Civil Obedience: How to break the Cycle of Violence

1. Introduction
2. Indeed, as a Frenchman, I well know the blessings of unconditional surrender.
3. The Origin of France
4. Ogres
5. An Ode to Surrender
6. In other words: "Cowardice, yes — Stupidity no"
7. Non Violence
8. Change the game

1. Introduction

1.1. Hi. My name is François-René Rideau,

and I'm a one-man think tank from France. You may know me for my song "And a Pony"; in case you don't, here it goes:

1.2. And a Pony http://fare.livejournal.com/tag/pony

You want the end of all wars? I want the end of all wars, | And then a trip to the stars; | And a pony. You want a minimum pay? I want a minimum pay, | Two trillion dollars a day; | And a pony. Who doesn't love a pony? | So cute, natural and cuddly! You want universal love? | I want universal love; | And a pony. You want free health care for all? I want free health care for all, | And death in permanent stall; | And a pony. You want all children in schools, I want all children in schools | That cram genius into fools; | And a pony. Who doesn't love a pony? | So cute, natural and cuddly! If you don't care for a ride, | You can cook its yummy hide; | Serve with honey.

1.3. Everyone likes this song, because it can be read on many levels:

1.3.1. At a first level, it's naive wishful thinking.

It's typically idiotic conservatives expecting miracles from God, or even more idiotic liberals expecting miracles from the State.

1.3.2. At a second level, it's ironic topping of wishes;

denouncing the idiocy of wishful thinkers: you wish this, I wish this and much more, and a pony on top.

1.3.3. At a third level, it's the sincere ambition of extropians:

Extropians are the transhumanist libertarians who vow to develop the technologies that will actually make it all happen.

1.4. Now, today, I'm here to convince you of the virtues of Civil Obedience.

The one commandment of Civil Obedience is: "Thou Shalt Not Fight the State". Instead, thou shalt Surrender to the State, and surrender gladly at that, without offering any resistance; and that, even when the State is doing its most evil deeds.

1.5. There again, this can be understood on several levels.

1.5.1. At a first level, it's the evil claim of the statists.

1.5.2. At a second level, it's us libertarians mocking statists.

1.5.3. But at a third level, it's a restatement of libertarian principles.

1.6. Of course, it's easy to misunderstand the idea.

And misunderstanding leads to failure to properly obey when you should, with dire consequences. So stay with me for clarifications. I promise that my many historical and musical digressions have a purpose.

1.7. But it's also easy to understand the idea.

And indeed you are all by and large following it in all of your endeavors; the issue is that may not consciously do so. By making you conscious of it, I will enable you to make more rational decisions about it.

1.8. For Civil Obedience is not just in your own interest.

It's also for the sake of liberty and all that you hold dear. And that's how I'll convince you to consciously embrace Civil Obedience: Indeed, it is the application of our principles of rejecting unjustified violence.

1.9. In other words, I will convince you like me to proudly be cheese-eating surrender monkeys

— though you don't actually have to eat cheese unless you like it.

1.9.1. For those of you who are too young or too old to understand the reference,

"cheese-eating surrender monkey" is an insult at the French; it was invented by the TV cartoon the Simpsons, and made popular after 9/11 (2001) to mock the cowardly hypocrisy with which the French government declined to participate in the invasion of Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheese-eating_surrender_monkeys

2. Indeed, as a Frenchman, I well know the blessings of unconditional surrender.

2.1. Consider this: which of the warring European countries suffered least during WWII?

And to make an extreme comparison,

2.2. let's contrast the country of quick surrender with the country of forever rebellion.

Do you know the prototypical people who'll never surrender but to the most completely overwhelming force, and then some?

2.2.1. Chechnya.

2.2.2. Now compare Paris (capital of France) and Grozny (capital of Chechnya).

2.2.3. Is there any doubt at all which of the two capitals

is more suitable to self-actualization and the good life?

2.2.4. One is a world capital of luxury, fashion and good food.

2.2.5. The other is a backwater reduced to ruins by decades of war with Russia.

2.3. Now it's interesting to consider the story of French surrender tradition.

2.3.1. France didn't always have a reputation for surrender

Indeed, France used to be feared for its great armies that once conquered Europe,
and sixty years ago, they still controled a colonial Empire that spanned the World.

