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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>> john wrote: </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>(<EM>obviously not original email
label</EM>).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Adam, n</FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>o I didn't
write that. </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>Why do people say I wrote this or
that when for people's consideration, I <EM>forward</EM> messages
or links to webpages? No, I didn't write that and although I can agree
with some of it, I don't have to agree with all of it. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Apparently the idea of moving people to live
out on the sea is inspired of the Venus Project - look
the <EM>Venus Project</EM> up in Google (or a search engine of your
choice). </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>But whether I agree that would
be a good idea or not, it wasn't the reason I posted a link to 'Bread
and Circuses'. </FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2>I do however,
think that people living in cities on the sea is a better idea
than having the world's population culled through wars, famine and disease,
as is happening through corporate greed at the moment. </FONT></DIV></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>----- Original Message ----- </FONT>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>From: "adam" <</FONT><A
href="mailto:adam@diamat.org.uk"><FONT face=Arial
size=2>adam@diamat.org.uk</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial size=2>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>To: "john" <</FONT><A
href="mailto:john@truth009.titandsl.co.uk"><FONT face=Arial
size=2>john@truth009.titandsl.co.uk</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial
size=2>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Cc: "ambiguities" <</FONT><A
href="mailto:ambiguities@yahoogroups.co.uk"><FONT face=Arial
size=2>ambiguities@yahoogroups.co.uk</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial size=2>>;
<</FONT><A href="mailto:PeaceEfforts@yahoogroups.com"><FONT face=Arial
size=2>PeaceEfforts@yahoogroups.com</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial size=2>>;
"GPC" <</FONT><A href="mailto:globalpeacecampaign@yahoogroups.com"><FONT
face=Arial size=2>globalpeacecampaign@yahoogroups.com</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial
size=2>>; "sheffield-anti-war-coalition" <</FONT><A
href="mailto:sheffield-anti-war-coalition@yahoogroups.co.uk"><FONT face=Arial
size=2>sheffield-anti-war-coalition@yahoogroups.co.uk</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial
size=2>>; "SSF" <</FONT><A href="mailto:ssf@lists.aktivix.org"><FONT
face=Arial size=2>ssf@lists.aktivix.org</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial
size=2>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sent: Wednesday, April 08, 2009 11:44
AM</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Subject: Iceland Re: [sheffield-anti-war-coalition]
Bread and circuses!</FONT></DIV></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><BR><FONT size=2></FONT></FONT></DIV><FONT face=Arial
size=2>> john wrote:<BR>> <BR>>> </FONT><A
href="http://www.strike-the-root.com/4/wasdin/wasdin10.html"><FONT face=Arial
size=2>http://www.strike-the-root.com/4/wasdin/wasdin10.html</FONT></A><BR><FONT
face=Arial size=2>> <BR>>> Space may be the final frontier, but the
ocean is the frontier that can actually be populated now, and for less money.
Living in international waters has a few distinct libertarian advantages: no
government, taxes, or stupid laws. This would help to assure that the really
nasty people (government, police, prosecutors, clergy, and god) would not want
to join us, as they would not have the thieving, oppressive police state to help
them with their plunder. <BR>> <BR>> "I must tell
you now<BR>> briefly how<BR>> these people
cognate<BR>> to our own dominant race<BR>> got to their Isle
of Refuge,<BR>> and then say<BR>> a little of the
character<BR>> of their literature,<BR>> but really only
as<BR>> a kind of introduction to the subject.<BR>> <BR>> I
have said before<BR>> that a kind of native feudalism<BR>>
developed of itself in Norway as in England:<BR>> a certain
number<BR>> of the old tribal chiefs
yielded,<BR>> generally very
sullenly,<BR>> to the claims of the
overlord,<BR>> but the bolder
spirits<BR>> could not stomach it<BR>>
and resisted King Harald Fairhair,<BR>> with whom
indeed<BR>> history in the North
begins,<BR>> with all their
might:<BR>> this resistance
culminated<BR>> in the great battle of
Hafrsfiorđ (Goat-firth)<BR>> on the Norway
coast<BR>> in which the king was
triumphant,<BR>> and the malcontent
chiefs<BR>> had to
submit<BR>> or seek their fortunes
