Hunger strikes, which I have written about before, are perhaps the ultimate non-violent tool a powerless victim has. In essence, it turns the table on the oppressor because it removes the threat of further oppression being carried out. There is simply not much you can do to hurt a person starving themselves to death.
Historically hunger strikes have been most effective when the person being oppressed is a victim of government injustice, especially when that government purports to be a just one.
Famous examples of hunger strikes where people died are the British and American suffragette movements as well as the Indian independence movement. Hunger strikes have been particularity popular in Ireland where there is a long history of hunger strikes going back to ancient times. According to David Beresford, author of Ten Men Dead, “Troscadh” or “Cealachan” was a hunger strike on the door step of an offender. Allowing a person to die on your door step was considered to be shameful for the offender. Hunger strikers fasted in an attempt to receive payment for a debt or in protest for a perceived wrong.
I am of Irish heritage.
A hunger strikes is also far more effective than suicide which is an "easy and quick" and usually ineffective protest. A hunger strike is a slow, painful and publicly visible protest. It is methodical. If the protest is just, it is embarrassing to the oppressor. Not giving in to just demands is considered by most to be the moral equivalent of murder. The cause of a suicide, on the other hand, can be explained away as the person is gone and cannot refute it. You can say the person was unstable or regretful or heartbroken. You can make up anything you want. In addition, suicides are so common we have become desensitized to them. In 2014 there were 42,773 suicides in the United States. The murder rate was "only" 14,249. It is very hard to determine exactly how many of these suicides were precipitated by injustice and criminal actions in the legal system but clearly it is many every day. Furthermore, this doesn't even count those whose lives have been so devastated that they end up dying through neglect of health and safety.
A "what if" has been going through my mind lately.
What if I petitioned the court for the immediate end of alimony payments. What if I stated that if alimony is not immediately ended then at some point, probably when the kids are done with school and launched on their own, I will quite my job and go on a very public hunger strike.
The hunger strike could not be an idle threat. I would not go on it with the full intent to be on it until death.
I realize how difficult hunger strikes are. I have had a few colonoscopies (I started early as my mother had colon cancer) so I know what it is like to go a few days without food. I have also on own gone on quite a few one or two day fasts or drastic reductions in food just to see how I handle it. I have done a large amount of research on hunger strikes.
The court might deny my initial request and then when I go on a hunger strike order an end to alimony. However, because I would need to quit my job to go on a hunger strike and likely become unemployable after, my demands once a hunger strike started would be greater than before. It would not just be an end to alimony but would include the return of funds lost due to criminal action and prosecution against those who have clearly committed crimes - a large number of people and organizations.
I am not naturally a publicity seeking person. However, to make a hunger strike effective I would have to go full in on both social and traditional media. This would include things such as daily YouTube videos. I would also seek to involve legal organization such as the ACLU. Hopefully, this would generate widespread national and international attention but even if it didn't, I would die knowing that my death could well be the spark that gets the fire going. Hope is the ground all those who see justice stand upon.
Once the hunger strike started I would publicly name the names of the guilty with the exception of my ex-wife Spring. I would not name her to protect the children. Also, I believe Spring is in many ways quite proud of the fact that she was able to criminally take so much money from me. Virtually all criminals think stealing proves they are smarter than the victim.
In many ways a hunger strike would be liberating. A part of me feels guilty because I have to an extent allowed myself to be a victim. Every day I work for the benefit of criminals. I have been reluctant to go public and name names because I know I would be sued. And given my experience with corruption in the legal system, I would very likely just be further victimized. Sure, I have this site, have written to law enforcement including the FBI, talked to many lawyers including law school professors, contacted the media and lawmakers but the injustice continues. Maybe I need to step it up.
Many people would say he worst thing you can do is threaten the court. My response is that I am in the right. I have done nothing wrong. I have been unjustly treated by the legal system. Besides I do not view explaining the consequences of refusing to end further injustice as a threat to anyone other than the unethical and criminal.
I am not a big believer in fate; however, I do believe that everyone has an obligation to act morally in whatever situation life puts them in. In Germany during the mid-1930s it was very unpopular to defend Jews. But some did and many who did died for doing so. Today it may be unpopular to protest injustice in the court system. If it takes my death to highlight just how bad it is then that would be a worthwhile death.
I realize just how devastating my death from going on a hunger strike would be for my children and the girl I have been with for the last six years or so. However, what kind of person would I be to not do everything I can to fight injustice? Especially when the injustice is so damaging to so many. Living a moral life is not always easy but it is better than not doing so.
Keep in mind that injustice in the court system is not just in family court. It isn't like the judges and lawyers who commit crimes in family court are not also involved in cases outside of family court. In addition, like a metastasizing cancer, they infect others in the legal system who learn that criminal activity can be quite rewarding.
The people and entities I have absolute evidence of criminal activity against are Spring's lawyer Nelly Wince, the Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board and the County Attorney's office. Spring committed perjury but in a way that is deniable. My lawyers lied to me but it is their word against mine. Judge Mearly committed immoral actions but unfortunately Minnesota law allows judges to do so without consequence.
Just to be clear I am not a person who wants to die. I love life. I could live a thousand lives and not accomplish the things I want to that I could list out right now. But one of the most important things in life is that you cannot just live for yourself. You have to help others. I have always tried to do that. Now that I have personal experience, knowledge and evidence of injustice and crimes that cause devastation and death for thousands of people every year, how can I not do all in my power to change that?
As I say this is a "what if" idea but even just thinking about it is quite liberating. Because it gives me an option. As my other options evaporate this one may well end up being the best or even only one left.