2.3.2. Until the Great Suicide of Europe during WWI, France was a great power not to ignore.

and its power lingered for fifty years past this suicide,
and still has remnants like its nuclear strike force.

2.3.3. And yet, I'll argue that the great tradition of French Surrender

is older than the name France itself.

3. The Origin of France

3.1. My name, François, is an Old French word for "Frenchy",

back from the time when "French" used to mean "German". Are you confused yet? Let me tell you the story of the French.

3.2. The Franks were a coalition of german tribes that conquered Roman Gaul.

They did it by killing, plundering and raping all around. All the fun stuff, though without much respect for the non-aggression principle.

3.2.1. The name "Frank" itself possibly comes from old german "frankon",

the throwing axe, their token weapon, kind of a european Tomahawk. The word is possibly related to the latin "fracture" and the English "break" and "fuck".

3.2.2. If you have seen the movie "Kung Fu Hustle",

imagine that the Axe Gang that once terrorized Shanghai had taken over China and that the chinese word for "Chinese" were now "Axe". Well, that's exactly what happened in France: the Axe Gang took over the country that is now France, and the name of the gang, Axe, became the French word for French.

3.3. This Axis of Evil sealed its victory when it allied with the Catholic Church

to permanently enslave the population.

3.3.1. You should understand by the end of the Roman Empire,

the catholic church had replaced the civil administration and become the totalitarian bureaucracy of the Empire.

3.3.2. And so the warlord of the german stormtroopers, a guy by the old german name of H'l'dw'gh,

founded the "Kingdom of the Franks" by converting to Catholicism; nowadays, modern day French people worship him as a founder under the deceivingly sweet name of Clovis or Louis; but that's just another lie to hide how barbaric a man it was who founded the current State

and it's still the same State indeed, though management has changed hands many times since.

3.3.3. Thanks to this alliance, the Franks didn't have to re-conquer every city anew every year;

instead they could just levy taxes with the help of the church; this way they could enjoy greater revenues with fewer risks — and yet they could still have fun killing, plundering and raping, more fun even, conquering the territories of less efficient neighboring gangs.

3.4. Thus the Franks, with the support of the church, conquered Gaul

from the heirs of the collapsed Roman Empire, most notably the lenient Wisigoth, who had refused to play the mind-control game of the catholic church.

3.5. In the kingdom of the Franks, "Frank" came to mean "free"

or more precisely what we'd nowadays call "first class citizen"; it opposed "roman", the name used by the conquered population, which came to mean "slave".

3.5.1. And that's deliciously ironic, because people in Roman Gaul had called themselves "romans"

precisely because in the Roman Empire, "roman" had once meant "first class citizen"; — they weren't particularly roman. And they probably were never either "gauls" nor "celts" but until after it was trendy to call oneself so, if it ever was.

3.5.2. The word "slave" itself similarly comes from the slavs,

a favorite race for the germans to enslave, though "slav" in slavic seems to be related only to "slava" (glory) and "sloboda" (freedom), no doubt for the same reason why "frank" is related to it in French and in English.

3.6. For the same reasons, "Frank" also came to mean someone sincere and honest

who dares to speak his mind without hiding his true opinion. Somehow, those wretched disarmed creatures who were not Frank were cowards and habitual liars who'd say anything, anything, to avoid the just wrath of their masters, whereas armed Franks would not hesitate to tell you what they think to your face. How odd — not.

3.7. Then came centuries of domination by the Master Race,

during which people started calling their sons "Frank" to signal their being part of the ruling class — especially if they weren't.

3.8. After a few centuries, everyone would claim to be a Frank, or French:

at first germans from tribes that weren't originally part of the Franchise; and in the end even people of mostly or completely gallic origin.

3.9. But despite words being slowly corrupted by constant lies,

at each and every period, in each and every place, it would still be very obvious whether or not you were one of the conquerors or one of the conquered: free men possess and exercise the right to keep and bear arms, the conquered don't.

