During Liberty On Tour's latest stop in St. Louis, they visited the St. Louis Bread Co., which is owned by Panera Bread Co. As detailed in the video below and a blog post by Pete on the main Liberty On Tour website, this restaurant works off of a "suggested donation" model of payment. So customers ordering food are given a suggested price, but it is up to them to decide what they can and are willing to pay. In addition, they have an option to pay via "volunteer hours," whereby people can come in and volunteer to work in exchange for a voucher for free food and drinks.
The idea behind this is to ensure that people who can't afford to pay for a meal have options available to get food without having to spend money. And according to employees, this plan has been successful in accomplishing that goal. Reportedly, 85 to 90 percent of customers voluntarily pay at above the suggested price level. All profits raised above that which is required to fund the St. Louis Bread Co. itself, go toward feeding needy people and other area charities. In addition, company higher-ups have commented that they plan to open two other locations in other cities in the coming months.
Watch the video and you can't help but be impressed by what you see:
Apparently, the bad sensor issue, that cost Liberty On Tour valuable time and cash, was just a bit of foreshadowing of things to come. Recently, MARV has been experiencing a spate of mechanical problems as outlined by Pete on their latest blog post at the main Liberty On Tour site:
Last Thursday after shooting content for a couple of stories in St. Louis MARV died in an intersection. The next day we were back on the road with a new crank shaft sensor and $550 less in our budget. And at their request, we left the folks at Tom’s Truck Repair with some literature from LOT and our advertisers.
On Friday night, after a panel discussion at the Show-Me Institute and a meetup down the street, we drove 30min. and parked at Harrah’s Casino to put us closer to our next stop – Denver. But, when Adam attempted to exit MARV to play a few hands of poker while I slept we found that the door wouldn’t open. A metal piece inside the lock had sheered off. The next morning, after taking a cue from Dukes of Hazzard to enter/exit MARV, we picked up a new lock mechanism for $76 from an RV place just outside of Kansas City.
Last night, after joining a fruitful Liberty Restoration Project meeting and grabbing a bite with Brad Spangler, we hit the road – eager to put a dent in our 10hr drive. But that wasn’t in the cards. One of our rear tires blew out almost as soon as we left town. This morning we creeped a mile and a half to Dale’s Service in De Soto, KS, borrowed a 20-ton bottle jack and impact wrench and swapped out the then-mangled tire with the spare. Dale requested $3 – his cost to dispose of the tire. We offered him more (as it was a huge help) and he finally agreed to take enough to cover a meal. He agreed that government was too big and invasive.
As I write this MARV is at D & D Tire Inc. in Lawrence, KS getting two new tires (another of MARV’s rear tires, which we had gotten last year, isn’t in good shape and we have to replace the spare). We decided it’d be a good investment to get new tires. And it’d provide us with a piece of mind and keep LOT on rolling. Per the prices we were quoted I’m guessing this will be about $450.
Those of here in Vegas are hoping that talk Adam and Pete had with MARV will keep and there will be no more unscheduled stops at repair shops. We'd also like to remind everyone that they can help offset these new, unexpected expenses by donating and/or purchasing an LOT t-shirt.
LAWRENCE, KS – Uncle Sam recently took a stroll through Philadelphia where his master plan first took shape. He decided to check out some of the sites and interact with the folks in the area. Though he’s not a personable fellow and was only worried about people paying his tax, which he claims to appreciate. The question is do you appreciate him having his hand in your pocket? (read original post)
On 19 August 2010 in St Louis, The Team of Liberty On Tour Pete and Adam had the small misfortune of having their RV M.A.R.V (Mobile Authority Resistance Vehicle) brake down on their way to The Show-Me Institute where they were going to be on a panel about filming police.
Well it took them 19 hrs and 60% of their funds to get M.A.R.V up and moving again, but they did get him going, and will continue to tour the country documenting, teaching, and participating in Liberty activities.
Check out their Vid they made about the ordeal.
You can help the guys out by supporting the cause of liberty by going to their support page. Donate 25$ or more and get this awesome T-shirt
ST. LOUIS, MO – I’ve heard Tom Palmer say that libertarians (to which I’d expand to anarchists/voluntaryists) have the right ideas but we just need to become better marketers of those ideas. A few months back I watched a YouTube video about time management. Obviously the subject interested me, otherwise I wouldn’t be watching it, but admittedly it was a bit dry. So what kept me watching for almost 10 minutes? The person communicating his tips wore different animal masks while speaking. So, just when I’d be about to click away I’d wait to see what his next mask would be. And I’d continue to listen and learn.
That video had hundreds of thousands of views.
With Liberty On Tour Adam and I are trying to be experimental. We know we’ll do some things that won’t have any traction. Perhaps this is one of them. But we figure it’s worth a try. Especially because we believe these ideas are worth sharing. If it makes the rounds to those not-yet exposed to the ideas of liberty it will have been well worth it. If it doesn’t, we’ll learn and move on. But at least we’ll have tried.
ST. LOUIS, MO – Last week while Liberty On Tour was in Philadelphia we covered more FIJA activism. Which is becoming a popular form of outreach for those taking an active roll in educating folks about their rights.