elsewhere:<BR>>
Russia,<BR>>
Normandy,<BR>>
England,<BR>>
Ireland,<BR>> the islands of
Scotland<BR>> felt the
effects<BR>> for good and for
evil<BR>> of the emigration
which
followed:<BR>>
but where the
Norsemen<BR>>
settled
themselves<BR>>
amongst important
populations<BR>>
whom their desperate courage had
overcome,<BR>>
as notably in
Normandy,<BR>>
they gradually
mingled<BR>>
with the native
population<BR>>
and soon lost their language and traditions.<BR>> <BR>>
<BR>> With the settlers in Iceland<BR>> it was
different:<BR>> the land was
uninhabited,<BR>> they brought with
them<BR>> their tribal customs and
traditions<BR>> and kept them for
long<BR>> together with their
language:<BR>> this of
course<BR>> was the
deliberate intention<BR>> of
the
emigrants:<BR>>
the chief who fled
before<BR>>
'kings and
scoundrels'<BR>>
as we are
told<BR>>
the pillars of his
high-seat<BR>>
on which
Thor,<BR>>
the favourite God of the North was
carved,<BR>>
and when they neared the
land<BR>>
threw them
overboard<BR>>
for the wind and tide to
carry:<BR>>
then when he
landed<BR>>
the chief went along the
coast<BR>>
till he found the
spot<BR>>
'where Thor was come aland'.<BR>> <BR>> <BR>> And there
once more<BR>> the home was founded,<BR>> the
chief claiming the land he needed<BR>> by going around it with
fire:<BR>> of
course<BR>> many adventurers came
out<BR>> who had so such
pretensions<BR>> to leadership as
these<BR>> besides the freemen and
freedmen<BR>> who went out with the
chief<BR>> and his
thralls<BR>> many of whom he
freed<BR>> and gave land
to<BR>> on his coming to the new
country;<BR>> all these
would form<BR>> a kind
of following to the
chief,<BR>> who
presently on
settling<BR>> formed a
priesthood<BR>> as it
was called<BR>> and
undertook the necessary religious
rites<BR>> and the care
and guardianship of the
thingstead,<BR>> the
place of meeting,<BR>>
over which he
presided,<BR>> and
which<BR>> was
what<BR>> would now be
called<BR>> the seat of
government,<BR>> the
parliament,<BR>> and
the law court of the
district:<BR>>
there about the middle of
June<BR>>
all the freemen of the district
met,<BR>>
and quarrels were
prosecuted<BR>>
or arranged, fines
imposed,<BR>>
and offenses taken note
of<BR>>
and dealt
with,<BR>>
all in the open
air;<BR>>
no court being
allowed<BR>>
to be held within
doors<BR>>
or on cultivated
ground<BR>>
(ne en akri nč engi).<BR>> <BR>> <BR>> All this sounds very
systematic and orderly;<BR>> and indeed
in many of the sagas,<BR>> whereof more
hereafter,<BR>> there is a great
deal<BR>> of law-quibbling of
course<BR>> always founded on custom and
precedent.<BR>> <BR>> <BR>> ... I may
finish<BR>> by saying a word<BR>> on
the present condition of
Iceland:<BR>> they have suffered
very much there<BR>> from bad
seasons of
late:<BR>>
but I cannot help
thinking<BR>>
that in spite of
that<BR>>
they could live there very
comfortably<BR>>
if they were to extinguish individualism
there:<BR>>
the simplest possible
form<BR>>
of co-operative
commonwealth<BR>>
would suit their
needs,<BR>>
and ought not to be hard to
establish;<BR>>
as there is no crime
there,<BR>>
and no criminal
class<BR>>
or class of
degradation<BR>>
and education is
universal:<BR>>
and unless by some special
perversity<BR>>
should the question of politics stand in the way: <BR>>
<BR>>
the only
persons<BR>>
who would be losers by
it<BR>>
would be the present
exploiters<BR>>
of this brave and kind
people:<BR>>
and if these men were all shipped off to
--<BR>>
well to Davy
Jones,<BR>>
there would be many a dry
eye<BR>>
at their departure.<BR>> <BR>> I speak of
this<BR>> from the sincere
affection<BR>> I have for the Icelandic
people<BR>> who treated me so kindly when I was among
them,<BR>> and who are the
descendants,<BR>> and no unworthy
ones,<BR>> of the bravest men<BR>> and
the best tale-tellers<BR>> whom the world has ever
bred."<BR>> <BR>> <BR>> One thing you must remember
however,<BR>> that though our present Society<BR>>
is founded on a state of things<BR>> very like
this,<BR>> this state of things was really<BR>> so
very different from ours<BR>> in spite of our
using<BR>> the same words as our forefathers,<BR>>
that many people find it<BR>> a difficulty even in conceiving of
it.<BR>> <BR>> Political society<BR>> was not
yet founded;<BR>> personal relations between
men<BR>> were what was
considered<BR>> and not
territorial:<BR>> when a
priest or chief<BR>> moved as
sometimes happened,<BR>> many
of his thing-men accompanied
him,<BR>> there was no
political territorial
unit<BR>> to which loyalty
was exacted.<BR>> <BR>> <BR>> --<BR>> </FONT><A
href="http://www.marxists.org/archive/morris/works/1887/iceland.htm"><FONT
face=Arial
size=2>http://www.marxists.org/archive/morris/works/1887/iceland.htm</FONT></A><BR><FONT
face=Arial size=2>> The Early Literature of the North -
Iceland</FONT></BODY></HTML>