MISSION:
The mission of the Liberty Round Table is to eradicate institutionalized aggression.
CONSIDERATIONS:
1] The LRT urges all peoples everywhere to refuse to cooperate with institutionalized aggression. One of the most effective ways to do this, and perhaps the only known way to get rid of coercive agencies other than violent revolution, is non-cooperation. Boycotting state-run (non-voluntary) services enables people to live in greater freedom and sleep with cleaner conscience. It also de-legitimizes such agencies and can lead to their disappearance through atrophy.
2] Living free is not only intrinsically desirable and moral, it also enables people to teach freedom without appearing to be hypocrites. It enables us to teach by example and is the ultimate answer to, "Well, that sounds nice in theory...".
3] Strategy and information on how to increase their ability to exercise their freedom and rights are among the benefits we offer to those who involve themselves in LRT.
SPECIFICS:
As previously discussed, there are ways of organizing one's life so as to reduce the amount of aggression one is subject to. Here are some places to start:
1] AVOID USING THE US POST OFFICE. Granted, there are some bills we have to pay via checks in the mail, but if everyone would simply cut their use of the post office in half, it would devastate their budget and possibly lead to its privatization or elimination. E-mail is an excellent alternative for most letter writing. Encourage everyone you know to get e-mail and stop giving business to an organization that only stays in business through acts of violence that occur every time a paycheck is cut. E-mail is available for free from many companies. UPS and FedEx can take care of most things that don't go to a PO Box, if you can afford to use them more frequently.
2] USE PRIVATE ARBITRATION. You may find yourself hauled into a government court, but don't go there voluntarily. Try to do business only with people who will sign a Consent to Arbitration, and then use arbiters to resolve disputes. Find out about the American Arbitration Association. The argument that the need for sound courts justifies state coercion is one we can show to be untrue, but only by example.
3] LEARN SOME FORM OF SELF-DEFENSE, BUY A GUN, AND ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR OWN WELL-BEING. Like the courts, the "obvious need" for police services is often used as an argument for justifying the organized plunder we call taxation. By refusing to partake in the police protection racket and living happy lives as safe and free as anyone's can be, we show--again, in the only way possible--that this argument is false. Self defense, like any other right, slips away from a people who do not exercise it. Self defense has the additional benefit of being the only thing that can actually stop a crime. The best the police can do is to try to apprehend a criminal after a crime has occurred, and they cannot guarantee that our teetering "justice" system will see that any justice is done at all. You may love guns, you may hate them, but accept responsibility for your own safety and refuse to play the role of permanent victim. For anyone who has not yet done this, you will be amazed at how much more peaceful your life becomes and how much more real that freedom which is yours feels. With all the encroachments on the 2nd amendment these days, it's also worth it to support an uncompromising pro-gun organization that actually defends RKBA, [coming soon] too.
4] DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN THE SOCIAL SECURITY SCAM. If you are younger, realize that the money being taken from you is being spent on older folks now and you will never see it again. Try to provide for your own retirement because Social (In)Security won't exist (nor will it be any more moral) when you reach "entitlement" age. If you are older, realize that you were deceived, and, if you can afford it, do not take the blood money. It is not money you have saved (that money was spent long ago), it is money taken by force from non-consenting individuals. If you cannot afford to give it up, dedicate yourself to putting an end to this destructive inter-generational theft machine. There are ways of privatizing Social Security and repaying you for what was taken from you in your turn--ways which do not require you to bleed the well-being of your children and grandchildren.
5] DON'T GIVE OUT YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER. (or socialist insecurity number, which is a more accurate label). Although many businesses use it as identification, it is not illegal to refuse its use, and doing so helps ensure retaining more of your quickly-vanishing privacy.
6] DO NOT PARTICIPATE IN THE UNEMPLOYMENT SCAM. The arguments are similar to those above. Provide for yourself, if you can. If you fall upon hard times, call upon your family and friends for help, but only after you have exhausted every means possible of handling things yourself.
7] INCREASE THE COST OF TAX COLLECTION. Help gum up the gears of aggression. Don't use the 1040EZ--itemize if you can--make it harder for them. Don't do your taxes online! Contrary to their propaganda, diminishing the cash flow of tyrants does hurt them, more than just about anything else. History is full of examples of tyrants brought down, essentially, by banks.
8] REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF TAXES PAID. Take advantage of every loophole, every deduction. It's your money in the first place, and in the second place, you won't like most of what they do with it. Try to find ways to increase your quality of life while decreasing your taxable income. Again, the pocketbook is where tyrants are most vulnerable; they command little loyalty and quickly lose support of their minions when they cannot pay them.