While the outreach was a success the group was watched closely by up to 5 agents, presumably, from a few government agencies....(full post)
GREENFIELD, IN – Twenty-five years ago Frank Powell dropped a four-pound C4 bomb on a West Philadelphia row house, resulting in the deaths of five children and six adults associated with MOVE – a group that advocated for human and animal rights. Powell was never held accountable for his actions since he wore a piece of metal on his chest from the Philadelphia Police Department. His colleagues, who had fired 10,000 rounds into the dwelling, faced no repercussions. Nor did those who ordered the use of such aggressive violence or those from the same criminal organization that had seven years prior shot-up MOVE’s previous residence.
As the video below details, the history of the Philadelphia Police Department and MOVE underscores the harm that stems from granting others authority. If this concept is new to you and you advocate for peace and believe everyone is responsible for their actions – no matter their title or amount of metal on their uniform – I encourage you to read about private defense agencies.
Much love to our good bud George Donnelly for helping to share this story.
Below are pictures from the incident set to Leftover Crack’s “Operation M.O.V.E.”
For coverage and analysis of other related incidents, check out four videos we shot last year when on the road with Motorhome Diaries:
The location for the Las Vegas Liberty On Tour is now set. We will be meeting at the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf located at 4550 S. Maryland Pkwy., which is just across the street from the UNLV Campus at Harmon. We have the large side room, where we normally hold the Anarchist Cafe every week, reserved for the meetup. The Liberty On Tour will be in Las Vegas from Sept. 15-21st and the official meetup is scheduled for Sept. 17th from 6-8PM.
PHILADELPHIA, PA – Last Saturday when on the Foundation for Economic Education property my bud Peter “Jaws” Jaworski – one smart, hardcore dude who’s the editor of the Western Standard (Canada’s online source for libertarian news and analysis) – took a few minutes to give an overview Marc Emery’s situation. Emery, an outspoken, entrepreneurial longtime pro-freedom activist, is being threatened with five years in a cage because he engaged in activities that some bureaucrats deem “illicit”.
As I pointed out near the end of the video, there is no victim for the actions he’s accused of doing. And where there’s no victim, there’s no crime.
NEW YORK CITY, NY – After our meetup in NYC we found ourselves in Times Square where we spotted Uncle Sam being his usual asshole self – demanding money from people and trying to control their actions.
EDGEWATER, NJ – Since it’s close to impossible to park MARV in Manhattan we’ve spent some time just across the Hudson in Edgewater, NJ working from a shopping center that includes a 24hr Starbucks – the first we’ve seen. Unlike other ‘bucks we’ve worked from, the rush isn’t in the morning from commuters on their way to work but late at night when there are literally hundreds hanging out and riding around on their motorcycles and suped-up cars. Unsurprisingly, such a crowd tends to attract the police.
The footage below – captured last Thursday – shows the tactics utilized by officer #33 of the Edgewater Police Department to build rapport with the community...(full post)
NEW YORK, NY – On the first official day of Liberty On Tour Pete and I headed down to 500 Pearl St to meet up with Julian Heicklen, ‘Bile’ and Darren Wolfe for FIJA outreach. As seen in the video above it was an eventful day and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) did their job; protecting folks from gaining valuable knowledge.
It amazes me that handing out educational material can land you in a cage. Is this not the year 2010? Doesn’t everyone know that education is a great thing? How do those employed by the DHS continue to arrest Julian for such an honorable act? Do they not realize that they are going against just about every oath they swore to uphold? I bet they would think differently if they ever found themselves infront of a jury.
I encourage anyone in the New York area or anywhere for to do some FIJA outreach. Again, if handing out fliers that inform people of their rights, which wouldn’t be need if judges would do this in the court, then what will they come for next? It only takes...(full post)
EDGEWATER, NJ – The day before we officially kicked-off Liberty On Tour we had a little run-in with the local “authorities”. It wasn’t anything too big – a property owner complained that MARV was parked in his parking lot – but we thought we’d share some video from the incident in the hope that it helps communicate some pointers on how to interact with the cops.
After my arraignment in Greenfield, MA on Monday Adam and I drove to Danbury, CT, to position us a bit closer to NYC – our first of 13 stops for LOT. Unfortunately the parking lot at the Starbucks – where we were working from – wasn’t too big so we parked across the street. At one point I returned to MARV where it was quiet to record a narrative when I noticed two Danbury cops pull up. Fortunately, I had my video camera nearby...(full post)
DANBURY, CT – Pete and I are currently making our way to New York City where Liberty On Tour will officially kick off on Wednesday. Since Liberty On Tour is going to focus more on those who are on the ground I thought it would be a perfect fit to put together a little video of Keene’s Night Cap. Which is arguably the most consistent form of large number activism going on in New Hampshire at the moment.
In the video below you’ll find a few of the Night Cap’s regular attendees telling you why they enjoy night time in the square. Though cops have targeted this event it hasn’t stopped the activists from coming back night after night. Once again proving Keene is the activists capital of the world.(read original post)
GREENFIELD, MA – Adam and I are getting really excited to hit the road with Liberty On Tour. As we note in the video below, we’ve been working hard on ironing out all the logistics for the project so we can focus on the creating and sharing of good content. In addition to the online stuff and advertisers mentioned, MARV has gotten a lot of TLC to ensure he’ll easily tackle the miles ahead.
Again, if we’re heading your way or you know of stories we should cover or folks we should get looped-in with, please let us know.
We’re really excited and know this project will be a success. Many thanks to everyone who’s helped LOT take shape thus far! And to all the awesome activists in New Hampshire that’ve made the last couple of months so great, much love – we’ll see y’all again soon! (read original post)
