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Learn That Freedom, or Slavery, is In Your Mind

How can we say that freedom is in the mind? After all, there are many people all over the world who are being forced to do things against their will. If freedom, or slavery, is in their minds, why aren't they free?

First, being forced to do something against your will is not slavery. That is merely being forced to do something against your will and is a restriction on your liberty. For example, if someone approaches you on the street, points a gun at you, and demands your money, the chances are pretty good that you are going to hand over your money. Does this mean that you are a slave to the robber? Of course not. You merely made a decision to take the path that appeared to you to involve the least cost to you. (By the way, this ability to make decisions that are in your best interest even though it may appear to an outsider to be "caving in" is the mark of a sovereign individual.)

If being forced to do something against your will is not slavery, then what is slavery? Slavery is making yourself subject to the will of another. In the above example, if the robber has told you that you must show up at his place of business once a week to give him all your money and you do it, then the chances are that you have made yourself subject to his will and are thus a slave to him.

Note also the phrase "making yourself" subject to the will of another. No one can force you to be subject to the will of another. The best they can do is force you to do things willed by another. But as long as they have to use force to get you to do those things, then you are not making yourself subject to the will of another and you are not yet a slave.

How does this relate to the "real world"? Take the example of the robber who has told you to show up at his place of business once a week to give him all your money. If we change "robber" to "IRS", change "once a week" to "once a year", and change "all your money" to "a significant fraction of your money", then the above example becomes, "If the IRS has told you that you must show up at their place of business once a year to give them a significant fraction of your money and you do it, then the chances are that you have made yourself subject to the will of the IRS and are thus a slave to the IRS." (We will ignore for the moment that an artificial entity like the IRS has no will.)

As another real-world example, let's assume that you have always carried a pocket pistol for personal protection. You have never used it or even had occasion to draw it and you always make sure not to take it to those places where the owner doesn't allow guns. Now, the legislature of your state passes a law that you must have permission from the state to carry a concealed weapon and must follow all the rules they make up. If you dutifully pay the $150 or so to take a "Carry Concealed Weapon Class" and then apply for a license, not carrying your pocket pistol until you have the license, then you have made yourself a slave to the state. If, on the other hand, you ignore the new law and carry your pocket pistol as you always have, then you are most probably a sovereign. And what do you do when you are arrested for "illegally" carrying a concealed weapon? That's what we will discover when we examine the statement, "Learn to Effectively Challenge Authority". For a deeper understanding of freedom and how it is related to the way you think:

Read the online (and free) book by Delmar England, Mind and Matters, The World in a Mirror.
Study the book, How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World, by Harry Browne.
Study the book, The Discovery of Freedom, by Rose Wilder Lane.
Read any books by Friedrich Nietzsche, Robert Anton Wilson, or Lysander Spooner.

Go on to: "Learn to Effectively Challenge Authority".