9] MOVE TO A LOW-TAX HAVEN. In these days of the virtual office, and the switch to the service and information-based economy, it is increasingly easy for people to work wherever they happen to be. If you can move to a low or no-tax region, you vote with your feet (coercing no one, which is very different from voting for a ruler), and show the world what works. You also leave the would-be rulers with a diminishing tax-base and fewer subjects.
10] USE BARTER WHENEVER POSSIBLE. Take your economic activity out of the systems controlled by aggression, to the extent possible.
11] PATRONIZE ALTERNATIVE MARKETS. Do as much shopping as you can at garage sales, tag sales, and auctions. Gummint's money-grubbing fingers don't collect taxes at such sales by individuals (in most states, this is the case; taxes are collected in many states at flea markets and the like), and negotiating price helps ensure both parties see the transaction as value for value.
12] USE ENCRYPTION WHENEVER POSSIBLE. This establishes the principle of privacy in cyberspace and makes it harder for the spooks to snoop into one's private life. Read Phil Zimerman's essay on why he created PGP. Learn about PGP. [coming soon] Use it. If you're having trouble learning PGP, try using a GUI with it. If you'd like to get in touch with a friend or Knight of LRT and want to have privacy, visit our Public Keyserver to get the desired key(s). For more information on encryption and other privacy/security tools, visit our McWilliams Security Pages [coming soon].
13] RESIST EVERY ATTEMPT AT REGIMENTATION THROUGH "POLITICALLY CORRECT" POLICIES. Refuse to ignore merit and reward stupidity for PC reasons. Be open-minded and give opportunities to deserving individuals, regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation, as long as the person is right for the opportunity: show that coercion is not necessary to ensure that deserving people get their chance. Fight affirmative action. Fight quotas. Fight bigotry as well as reverse discrimination. By "doing it right" we can show that force is not the answer.
14] PRACTICE SELF-RELIANCE. Become as self-reliant as you can and encourage others to become self-reliant as well, with all the time, love, and energy you can bring to bear to the concept. By this I do not mean that we should all go start self-contained farms... But think about how much need there would be for food stamps or other types of handouts in a country where everyone did live in such places! I strongly suspect that we could track a strong and inverse correlation between the growth of the state and the growth of self-reliance among people.
15] STAND UP AND REFUSE TO BE COUNTED. How many times in a week or month do you hear an elected official say something along the lines of, "The public wants...", "The public thinks...", or some other version of speaking for their constituency? If you haven't been paying much attention to this, you might wish to start... You'll be surprised to see what you want, what you think is important, according to the politicians. Given how easy it is to speak more precisely on these matters (it only adds a couple of words to say, "Most of the people I've spoken with think..."), it is not a silly exercise to pay attention to this. Three reasons come to mind as to why most politicians so consistently speak in this fashion: 1) all the information fed to them by their handlers favors one side of an issue; 2) they are being imprecise (dishonest) to try to gain a rhetorical advantage; or 3) they truly believe that all people think alike. Each of these options is disturbing.
Here's a simple, fun way to to help enlighten politicians, from the white house all the way to one's local levels of government, to the fact that many people differ from the assumed majority position. Each time you hear or read such a statement, write a brief note to the politician's office, informing the official that you did not give her or him permission to speak for you on any issue, and that you do not hold the position put forward as one "everyone" holds. Unlike a letter to the editor, this can be as simple as two lines: "You said XXXXX. You don't speak for me." You could even do this cheaply by using a postcard. As these letters aren't for publication, you don't need to be concerned with spelling, or other such things... You have the fun of having your voice heard, in whatever way you choose to express it!
Imagine what that politician's response might be the first time s/he receives such a letter... And then imagine what that response might be when several people write in with a similar point, or in response to many instances of spouting such silliness. At the very least, the politician might begin to be more precise in the use of language (always a good thing!); it's possible too that as a result, s/he might become more aware of the diverse opinions possible on any given issue, and from that begin to realize the futility of trying to govern in a one-size-fits-all style.
More important, perhaps, is that by writing and sending such letters, each of us is exercising our freedom, saying to those who would try to rule us, "You don't know what's best for me, and you don't speak for me!" It lifts the burden of the masses from our shoulders, because we refuse to be counted among the masses. Taking this small step may also free you to take larger steps, should you decide to, or should they become necessary.
