"If You Don't Like The Government, You Can Just Leave" - Examining the Ridiculousness of This Statement
(Edited)
There are a handful of statements/questions that most of us who wake up to the reality that government is simply a monopoly on violence hear quite often. Besides the ever-asked "but who will build the roads," one of the most common is the statement that "If you don't like it (the government, taxes, surveillance), you can just leave."
Today, I'd like to examine how ridiculous and untrue that statement is, from two different angles:
- First, looking at the morality of the theft, extortion, kidnapping, and murder that government commits. Does that fact that some can theoretically escape from a violator somehow make the violation less immoral?
- Second, looking at the practicality of the statement. In a world where governments have claimed every inch of land, where exactly is it that we can leave to? Even if that completely free zone existed somewhere on the planet, how many imaginary government lines would one have to cross to get there, each time being subjected to different extortions, searches, and the requirements for permission papers.
This conversation started (in my head) while listening to an episode of Marc Stevens' No State Project, where he was speaking with a law professor about the lack of any evidence that a given government's laws apply to someone simply because they are physically in the territory that government claims domain over.
If you enjoyed this, you may enjoy some of these highlights of my blog:
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According to the Bible, How should a Christian deal with peer pressure?
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Thanks for the resteem! Good to see you're still here doing your thing Frank!
Thank YOU Bruv, and Ditto!
Well just leave ...Thats what I did kind of ... Got tired of the endless bills and crap wages . being a wage slave sucks...plus it eats up every minute of your life dealing with it all...so sold my house moved on my boat and found a nice bay to drop anchor ..no morgue rent taxes power bills ..none of it ...now my crap wage is more than enough to live on and have money left over and time to smell the roses.. Its not just money they want for permission to live on land its also every waking minute of your life..
That's awesome! Congratulations on leaving, and thank you for sharing your story of doing so.
I didn't mean to say that it's impossible, or that there isn't value in leaving to the extent that each of us can. Just pointing out how it is nowhere near as simple as the people who generally say "if you don't like it, just leave" make it out to be.
Personally, I've never voted or registered to vote, I don't pay/file taxes, I have no legal address, no bills, barely more belongings than I can carry (I do have a pretty bad-ass book collection that lives with my family), and am currently in the phase of my life where I interact with corporations (including government) as little as possible, while still traveling, being online, etc. My plan is to completely disconnect in the near future, as I move onto the land and work on creating a village that is an example of the world I want to see unfold.
Thanks for dropping in and sharing!