A Praise Idea—Your Thoughts?
by DataPacRat
datapacrat@gmail.com
Special to L. Neil Smith’s The Libertarian Enterprise
One of the basic ways we try to change others’ behaviour is through condemning some actions and praising others. There are many ways to do both—including offering awards. One of the more important actions that we libertarians would seem to find praiseworthy, is disobeying an immoral command.
How many militaries have medals awarded specifically for refusing orders?
Is there any reason that we can’t start offering our own awards for such? (For example, how hard is it to find out about actions worthy of receiving it?)
Or, maybe, we could establish a pattern, which anyone could then order from a 3D printer and give away themselves. For example, in Russell’s classic story “… And Then There Were None” is the ‘weapon’, described thus: “a small, shiny plaque … an oblong strip of substance resembling ivory. One side was polished and bare. The other bore three letters deeply engraved in bold style: F.—I.W.” As we’re not used to the initial-slang, it might be better to write it in full: ‘Freedom—I won’t!’.
Does anything of the sort sound like something worth trying?
Thank you for your time,
Addendum:
Zazzle doesn’t seem to do oblong plaques; but these might do as reasonable starts for present-day replacements:
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