3.10. Only with the revolution was race-based aristocracy definitely uprooted.

It was replaced by an aristocracy directly based on the ability to lie and cheat; more generally, robbery and murder were displaced by fraud at the top of the hierarchy of profitable crimes, thanks to social and technological progress.

3.11. In Nietzschean terms, the slave-morality of lies thus replaced the master-morality of force.

It was not a uniform progress.

4. Ogres

4.1. The Story of France perfectly illustrates the Nature of the State:

an institution of parasitic oppression through brute force, born when roaming bandits understand they can make a better living by becoming Stationary bandits.

4.2. That State is the One Great Enemy of the people.

4.3. We are libertarian, which means we understand this reality.

4.3.1. The State is the Enemy we face. And if you want to win, it's important to know thy Enemy.

4.4. And so, I'm offering you a second song, that describes this Enemy we face.

When the Soviet invaded Czechoslovakia for attempting to give a human face to socialism, W. H. Auden wrote this poem, titled "August 1968". Here it is, to music I composed: http://fare.livejournal.com/171357.html

4.4.1. The Ogre does what ogres can,

Deeds quite impossible for Man, But one prize is beyond his reach: The Ogre cannot master Speech.

4.4.2. About a subjugated plain,

Among its desperate and slain, The Ogre stalks with hands on hips, While drivel gushes from his lips.

4.5. The Ogre here personifies those who use force to subjugate human beings.

4.5.1. Our Enemy is the use of aggressive force, and

that Enemy is all the more dangerous when this aggression is efficient at extracting resources to propagate more aggression.

4.5.2. And here Auden is all too right that the victorious Ogre is a brute,

unable to speak specisely in relation to how specialized it is at exercising violence.

4.6. Unhappily, he forgot to write this sequel, which omission I am now fixing:

4.6.1. A midget comes forward and greets

Great King oh let me sing your feats The Ogre, flatter'd, in a stir, Creates the dwarf his Minister.

4.6.2. Now dwarfs are dukes while ogres reign

And as the conquer'd scream in vain Atop the rotting flesh and flies A dwarf will laugh at man's demise.

4.7. So of course, Ogres will always find moral midgets, people with a lower sense of morality,

to be their intelligentsia, their talking class, their clergy, to speak for them. Though the Ogre as such is specialized in violence and incapable of intelligible discourse, it will find a class of sweet talkers to do that job for it.

4.8. The result in the long run is described in the sequel to this sequel:

4.8.1. Today is Noble who bears sign

Of blood from Ogre, midget, line We'll mock or jail who'll dare to tell Our Founding Ogre wasn't swell

4.8.2. At school when children learn to read

The Midget's holy word's their creed. The moral taught: follow the lead Of Ev'ry Savior Ogre's Deed.

4.9. There. Now you know the missing bits of the story.

4.9.1. This Enemy of ours is also a master liar who corrupts the language and distorts the way we think.

That's how it manages to extract more resources, by making victims compliant.

4.9.2. We are taught History in terms of fairy tales where great heroes defeat ogres and become kings,

but actually, real History is more about ogres who become kings by defeating their foes.

4.9.3. The State is born of an original sin, one of murderous conquest.

Man is subjected to a social order of conquerors commandeering conquered, and creates a God to that image.

4.10. And yet, I do advocate knowingly and wilfully Surrendering to the Ogres. Just not to Midgets.

Surrendering to overwhelming force is a necessity. Surrendering to surrounding lies is a mistake.

5. An Ode to Surrender

5.1. Going back to France, Surrender is not just foundational, we have a proud tradition of Surrender.

5.1.1. Our paleolithic Neanderthal ancestors surrendered to the Cro-Magnons.

5.1.2. Our neolithic ancestors accepted the yoke of the Celts and became Gauls.

5.1.3. As Gauls, we surrendered to the Romans and adopted their language, laws and gods.

5.1.4. As Gallo-Romans, we eagerly embraced the rising Christian religion,

rather than to be persecuted as infidels.

5.1.5. As Christian "Romans", we greeted the Visigoths as protectors,

and proudly negotiated rather than fought with Attila the Hun.

