Free Yourself

The old Autonomist [killed by hackers in 2005] had the following words in the header:

“If you are waiting for the government to change, or society to change, or for some program or movement to be successful to find freedom, you will never be free.”

So, most people will never be free, even though they expend their time, their energy, even their money in pursuit of it by supporting endless libertarian or anarchist organization, or movements, or programs—none of which will ever gain them personal freedom.

ot Opposed To Freedom-oriented Programs

I want emphasize the Independent Individualist does not oppose any organization or movement or effort by anyone that promotes the concepts of individual liberty in any form. This attitude is part of our belief in a totally free market, which includes a free market of ideas.

But the Independent Individualist is dedicated to individuals who are determined to be free and to live their lives as they choose, now, and cannot wait for any movement or program to be successful. This is about them, not any movement or program, all of which we support the freedom of and wish their success.

An Example

This is not meant as a criticism, but as a way of explanation why the various libertarian and anarchist movements are not going to work for the independent individualist. There is an interesting article at the, “**Center for a Stateless Society**,” site, “[The Thin Black Line](http://c4ss.org/content/5309)," which essentially dissects the various forms of “anarchism” and attempts to find some common ground between them. The ultimate aim is individual liberty, of course, and it is obvious eliminating the only real threat to that, the state, would produce that liberty. How to do that, and when it will be accomplished, is of course the problem. The article concludes with this less-than-promising description of their method:

“The Center for a Stateless Society is one squad in that thin black line, and our mission is to get … ‘an’ or even ‘any’ anarchist message in front of as many … people as possible via the ‘mainstream media.’

“That’s what we do. That’s all we do. All things considered, I think we’re doing it pretty well and getting better at it every day.”

Any freedom loving individual must certainly applaud that effort, but realistically, does anyone believe it will lead to their own personal freedom in their lifetime?

Free Yourself

There is nothing wrong with being a part of or supporting any libertarian or anarchist organization, group, or movement with one’s time or, even money, if it is what one chooses to do. One benefit of such relationships is finding others with the same kind of desire for freedom, and sharing ideas about those things a true freedom loving individual enjoys. I enjoy that myself.

What the freedom loving individual must not do is to allow any such “activism”to be substituted for any real effort at establishing their own freedom. There is a danger that being involved in any such organization or movement will produce a false sense of, “well, I’m doing something about freedom.” Well, it is, “doing something,” but what it might be doing is something counterproductive to achieving one’s own individual freedom now.

In fact, for anyone who sees a value in any movement or program they will be more effective if they have already established their own independent freedom. Before you attempt to make your community, your country, or the world free, you better free yourself. How do you think you are going to free anyone else while you are still in slavery?