"The evils of anarchy
have been portrayed with all the imagery of language in the
growing colors
of eloquence; the affrighted mind is thence led to clasp the new
Constitution
as the instrument of deliverance, as the only avenue to safety and
happiness. To avoid the
possible and transitory evils of one extreme, it is seduced into
the certain
and permanent misery necessarily attendant on the other."A state of anarchy
from its very nature can never be of long continuance; the greater ts violence
the shorter the duration. Order and security are immediately sought by
the distracted people beneath the shelter of equal laws and the salutary
restraints of regular government; and if this be not attainable, absolute
power is assumed by the one, or a few, who shall be the most enterprising
and successful. If anarchy, therefore, were the inevitable consequence
of rejecting the new Constitution, it would be infinitely better to incur
it, for even then there would be at least the chance of a good government
rising out of licentiousness. But to rush at once into despotism because
there is a bare possibility of anarchy ensuing from the rejection, or from
what is yet more visionary, the small delay that would be occasioned by
a revision and correction of the proposed system of government is so superlatively
weak, so fatally blind, that it is astonishing any person of common understanding
should suffer such an imposition ... "... The source of the apprehensions
of this so much dreaded anarchy would upon investigation be found to arise
from the artful suggestions of designing men, and not from a rational probability
grounded on the actual state of affairs. The least reflection is sufficient
to detect the fallacy to show that there is no one circumstance to justify
the prediction of such an event. On the contrary a short time will evince,
to the utter dismay and confusion of the conspirators, that a perseverance
in cramming down their scheme of power upon the freemen of this State [Pennsylvania]
will inevitably produce an anarchy destructive of their darling domination,
and may kindle flames prejudicial to their safety. They should be cautious
not to trespass too far on the forbearance of freemen when wresting their
dearest concerns, but prudently retreat from the gathering storm."The
other specter that has been raised to terrify and alarm the people out
of th exercise of their judgment on this great occasion, is the dread of
our splitting into separate confederacies or republics, that might become
rival powers and consequently liable to mutual wars from the usual motives
of contention. This is an event still more improbable than the foregoing.
It is a presumption unwarranted, either by the situatio of affairs, or
the sentiments of the people; no disposition leading to it exists; the
advocates of the new constitution seem to view such a separation with horror,
and its opponents are strenuously contending for a confederation that shall
embrace all America under its comprehensive and salutary protection. This
hobgoblin appears to have sprung from the deranged brain of Publius,
[The Federalist Papers] a New York writer ..."... I congratulate
my fellow citizens that a good government, the greatest earthly blessing,
may be so easily obtained, that our circumstances are so favorable, that
nothing but the folly of the conspirators can produce anarchy or civil
war, which would presently terminate in their destruction and the permanent
harmony of the state, alone interrupted by their ambitious machinations.
1st Amendment
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,
or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom
of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people to peaceably assemble,
and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Below are two separate cases that had their origin
in the same arbitrary decisions made under color of law by agreement between,
Allen Scott, the Town Supervisor of Bethel, New York, Steven Lungen, the
District Attorney for Sullivan County, New York, and Major Alan Martin,
Troop F, New York State Police, to deprive the public of their substantive
natural right to freely assemble on the unfenced, undeveloped and unposted
"1969 Woodstock Festival Site" as they had been doing continuously, openly
and exclusively for over 20 years without interruption from 3 consecutive
owners.
June 16, 1998, in Monticello, New York, Roy Howard and
his wife, Jeryl Abramson, were found not guilty of contempt
of court charges filed by the Town of Bethel when they failed to prevent
thousands of people from gathering on their property last August to celebrate
the 28th Anniversary of the Woodstock Festival in Bethel, Sullivan County,
New York.
It was the second year that Roy Howard had hosted
the annual event on his property, the former homestead of the late
Max Yasgur, due to the fact that people were being prevented by state police
from gathering on the original Woodstock site about a mile away at the
request of District Attorney Steven Lungen.
July 30, 1997 The town of Bethel filed a complaint
in the State Supreme Court against Mr. Howard and his wife and got a temporary
restraining order to prevent their scheduled festival because they had
failed to get the proper permits. When people gathered on Howard's property
the town charged Howard with contempt of court.
In his decision, made immediately after the two
lawyers rested their case, State Supreme Court Judge Torraca from Kingston,
New York, said that his reason for finding Roy Howard and his wife not
guilty was based on the fact that Mr. Howard had done everything he could
to comply with the restraining order. Justice Torraca further stated
that Mr. Howard had his lawyer write a letter to the local police, the
Sherriff's department, and the State Police, requesting their assistance
in keeping people off of his property during the anniversary weekend.
