Two years later, Jim Simmons’ terse response to the inspector became a planetary battle cry.
Earth sent troops to forcefully quell what until then had been a peaceful transition to independence. Lt. Joshua True announced that Earth was back in charge of Sirius 4.
“Like hell,” the people muttered, echoing the stiff-necked farmer from small-town Fillmore.
True closed the Imaginary Structures plant at Ganges Pass and reversed President Sinclair’s declaration that ImagCorp licenses need not be paid. Companies that use imaginary technology must reimburse the corporation that had created the technology two centuries earlier, plus the concomitant taxes that applied, True announced.
“Like hell,” the people said out loud.
The president of Sirius 4 was the president of the Earthian government, and Badiah Sinclair may perhaps be the leader of the Sirian Senate, but he was a senator, not a president, True declared.
“Like hell!” the people shouted.
I continued my call for passive-aggressive resistance. I said the employees of Imaginary Structures should simply show up for work as if True’s pronouncement had never been made. If troops ordered them to cease and desist from their daily tasks, they should carry on as if they didn’t hear the order. If the troops moved to arrest or remove them, they should keep working until literally dragged from their stations.
“With absolute noncooperation, their power is nil,” I argued. “What are they going to do, arrest all of us?”
In their anger, people had the same answer for me that they had for Lt. Rodney True.
Counter the attempt to halt Sirius 4’s march to independence by force with nonviolent civil disobedience?
“Like hell!” the people screamed.
One morning about a dozen troopers were driving along a quiet street in Ganges Pass, not far from the Imaginary Structures plant, when their vehicle drove over a homemade bomb. Three people were killed instantly; those who survived were dismembered by laser fire when they climbed out of the wreckage.
As the vehicle burned and the troopers died in the street, someone took the time to paint a brief message on the wall of a nearby building.
“LIKE HELL”
Entry 50
Showing posts with label Jim Simmons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jim Simmons. Show all posts
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Entry 47
I did not see Badi Sinclair on a regular basis for the next three to five years, but I was able to keep up through news reports and occasional conversations. He was one of several new senators swept in on an independence platform, and Governor Silas Fredersen was many things but not stupid. The governor met with the independent thinkers, called in some emissaries from Earth and gathered them all around a table. For the next three years there were offers and counteroffers, concessions and accommodations, progress and retreat, but nothing approaching independence. If anything the Earthians were more insistent than ever that Sirius 4 remain part of the Earth system, and the Sirians were more insistent than ever that our governmental systems ought to be as separate as our planetary systems.
I am a firm believer that violence accomplishes nothing, and so for a while I had to acknowledge that the violent episode that claimed Jim Simmons’ life had moved the negotiations forward. Of course, it was not long before we learned the Earthians had merely made a strategic retreat before upping the violence ante.
One chat I had with Badi over dinner a couple of years into the negotiations should have given me all I needed to foretell the future, but it is only clear by hindsight.
Entry 48. Dinner and premonitions
I am a firm believer that violence accomplishes nothing, and so for a while I had to acknowledge that the violent episode that claimed Jim Simmons’ life had moved the negotiations forward. Of course, it was not long before we learned the Earthians had merely made a strategic retreat before upping the violence ante.
One chat I had with Badi over dinner a couple of years into the negotiations should have given me all I needed to foretell the future, but it is only clear by hindsight.
Entry 48. Dinner and premonitions
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Entry 41. The governor
Silas Fredersen was not a bad man. But he will not be remembered as a good man.
Appointed governor of Sirius 4 in S4Y 132, he had the unenviable task of implementing increasingly unreasonable Earthian policies over an increasingly restless populace. He was a true believer, but only to a point.
It made perfect sense to him, for example, that the people of Sirius 4 had a perpetual debt to Earth for the investments made more than a century earlier – the interstellar flights, the establishment of bases, the construction of the oxygen-nitrogen generators. He had no problem collecting our taxes and transferring them to unseen and, to us, irrelevant bureaucrats 8.6 light years away.
But he always admitted he felt uncomfortable that he was the leader of Sirius 4 not because we wanted him but because one of those unseen and irrelevant bureaucrats selected him to rule over us.
