by Matt Agorist, The Free Thought Project:
(Pleasure To Burn) This week, the federal government “shut down.” Even as many federal employees have been and will be furloughed and some services have been paused, the essential operations of the military, FBI, DOJ, CIA, DHS, TSA, IRS, and other federal agencies will continue. While as many as 750,000 of nearly three million federal employees may be suspended, that leaves a healthy majority of employees still working, albeit with delayed paychecks for some.
That’s far from shutting down, but as far as political and media narratives go, the shutdown is underway.
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However extensive that shutdown, the prospect of living without (or at least with less) government is trending. It is as good a time as any to explore non-governmental solutions to big problems. A common question I receive is “without government, who would help the poor?” History provides a blueprint.
One of the best examples of non-government solutions comes from the Black Panthers, the militant black power group that rose to prominence in the 1960s. The group is best known for its “radical” actions, which included open carrying firearms while monitoring police who stopped black motorists. These armed patrols were intended to diminish and discourage police brutality.
This activism helped inspire Republican lawmakers in California, where the group’s leaders were based, to institute gun control and ban open carrying in the state. When this bill came up in the legislature, the Black Panthers stormed the building, carrying their firearms to protest the law, which targeted their efforts.
While the group began primarily to focus on cop-watching and protecting black Americans from police abuse, they gravitated toward Marxism and desired more socialist policies in government. This is not a philosophy I subscribe to, and I strongly disagree with using the State to implement socialism (or anything else). However, if it’s not being forced upon me and others who don’t consent, I don’t consider it a problem.
While the Panthers did generally support a more socialist government, they took matters into their own hands on the ground and worked to address issues the system and establishment could not or would not. The Panthers are best known for their more jarring approaches of firearms and Marxism, but less known is perhaps their most daring (and effective) work: community organizing and service.
Their Community Survival programs addressed a variety of unmet needs in underserved black communities. The government wasn’t going to do it for them, so they did it themselves. Relying on the financial support of community members as well as their volunteer networks, the Panthers helped provide disadvantaged communities with everything from breakfast for school children, medical and dental care, and ambulance services to self-defense classes, legal aid, plumbing, pest control, and clothing and shoes.
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