L. Neil Smith's
THE LIBERTARIAN ENTERPRISE
Number 193, October 7, 2002
NO QUARTER?

Not that anyone has raised any great fuss clamoring for me to grace the web any further with my often inchoate ramblings on political and world affairs, I feel once more compelled to throw my two cents worth into the bottomless well of internet opinion pieces. And so, here I go again. ...

Some cleverly perceptive wag once observed that, "There's no such thing as gravity ... the world just sucks!" All classical physics considerations aside, I heartily concur with his assessment, at least as far as past and present political paradigms are concerned.

Though never has there been a shortage of apologists for the official machinations of the state, it must be abudantly clear to any unbiased truth-seeking minds that the unvarnished historical record of mankind's organised social systems is one of license, coercion, extortion, and murder. It's just that simple.

... and the apologists? A cursory examination of their motivation will invariably lead to the conclusion that these "voices of conscience and reason" are very well compensated for their loudly outspoken altruism. Duh!

Since the earliest tribal micro-hierarchies, right on through the larger and later official courts of the emperors and God-kings, the eternal truism of "might makes right" has ever held fast sway over human political systems. Simply stated, the hombre with the biggest muscles, knives, or guns, has assumed the mantle of authority. By virtue of this individual's pure raw power over all others, he became the de facto "right."

As the constructs of political systems were in antiquity, so they still remain today. The basic tenets and tenor of "might makes right" human political behavior and corruptibility have endured, vigourously and eternally unscathed. Only the faces of the mighty have changed.

Granted, simple knives and rudimentary guns have deferred to more fancy and terrible modern devices like nukes and cruise missiles, smart-bombs, and the latest up-and-coming laser weapons, as the components of the "might," but the underlying principle is still the same as it was in the misty days of yore: "Do as you're told or we'll kill you!"

I am quite aware that vast legions of state bureaucrats and functionaries, government military captains and soldiers, corporate directors and beneficiaries, fecund welfare mothers, official professional licensees, state-employed and sanctioned educators, and a host of other parasitic moochers-off-the-collective, do not necessarily share my perspectives. Indeed, that is precisely why I hold them.

I suppose this all begs the question of any responsible, albeit curmudgeonly, liberty-minded, sovereign individuals, finding themselves smack in the middle of the 21st Century United Terrorized Socialist States of Amerika, or in any of the myriad other intertwined and cooperating collectivist oligarchs currently blanketing the globe:

"What is one to do about it?"

Firstly, don't kid yourself for one moment, Bubby. Any and all sedition and resistance against the machine, whether overt or covert, may well result in your death! Should this possibility come to pass, it must also be generally recognized that your ultimate demise will more often than not be accompanied by severe pain and/or acute longsuffering.

If the last statement strikes you as impossible or inconceivable, just ask the untold millions who have suffered this fate at the hands of benevolent governments throughout all of recorded history. On second thought, they are probably not talking too much anymore.

Scared?

It is a scary prospect, I realise, but each must ask of himself the critical question, "Am I more scared of being murdered, or of being a slave to a brutal, nameless and faceless, wolfishly voracious state machine, masquerading as the great defender of all things decent and good?"

If you are more scared of being murdered, there is always a place for you reserved in the collective, brother. If you answered the other way, "Good on ya, Mate!"

Just as "a little leaven leavens the whole loaf," and as "one step starts a thousand mile journey," or as "the mighty oak grows from a tiny acorn" ... well, you get the drift. ...

RESIST!

Every little bit will help, trust me. Pick your spots ... no one wants to die or go to prison. Everyone can't be a hero, or probably even wants to be.

Be creative. Think of a way to throw your own personal little monkey wrench into the machine.

Strive to keep more of the wealth you produce with your own honest labor rather than surrendering it to government malefactors (stop feeding the beast and perhaps he will weaken or starve).

Eschew subjecting yourself to any new (or renewed) and sundry goverment fees and licenses.

Don't vote anymore. You are simply validating the official rapine.

There are a million things you might think of to resist despotism (hint: search the web for Claire Wolfe).

In the immortal, but egregiously misapplied words of one aging and star-gazing former monarch, Nancy Reagan, "Just say NO!"

As usual, I am beginning to feel better after this little exercise in letters. In closing, if I may quote a once respected intellect and statesman, Thomas Jefferson (unfortunately recently shown conclusively [by 'official' scholars] to be an adulterer, a racist, and a bigot), "Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God."

Amen.

Brigade Quartermasters, Ltd.

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