyomingite was, in effect, his or her own Gadsden flag — calmly but implacably warning others
Don't Tread On Me
.

__________

1
   States without sales tax are: Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon.

     States without income tax are: Alaska, Florida, New Hampshire, Nevada, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming.

     Alaska and New Hampshire have no sales or income tax, but a very high property tax.

     Thus, it makes implicit sense to live in South Dakota or Wyoming and shop in Montana, or to live in Washington or Nevada and shop in Oregon. New Hampshire is fine for employment and shopping, but live in Vermont or Maine for their lower property taxes.

2
   Although several states have very
low
property taxes (
e.g.
, Arkansas, Kentucky, West Virginia, New Mexico, and Mississippi), no state has ever dispensed with residential property taxes altogether.

PLAYBOY INTERVIEW:

JAMES PRESTON

a second candid conversation with
Wyoming's Laissez-Faire Party Governor

James Preston's administration, with the enthusiastic support of the Wyoming legislature, proposes to divest the government of public education and turn it completely over to local, private concerns. Senator Schumer went so far as to call his goal "cannon fire on Fort Sumter."

Even though 57% of Wyoming voters favored the privatization of education in a recent constitutional amendment election, several lawsuits have been filed in federal court to prevent it. Plaintiffs include the NEA, AFT, and other teachers' unions, as well as a consortium of Wyoming parents.

Two years following our first interview, we spoke with Governor James Preston about his "separation of education and state."

Governor Preston, PLAYBOY is very pleased to have you back for a second interview.