Posts in "guy fawkes"

By Mikayla Hall at 7:17PM

Nov 5, 2010

Remember, Remember WSU Prank

Today at Washington State University, someone hacked into the IT department and made the following video play all across campus. Part of a group by the name of WSU 1812 (individual remembers remaining anonymous), the video and the website list a number of complaints with the university, particularly wasteful use of dining accounts and general fees. The squirrel comment leaves me a bit confused, but it is an interesting prank nonetheless:

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By Bonnie Kristian at 9:32AM

Jan 11, 2010

In Case of Revolution, Break Glass

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By Andrew Smith at 12:43PM

Nov 5, 2009

Guy Fawkes,V for Vendetta, and the Liberty Movement

Many of you have no doubt heard of the cult classic movie, "V for Vendetta." I'd just like to take this momentous November the Fifth to talk about Guy Fawkes, the movie, and how it relates to what we're doing today, in case there are some remain unaware.

Guy Fawkes was a man who in 1605 attempted to blow up the House of Parliament in England. England at the time was ruled by a Protestant aristocracy that was discriminating harshly against Catholics. So, he took a wagon filled with gun powder beneath the chamber of parliament, where he was discovered, arrested, and hanged for treason. However, November the Fifth has been forever marked by the memory of a man who tried and failed to overthrow an abusive aristocratic autocracy.

Much more recently, there was a comic book series and eventually a movie called "V for Vendetta." I'll try not to reveal too much about the plot. Basically, the protagonist is an anonymous character named V, who essentially emulates Guy Fawkes by wearing a mask designed to look like Fawkes. He goes around attempting to spark a revolution against the totalitarian state in Britain. The central theme to the story is revealed through the quote, "People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people."

We must be Romantics.

From For A New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto (this excerpt is, itself, a quote of H. L. Mencken):

All [that government] can see in an original idea is potential change, and hence an invasion of its prerogatives. The most dangerous man, to any government, is the man who is able to think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane and intolerable, and so, if he is romantic, he tries to change it. And even if he is not romantic personally he is very apt to spread discontent among those who are.

Now, obviously, it is well known that the state fears original thinking. Why shouldn't it? As Rothbard states in his essay "The Anatomy of the State" it is the populace's adherance to state rule that allows the state to survive. Even if it is the Third Reich, the people under the rule of said regime must, at least a majority must, believe the state necessary and in their best interest (the Third Reich was even voted for democratically) to exist.