That instinct is one big reason why I say he was not a bad man; he understood the need of free men and women to rule themselves.
That instinct is what made him able to sustain negotiations for Sirius 4 independence for three full years, even as it became increasingly obvious that his Earthian masters were not going to let us be any more independent than they were willing to dictate.
“Silas always made us feel like he believed in our ultimate goal, to let Sirians determine the future of Sirius 4,” Sen. Badiah Sinclair told me as we watched the ship carry Fredersen and the last of his security forces fly away on that fateful day in S4Y 138. “I think that’s what kept us at the table.”
History later showed that Fredersen convinced Earth not to let the Simmons incident escalate into full-blown revolution, instead retreating back to the homeworld and allowing us to feel our oats as an independent planet for a couple of years. That was how long it took for Earth to decide it couldn’t live without our tax payments after all, and they sent Joshua True to collect our freedom.
Without Fredersen’s reluctance to make Jim Simmons just the first of many martyrs for the cause, the bloody phase of our story would have come much sooner. And perhaps we would have lost that war. Perhaps we needed to taste a couple of years of freedom to fully appreciate its flavor.
So for all of those reasons, I believe Silas Fredersen was not a bad man. In some ways he was even heroic. But he also was responsible for running a government where a bureaucrat felt justified murdering a landowner for defending his right to erect a pole building 10 centimeters closer to his property line than the law allowed.
Therefore, we won’t ever remember him as a good man, either.
Entry 42
Appointed governor of Sirius 4 in S4Y 132, he had the unenviable task of implementing increasingly unreasonable Earthian policies over an increasingly restless populace. He was a true believer, but only to a point.
It made perfect sense to him, for example, that the people of Sirius 4 had a perpetual debt to Earth for the investments made more than a century earlier – the interstellar flights, the establishment of bases, the construction of the oxygen-nitrogen generators. He had no problem collecting our taxes and transferring them to unseen and, to us, irrelevant bureaucrats 8.6 light years away.
But he always admitted he felt uncomfortable that he was the leader of Sirius 4 not because we wanted him but because one of those unseen and irrelevant bureaucrats selected him to rule over us.
That instinct is one big reason why I say he was not a bad man; he understood the need of free men and women to rule themselves.
That instinct is what made him able to sustain negotiations for Sirius 4 independence for three full years, even as it became increasingly obvious that his Earthian masters were not going to let us be any more independent than they were willing to dictate.
“Silas always made us feel like he believed in our ultimate goal, to let Sirians determine the future of Sirius 4,” Sen. Badiah Sinclair told me as we watched the ship carry Fredersen and the last of his security forces fly away on that fateful day in S4Y 138. “I think that’s what kept us at the table.”
History later showed that Fredersen convinced Earth not to let the Simmons incident escalate into full-blown revolution, instead retreating back to the homeworld and allowing us to feel our oats as an independent planet for a couple of years. That was how long it took for Earth to decide it couldn’t live without our tax payments after all, and they sent Joshua True to collect our freedom.
Without Fredersen’s reluctance to make Jim Simmons just the first of many martyrs for the cause, the bloody phase of our story would have come much sooner. And perhaps we would have lost that war. Perhaps we needed to taste a couple of years of freedom to fully appreciate its flavor.
So for all of those reasons, I believe Silas Fredersen was not a bad man. In some ways he was even heroic. But he also was responsible for running a government where a bureaucrat felt justified murdering a landowner for defending his right to erect a pole building 10 centimeters closer to his property line than the law allowed.
Therefore, we won’t ever remember him as a good man, either.
Entry 42
Monday, July 9, 2012
Entry 32. Hard choices
One of the advantages of the president being your childhood chum is that you have the president’s ear occasionally. I had spent my entire academic career specializing in the study of nonviolent civil disobedience, and a small handful of movers and shakers had begun to notice my work before Lt. True and his occupation force arrived.
When newly independent Sirius 4 found itself invaded by its former ruling world, naturally free people bristled. Even those who were not so certain independence was a good idea found themselves insulted by the thought that Mama Earth was going to bring her errant child back in the fold unilaterally.
