☰
Navigation :

Diversions From Freedom

If you want to know what a person values, do not listen to what he says, observe where and on what he spends his time and money—that’s what is really important to him.

It is also one way I know very few people are truly interested in freedom, because very few spend much of any of their resources—time, money, thoughts, or effort—making themselves free. But even if one is truly an independent individualist who cannot live without freedom, it is easy to get diverted from the course of freedom, because there are an infinite number of things in this world all beckoning to us to, “look at this,” “buy this,” “do this,” or, “worry about this,“with promises of interest, excitement, importance, pleasure or satisfaction.

The Biggest Distraction

Perhaps the biggest of all distractions is politics, which is the reason for today’s Free Individual article, “Politics, A Joke,” which explains why politics should never be taken seriously. Politics is not irrelevant, but relative to one’s own life and objectives, is it mostly a bother and a distraction one must deal with, but ultimately not important.

Please see the articles: The Allure Of Anarchy and No Political Solution for examples of alluring but specious political views.

Know What Is Important To You

The independent individualist wants to know what is going on in the world so he can make right decisions in his own life. The “news” that is most important to the individualist is that which is closest to him and most likely to have a real bearing on his own life and choices.

He is obviously interested in what government is doing that might affect him; what laws, regulations, or other outrages the government is planning for the citizens, like the disgusting and outrageous invasion of individual privacy and integrity perpetrated by the TSA, since it formation in 2001 (moved under to useless Department of Homeland Security in 2003).

Once it was learned what the TSA was doing, it was not necessary to read about every violation of people’s privacy that is printed or reported in the news. Such stories are titillating, and it is easy to get caught up following such stories and being properly outraged—it is also a waste of time. (If that particular subject is one of special interest to an individual, perhaps a writer, such details might be important. Everyone must judge for themselves what is important and of value to them.)

Here is an observation: Most of what appears in all resources supposedly dedicated to freedom are mostly about what is keeping us from being free, not about how to be free. There is, on one site, a list of objectives that would supposedly “restore” freedom for individuals:

  1. Eliminate all government interference or regulation of any business or any aspect of the economy.
  2. Elimination of all government owned property.
  3. Eliminate all government welfare and subsidies.
  4. Abolish all taxes.
  5. Eliminate government fiat money.
  6. Eliminate all foreign aid.
  7. Eliminate all government meddling in foreign affairs.
  8. Abolish any and all state involvement in education.
  9. Eliminate government funded science.
  10. Reduce the department of defense to an as needed agency with no standing military.
  11. The elimination of all bureaucracies including:

BATFE (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives–Justice)
BATTT (Bureau of Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade–Treasury)
CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration)
DOC (Department of Commerce)
DOD (Department of De fence)
DOE (Department of Energy)
DOI (Department of the Interior)
DOL (Department of Labor)
DOT (Department of Transportation)
ED (US department of education)
EPA (Environmental Protection Agency)
FDA (Food and Drug Administration)
HHS (Health and Human Services)
ICC (Interstate Commerce Commission)
EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission)
FAA (Federal Aviation Administration)
FCC (Federal Communications Commission)
FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency)
FTC (Federal Trade Commission)
HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development)
IRS (Internal Revenue Service)
ITA (International Trade Administration)
NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)
NEA (National Endowment for the Arts)
NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission)
ONDCP (Office of National Drug Control Policy)
OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Administration)
SBA (Small Business Administration)
SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission)
TSA (Transportation Security Authority)
USDA (Department of Agriculture)

With the exception of number 10 (which is in conflict with the elimination of the DOD) all of these are good objectives, and there is no doubt, if implemented would certainly make the United States more free, but it is a mistake to believe any of these measures are possible. These bureaucracies will never be eliminated by any kind of program, movement, or political action.

It is good to know about all these ways the government threatens our individual liberty, not so we can become involved in attempting to eliminate them—a futile and impossible task—but so we can take measures to protect our own freedom from those threats.

A couple of examples:

HHS

One of the most dangerous bureaucracies is the HHS, especially as it is implemented at the state level, usually designated as Child Protective Services (CPS) or something similar. If you have children, these agencies pose a very real threat to your freedom and your family, and it is very important to know how to protect yourself from them. (They are one reason you must homeschool or privately school your children, and be vary careful about who your doctor is, and anyone else you deal with relative to your children.)

The CPS article include Nancy Schaefer’s expose of their crimes in her report, “The Corrupt Business of Child Protective Services.” She and her husband, Bruce Schaefer, were found shot to death in 2010. Their death was called a murder-suicide, but that verdict was doubtful and without evidence.

If you do not have children, HHS and CPS are irrelevant, and you can completely ignore them.

IRS

There are several organizations in this country that have made it their mission to eliminate the IRS. The IRS is certainly one of the most oppressive of government agencies, and its elimination would certainly be a wonderful relief (unless it is simply replaced with a less transparent form of taxation); but the IRS is not going to be eliminated and the individual seeking freedom will not waste his time with such efforts, because the only efforts that will provide “tax relief,” are those the individual takes for himself—and there are many things the individual can do to free himself from the IRS.

—(10/18/2020)