Building Liberty
[
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 ==== Building Liberty ==== = THE ARISTOCRACY OF ACTION = There are two kinds of liberty at work in the world today: The liberty of words. The liberty of works. There is nothing bad about the liberty of words, but it is only a ghost in the world. Liberty is to be experienced, not just talked about. Without action, it stagnates and fades; put into action, it thrives mightily. The experience of liberty changes people. It engages the whole being and the entire life. It affects us in ways that mere words cannot. For liberty to be a real force in the world, it needs bodies, not just minds. (For beings with physical bodies to expect otherwise would be silly.) When liberty is put to use in the physical world, it is addictive. We do not need to plan everything in advance. Real life if far too complex for that, and if you wait until you answer every objection, you'll never do anything. Liberty needs to be applied before it can be completed. This requires adaptation and error, just like anything else that is built. Certainly the principals of liberty can be known in advance, but the details of its application will never be solid until they are repetitively tested against the real world. EFFORT IS REQUIRED It's easier to live as a slave than to fight and gain your freedom. Building the things we need is harder than using the current systems. This extra effort is what turns you from a slave into a free man or woman. Liberty costs more than slavery, at least at first. The costs of slavery are high, but you are already paying them, and you may not be able to avoid them before you exert yourselves building the new structures of Liberty. Furthermore, new systems are not built efficiently. The first attempt may need to be altered, possibly even removed and rebuilt. New systems require evolution; they are not designed perfectly from the beginning; they take shape over time. The foundation of human improvement is voluntary, cooperative action. If you cannot work together - charitably and with kindness - you are doomed to conflict and failure. Liberty is more important than silly slights and imperfect manners; if you lose track of the goal and bicker, you will bring down everything that you began to build. WHAT WE NEED #1: Physical Presence In order to develop, liberty requires physical spaces, where humans interact fully and address the whole spectrum of human characteristics. This allows for goodness to be seen and learned, conflicts to arise and to be addressed, natural order to emerge, and reputations to be made, lost and regained. We must feed broadly from one another. We are physical beings, not disembodied spirits. We need places where we are clearly separate from the state. Our places of physical presence, however, do not have to be fixed in time and space; they may be temporary or mobile. This can be effectively coordinated with sufficient communication. #2: Exchange We require methods of exchanging value and protecting property. This means money that does not enslave or expose us. We also require secure storage. #3: Separation Liberty does not require approval. Since liberty is restricted by states in thousands of ways, separation is required. If the state is forced into the situation, liberty is joined to an eternal enemy. Any pursuit of liberty which includes the state is doomed to failure. All people and groups who have made such efforts eventually realize that they will never reach their goal. They become demoralized and often make regrettable choices. Fortunately, keeping the state out of our realm is easier than it may initially appear. #4: Communication Both relationships and strategy require communication. Many good means of communication exist and we should use them all. #5: Transport Trade requires transportation. Goods must be delivered and not intercepted by the state. This is an issue for larger physical items. WHAT WE MUST BUILD #1: Physical Presence A continuing and stationary physical presence makes us highly vulnerable, but the options of temporary and mobile gatherings remain effective for us. There is a long tradition of underground parties in the major cities of this planet, beginning by 1980 in East Germany. The general model is to switch locations, employ security (a bouncer) and to rent the property for the occasion. The state is not all-knowing and all-powerful. As soon as you lock them out, they will remain out, at least for a time. During that time, liberty reigns. If the state has no agent present, the state does not rule there and then. This is space enough for our purposes. Parties have long been held in abandoned buildings, organized via text messages and email. Sound, drinks, drugs, and sanitation typically continue for 4-6 hours; then the entire operation disappears, leaving not even garbage behind. Innumerable variations are possible and durations of days rather than hours are certainly possible. Where state agents are not present, the state has no power. Another excellent option is a café, coffee shop or restaurant where free people know they can meet safely. Our meeting place may be a back or side room, and any meeting that may be seen by outsiders can be given a mundane name. The goals of such meetings are to share effective strategies and to conduct business. Starting in a small back room is perfectly acceptable. We do not require fine offices. #2: Exchange Beyond being excellent media for exchange, sound money (such as gold or silver) separates us from the state and functions nicely as a reminder of what we are: Separate and sovereign over ourselves. Sound money is available almost everywhere. Almost all of us can obtain silver and gold coins. By trading between ourselves, procurement costs are reduced. Many varieties of digital currencies are available. Backing and auditing systems can be developed. Settlement between individuals is not highly complex and can be done (even internationally) without state-monitored bank accounts. Property can be protected with safes, safe deposit boxes, and by many other means. Here is one example of how this can be done: In most places, safe-deposit boxes can be resold. This allows us to rent safe deposit boxes amongst ourselves. You get two keys from the bank. One is given to a trusted third party, one to a renter. Once this is accomplished, the box location is known only to you and the renter. In case of trouble, however, you can obtain a key from the trusted third party. Certainly you must test this and run it through all its variations, but the maximum possible loss is very low. This method not only creates secure storage, but it can be arranged in hours, at minimal cost, and can be a profitable business as well. Methods of exchange are crucial in creating networks of trust, separate from identities that are controlled by tyrants. #4: Communication Secure communication can be taught in a few hours and is affordable. Encryption is free and simple. Anonymous cell phones are available in most places. Anonymous web surfing, chat/messaging, and email accounts are available. All that is required is a small but serious effort. #5: Transport A huge number of items can be purchased off the record. Border crossings can be difficult but are usually unnecessary. Once we have secure meeting places, even if temporary, transport and travel will become easier. Immigrants, refugees and others have been doing these things for centuries. We can easily adapt their methods to our own uses. SYSTEMS Building liberty means to create new systems for liberty: Systems such as banking, exchange, and law. Our structures will be built by and for the people who use them, and there shall be no force or obligation involved. This is what makes them ethical and legitimate. Compare this with the structures of the old realm which are declared legitimate by base edicts and are forced upon the masses. Everything that we need to build has been built by others long before us. We know it can be done because we know it has been done. The statement "it's too hard" has been condemned in advance by the men and women who did exactly these things in generations past. Beside this, all the institutions that exist now were built by our hands and with our money. All we are doing differently is removing the tyrants and parasites. The decision to create a better world sits before you, to be chosen or evaded. Choose liberty. Choose life. We are The Free and The Unashamed. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2.0.11 (GNU/Linux) iEYEARECAAYFAkqDPcgACgkQfTNN/LMh9oN9fwCg3U5ZCWUr9hG/jmgFmQjq7iqs rC8AnjYX7TCkO+9oOhNafHiJNZW322fy =RBWy -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----]