The call for armed resistance arose within hours of True’s announcement, and the war would have flamed up even sooner if the good lieutenant had not had the good sense to release “Senator” Sinclair into his own custody after a day of house arrest – with strict instructions to behave himself and not go off leading an armed insurrection or anything of that sort, which Badiah of course clearly intended anyway.
“We are playing into True’s hands if we meet this with violence,” I said at the first opportunity when Badi accepted my request to visit him. “The first peacekeeper who’s killed or wounded will be their excuse to crack down even harder, and independence will be that much more elusive.”
“Either that, or Earth won’t have the stomach for their sons and daughters being killed in a meaningless war light years away,” Badiah replied. “What do you suggest, hugging them into submission?”
I laughed. I had to, he was right, responding to armed occupiers with love and forgiveness was a hard sell with people. But I had something in mind less passive than that.
“We can choose noncooperation,” I offered. “Just don’t accept their authority. Ignore it. Go about our lives as if they aren’t there and haven’t laid down their stupid laws. What are they going to do, arrest us all? There’s not enough room in the jails for all of us.”
“They can hurt us. They can kill us,” President Sinclair replied softly. “I’m not going to allow that. If they’re ready to use lethal force, and they are, then we strike first.”
“Kill them because they’re prepared to kill us – even though they actually haven’t tried yet?”
“Yet, Ray – they haven’t killed anyone yet, not since Jim Simmons – but they will, unless we submit to their tyranny again. It’s us or them.”
“There’s always a third way!” I cried. He knew what I meant.
But we didn’t choose the third way, not Badiah, not most of the rest of us. Sirians fought against tyranny the old-fashioned way: Guns, knives, lasers, and when all else failed, bare hands.
And in the end, this time Badiah Sinclair was right. Earth would have no stomach for filled body bags coming home from Sirius 4. I knew he wouldn’t take my advice, but I had to try, because I also was fairly certain what would happen next.
Entry 33. The resisters
When newly independent Sirius 4 found itself invaded by its former ruling world, naturally free people bristled. Even those who were not so certain independence was a good idea found themselves insulted by the thought that Mama Earth was going to bring her errant child back in the fold unilaterally.
The call for armed resistance arose within hours of True’s announcement, and the war would have flamed up even sooner if the good lieutenant had not had the good sense to release “Senator” Sinclair into his own custody after a day of house arrest – with strict instructions to behave himself and not go off leading an armed insurrection or anything of that sort, which Badiah of course clearly intended anyway.
“We are playing into True’s hands if we meet this with violence,” I said at the first opportunity when Badi accepted my request to visit him. “The first peacekeeper who’s killed or wounded will be their excuse to crack down even harder, and independence will be that much more elusive.”
“Either that, or Earth won’t have the stomach for their sons and daughters being killed in a meaningless war light years away,” Badiah replied. “What do you suggest, hugging them into submission?”
I laughed. I had to, he was right, responding to armed occupiers with love and forgiveness was a hard sell with people. But I had something in mind less passive than that.
“We can choose noncooperation,” I offered. “Just don’t accept their authority. Ignore it. Go about our lives as if they aren’t there and haven’t laid down their stupid laws. What are they going to do, arrest us all? There’s not enough room in the jails for all of us.”
“They can hurt us. They can kill us,” President Sinclair replied softly. “I’m not going to allow that. If they’re ready to use lethal force, and they are, then we strike first.”
“Kill them because they’re prepared to kill us – even though they actually haven’t tried yet?”
“Yet, Ray – they haven’t killed anyone yet, not since Jim Simmons – but they will, unless we submit to their tyranny again. It’s us or them.”
“There’s always a third way!” I cried. He knew what I meant.
But we didn’t choose the third way, not Badiah, not most of the rest of us. Sirians fought against tyranny the old-fashioned way: Guns, knives, lasers, and when all else failed, bare hands.
And in the end, this time Badiah Sinclair was right. Earth would have no stomach for filled body bags coming home from Sirius 4. I knew he wouldn’t take my advice, but I had to try, because I also was fairly certain what would happen next.
Entry 33. The resisters
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Entry 17. First casualty
The Imaginary Revolution began in a small town called Fillmore, when a farmer named Jim Simmons had a disagreement with a state inspector. Miles away at the capital, the independence coalition (led by now by Senator Badiah Sinclair) was in its third year of talks with Earth about how our planet could manage its own affairs.