And that the letter was responded to by Sullivan County District Attorney,
Stephen Lungen, in which he stated that the police were not responsible
for keeping people off Howard's property. Judge Torraca further
stated that he saw that a double standard was applied when state police
were readily available to block roads to the original Woodstock site but
were not provided to help Mr. Howard keep people off his property.
In earlier testimony, Bethel town supervisor, Allen
Scott, when asked by attorney for the defendants, Michael Sussman, why
he did not call the police to enforce the temporary restraining order,
stated that he deliberately decided not to call the police because he believed
that a dangerous situation would have been created if the police tried
to remove people from Roy Howard's property.
Thursday June 11th, 1998, the case against Ira Cohen, the Sullivan County Attorney, was dismissed.
Times Herald Record report on Friday:
"Thompson Town Court Judge Perry E. Meltzer dismissed
two separate violations against Cohen within twenty minutes. The charges
were filed last August by a state police trooper who said Cohen blocked
traffic and ignored orders when he stopped his car in front of the Woodstock
site at Hurd and West Shore Roads.
He had been charged with disorderly conduct, a violation,
and stopping, standing or parking outside a business or residential district,
a vehicular violation.
Cohen did not testify during the two hour trial,
nor did his lawyer call any witnesses to the stand.
In his decision Meltzer said the prosecution, led
by Assistant District Attorney Joey Drillings, failed to prove the incident
took place outside a business or residential area and show Cohen intended
to cause inconvenience or create a public risk with his behavior."
Account by eye wittness Abigail Storm:
On the Woodstock Anniversary weekend of August 15th,
1997, Ira Cohen was arrested by New York State Police at the corner of
West Shore and Hurd roads at the Woodstock site, and charged with stopping
on the pavement, and disorderly conduct.
The confrontation with police began when Ira Cohen
stopped at a stop sign and began to talk to Abigail Storm, Daniel Eggink,
and Jewel Eggink who were holding a vigil on the corner to observe the
behavior of the police toward citizens entering the area to visit the historic
site. Cohen was dragged out of his car and handcuffed, then held
in the back of a Trooper's car for an hour, before the handcuffs were removed.
Thursday April 23,1998
4th Amendment
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers,
and effects, against
unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated; and no warrants
shall issue, but upon
probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly
describing the place to be
searched and the persons or things to be seized.
6th Amendment
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to
a speedy and public trial, by an
impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall ha
ve been committed, which district
shall have been previously ascertained by law; and to be informed of
the nature and cause of the
accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have
compulsory process for
obtaining witnesses in his favor; and to have the assistance of counsel
for his defence.
reintegration: the disciplinary regime of the rehabilitation
institutions
The
combatant nations had various approaches to the problem of the soldiers'
rehabilitation. Asnoted
above, some nations instituted a mandatory rehabilitation period while
others made the periodvoluntary,
even costly; similarly, some rehabilitation centers were under military
control, and someunder
private or public civilian administration. Nevertheless, these institutions,
both American andEuropean,
followed certain common procedures. In particular, these institutions always
made clearthe
close connection between basic physical rehabilitation and vocational re-education;
and, just asimportant,
the heavy emphasis on discipline was rarely lifted.Maimed
soldiers were always subjected to a strict corporeal discipline. Drills
of one kind or anotherformed
the basis of almost all rehabilitation. In Germany, for example,The
plan is that a man shall begin very simple but systematic physical exercises
even beforehe
is out of bed. These are gradually increased until finally he has two or
three hours a dayunder
a regular gymnasium instructor.... Games and outdoor sports are found to
have animmense
therapeutic value, both psychological and physical, as compared withmedico-mechanical
treatment.[49]From
the beginning, the maimed soldier was encouraged, even ordered, to subject
his body torigorous
discipline. The same was true in the English-speaking world. William Seaman
Bainbridge,an
American military doctor, writes,Experience
in England and elsewhere has already shown that it is unwise to leave [thesoldier's]
re-education to the time after the wounds have entirely healed and the
patient isready
to leave the hospital. Habits conducive to permanent helplessness and reliance
onothers,
difficult of eradication, have then been formed, and the self-assertion
and energy of aman
who has once resigned himself in despair to what he deems his lot as a
war cripple, arenot
easily aroused for the overcoming of his infirmities.[50]When
doctors mistakenly waited for bones to knit and flesh to heal, they unwittingly
subjected thepatient
to moral and physical dangers; the patient's will deteriorated, and with
it the muscular tonus of
the
affected regions. The only remedy for this "insidious deterioration" was
"functional reeducation
through
the medium of work."[51] The
curative properties of work were well-nigh miraculous. If begun early enough,
a supervised
regime
of labor both "[kept] the man's will power at a high level" and "[hastened]
consolidation in
severe
fractures...with the result that the patients [could] be equipped proportionately
sooner...."[52]
This
combination of effects was sufficient to avert "a permanent loss in working
capacity." This emphasis
was present transnationally, with French, German, and English institutions
following similarprograms.[53]
Manual labor in special workshops was an almost universal feature of even
the veryearliest
stages of functional re-education:In
manual labor, the wounded man moves continually and almost unconsciously
his injuredlimbs,
thus assuring good circulation, preventing atrophy, and contributing to
as complete arecovery
as is possible for him.[54]In
the eyes of the reformers, physical recovery was next-to-impossible without
labor - only workcould
preserve body and soul from the decay which injury threatened.[55] But
work could betransformative
as well as preservative. In later stages of rehabilitation, work would
literally transformthe
soldier into a civilian.Once
the initial phase of functional re-education was complete, the maimed soldier
was sent to aninstitution
for 'vocational re-education,' often in a new location. The purpose of
the vocationalschools
was to train the maimed to be self-sufficient in the new economies rising
on the ashes of thewar.