This exercise in freedom can be very easily carried out by setting up a form letter that can be customized as the need arises; or one may prefer to write a personal note. It's up to you. Getting like-minded friends involved can add to the fun too, as well as to the effectiveness of this technique. Such letters will have an impact, because they are focused, because they are unusual (until we make them commonplace, anyway!), and because the point is unmistakable: "You don't speak for everyone, so stop pretending that you do."
16] DON'T GET HUNTING AND FISHING LICENSES. There are lots of places to go where they aren't needed, such as private land/lakes, or international waters.
17] CHOOSE PRIVATE SCHOOLS OR HOME-SCHOOLING. The latter is a popular alternative especially among those who can't afford private school tuition rates. Raising a generation of free beings is also a sure way to help the spread of these ideas. [coming soon] Choose private universities over public institutions; they typically offer a lot of financial support, but try to stick with private scholarships (there are lots of these, if you look). Check into and support the Separation of School and State Alliance.
18] DON'T PATRONIZE INSTITUTIONS BUILT ON TAX DOLLARS. This means coliseums, theatres, libraries, and the like. There are private alternatives available (Yes, even for libraries! Patronize secondhand bookstores; many offer credit if you return books, and you can ask yours to institute that policy if they don't offer it.), even for sports.
19] DON'T RIDE TAX-FUNDED MASS TRANSIT.
20] GROW YOUR OWN VEGETABLES, HERBS, AND FRUIT. This increases your self-reliance, saves money, and is very satsifying. With a little land and sweat, you can grow enough produce to meet your family's needs for a whole year.
21] LEARN TO GOLD PAN. Enjoy the outdoors while extracting wealth from the ground and increasing your self-reliance. Gold is resistant to inflation; over time one ounce of gold has held enough value to feed a family of four for a month.
22] AVOID DEBT. Debt is a form of slavery. Avoid using credit cards--use cash, checks or ATM cards instead. Buy or trade used cars, avoiding loans, especially high interest rate loans.
23] FIX YOUR CAR YOURSELF. Save money by learning as much as you can about your car. By performing your own maintenance and repairs, you'll enjoy the satisfaction of fixing it yourself, and won't be scammed by mechanics.
24] GO BACKPACKING/CAMPING. Get away from the city, and enjoy the beauty and freedom outdoors. Not only are such activities inexpensive (or free), the solitude, clean air, and sky full of stars can do wonders to clear your head.
25] UNSUBSCRIBE FROM GOVERNMENT. There are a number of libertarian communities in various stages of development. One of the most promising ones is Laissez-Faire City, in Costa Rica. Their web site has loads of useful information, not just about their community but for anyone who's considering dropping out.
26] PROTECT YOUR PRIVACY. If you keep personal information personal, then you don't have to worry about who's snooping into your life. This can be difficult, with the socialist insecurity number being asked for so frequently, but in many cases you can refuse to give it. Privacy on the 'Net is a big concern, too... our security section [coming soon] offers a lot of information and advice. One of the most important aspects of 'Net privacy is dealing with cookies; learn about them and decide how you want to handle them. Protect Your Privacy also has a lot of information, as well as products for sale.
The most powerful way to spread this healthy influence is to be as self-reliant as one can, and to be successful in life doing so. This disproves the notion--rarely admitted but widely accepted--that one has to cheat and misuse others in order to get ahead. It also provides an example to others; when one asks how you became so successful, upon hearing your answer that person has all the knowledge and motivation needed to begin growing as well.
An excellent resource for reading materials on many aspects of living freer is Loompanics Unlimited. Self-described as "publishers of unusual books", many of their offerings address issues important to the individualist, including privacy, self-defense, self-reliance, "dropping out", anarchism, and egoism. By linking to them we are not recommending all of their offerings--some of them are pretty bizarre--but if you're looking for practical information, Loompanics is the best place we've found to date. Another good resource is Doing Freedom! 'zine. If you know of other resources, please share with us!
If you know about or have expertise in any of these areas, please let us know. We would like to make your knowledge available to all friends of LRT. We could connect interested persons with firearms instructors, martial arts teachers, tax experts, arbiters, or just simple "How To" information. We can share ideas on where one can find the least intrusive governments. We can share stories of strategies that worked, and others that didn't.
If the institutions of aggression are to disappear without recourse to violence, we must begin to de-fund, de-legitimize, and simply disuse them.THE CHANGE MUST BEGIN SOMEWHERE--LET IT BEGIN WITH US!
"Nobody can be saved from anything, unless they save themselves." Merlyn, The Book of Merlyn
sunni@free-market.net
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URL: http://www.LibertyRoundTable.org/livefreernow.html