Beginning a voluntary society: Where is your Freedom? pt 2

In one of my last articles I began to talk about separating ourselves from the system of control or the “status quo” and that to experience true freedom we must first become self-sufficient and end our dependency on this system. I want to expand on those thoughts with more detail on how to achieve this kind of freedom.

One of the first things that must be addressed is coming to the realization that in fact there is a problem with too much control in your life. I liken this to addressing a drinking problem with an alcoholic. The first step to resolving the problem is to admit that there is a problem. Once you come to realize that there is a problem then everyday your eyes will open more to see the truth all around you. You will quickly know that you are not a slave to the system and that the state has no assumed authority over you.

A quick example is just the other day my wife and I were talking about renewing the license for her vehicle. She began to get upset as she thought of all the taxes forced upon us just to drive our own vehicle. Driver’s license, vehicle license, vehicle inspection, sales tax, personal property tax, gas tax, etc. The more she talked about it the more upset she became. Instead of trying to calm her down I told her she was right to be mad, that it was good for her to feel that anger because of what they are taking from us by force. This is what needs to happen to everyone. Wake up and realize how enslaved you are and begin to get mad about it. Get mad enough to walk away from that system and not take it anymore.

Now I can assume that maybe you have already begun this journey of realizing the great lack of need for government in your life or you probably wouldn’t be reading this. You probably already realize we are being suffocated by this system of control. The solution can be very simple as I talked about in Where is your Freedom?, just live without the system. Secede from that control. Make it such an insignificant part of your life that you begin to forget it’s even there. This may sound crazy or too simplistic but it can work and the reality is that’s it the only option we have left. Building our own sub-culture or alternative society can in fact lead to a revolution and a new beginning. This is the mechanism needed to bring about our freedom and the dissolution of this system of control. Let me show you how this can work.

Moving to a voluntary society through cultural secession can work and has a history of working. We must become self-reliant and end our need for the system. To begin this process we must start creating alternative economies and building new voluntary communities whether they are geographically local or connected through networks many miles apart. This is the foundation for a peaceful revolution and the only viable way to bring about freedom and a society without rulers. This has been done before with various levels of success and although nothing is certain, with the advances in technology and communication along with a greater understanding of past mistakes, we have a chance to create something greater than has ever been known.

Steven W. Sowards, Ph.D., from Michigan State University has written extensively on the fall of communism in Russia and the eastern bloc countries. Not only has he written about how communism fell but what lead up to that fall and this is what is so important. In Dr. Sowards lecture, The failure of Balkan Communism and the causes of the Revolutions of 1989, he talks extensively on how the eastern bloc countries created alternative societies and private second economies. He points to one of the causes leading up to the revolutions and the eventual fall of the Soviet Union was “the rise in alternatives to communism”. The failing Soviet economy and increase in national debt from over spending on the Cold War were of course major factors in the fall but the independence of the states and the people fueled this fall most certainly. The revolutions in Eastern Europe of course lead to those states gaining their independence from Soviet control and a chance for each country to build something new and better. Now of course not all of the revolutions were peaceful, although some were, and not all lead to a better situation for everyone but what we can do is learn from this part of history. What we can learn is that in fact people do have great power and when we simply opt out of the system and peacefully transact with others it can bleed the state dry and lead to a revolution of liberty and a society of voluntaryism.

The current social structure in America and in most of the world has developed to be nothing more than a huge welfare dependent system. Whether you receive a check or not our society has become satisfied and even desires to be nothing more than a slave or a commodity to the system. Our greatest fears are living without it and not having the safety net it purposes to provide. We mock and shun the idea of living without this system and to be free to grow and create on our own. Government did not create this monster, we did. We wanted something for nothing and believed the lie that the state could provide that. Would you believe that if over that last 100 years we had continued to be a self-reliant people and looked to ourselves and each other to solve our problems that the state would have grown to the size it is now? Most certainly not. This devouring growth is from us accepting the idea that someone else knew what was best for us and could do it better and that to accomplish that it was acceptable to take from us by force for the greater good of the state. We have paid a very high price for that, loss of liberty, independence, ingenuity, community awareness and true charity.

Do you now agree we need a change? Do you see that seceding from the system is where we need to begin? The question now is how? Well there isn’t any one answer to that question. What it will take is each of us finding our own way to break the chains of bondage. This will not happen overnight and each will do so at his own speed. What is necessary though is a conscious daily effort to live freely and interact with other free people without the states involvement.

To do this we must first create a counter economy. This is something many have been doing already. Samuel E Konkin III defined counter economics as “the study and/or practice of all peaceful human action which is forbidden by the State”. Some refer to this as a grey market or a market circumventing state control and influence which is the simplest type of economy. Major Corporations can be included in this also since most have become nothing more than divisions of the state, entangled so well together that there is no resemblance to a free market. Protesting with what you do in your daily life by simply taking yourself out of the system of control is by far the best way to a counter society. Konkin referred to this kind of a voluntary society as agorism, free people exchanging freely and peaceably. Of all the benefits of living this way the greatest I have found so far is the personal empowerment of knowing you control your life and directly make a difference with others in your community.

To become self- sufficient we need to, I believe, begin our focus on four areas; banking/financial, education, health/medical and food. There will also be other areas to focus on as we go which could include things like, media, communication, entertainment, transportation and personal and household needs.

Let’s look at some of those areas and see where to start on our path to independence.

Banking/Financial: This one seems to be an obvious one and probably the one area that has received a lot of scrutiny in recent years. I won’t go into the reasons why. That should be pretty obvious. Our protest to the Federal Reserve System and Wall St. has to go beyond the voting booth and occasional rallies, we must protest with our wallets. Beginning to remove your money from these institutions can be scary but is doable. Look for independent banks and credit unions or maybe not use them at all. I walked away from banks almost four years ago now and haven’t looked back. Sure it has been inconvenient, I have no plastic money in my wallet and there have been times it’s been difficult to do business but I always found a way and love everyday of knowing I am no slave to a bank. We need to work toward being debt free also and look to alternative ways to invest our money. Doing this also protects your assets from future market failure.

Looking for and supporting alternative currencies is another way to separate yourself from the system. There are more and more of these starting and of course there is the best way to transact, bartering. Ending our dependence on Federal Reserve Notes is a must and has been discussed in length by many others and I would encourage you to research them. Many forms of currency are simply returning to older methods of transacting business. Some could include gold, silver, other precious metals and even heirloom seeds or ammunition has been mentioned as possibilities.

This is going to be a difficult area to break free from and it won’t happen overnight but it is a process you need to begin. Banking and those that run them at the very top are ultimately some of whom are against what we want, free from the state and their control. Don’t let convenience turn you into a slave.

Remember freedom is not cheap nor is it the easy way. My grandfather always said “anything worth having is worth working for”. We will continue this discussion in my next article which I hope opens the doors to talking and more importantly acting upon this. I make no claims to be an expert in these areas. I am simply a person longing to experience a life free from aggression and control and an even greater desire for my children to experience that.