Four boxes
The four boxes expression describes how democracy, liberty and human rights are best defended through the utilization of:
- soap box (free and open debate/advocacy),
- the ballot box (the right of people to not be governed except by consent),
- the jury box (the power jury nullification over machinations of the state), and
- the ammo box (armed revolution as a last resort).
The axiom also includes an admonition that the four should only be used in the order presented.
Use first.
Second.
Step 3.
For use only as a last resort.
Note from Ed Howdershelt:
- "There are four boxes to be used in defense of liberty: Soap, Ballot, Jury, and Ammo."
- I spoke those words in February, 1971, at a student protest rally at University of Texas Arlington.
- Some guy standing on a short wall around some shrubbery spouted anti-war and revolutionary crap and tried to convince the crowd to take over one of the buildings. I said that wasn't the best course of action, but that wasn't what anyone wanted to hear and some knew I was a recent Army veteran.
- Some of the crowd called me a 'fascist baby burning pig' and shouted down everything else I tried to say. I left the area when they began throwing things.
- They didn't take over the building that day, but some time later they did. Cops came and students were arrested and expelled. The building was trashed, though not seriously damaged. It was discovered that the ringleaders weren't even UTA students.
Variations
In their use of the concept, some people have added a fifth box to Howdershelt's original four. The additional box is either the moving box (move away from oppression) or the mail box (write to elected officials). Some believe that the moving box is not a good addition, however, since it doesn't defend liberty per se, it just removes the individual from an oppressive situation without changing the root cause. Some also believe that the mail box could be considered part of the soap box.
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