Goddard's Law

From Free Talk Live

Goddard's Law is an adage about talking to members of the Free State Project. The law states:

As a discussion with a Free Stater grows longer, the probability of them using the phrase "may your chains rest lightly upon you" approaches one.

Namesake

Goddard's Law is named for Denis Goddard who has nothing to do with it other than being a Free State Project member, using the phrase "may your chains rest lightly upon you", and having a name similar to Mike Godwin, Wikimedia's general counsel and formulator of the similar Godwin's Law.

Origin

"May your chains rest lightly upon you" is an excerpt from a longer quote attributed to militant US revolutionary figure Samuel Adams:

"If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your counsel nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were ever our countrymen.” — Samuel Adams

Goddard first saw the phrase when it was used in a post by Russel Kanning on the Free State Project Forum.

Usage

The use of the phrase "may your chains rest lightly upon you" by a Free Stater is always accompanied by a discussion of that Free Stater's favorite brand of activism (or of the Free State Project itself). "May your chains rest lightly upon you" will be invoked when three conditions are met:

1) the Free Stater has failed to defend his or her position;
2) the Free Stater has exhausted his or her arguments; and,
3) the Free Stater wishes to cut off further discussion rather than admit his or her logical fallacies.

Additionally, a Free Stater may invoke "may your chains rest lightly upon you" in lieu of entering a discussion.