Ross Ulbricht's sentencing hearing, for his conviction as operator of Silk Road is scheduled for May 29, 2015 at 1:30pm in a Manhattan federal courtroom.
In a letter to the Judge Judge Katherine B. Forrest, Ulbricht for the first time addresses his operation of the underground site that was fueled by Bitcoin. It appears the prosecution will seek a life sentence.
Anyone who has the nutty idea of confronting the government directly, where high risk is involved, needs to read Ulbricht's letter carefully.
-RW
Everything the government does these days appears to be a witch hunt with the biggest thought crime being the refusal to acknowledge the omniscience and benevolence of the do-gooder "progressive" Keynesian Kleptocracy. That is Ulbricht's crime and it is also the crime of those in the Middle East who refuse to conform and thankfully accept our benevolent and necessary "help". Death is too good for those non-conformists.
ReplyDeleteThat cannot be, because, of course, progressives are peaceful. By definition, anything they do cannot be violence.
DeleteHere's the scary part, Bob: Where's the outrage?
DeleteOutrage is where ever big media directs it this week.
DeleteThe really scary part is that the outrage is directed against Mr. Ulbricht.
DeleteThe reaction against Ulbricht does not only come from the government elite. It's a natural organic response from the bowels of the rabble.
DeleteAnd I hope it's ok if I do a little bragging. I'm still KING OF THE VULGAR INTERNET AUSTRIANS!
http://tinyurl.com/l7jzvqk
An incomprehensible evil colors the madness of this Kafkaesque nightmare we live in where people like Ross Ulbricht face life in prison for a victimless crime, while George W. Bush is still lauded by Iraq veterans, Christian evangelicals, and conservatives after the slaughter of over a million Iraqi's and Afghani's to boost his backers bottom line.
ReplyDeleteLife in prison. Disgusting. Land of the fee, home of the slave.
ReplyDeleteRemember to thank a veteran for these wonderful freedoms.
How does it go? We are fighting for freedom over there so we don't have to fight over here?
Yeah, don't you dare fight for freedom over here... They will bury you.
Imagine if they kidnapped the people at Ebay because their users sell bootleg or stolen products on their website.
ReplyDeletePretty disturbing. Guys like Edward Snowden and Ross Ulbrich would be welcome in a libertarian society, but not under this regime.
ReplyDeleteTrue but I don't think so-called "freedom loving" conservatives would welcome them either. Conservatives joined the Obama-left in calling Snowden a traitor who should be shot and give how they love the drug war Ulbrich is just another dealer who got what he deserved in their government bootlicking eyes.
DeleteThere are no lessons to be had from Ulbricht's letter. This letter has absolutely no legitimacy. It is the product of a forced confession extracted by torture (threat of incremental years in a cage). It is classic authoritarian theater wherein a haughty official offers leniency to the condemned if and only if he publicly recants his beliefs, self-flagellates, and bemoans the error of his ways to scare off any others who dare think to challenge the state.
ReplyDeleteThat the state would extract a letter such as this from Ulbricht is obscene. I find RW's admonishment we carefully read it as if to learn something from it distasteful and off-putting. I'm sure the judge would like us to carefully read it too. She'd like us to tremble in awe and fear of the almighty state and its laws as we witness the sickening blow-by-blow of Ulbricht's evisceration a la William Wallace.
If I didn't know better, I might think pointing to this letter as instructional was some attempt to remind us to maintain a deferential posture toward the state. Yet, that surely is the antithesis of this blog. After all, the strident articles posted here daily are certainly in word and deed "confronting the government directly" at non-negligible risk.
I don't think any libertarians need any 411 that the state is unjust and dangerous. It's no secret the state systematically moves to crush its opponents and reward its cronies. Libertarians are awesome because they recognize that but press on regardless with one path of opposition or another. Satoshi Nakamoto chose to stay anonymous but contribute state-defying technology. Ulbricht is a savvy adult who made his own informed choice of path. A person's choice varies depending on personal preference and risk/reward profile.
It is not a spirit of intimidation but instead a spirit of resistance that should be maintained. Rather than suggest Ulbricht's defeat should serve as a warning to libertarians, I suggest Ulbricht is a hero who took a profound risk attempting to advance liberty in the real world in a potentially enormous way and lost. Some may not think his chosen approach optimal. That makes him no less a martyr. He should be celebrated and thanked for his sacrifice along with Snowden, Assange, and Manning. All people who put their balls on the line in the real world. Perhaps libertarians should take over Memorial Day to become a day to memorialize, praise, and remember these modern heroes.
In reading this again, I disagree that Ross destroyed his own life.
ReplyDeleteHis action on its own didn't harm anyone, much less himself. People rarely act to harm themselves.
The State, rather individual actors employed by the State, acted to destroy his life. They didn't have too, they chose too.
Obviously we can make decisions, even non violent decisions, in our life that violent people will act against.
But we should always point this out.
His actions harmed no one, not even himself. Individual actors for the State brought this harm to him, violence they willfully chose.
They are the real criminals.