Re: [Trisquel-users] Freedom Decrypted Show Zero: Plus interview with Ruben on Trisquel 8

[chris]

It's actually more or less a trivial issue overall given the significance of  
other abuses. However that said there are quite a few concerns around parking  
meters. As an example many newer parking meters demand a credit card, license  
plate number, or other information that the state or city has no business  
collecting. It's a privacy issue of a sort. It's one thing for someone to put  
up a security camera or film you on the street and another for the government  
to collect information about everybody. You might think it insignificant and  
maybe it is given all the data collection that goes on- but there are also  
other issues (and advantages depending on your particular objective that may  
not be apparent to the casual viewer) particularly with older drivers (and  
even young drivers really). Most people don't know what there license plate  
number is and for people who have physical and mental limitations it can be  
quite a chore to have to go back and forth between a parked vehicle and a  
parking meter. It's to such a degree that there is a significant loss in  
business in my town for business owners on the main street where these types  
of privacy invasive meters have been tested. People who are very much  
pro-big-government even are upset over the meters. And this is before we even  
get to the part about the cost of maintaining meter maids. There are already  
other systems in place to collect money for roads and things that don't  
involve a 30% added cost. It's a redundant unnecessary system that hurts  
local businesses. They also result in increased costs to tax payers from  
people fighting unjustly issued parking tickets in terms of court costs.  
Notice how much time it took from that video alone in my case. This was ONE  
ticket and not the TWO tickets I was fighting because one got thrown out  
right away. This also wasn't everything as there were multiple parts to the  
trial (pre-trail stuff) and city employees who had to file a complaint after  
the ticket was issued and a trial was demanded. Many hours from many city  
employees (two parking meter ladies for hours were taken off the street and  
paid for that time), a prosecutor, a judge, court employees, a balif, etc.

Why bother is probably more along the question you probably should ask. The  
reason to bother taking up this sort of an issue has nothing to do with the  
issue itself but rather it opens up the opportunity for attracting publicity  
and bringing attention to a movement (Free State Project) to other  
like-minded individuals (even cringe-worthy publicity can be good publicity  
for a cause where it drives the majority away if your objective is not the  
majority but a minority: see cringe worthy activism that led to publicity you  
could never afford to buy it would be so expensive - but is also hilarious  
and draws in attention of like-minded individuals who understand there is  
another objective and get the humor in it in this case  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vQ5h8iWa0Q ) and also for gaining experience  
as a citizen in the courtroom without actually having any consequences of  
significance to worry about. If you want to develop the skills necessary to  
defend yourself from abusive governments and this is particularly important  
for activists then taking a $5 parking ticket to trial is a valuable lesson  
in learning about that abusive system. How do you defend yourself against  
lying scum they'll put up on the stand? How do you object? How do you get  
evidence thrown out? I won those parking tickets on technicalities and not  
because I was in the "right" in any legal sense. You don't win court cases  
because you are in the right. You win court cases because you outplay the  
opponent. The government is weak in that they don't expect you to fight nor  
be experienced or capable of defending against there lies. If you can provide  
evidence they can't deny they frequently don't know how to respond. Recording  
video for instance of an interaction with a police officer is a very smart  
move. Because when you get charged with a crime its rare that there is  
anybody able to challenge an officers testimony (lies) that the courts will  
believe and video is a defense against these lies they absolutely will tell  
and if they don't know how to respond which they probably won't you win. Most  
prosecutions are malicious. Most arrests and prosecutions involve no victim.  
It's just the state vs you for a fabricated crime against the dignity of the  
state. Maybe you believe there should be crimes with no victims but I don't.