 |
|
|
 THE LIBERTARIAN ENTERPRISE Number 399, December 24, 2006 Happy Zagmuk!
![[DIGG THIS]](../gifs/91x17-digg-button.gif){kind=small}
Superstate North America vs. Individual Sovereignty
Credit The Libertarian Enterprise The Nationalists have been quite busy tossing red herrings to libertarians. To be accurate, it is actually Nationalists within the libertarian movement who are creating red herrings out of the numerous issues raised by Statists. 2006 was particularly active with three major herrings. Early this year (and still ongoing) it was the allegedly "illegal" immigrant threat to the National Welfare System [1][2] and National Border "sovereignty", followed by a resurgence of the Great Islamic Terrorist Threat [3]. The latest red herring and great threat is Superstate North America aka the North American Union (NAU). All of these fake issues divert "libertarian" thought away from freedom issues and toward the "need" for a strong National (and Socialist or Fascist) State (in German, it abbreviates to NAZI) with more restrictions on an individual's freedom—for our own protection, of course—that will somehow "protect us" from immigrants, Islamic terrorists and from NAU, all issues which the State is suspiciously involved in creating. It is an interesting coincidence that the heirs of Lincoln's victorious Union forces of the Northern states chose the name "North American Union" approximately a quarter century after L. Neil Smith named the same geographical territory the North American Confederacy. Has anyone else noticed that, except for being a movement promoted by Statists, this is close to the borderless concept of the North American Confederacy in The Probability Broach? And just like immigration, libertarians-in-name-only (LINOs) see this as a problem rather than an opportunity. The truth is that in both instances, the Statists are shooting their own feet. If you read my views on immigration it will be no surprise that I like the borderless aspect of NAU, but more importantly, I think it will be the Statists undoing. Let me elaborate. Well meaning people say that we are being tricked into giving up our National sovereignty, to which I reply that I am a Sovereign Individual and care nothing for Nationalism in any form. Furthermore, Lincoln destroyed the US as a legitimate, sovereign and legal "nation" by proving that the Constitution is null and void, that it CANNOT and DOES NOT limit government action, that it has NO enforcement powers against rogue bureaucrats because the bureaucrats themselves are the judges and enforcers, and that the "union" of sovereign states is NOT a voluntary union but rather one that can only be maintained by brutal military conquest. Dissolving national borders in North America might just finally put an end to the fraudulent belief of "nationhood" that is prevalent amongst most North Americans—and even among the children of the failed Southern Secession effort. Ending that fraudulent belief of "nationhood" creates value, credibility and strength for the idea of creating independent, self-governed "Free States" and libertarian, Covenant of Unanimous Consent type communities of self-governing, sovereign individuals. Even though the North American Union appears to give central government a bigger tax base, the reality is that the bigger the territory that statists attempt to govern, the harder it becomes to deliver on all the welfare promises, the more dissatisfied the governed slaves become, the more corruption grows among government jackboots, the harder it becomes to collect taxes and the easier it becomes for rebellion, dissolution, "Balkanization" and collapse into smaller sovereign states and smaller governments. Historical examples abound: the USSR, the Nazi Germanic empire, Imperial Japan, the British empire, Napoleonic France, and the ancient empires of the Ottomans, the Romans, and Alexander the Great. The current tyranny in DC cannot control citizen behavior in the relatively small and primitive Middle East where 80+% of its military is actively committed, fully funded and "in control" by virtue of military conquest. Who can honestly believe that they can do any better in an area as large as the North American continent with its much larger population and a culture of freedom and independence—even if they DO actually manage to extract their military from Iraq? The tyrants in DC are counting on a compliant citizenry. The truth is that they do not have a compliant citizenry and their military cannot provide it. Expanding the borders will just compound their problems. A star expands just before it goes nova and historically, so do governments—as in the examples above. The nova that is currently building will be of epic proportions! Personally, I'll not lose a minute of sleep worrying about the fake issue of disappearing "national" borders. As long as "libertarians" allow themselves to get sidetracked into false issues such as religion, abortion