Part 4: Bye-Bye Politics (continued)
The long-awaited next installment in my true story. Loyal readers and followers, I'm sorry for the delay!
NOTE: Links to prior episodes at the bottom or in my Table of Contents.
In the first episode of "Bye-Bye Politics", I presented the political history of my life. Now for the good stuff - How I finally gave it all up and became an anarchist.
Although I had wasted most of my life enmeshed in the negative-sum game of politics, I had (through association with the Tax Honesty movement) encountered an interesting gentleman named Larken Rose.
You can find Larken on Steemit these days, where he already has a very large following and a high reputation. When you hear how he influenced my thinking, perhaps you'll understand why I feel both are well-deserved.
Behold, the Agora! Voluntary, Free Exchange...
Photo courtesy of Juan ignacio Tapia and http://unsplash.com
I followed Larken's story over many years. He thoroughly researched and promoted a theory known as "The 861 Argument." You can still read about that here if you are interested. It is a fascinating report, revealing that the tax code as actually written is constitutional. The problem is in how it is fraudulently applied.
During the time he was promoting the 861 theory, Larken suggested some interesting experiments in which I chose to participate. For example, Larken proposed writing to the "taxing authorities" and asking a few simple questions to see what they might say. Thanks to the internet "Wayback Machine," you can still read those questions at this link here.
Image Source
The results of those experiments were nothing short of shocking.
I had sent the suggested letters to my "representatives" in the senate and in congress. Each letter asked half a dozen clear and unambiguous questions about the tax laws of the United States. These were questions that should have had simple, reasonable answers.
However, instead of any real answers, I received lame, non-answers and veiled threats. Everyone else who wrote to their "representatives" was similarly abused. Paraphrasing freely, the congressional minions told us all:
"Don't get uppity wit' us, boy!" - Your Congress-critter
"How dare you question me! Git back to work!" - Your Senate-sitter
The inability, unwillingness, and outright refusal of the "authorities" to answer straightforward questions about "the law" was eye-opening. It revealed them in a clear light. The emperor was, in fact, naked as a jaybird.
Larken was personally answered more forcefully.
I was later outraged when I heard how armed federal thugs had forced their way into Larken's home, holding Larken, his wife, and his daughter hostage while they pillaged.
Shortly thereafter, Larken Rose was put on trial in federal court for his sincerely held beliefs, and was found guilty of heresy.
Just in case you think that's an exaggeration; in case you believe the federal government has any shred of integrity? I suggest you read "Kicking the Dragon" for a more detailed history of that period of time. Rose spent 15 months in federal prison for thought crime. They later jailed his wife Tessa as well.
Commenting on his trial, Rose had this to say:
"In his instructions to the jury, Judge Michael Baylson declared my legal conclusions regarding the 861 evidence to be incorrect. He didn't bother to say anything, or even give the slightest hint, about WHY they are wrong, or HOW they are wrong. He didn't mention the substance of the issue at all, or cite anything from the law in an attempt to refute it. Instead, he simply trusted that the jurors would blindly accept his "opinion" as valid and correct, simply because it came from him." - Larken Rose
Everyone knows, don't they?
"Everyone knows," don't they, that anyone who works and earns money in the United States owes the federal government tax on what they earn? Using a stacked deck, playing upon the ignorance and envy of a "jury of their peers," an utterly corrupt judicial system found the Roses guilty. What were they guilty of violating? Certainly not "the law," but rather the deluded and conditioned beliefs and expectations of the average juror.
By Proud User [CC0], via Wikimedia Commons
My point is this:
The Roses are people with sincere beliefs.
Their beliefs are evidently sincere enough that they stood up against federal tyranny, knowing that it would result in significant personal suffering. I find this admirable and praiseworthy. Because they did this, it is now obvious to anyone willing to look at the history of their case, that the federal government is a lawless, renegade beast.