5.1.6. We then became servants to new German invaders and eventually

took from this new Master Race their name "French".

5.1.7. As French, we surrendered to the Normen a whole province (now Normandy) rather than fight.

5.1.8. We gladly honored contestants to the throne both "English" (Norman) and "French" (German),

during the hundred year war.

5.1.9. We eventually crowned a Navarrean, our king Henri IV.

5.1.10. We sat out the first Communist Dictatorship ever (the Terror), and

5.1.11. hailed a Corsican midget as our savior (Napoleon)

5.1.12. We welcomed back a King with the Russian army that brought him

5.1.13. and elected another Corsican Emperor.

5.1.14. We left a good chunk of our territory, Alsace and Lorraine, to the Prussians

without much resistance.

5.1.15. When they invaded again, we were letting them pour in

except that the English and the Americans threw them out, twice, to install regimes of their own preference.

5.1.16. We were actively getting ready to receive the Russians a second time,

but they never came during the Cold War.

5.1.17. Nowadays, we're happily welcoming our new Islamic invaders, and

would gladly surrender to them if only they had a well-defined chief at whose feet we could grovel.

5.1.18. In the meantime, we bow reverently to our EU overlords in Brussels.

Impressive credentials, isn't it? I call that embracing the competition. And its winner.

5.2. Now, some of you will argue that there were always resisters.

5.2.1. Indeed even in France there is still fond remembrance of great resisters:

we are proud of Vercingetorix who resisted Caesar's armies, we celebrate Jean Moulin who resisted Hitler's hordes, and some of us remember la Rochejaquelein who resisted the Revolutionary Terror.

5.2.2. But as they say in Latin, vae victis: shame to the defeated.

These resisters died in the shame of defeat and subjection; and by and large, we are not their descendents.

5.2.3. No, we the French descend from a long line of cowards and traitors.

They knew when to switch side, when to flee, to surrender, when to serve and pay taxes. And what's to be ashamed of?

5.2.4. By surrendering rather than needlessly resisting, we became free and prosperous and full of love.

By contrast, those who resist to the end and beyond, like Chechens, live in ruins with hate in their heart.

5.3. No. In France, we know that Power is to be respected;

5.3.1. we also know that Powerlessness is to be trampled upon.

And we know that the best way to detect the difference between the two is to walk the fine line that separates them, all the while avoiding to pass the breaking point. A fine balancing art that we've developed to perfection.

5.3.2. We will accept any master who will let us enjoy the good life,

with good food, sweet romance and long vacations; and we'll use that good life to corrupt whoever will rule us into embracing our way of life. Yet we'll abandon him for a stronger master the moment that his weakness is apparent.

5.4. Who cares whether the master is Roman, German, Corsican or Belgian?

Whether the priests follow Jupiter, Jesus, Robespierre or Mohammed? If you're American, you shouldn't care either whether today's top gang is Democrat or Republican.

5.4.1. Taxes are due to the political master and lip service is due to the dominant ideology;

we Frenchmen didn't have to be taught to render unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God.

5.4.2. We have learned to count our losses, and to focus on what is left

for us to actually possess and enjoy — including whatever we can grab back from our masters while they're not paying attention.

5.4.3. For we do not surrender what our master does not have the power to take.

We surrender to the Ogre. We repeat the lies of the Midget when forced to. But we do not surrender our minds to the lies. We do not give away our belongings just because the Midget says so. We understand the system, and make the most of it.

5.5. Also we do not confuse surrender with victory, subservience with freedom.

We know all to well that victory is preferable to surrender and defeat, that freedom is sweeter than subservience and oppression. But we do not dwell on negative feelings when we lose freedom to superior force, at least not permanently: we get over it and keep on.

5.5.1. Indeed while victory and freedom can hardly be overrated,

they are often misidentified, and their cost is often under-evaluated. People often dismiss too quickly the risk of defeat and the instability of permanent supremacy.

5.5.2. For instance, you're not victorious just because you're a slave soldier in a victorious army.

Your people hasn't won the war if half of it is dead and the survivors are more miserable than if they had surrendered early on.