Simmons had built a new pole building on his property, and the inspector measured the building as 2.9 meters from the property line.
“The setback’s 3 meters,” the inspector said. You’ll have to take down the building or move it.”
“Like hell,” said Jim Simmons.
“Move it or we’ll move it for you,” the inspector said.
“Like hell,” repeated Jim Simmons, this time drawing a rifle from behind the front seat of his truck. “Now get off my land.”
“It won’t be your land for long if you won’t follow the codes,” the inspector said, beating a strategic retreat.
The inspector returned with three workers prepared with the equipment necessary to raze the pole building. As soon as they stepped on his property, Jim Simmons approached them with his rifle and warned them to leave.
At this point the squad of Earth soldiers, which the inspector had brought along in case of contingency, stepped forward and shot Jim Simmons stone dead. Then they razed the building.
When word of the incident spread, the revolution was on.
No, it wasn’t about a persnickety building inspector who called in the army to back him up, although that was a symptom of a bigger problem, the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. Years of Earthian agents acting as if Sirius 4 was Earth, as if the same rules were relevant here, as if rules were needed in the first place when we had the tapestry of an entire planet to weave with, had built up a resentment and then a seething hatred of what was described as our local government but what felt like an occupation force, even though at the time the troop level was relatively low.
One might expect that armed citizens would have risen up against Jim Simmons’ killers after all that. In fact, another two years would pass before things got really violent, because the independence coalition had the good sense immediately to react to the Simmons incident not with a call to arms, but with a parliamentary move that unilaterally declared Sirius 4 an independent planet, removed the Earthian governor, ordered him back to his homeward and insisted that he bring his “security force” with him.
It happened so peacefully that I believed my entreaties to Badiah Sinclair had had some impact. What really had happened was that the Earthians were a bit embarrassed by the Simmons incident and retreated to regroup. The Imaginary Bomb incident was considered a wakeup call to prepare for a less cordial response from Earth, so the invasion of S4Y 140 was not exactly a complete surprise.
Entry 18. A call to unarmed revolution
Simmons had built a new pole building on his property, and the inspector measured the building as 2.9 meters from the property line.
“The setback’s 3 meters,” the inspector said. You’ll have to take down the building or move it.”
“Like hell,” said Jim Simmons.
“Move it or we’ll move it for you,” the inspector said.
“Like hell,” repeated Jim Simmons, this time drawing a rifle from behind the front seat of his truck. “Now get off my land.”
“It won’t be your land for long if you won’t follow the codes,” the inspector said, beating a strategic retreat.
The inspector returned with three workers prepared with the equipment necessary to raze the pole building. As soon as they stepped on his property, Jim Simmons approached them with his rifle and warned them to leave.
At this point the squad of Earth soldiers, which the inspector had brought along in case of contingency, stepped forward and shot Jim Simmons stone dead. Then they razed the building.
When word of the incident spread, the revolution was on.
No, it wasn’t about a persnickety building inspector who called in the army to back him up, although that was a symptom of a bigger problem, the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. Years of Earthian agents acting as if Sirius 4 was Earth, as if the same rules were relevant here, as if rules were needed in the first place when we had the tapestry of an entire planet to weave with, had built up a resentment and then a seething hatred of what was described as our local government but what felt like an occupation force, even though at the time the troop level was relatively low.
One might expect that armed citizens would have risen up against Jim Simmons’ killers after all that. In fact, another two years would pass before things got really violent, because the independence coalition had the good sense immediately to react to the Simmons incident not with a call to arms, but with a parliamentary move that unilaterally declared Sirius 4 an independent planet, removed the Earthian governor, ordered him back to his homeward and insisted that he bring his “security force” with him.
It happened so peacefully that I believed my entreaties to Badiah Sinclair had had some impact. What really had happened was that the Earthians were a bit embarrassed by the Simmons incident and retreated to regroup. The Imaginary Bomb incident was considered a wakeup call to prepare for a less cordial response from Earth, so the invasion of S4Y 140 was not exactly a complete surprise.
Entry 18. A call to unarmed revolution
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