Date: Sat, 2 Nov 2002 23:38:55 -0700
From: vote4nobody@juno.com (Nobody Graham)
Subject: Fw: Answering voters' questions
To: LPC-MISC@dehnbase.org, lpoc-echo@lpoc.org, LPC-CAMP@dehnbase.org, sdlp@sdlp.org
Cc: rboddie@earthlink.net, ankhotep@webtv.net


Friends & Allies,

Thank you for all the off-list positive responses to my example of a
voter-friendly candidate response to questions. However, I also got
interesting comments regarding the tag line. Here they are, followed by
my reasoning.

>>Libertarians believe that nobody should terrorize you and 

>>rip you off, especially our government.

>>

>>JR "Nobody" Graham

>>Nobody 4 Taxman Crusade

>

>What an unfortunately wording of your last sentence, given 

>your answer to her question about your nickname.  =:O


and,

>JR, that was a clever and well-written letter until the last line:

>"...nobody should terrorize you and rip you off...".

>

>That doesn't sound like nobody I know.


Thank you. These reactions are expected. The context switches on
"Nobody/nobody" are intentional. Like many words, "nobody" has a
different meaning in the lower case (a common pronoun) than in the upper
case (a proper noun). Similarly "That guy, Wilson..." means something
entirely different than "That Guy Wilson..." and "Oh that dick, Boddie!"
is a completely different statement than "Oh, that Dick Boddie!"
Likewise, what "Nobody" would do to you, and what "nobody" should do to
you, are entirely different subjects.

Because I am a principled libertarian, I decided to do something about it
and became an activist Libertarian. Little-l and Big-L cause different
meanings. Capitalization and context do matter. Context switching can add
humor and cause people to think.

For instance, find the context switches in the following paragraph.

Nobody cares about liberty. Nobody can fix what's wrong with government.
Nobody can end the two-party monopoly. Nobody can stand up against
corruption. Nobody can stop state terrorism, and nobody should terrorize
you... So, vote for Nobody, because nobody else can set you free. 

The first 5 "Nobody"s are ambiguous; they could have either meaning
because they are capitalized yet they begin a sentence so *must* be
capitalized either way. The 6th "nobody" is the common pronoun. The 7th
"Nobody" means me. And the final "nobody" is another pronoun. 

Somebody once asked me, "Are you a big-hell libertarian or a little-hell
libertarian?"

I'm a hell-of-a Libertarian, what are you?

JR "Nobody" Graham

--------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Nobody Graham <vote4nobody@juno.com>
To: LPC-MISC@dehnbase.org,lpoc-echo@lpoc.org,LPC-CAMP@dehnbase.org,
         sdlp@sdlp.org
Date: Fri, 1 Nov 2002 22:56:34 -0700
Subject: Answering voters' questions

Next is an actual e-mail from a real voter in my district. Below that is
my actual response to her. Her name has been changed to protect her
privacy.
=====
Hello Mr. Graham,

I am filling out my ballot right now, and have a couple of questions for
you.

If you are so down on government, then why are you running for office?
(George W. Bush also made anti-government statements before he installed
himself into the Presidency, and look at the havoc he has wrought.)  

I believe we, the people, are the government, but we're in very sad shape
right now.

Rather than throwing the baby out with the bathwater, we need to shift
our focus to social concerns rather than power and greed.

Also, why do you refer to yourself as "Nobody?"  It seems
self-disparaging to me.

Ms. VoterWithQuestions
=====
Hello Ms. VoterWithQuestions,

Thank you for writing and asking me such good questions.

My nickname "Nobody" has a long history and is in no way disparaging to
me. After all, "Nobody's perfect" is a well-known saying. Car lots and
furniture stores have huge lettering on their windows saying, "Nobody has
better deals!" Even the Union/Tribune puts huge headlines in the paper
that say, "Nobody covers the news better." With publicity like that,
"Nobody" is a great nickname.

I believe that government should do no harm. I have seen the tremendous
harm that government does to ordinary people. While pretending to help
them, it actually hurts them much more than it helps. The areas where
government has involved itself with "social concerns" are among the worst
messes. There are hundreds of thousands of ordinary Americans in prison
because of the "social concern" of drug use. There are millions of
Americans tied to the welfare system because of the "social concern" of
poverty. There are millions of American children getting brainwashed
instead of educated because of the "social concern" of illiteracy, while
the illiteracy rate skyrockets due to government monopoly of education.
The reality is that when it comes to government, "social concern" is only
an excuse to feed political greed with power.

The only way to stop government from harming people is to reduce its
power.

Government is not a baby. It is a hideous monster. If I could I would
throw it out, but since that is impossible, I work very hard to reduce
the damage it can do to people. Tha means reducing taxes and other
government theft. Reduce governments' power to persecute peaceful people,
fine them and imprison them.

I looked around at all the horrible things that governments are doing in
our society and started telling people that something should be done
about it.

"Nobody can fix it," they replied. "Nobody really cares. Nobody can stop
the corruption, balance the budget, and make government agencies abide by
the Constitutions. Nobody can end the drug wars. Nobody can make a
difference..."

So, how could I not try? Running for office gives me the opportunity to
tell people what is wrong with government and how to fix it. Running as a
Libertarian lets people know that I'm serious about changes, not just
talking change (like Bush) in order to grab the power.

Libertarian is the only political party that has its candidates and
members sign a pledge. It says: "I hereby certify that I do not believe
in or advocate the initiation of force as a means of achieving political
or social goals." All the other parties and their politicians are
committed to using force to get what they want.

Libertarians believe that nobody should terrorize you and rip you off,
especially our government.

JR "Nobody" Graham
Nobody 4 Taxman Crusade

.


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