5.5.3. And while Victory is great, its winds are changing, victors come and go.

You'll only stay on top so long, before you get old and newcomers topple you. So ask yourself whether the necessarily strict military discipline is worth it all, when instead you could be enjoying yourself at the cost of an occasional bow. What makes you think that a warlord like Caesar is a harsher master than the God of War Mars Himself? Do conquering soldiers bow and obey less than conquered civilians? Sure they might get to enjoy the testosterone-filling fun of killing, plundering and pillaging; but they mostly get a chance to get killed, by the enemy, or first and foremost, by their officers, if they don't obey the humiliating and dangerous orders of people who have no respect for their lives.

5.6. That is why, as a permanent relationship with Power, we choose unconditional Surrender.

5.6.1. And we don't mean some half-hearted surrender with a permanent spirit of revenge.

Neither do we mean a down-hearted surrender with the gloom of eternal defeat.
We mean a whole-hearted surrender with the enthusiastic welcome of the victor.

5.6.2. We won't incur the wrath of the master with constant hit-and-run guerrilla tactics.

We will actively staff his bureaucracy, lobby his office, offer our wines,

sell our perfumes, seek his friendship, marry our daughters to him.

5.6.3. We'll happily pay taxes on everything that we can't hide.

We'll eloquently support whichever candidate to the master's succession

will most give us back from his loot, without making enemies of other potential future victors.

5.7. Power is a fact, and we'll make the most of it. But it is also a fact that Power has limits,

and we'll just as much make the most out of that.

5.7.1. You can never vanquish rodents and roaches by killing them all off;

but you can easily learn to store your grain where rodents and roaches won't be able to see it or reach it.

5.7.2. In France, we have such proverbs as "Vivez heureux, vivez caché" (to live happy, live hidden),

or "Cultiver son jardin" (to grow one's own garden).

5.7.3. We don't fight against power in the open, but thrive at home behind closed walls.

5.7.4. We are well warned at school and in the media

to not flaunt our riches like a Fouquet and to not violently revolt against the masters like a Duviau. (The former was the chief tax collector of King Louis XIV, and was executed after showing off his riches to the King; the latter was an entrepreneurial farmer who recently shot two bureaucrats who ruined his business, and got maximal sentencing for it, prison for life, whereas hardened petty murderers usually get away after a handful of years or two.)

5.7.5. Whatever the law says, it is only ever forbidden but to get caught

— the latter not the former is what the law is, and that is the law we respect.

5.7.6. Remember: it's only illegal if you'll actually get caught and punished for it;

getting caught won't happen where there is neither victim nor witness; and getting punished may not happen if it is not explicitly forbidden and enforced.

5.7.7. What the cop does, not what the cop says, defines the law.

Bureaucrats know it all too well — it's time for all the people to learn it.

5.8. In conclusion, our motto is: Long live our Masters! And longer shall we live.

Our unconditional surrender is not mindless subservience, it's rational navigation through the seas of Power and Powerlessness.

6. In other words: "Cowardice, yes — Stupidity no"

6.1. Just as important as the ability to identify the Enemy, is

the ability to choose the proper Strategy to deal with that Enemy.

6.1.1. As an addendum to my previous Ode to Surrender,

I'd thus like to dispel misconceptions about the proper role of Cowardice.

6.2. Says an English proverb, "He who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day".

However, he who is a clever coward runs away well ahead of any bloodshed. The clever coward won't wait for things to get nasty; he won't go to war only to surrender; he won't uselessly waste resources at preparing losing battles; he won't suicidally engage the superior enemies; and even the inferior enemies, he'll find someone else to fight them for him.

6.2.1. Of course, time and again, fighting might be an absolute necessity.

There are times when running away is not an option, when surrendering will result neither in your life being spared, nor in the well-being of those you love being preserved. There are enemies who have the murderous intent to take away your life rather than merely the thievish desire to take away your belongings.

6.2.2. But if you're clever enough in your cowardice, you'll avoid those times.

You'll stay out of reach of such mindlessly deadly enemies. You'll accept the dominion of a stronger but less parasitic enemy that you can pit against a more parasitic but weaker enemy.