debates, marriage definitions, "illegal" immigrants, Islamic terrorist "threats" and now the North American "Union", they will be successfully diverted from the one, single political issue that has a ghost of a chance of making a difference, The Liberty Amendment [4], which seems to have stalled since 1999 after getting endorsed by 9 states in a 38 year period. Unfortunately it will literally take more than an act of Congress to get it passed. The intellectual and cultural paradigm shift needed to pass it are enormous! Pardon my skepticism, but I was 21 when the first state (Wyoming) endorsed it in 1961 and I don't expect to live long enough to see it actually become law. Furthermore, that amendment is likely to be unenforceable and ignored, if not declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. As Lincoln has already proved, the Constitution is a dead document. Even if it actually passed and could be enforced, it would only be a reduction rather than an elimination of the powers of the police state that surrounds us. Something better is still needed. Well, what can an individual person do? Terrorism and immigration and the N.A.U., etc, etc are "big problems". But big problems are also big opportunities. These big problems are a big opportunity for YOU to understand and to turn your back on the red herrings. They are issues raised by other people in order to so completely overwhelm you that in desperation you will support their desire for Nationalism and a nanny State. These problems are—because of their very nature—chosen because they are absolutely impossible for you to solve on a personal level. Furthermore, there are more public bureaucrats in the various levels of governments than members of any private freedom organization you might join. Those bureaucrats are funded by virtually unlimited tax revenues and they can and do create rules and regulations faster than any one person or group could possibly expect to challenge and repeal them. They expect you to abhor a lawless society so they dilute real laws against initiation of force with arbitrary rules and regulations that have nothing whatever to do with real law. The "good news" is that they also create and issue them faster than they can enforce them. . . they are counting on YOU to obey them. That is why they call them "laws" instead of using proper military terms like "dictates", "commands", "edicts" or "orders". This is known as getting sanction from the victim. Without that sanction—YOUR sanction—the dictates are just so many meaningless words and their power is lost. "If you think of yourselves as helpless and ineffectual, it is certain that you will create a despotic government to be your master. The wise despot, therefore, maintains among his subjects a popular sense that they are helpless and ineffectual."
So rather than becoming frustrated and overwhelmed by the futility of your efforts to "fix" all these problems—which you did NOT create, why not just ignore them and focus instead on something that you actually CAN do, which is FREEING YOURSELF! "The quest for freedom [is] a highly introspective, personal journey of self-discovery and enlightenment. The eradication of government is not necessary for one to be free. To the contrary, one must first attain freedom in order to be rid of government." Tony Sampognaro [5] There are many ways to increase your personal freedom, but the very first step is attitude. One must UNDO the attitude of servility that the culture of the US has continually pounded into its children from birth over the last 100 years. A good way to start this attitude change is by watching Aaron Russo's movie AMERICA: Freedom to Fascism and by questioning every transaction you have recorded thru a bank (credit cards are bank instruments) and reducing those recorded and tracked transactions by using alternatives, such as cash. Convert "savings" accounts to gold and silver coins and learn ways to hide them. Keep nothing in a bank that you cannot afford to lose. Remember that a power failure (think Katrina or FEMA controlled power companies), an IRS probe, martial law or even a "suspicious activity report" (SAR) such as paying off a loan or credit card balance can make all assets in a bank—including a "safe" deposit box—unavailable. Carry cash instead of credit cards and check books, the feeling is exhilarating. Laugh out loud at people in grocery store lines who pay petty bills with credit cards and checks. Show them your cash in hand and repeat this variation of the American Express motto: "CASH—Don't leave home without it!" Then do the questioning process again, reduce the number of transactions even further. Investigate and set up an electronic gold currency account and use it for currency amongst your friends, fellow freedom seekers and selected freedom supporting merchants. Again, even though it is outside the banking system, keep nothing in such an account that you cannot afford to lose. Caveat