“I
do not ask that you place your hands upon the tyrant to topple him
over, but merely that you support him no longer; then you will behold
him, like a great colossus whose pedestal has been pulled away, fall
of his own weight and break into pieces." -- Etienne de la Boetie,
Discourse
on Voluntary Servitude
If
the Ron Paul revolution is really about the message of freedom,
freedom of each individual man and woman, then let’s keep the
momentum going and start doing things that will really bring that
about.
By
now it’s clear: a candidate who may have been able to decrease the
force used by the “United States government” against us, is not
going to be the nominee. You can debate the reasons why all day;
that will not diminish the restraints on our liberty one bit.
Voting in political elections has never brought about a decrease in
the size and scope of governments. All it does is continue to
provide government with a veil of legitimacy.
What about NOT voting though?
All governments rely on the support of their victims (euphemistically
called “Citizens”) to be able to continue killing, stealing and
lying as usual. In places like the United States, it’s a
generally held belief that governments, i.e., men and women providing
services on a compulsory basis, do so by consent. Yes, as crazy
as that is, most people believe it’s by consent. One way this
idea is created and maintained is by having political elections.
Remember, there is no choice as to whether you want and pay for their
services or not, just a false “choice” in who is allegedly in
charge of the men and women providing the service.
If you want real change, then this idea of consent
must be stripped away so those acting as government are seen for
exactly what they are: men and women unable or unwilling to bring
their services to the market on a voluntary basis like normal people.
This idea of consent is the problem, not George Bush,
Hillary Clinton or some other “leader.” This idea, held by
enough people, is what allows such people to do and get away with the
destruction of our freedom.
Libertarians and voluntaryists have long known voting is a powerful
tool to convince people of the lie governments exist by consent.
That’s a pretty thick root; let’s start hacking away.
By not voting, one of the most powerful tools of government is taken
away.
On my radio show The No State Project on February 9,
2008, I introduced my idea of keeping the momentum of the Ron Paul
revolution going, and doing a voter bomb, or a non-voter
bomb as suggested by my guest, fellow voluntaryist Alex
Knight III, a contributor to Strike
the Root.com.
The idea is to campaign, using the internet, radio, signs etc., for
Ron Paul supporters and other freedom minded people to demand to be
taken off the voter registration records with their “state”
elections bureau. To send a clear message: we’re fed
up and not participating anymore; we’re taking steps to be free and
we’re not asking for permission.
We’ll give them an “Election Day” they’ll remember. A
symbolic day such as 9/11, prior to the “elections” on November 4,
2008; everyone mails their demand letter to the appropriate officials
the same day. The message will have more impact if handled by a
private company instead of the post office. The letters could be
delivered in custom Non-voter bomb envelopes.
There’s no precedent I’m aware of; so let’s make history.
An ongoing campaign to get as many people off the voter roles as
possible. I’ll have a template available for free on my
website, all people have to do is fill in their name and the mailing
address of the local election officials.
Here in the United States, there’s no “law” making voting
compulsory; so there’s no worry you may be imprisoned or fined.
The risk factor is zero for this act of non-participation.
Freedom is ours for the taking; it will come through non-violent
non-cooperation; not through the political process. The
political process, such as voting, only strengthens the twisted root
of tyranny. Refusing to participate in the political process
takes away the deception governments exist by consent; that’s
hacking away at the root and is the only thing that brings us closer
to a free, voluntary society.
For more information, tune in to my radio show, The No State Project,
live every Saturday from 5-7 pm est, 2-4 pm pst, on the We
the People Radio Network. You can join the show by calling
(888) 202-1984 and (512) 646-1984.
"But to tear down a factory or to revolt against a government or
to avoid repairs of a motorcycle because it is a system is to attack
effects rather than causes; and as long as the attack is upon effects
only, no change is possible. The true system, the real system,
is our present construction of systematic thought itself, rationality
itself, and if a factory is torn down but the rationality
which produced it is left standing, then that rationality will simply
produce another factory. If a revolution destroys a
systematic government, but the systematic patterns of thought that
produced that government are left intact, then those patterns will
repeat themselves in the succeeding government." Robert
Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