6.2.3. In the last extremity, but way in advance of the actual conflagration,

you'll prepare for the actual fight, in such a way that you can win — and since no retreat is possible (or else it wouldn't be the last extremity), you'll then use the leverage of commitment to increase the power of your strike.

6.2.4. In other words, you'll carefully pick your battles so you can win them all.

6.3. My great grandfather was a war hero:

he succeeded at getting killed "for his country". WWI was raging while he was a colonial officer, and he insisted about being assigned to combat duty when he could have stayed in his far away post — he died, to no benefit whatsoever to his country and to the great detriment of his family.

6.3.1. His son my grandfather on the other hand is a failed hero:

he twice took the initiative to cross great distances to join the battlefield and fight "for his country", and twice failed to arrive on time to be part of any battle. The first time, the French had already surrendered to the Germans by the time he arrived; the second time, the Germans had already surrendered to the Americans by the time he was cleared and retrained for combat;

6.3.2. His son my father was an unsuccessful anti-hero:

he failed to avoid being drafted in a war he didn't want to fight, and got poisoned with amibiasis for his service (ah, if only he were like his mates a drinker of beer, not water). But he was clever enough to fight where he ran the least risks: amongst paratroopers. And happily the heroes in the shock troupers to which he was detached were kind enough to leave him behind when they ultimately rushed to their heroic failure.

6.3.3. As for me, I hope to be a successful coward:

one who manages to stay way clear of any combat zone. I fled France way in advance of the shit hitting the fan — which it will, within a decade or two.

6.4. Of course, I'm willing to fund those who will fight battles for me.

Considering that warring is an activity that requires specialized skills, it is much more efficient indeed to pay a professional than to partake myself as an amateur.

6.4.1. But I'll contribute, in money or in kind,

only to those battles that I think are worth fighting, and only if I believe my marginal funding can actually contribute to victory.

6.4.2. What more, I strongly believe that corruption not force,

dishonesty towards the unjust laws not honor in enforcing their supremacy, are what will eventually make peace prevail.

6.4.3. It is tautological that justice, peace and prosperity can't win

against the interest of the mighty — but they can probably win more easily by making the mighty interested in justice, peace and prosperity than by trying to rise those interested in justice, peace and prosperity against the mighty.

7. Non Violence

7.1. Surrender is but a rational way to express the libertarian message of non-violence.

7.1.1. Do NOT fight and lose. That's not just stupid, that's EVIL. Only fight and win.

Fighting for the sake of fighting is the very opposite of what we're striving for.
Losing means that you acted to the DETRIMENT of the things you cared for, not to their advantage.

7.1.2. Our goal as libertarians is to minimize the violence, not to add to it.

That is the heart of all our philosophy: identifying a "natural" law that minimizes violence
by delimiting property rights and delegitimizing aggression against those rights.
It is foolish at best, and practically evil, to gratuitously add to the violence.

7.1.3. It's especially important to not fuel the violence

Do not provoke government goons into becoming violent. Do not come to them full of hate, even though they may be evil. Always be full of love and offer redemption where they are receptive. When you can't win the confrontation, avoid them. Remember that winning strategies are those that are in everyone's mutual best interest; we can't win by antagonizing the Ogre, only by making him our friend.

7.2. The State, by definition, is on top of violence

Violence against the State is a sure losing Strategy that won't advance liberty.

7.2.1. Worse, violence feeds the State.

Not just War is the health of the State, but domestic resistance, too. Any form of violence only serves as justification to the State to expand its powers.

7.3. Of course, if the current State collapses, and you get the opportunity to replace it, go for it.

You'll be our new State, and hopefully better than the current one, at least to start with.

7.3.1. But now YOU are The Man. Or rather, the Ogre.

And, Mars being a harsh master, you'll have to do a lot of oppression and violence just to stay in Power and not lose it to a rival that is more evil but better organized.

7.3.2. And don't expect a violent revolution to be possible unless and until the State collapses;

and you can't win if you haven't prepared for it
which means successful military discipline, coordination and intelligence.
or you'll lose if you have declared your bid before you were ready to win.

