Being A Criminal

As in just about every other culture on the planet, Americans are raised to respect "authority." They are taught that obedience is a virtue, and that the measure of whether you're a good person is whether you're a "law-abiding taxpayer" who "plays by the rules." Likewise, we're taught that the bad guys are all "criminals" who "have a problem with authority."

People with brains have a problem with authority. And while being at odds with "authority" and "the law" does not automatically make someone a good person, it also doesn't automatically make someone bad, either. Whether someone respects and honors the individual rights of other people is what matters. The trouble is, so many people, including those in the pro-freedom "movement," still have a desire to receive the approval of authority.

Try asking yourself, or the people you know, "Are you willing to be a criminal?" Most will vehemently say no. But why? These days, when politician scribbles are called "laws," what does it mean to be a "criminal" anyway? All it means is that someone disobeyed any one of the myriad of arbitrary politician commands and demands. Why should anyone feel bad about that? (The truth is, by that definition we're ALL criminals, since the sheer volume of "laws" makes it impossible to even KNOW all of them, and impossible to obey them all.)

But shouldn't "laws" against murder and theft be obeyed? Yes and no. People should refrain from committing theft and murder, but NOT because there are "laws" against them. Theft and murder are wrong because they deprive others of their rights, not because some political windbags sat down and scribbled a "law" about it. In fact, most thefts and murders that occur today are seen as necessary, if not good, because those crimes have been declared "legal" (and are called "taxation" and "war").

So my question for today is, are YOU willing to be a criminal? By that, I'm not asking if you're willing to commit real crimes--the kind with victims--because I hope you're not. I'm asking whether you would ever be willing to do the right thing, even when "authority" tells you to do the wrong thing. If not, please stop pretending to be pro-freedom.

With all of the lobbying in favor of or against this or that legislation, or in favor of or against this or that politician, the supposedly pro-freedom "movement" is constantly reinforcing the notion that we need the PERMISSION of tyrants to be free. If we have unalienable rights, then by definition, we don't NEED any "law" or any "government" to bless our freedom. If, for example, we have the RIGHT to say what we think, then we have the right to use outright force to stop anyone from trying to silence us. If we have the RIGHT to be armed, then we have the right to shoot any "law- enforcers" who try to disarm us. If we have the RIGHT to not be randomly stopped, interrogated, searched, and so on, then we have the right to forcibly RESIST when the American fascists try to do those things to us. And the fact that open resistance to tyranny is "illegal"--as it always has been throughout history--doesn't make a speck of difference.

Of course, resisting control freaks is often hazardous, and one must pick his battles carefully. Nonetheless, I ask you all again, are you ready to be criminals? The way things are going, you will very soon have to choose between being at odds with "authority" or being a completely conquered sheep. The megalomaniacs won't give you another option. So which will it be? Are you capable of doing the RIGHT thing, even when doing so puts you at odds with "government," "the law," "the police," and all the other superstitions which the belief in "authority" spawns?

Larken Rose
http://www.larkenrose.com

P.S. It's a little ironic that my own "criminal record" consists of one "crime" that I didn't actually commit.

P.P.S. While I hope my new book, "The Iron Web," wakes up a lot of "normal" people, the way Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" did, I also want it to spread through the freedom movement--as it seems to be doing--to shake a lot of "semi-advocates" of freedom out of their remaining authoritarian mindset, so they stop wasting so much time and effort on begging the tyrants to let us be free.

P.P.P.S. I couldn't be more thrilled--almost embarrassed, actually-- that in his review of "The Iron Web" for Strike the Root, Jim Davies called my book "the best work of fiction I have read this Century." (And I didn't even have to bribe or threaten him!) The entire review can be found here: http://www.strike-the-root.com/91/davies/davies10.html