emptor! If your assets are in the hands of any third party, then they are not safe. The closer you get to zero bank transactions, the more free you will BE—and you will actually be able to FEEL the exhilaration of that freedom! Extend the process by questioning and reducing the amount of contact you have with other government agencies, such as the Postal Service [7]-(I love #7, be sure to read the dialog), government licensed "public" utility monopolies (gas & electric power monopolies and most local water, sewer and garbage) and government controlled airports, trains, buses, schools & universities, convention centers and sports arenas. Most phone companies still using copper wire lines collect higher taxes from customers than do cell phone providers. Look at your phone bill. Consider getting more features, paying fewer taxes and moving into the 21st Century by cutting the wires. Sure, cell phones can be tracked. Let them fill up their computers with meaningless and costly data. If the day comes when you don't want to be tracked any longer, pitch it onto a long haul truck. Investigate (i.e. play "what if" scenarios) what it would take for YOU to move to one of the ten states that do NOT have a personal income tax. One of the scenarios might be too good to ignore. Investigate how to shop in nearby states with no sales tax, or over the Internet and make out-of-state/interstate (no tax) purchases—preferably with electronic gold. The Post Office and banks are not the only places that sell money orders—some private firms do NOT charge a fee! Shipping costs might be less than local taxes—and the funds go to a more deserving organization. Better to support businesses like United Parcel, that provide a real service for profit, than Federal, state, county and local governments that steal their funds and deliver grief—in the name of altruism, i.e. "public good". Reduce your "taxable" income and pay less income tax. Then reduce it again! If you have the stomach to deal with idiots with guns, declare yourself an IRS, non-resident alien and stop withholding of wages. Better yet, become self-employed. Either way, starve the State while living well on a personal level. Living well is the best revenge against those who would steal your freedom. Learn what it means to be Sovereign. Read or re-read Harry Browne's book, How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World and Jefferson Mack's Invisible Resistance to Tyranny: How to Lead a Secret Life of Insurgency in an Increasingly Unfree World (Paladin Press, 2002) and L. Neil Smith's Covenant of Unanimous Consent [6], The Probability Broach and The American Zone. Consider becoming a "Perpetual Tourist", living in a mobile home or travel trailer—read Freedom Road by Harold Hough from Loompanics Unlimited for ideas. [8] "Most government laws and actions are based on the premise that all people live in fixed residences. Thinking this, they tax your real estate, fix its use through zoning, and control your behavior through silly laws. Without a fixed residence you can avoid most governments and many of their laws." Chuck Munson [9]. Prepare for such a nomadic life by switching from a desktop computer to a laptop with WiFi, using a cell phone instead of a land line, and reducing your collection of "stuff" such as to fit into a travel trailer. Fit the rest into a warehouse or mini-storage. Acquire campground catalogs and take trailer vacations to work out the details. If you need or want a postal box, get it while still at a "fixed" address. I've heard that some PO Box renters actually forget to inform the Post Office of a change of address while continuing to rent the box. Apparently that is against "THE LAW", so I would never advise doing such a thing. For that matter, nothing else I have written should be construed as advise to break "THE LAW" either. I think it is still "legal" to do everything I have said. Free Yourself! Try it, you'll like it!
[1] [2006-05-14] My article "Ask the Right Question"
[2] [2006-09-10] My letter "More arguments for Open Borders—this time (unbeknownst to him) from the pen of Hans-Hermann Hoppe!"
[3] [2006-09-10] My article "Why I don't give a Shiite* about 'The Great Islamic Threat' debate"
[4] The Liberty Amendment http://www.libertyamendment.com/ [5] Tony Sampognaro http://tinyurl.com/raold [6] L. Neil Smith's Covenant of Unanimous Consent http://tinyURL.com/6VSL6 [7] Reminds me of a 1997 episode of "Seinfeld," where Kramer gets fed up with the mail service and goes to the post office to cancel delivery permanently. See the dialog at http://tinyurl.com/ylq934 [8] Freedom Road by Harold Hough, Loompanics Unlimited. This Amazon site also contains other recommendations http://www.amazon.com/Freedom-Road-Harold-Hough/dp/096669323X [9] Chuck Munson's interesting review of the Freedom Road book: http://www.spunk.org/texts/reviews/sp001287.txt
TLE AFFILIATE
Help Support TLE by patronizing our advertisers and affiliates.
|
|
|
|