A profession would be assigned on the basis of the degree and type of injury,
and the period ofapprenticeship
would begin. Here the drill continued: as in re-education, and indeed in
his former lifeas
a soldier, the maimed would be subject to constant supervision and discipline.
Without this
supervision,
vocational re-education could not be completed, for "sometimes the realization
of the difficulties
to be overcome brings tears to the eyes of the poor soldiers, and if they
were let alone,
they
would in their despair cease their efforts."[56] But, like the soldier-males
they were, these maimed
individuals came to take pleasure in control over their new bodies, and
the prostheticapparatuses
which attach to them. The training was often so complete that after apprenticeship
the
maimed
could earn "a normal wage."
This
endeavor was seen to be crucial to the success of the new nations: "The
wealth of the Nation no
less
than the welfare of the individual demands [vocational rehabilitation.]"[57]
The Belgian school at
Port
Villez, France, had as its motto, "a place for everything, and everything
in its place." This sentiment
was extended to include the soldiers (now, truly, workers) themselves.
Their training wascoordinated
with government projections concerning skills which would be required in
the post-waryears;
in rebuilding the worker, the rehabilitators were making (or trying to
make?) a new,scientifically
organized society.rehabilitation
and fascismWhat
I hope to have established is the plausibility of certain assertions. I
claim that the rehabilitationeffort
was a purposefully designed attempt to shape the subjectivity of a class
of individuals. In thisattempt,
political and economic aims were translated into medical-technological
regimens, protocols,and
devices. Moreover, the political aims themselves came to be framed in terms
of the localpractices
in which the reformers were engaged - so that Amar, for example, framed
his political fearsabout
social disintegration in terms of his scientific ideas and practices. Physiological
theories andself-registering
machines, themselves imbued with a politics by virtue of their rhetorical
mobilization inthe
political realm, became constitutive of that very politics. The narrow
historical and topical focustaken
here renders visible the mutual dependence of capillary and (to extend
the metaphor) arterialstructures
of power.[58]The
activity of rehabilitation was in keeping with a general activity of reconstruction
andconsolidation.
As the Great War drew to a close, progressivists of all descriptions formulated
plansfor
the rational rebuilding of society, plans involving centralization, industrialization,
and therealignment
of interest between workers and capitalists. In other circles, artists
and intellectualslooked
to the machine as a redemptive tool for the creation of 'new men' - strong,
daring men whounderstood
that the membrane between spirit and mechanism was a permeable one. These
membersof
the intelligentsia - Futurists in Italy, Dadaists in the French-speaking
world, and unallied
intellectuals
like Ernst Jünger in Germany - often looked to the soldier of the
Great War as a precursor
to their 'new man.' Courageous, swift death machines, these soldiers led
the way towardsa
stronger (more masculine) future.Rehabilitation
stood at the juncture of these two reconstructive projects, and joined
them. The newsociety
would be a martial society - one formed around the same principles of training
as the army.The
new man would be a worker, integrated into the rationalized economies that
were to come.Everywhere,
the distinctions between mechanical, physical, social would be blurred.
The body wasmachine,
but disciplined by will; the will was corporeal, but influenced by training;
discipline was inthe
interest of the maimed, but also that of the social order; and so on. An
apparently seamless webbound
together the spiritual, physical, and social worlds, and fused them.
It took less than a decade for this visionary union to turn terrifying.
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