Furthermore, the jail time has only served to strengthen Rose's belief in the innate evil of the state. From a distance, I observed Larken's thoughts and ideas grow and expand. He has gone from questioning the authority of the state and the application of law to an ultimately clear and principled view of state v individual. This might be described most simply by stating that
An immoral act performed by an individual does not become moral if done by a group of men, no matter how large the group nor what they may call themselves.
Another, related statement might be:
An immoral act cannot be made moral simply by changing the word used to describe it.
For example, calling the involuntary taking of money a "tax" does not change the fact that it is theft, pure and simple. And the taking of the tax is not magically transformed into a moral act because it is performed by a large group called "government."
My Thinking Has Changed!
Larken Rose's work on "The Most Dangerous Superstition" and "Outside the Cage" has had a most radical impact on my thinking. Reading TMDS and listening to "Outside the Cage" was for me an excercise in holding up a mirror to my personal beliefs. I had professed for most of my life to believe and to live by Jesus' admonition to "Love your neighbor as yourself," but Larken's work made it all too clear to me that I was inadvertently violating my own beliefs.
Listen to "Outside the Cage" By Larken Rose
Talk about an utterly evil system!
Growing up immersed in "normal life," the state had succeeded in tricking me into harming my neigbor without my even recognizing it! By participating in "the political process," I was not merely consenting to evil, but actively promoting it. I learned that I was by proxy supporting theft and murder.
It wasn't enough that I had withdrawn as much tax support as I knew how. It was time to also withdraw my vote, to cease choosing rulers who by the very nature of the system they are a part of defraud, extort, rob, and kill my neighbors.
And so, thanks to Larken having brilliantly guided me to facing up to the consequences of my own actions, I no longer vote for political offices. If I vote at all, it is against taxes (theft) and against measures that increase the power of the state (oppression).
During the time I was learning and thinking about all this I was of course also re-examining my understanding of what the Bible, the Hebrew/Christian Scriptures, has to say about "anarchy." On the face of it, you might think there would be a conflict because of certain passages that seem to encourage obedience to governments. [ See Romans 13 and I Peter 2 ]
However, to the contrary, many statements I had previously not noticed or glossed over now became perfectly clear.
For example, Jesus said:
"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me." - Matthew 28:18
It's now clear to me that leaves no place whatsoever for man to rule over his fellow-man. In the same vein, Jesus also was dismissive about the rule of nations:
And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” - Mark 10:42-45
It has become very clear to me now that Jesus Himself was an anarchist, and that His constant teaching "The Kingdom of God is at hand" was such a threat to the rulers of that time that they crucified Him.
Please don't mistake this for a blanket endorsement...
... but my friend @sethlinson, some time ago, wrote an excellent series on Christian Anarchy that I hope you'll read and find (mostly) enlightening.
Before reading and hearing from Larken Rose, it had never consciously occurred to me that there were other options in life in which politics were not involved or even necessary. I was just trying to do what I believed at that time to be the right thing. Sadly, that did not mean it was the moral thing.
"In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes." - Judges 21:25
Such is the darkness that has fallen over the church and over our society. The vast majority of well-meaning Christians (myself included for most of my life) do their neighbors harm. They do so by supporting the violent rule of man over man.
Next Time - Part 5: Survival Skills
Trying to make a living "off the books" and in "the black market."
Even before I became an anarchist, I was becoming an agorist. I began withdrawing my wealth production from the state in the early '90s. It was, has been, and is an ongoing battle that I'll begin describing for you in the next episode.
In case you want to catch up on past episodes:
Part 1: Pre-Agorist Days
Part 2: Tax Honesty
A Footnote: Why You Need to Know that Jesus is My LORD (And No Other Need Apply)
Part 3: Bye-Bye Politics! (Part One)
In case you need a laugh:
Do You Have the Chops To Be A Relevant Part of My Steemit Audience?
About This Series
I'll be telling more of the story of my journey to voluntaryism than I've told anywhere before. I intend to include some strategies and examples, and hope to inspire you to action.
My dear reader, Don't let anyone tell you that writing is a breeze.
It has taken many hours to produce this post. Writing is hard work! It is a painstaking, tedious, tiring, soul-searching task...
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