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On
Withdrawing from
the State by A.E. Summar Statism,
like any other addiction, can only exist when there is a continual
source of the drug to supply the addict’s need.
If an addict successfully removes the drug from his lifestyle, he
is well on his way to killing the power it holds over him.
Certainly the withdrawal from a physical addiction is
uncomfortable—even fatal sometimes—but withdrawing from an ideological
addiction is infinitely harder. I
should know: I’ve been a recovering statist for nigh on three years
now. What do I mean by this?
Well, once upon a time I wouldn’t have hesitated to give my
bank any amount of personal information about me, including my SSN, my
personal consumption trends, and even where I spend my money from day to
day. In fact, I did both of
the latter with that magical device of the millennium, the debit card.
I was also an avid watcher of television.
Thinking back, I can actually remember a time when I spent
approximately three hours a day in front of the thing, listening to
frosted blondes squawk propaganda and watching reruns of sitcoms that
weren’t funny the first time around.
I faithfully listened to the radio, saw every new blockbuster in
theaters, and read such hard-hitting journals as Newsweek
and The New York Times. I
didn’t vote—even a public schools indoctrinate like me could see
that voting was a waste of time—but I sure was outraged when Dubya
“stole” the election (it had not yet occurred to me that the
election process itself is a sham). Oh,
man. They have a word for
people like that: statist. Since
my awakening to the mind-bending realities of free-market anarchism,
I’ve changed my life drastically.
And let me tell you, the change has been for the better.
Now I deal only in cash and I don’t use banks except to cash my
paycheck. I do this through
the bank that issues them. This
has resulted in almost complete financial privacy.
Once I removed myself from the quasi-centralized banking system
known as the Federal Reserve, I found that the nuisances of
telemarketers and junk mail were halved.
I also realized just how much money I was wasting on checking and
ATM fees. I’m competent
enough to handle my own finances, thank you very much. I
don’t get television reception in my home—when I was given a TV as a
gift last Christmas, I disabled the antenna. Now it functions
solely as a screen for watching movies on video.
Ridding my life of the demon TV has
had a most lasting effect. I
am always delighted when a
stranger mentions last night’s programming as an introduction to small
talk. Because I can’t
respond to him in kind, I
don’t have a credit card. The
current disaster that is the American economy needs savers, not
spenders. My father taught
me “Don’t spend money you don’t have”—sound advice in these
times when bankruptcy is an increasingly popular way of defaulting on
debts. Without a credit
card, where and on what I spend my money is nobody’s business but my
own. I may not have all the
latest high-tech gadgetry or vacation in Bermuda every winter, but I
also don’t have to worry about paying off gargantuan bills over the
next ten years of my life (at 8% interest).
I spend a lot of my money in the untaxed market, i.e. garage/yard
sales, flea markets, farmers’ markets, and other like places of
private sale. I avoid
feeding the parasite that is the State whenever I possibly can. I
don’t have a cell phone. I
don’t have call waiting. I
do, however, have mountains of books and a newly aroused voraciousness
for reading and writing. I
have a great collection of movies and classic films.
I have a piano, innumerable CDs and mp3s, and a lifelong love of
music. I also have an active
imagination. And each time I
refuse to acknowledge an organ of the State—be it the Fed, the
mainstream media cartels, the tax leeches, or the thought police—I am
denying its legitimacy and therefore its authority over my life or my
property. I
am actually weakening the State by ignoring it.
What I didn’t realize as a statist was that by participating in
the myriad demands of our modern consumerist (as opposed to
entrepreneurial) America, I was strengthening the very Leviathan I
wanted to destroy. Consumerism
is driven by the demands of pop culture.
Pop culture represents the very worst that a nation has to offer:
the mediocre middle. Pop
culture represents the mythical “voice of the people,” otherwise
known as mob rule. Pop
culture lends the State a respectability it hasn’t earned.
By withdrawing from the shrill cacophony of the mob, I have taken
control of my life and my thinking.
I’ve been listening to myself for a change. Admittedly,
the extent of my self-liberation may seem extreme to some.
I’m a bit of a Luddite when it comes to the most recent
technology, and I couldn’t possibly tell you what hot new movies are
playing in theaters this week. It
is less convenient to carry cash than a flimsy plastic card.
Without credit, I won’t be able to buy something large, like a
house, without the full amount up front.
I don’t insist that these methods are suitable for everyone.
But if freedom-minded people are serious about striking at the
root, shunning the State and any of its tentacles is a peaceful and
effective form of resistance. |
