by Frederick Mann
10/12/97
Introduction
------------
This is the third in a series of articles on the
Economic Means to Freedom. The second article
included a brief discussion of the "No-Opposition
Strategy." You can get the first two articles
from <http://www.buildfreedom.com/eco1.htm> or by
request from <mailto:f-prime-activist.com>.
This article will elaborate on the No-Opposition
Strategy and introduce the "It's Not All-or-Nothing"
principle.
Disclaimer
----------
This article constitutes the dissemination of
information in accordance with the right to free
speech. Nothing in this article is to be interpreted
as legal, accounting, tax, currency, banking, or
investment advice. Anyone seeking such advice
should consult a properly qualified and accredited
professional. All readers of this article are
emphatically advised to obey all laws on Earth
and in the Universe to the letter.
The No-Opposition Strategy
--------------------------
>
>"If you can avoid it, never play on the other guy's field, by the
>other guy's rules, or with the other guy's ball. He didn't design
>_his_ system to give _you_ the advantage. Remember that organisms
>defending their own territory are twice as effective as an intruding
>attacker." -- L. Neil Smith
>
A basic theme of the Economic Means to Freedom
is "building freedom" rather than "fighting
for freedom" or "fighting against tyranny."
I believe that if a critical mass of people
were to focus on building freedom, corrupt
political systems will eventually lose their
power and influence.
I don't know how many people would constitute
such a critical mass, nor how influencial their
economic power would have to be, in order for
their combined economic activities to have a
decisive impact on the expansion of freedom,
on one hand, and the decline of the power and
influence of coercive political systems, on
the other hand.
The fifth main principle of the Economic Means to
Freedom is the No-Opposition Strategy. When we
oppose something, or try to reform it, we usually
encounter opposition. Our effort elicits an almost
automatic counter-effort. In practicing the Economic
Means to Freedom, we don't attempt to change, oppose,
reform, or overthrow any political or economic systems.
We simply create our own voluntary alternatives in the
free-enterprise sector.
In the second article of this series, I used the
examples of Ghandi, the fall of the Berlin wall,
and the collapse of the soviet empire to illustrate
that the terrocrats (terrorist bureaucrats or coercive
political agents) were not invincible -- "The power
of terrocrats is tenuous -- largely based on illusion,
flimsy, fragile, and of little substance."
At 01:29 AM 10/11/97 -0700, Tim Starr <timstarr@netcom.com> wrote:
>
>[snip]
>
>Peaceful resistance can work, but ONLY against those who aren't willing
>to mass-murder the resisters. Gandhi & MLK were fortunate enough to be
>up against opponents who were unwilling to do so. Anyone who thinks the
>US government would be equally unwilling is invited to consider what
>happened to the Bonus Army in 1932, back when the U.S. government was
>considerably less willing to use force against its citizenry than it is
>six & a half decades later.
>
>Exagerrating the effectiveness of peaceful resistance is tantamount to
>sending the gullible to their deaths.
>
My examples may have created the impression that
I advocate peaceful resistance. Let me emphasize
that peaceful resistance may be appropriate for
certain people in certain situations, but it does
not fit at all into the context of the No-Opposition
Strategy.
Peaceful resistance is a form of opposition, which
tends to elicit counter-effort. It involves forms
of "fighting for freedom" or "fighting against tyranny."
There are various styles of practicing the Economic
Means to Freedom. The most powerful is *invisibility*.
You operate in such a manner that you and your economic
activities are effectively invisible to terrocrats.
There is no protesting terrocrat actions; no resistance
to terrocrat actions; no fighting terrocrats in court.
Protesting, resisting, and fighting may have a place
in the Economic Means to Freedom, but have no place in
the No-Opposition Strategy. There are times to take
a stand, and times to take evasive action. There are
also times to just pay the terrocrats what they demand,
because that's the least evil.
In practicing the Economic Means to Freedom for a quarter
of a century, I've paid terrocrats around $500 in "fines,"
maybe $5,000 - $10,000 for "car registration" and "driver's
licences," and around $10,000 - $15,000 in various "sales
taxes."
No terrocrat has ever used a gun against me, or threatened
to do so. No terrocrat has ever pointed a gun at me.
Their threats have always come in the form of *words*.
As indicated in the first article of this series, the
practitioner of the Economic Means to Freedom may face,
in general, fewer risks from terrocrats than people "in
the system."
I've received a few threatening letters from terrocrats.
In some cases I paid the "fine" demanded; in other cases
I sent them a reply that resulted in them deciding that
it would be more profitable for them to pursue other,
easier victims or "marks."
By making the above payments, I supported the terrocrats.
You could argue that, to the extent I paid terrocrats, I
practiced the Economic Means to Slavery. This suggests
the sixth principle of the Economic Means to Freedom.
It's Not All-or-Nothing
-----------------------
The sixth principle of the Economic Means to Freedom is
that you don't have to suddenly switch from one extreme
to the other. You can shift into the free-enterprise
sector in stages. You can compartmentalize your life
and affairs so your assets, earnings, and economic
activities are partially in the private (or even public!)
sector and partially in the free-enterprise sector.
[The first article in this series explains the distinction
between the three different economic sectors.]
Freedom Technology consists of the practical knowledge,
methods, and skills to live free; the street-smart
know-how to outwit and run rings around terrocrats;
the means to protect your earnings and assets from
terrocrats and other thieves and robbers. Freedom
Technology enables you to legally, elegantly, and
safely shift some or all of your economic activities
into the free-enterprise sector.
Some of the practitioners of the Economic Means to
Freedom, who facilitate this shift, may become the
millionaires and billionaires of the next century.
Emerging free-enterprise institutions, such as those
mentioned in the first article of this series, are
likely to play an expanding role in the economic
shift into the free-enterprise sector.
An important characteristic of the shift into the
free-enterprise sector is that as it grows, it
becomes easier for new people to join the shift.
The emerging financial free-enterprise institutions
(see first article in series) already make it much
easier now, than it was 10 years ago, to shift into
the free-enterprise sector. And as the shift grows,
so do the number of free-enterprise businesses.
This increases the opportunities for freedom lovers
to work in or with businesses that don't kowtow to
terrocrats.
What to Do Next
---------------
1. Find out more about Freedom Technology at:
<http://www.buildfreedom.com/>.
2. If you don't have the first two articles in this series,
you can order them by <mailto:f-prime@activist.com>
or access <http://www.buildfreedom.com/eco1.htm>.
3. Subscribe to the Advanced Freedom Solutions List, and
explore with others the best ways to implement the Economic
Means to Freedom. <Mailto:AFS-request@involved.com> with
"subscribe" in the body of your message.
Copyright C 1997 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED FWO/TL HOLDINGS
Copyright Exception: Anyone is free (and encouraged) to
circulate this article in electronic form in accordance
with the generally accepted customs of netiquette, provided
the article is circulated in its entirety without any changes.
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