7.3.3. If you stupidly challenge the State while it's at its top and you're not,

you'll be crushed, and with you all the good things you stand for — and that's evil.

7.4. What that means is you should relinquish any form of violence or armed resistance.

Any hope of victorious uprising, rebellion or revolution. Indeed any intent of using force at all, or even of provoking it. For violence is the health of the State, and the more there is, the more it thrives.

7.5. You should surrender your bodies to the Ogre, not your minds to the Midget.

7.5.1. Superior force is to be respected. Inferior reason isn't.

Don't believe the State is your friend.

7.5.2. Don't lose your souls to greater evil.

Don't and don't help or support it.
Don't promote violent solutions that only replace the current State with a more violent one.

Or that necessarily loses if they prove less violent than the State.

7.5.3. That doesn't necessarily mean violence is wholly absent from any solution.

Pacifism may or may not apply. But if it's a solution, it should decrease overall violence.
If your "solution" implies an overall increase in violence, it isn't a solution.
Self-defense, justice against wrong-doers, police against outlaws,

are usually forms of violence that decrease overall violence; but extra care should be taken before and when invoking these concepts for it's easy to abuse them and make mistakes that actually increase violence.

8. Change the game

So if you don't like the oppression by the State, but can't use violence to overthrow it, what can you do about it? Change the game.

8.1. Teach ideas of liberty

8.1.1. You CAN NOT teach everyone. Most people are just not receptive.

They don't care. And their default position is to support the system. The Midget's lies work, particularly when backed by the Ogre. That's why the Ogre keeps him at his service. And the Midget is paid handsomely to spread these lies permanently and professionally. Don't expect your truths to compete with that. Not for the masses.

8.1.2. But you CAN make things better by freeing people around you.

Find people who care; leave people who don't. Create your own support community; and teach each other how to be freer.

8.1.3. Turning a few enemies into allies is the best thing you can do.

If you can convince intelligent people to turn from statists to anarchists, that's as many intelligent people who won't be serving the State and will instead help enrich civilization and help you be free.

8.1.4. Your hope should not be victory, but keeping the flame alive.

The Ogre isn't eternal. Eventually he will fall, and no one will believe the Midget's lies. You stand no chance while the Ogre is alive; but you have a small chance if you are ready when he falls. That's long term, uncertain, background work.

8.2. Create Temporary Autonomous Zones (TAZ)

8.2.1. Avoid taxes and regulations, don't feed the beast.

But don't do it at your own sacrifice. Do it where it matches your interest. "If this country is worth saving, it's worth saving at a profit." — H. L. Hunt "This country can only be saved if it can be saved at a profit." — Patri Friedman The same holds not just for this country, but for yourself and everything you hold dear.

8.2.2. A TAZ is temporary: The Man will eventually catch up.

Don't invest all you have in it under the expectation that it will last forever. Have a plan to cash in and leave before the Establishment catches up with you.

8.2.3. However the Establishment is slow and bulky. You can be fast and nimble.

Fly under the radar. Move often. Observe the predator, and make your move before he gets to you.

8.3. Find technologies that improve incentives

8.3.1. Cryptography: makes for more privacy.

8.3.2. Seasteading: improves on local government incentives.

8.3.3. Anything that makes black market easier and more reliable.

8.3.4. Anything that increases accountability of government officials.

8.3.5. Anything that makes government propaganda less effective.

8.4. Survive

8.4.1. The state is mortal. Survive it.

Russians who survived communism won. Russians who were killed lost to communism. Communism is so evil precisely because it killed so many people. But you don't have to be one of the victims. And you don't have to succomb to the lies, either.

8.4.2. To increase your chances, vote with your feet. It's the most powerful vote.

I have successfully run away from France before SHTF.

I like to think that I will successfully run away from the US before SHTF.
Everyone of you living in the US either voted with his feet, or has ancestors who did, already.
And even inside the US, you can vote with your feet,

by moving to whichever State is least oppressive to you.
The Free State Project is one way to do that.

Not the only one, but a good one. Find a way that works for you. And have a plan to get out when SHTF, which it will, eventually.