Many people have analyzed political systems and come to the conclusion that fundamentally government (or state) is an agency of coercion or violence - the cult of coercion. Government or state is a Mafia protection racket clothed in legitimacy. This is a Freedom Step #1 insight.
Freedom Step #10 is much more difficult to take. To take this step you have to realize that political systems are essentially hoaxes - all smoke and mirrors. The so-called "U.S. Constitution" was never signed by anybody in any way that makes it a legal contract that binds anybody. The pretended "U.S.A." is and has always been a fraud and a hoax.
The lawyers, politicians, and bureaucrats pretending to be (and masquerading as) "presidents," "senators," "representatives," "secretaries," "generals," "judges," "prosecutors," "ambassadors," etc. have all been liars and impostors. As far as I know, this applies to all political systems on earth.
So then, is Bill Clinton really "the president of the U.S.A.?" Or is he just an ordinary liar and an imposter masquerading as "the head of state?" What about all his predecessors? What would happen if 5 or 10% of people just laughed when they heard Slick Willie referred to as "president?"
Most people believe that some of the noises and scribbles emanating from the mouths and pens of the lawyers, politicians, and bureaucrats (masquerading as "government" so-called) are somehow special and constitute "the law." The Step-1 Freedom activist thinks the law must be changed or repealed, or new laws are necessary. The Step-10 Freedom activist thinks that the noises and scribbles regarded as "law" by some, are better described as absurd curses to be ridiculed.
If the supposed "U.S.A." is really a fraud and a hoax, what about other pretended "countries?" In his superb pamphlet, No Treason: The Constitution of No Authority, Lysander Spooner strongly argues that none of these political systems have any legal basis in reality. Once, when I tried to explain Freedom Step #10 to a Step-1 Freedom activist, he pointed to his globe of the world and said, "Obviously, where I think the U.S.A. is, you think there's just a big hole in the ground!"
Of course, the physical land, buildings, people, and papers exist. But treating "government" as a volitional entity - that is, having a living, breathing consciousness of its own is fundamentally absurd. Individual people have consciousness - not abstract concepts.
The Step-1 Freedom activist grants an unjustified reality to the political system. He sees the political system as big and powerful and sees himself as small and weak. He takes the political system very seriously. The Step-10 Freedom activist regards the political system as a cruel hoax maintained by the liars, impostors, gullible, naive, and weak. He sees the political system as a cruel, absurd hoax to be ridiculed. He sees the perpetrators of the hoax as silly little idiots. He sees himself as more powerful than the hoax. Generally, his insights about and attitudes toward the political system provide him with powerful options to run rings around the little idiots.
The Step-1 Freedom activist says, "The Emperor has no clothes."
The Step-10 Freedom activist asks, "Why do you regard a naked man as "Emperor"?"
The Step-10 Freedom activist realizes that the political system is kept in
place primarily by words - as indicated by Robert Ringer in his
excellent book,
Restoring the American Dream,
Chapter 8: "Keeping It All In Place." Words like "King," "Emperor,"
"President," "Prime Minister," "Ayatollah," "Government,"
"State," "Country," "Nation," "Authority,"
etc. These words are better regarded as false concepts, jokes, or curses.
The Step-10 Freedom activist really takes only one thing about political systems seriously - the threat posed by individuals in the system to his life, property, and well-being.
Some religions might also be tyrannical frauds and hoaxes. As examples, the Spanish Inquisition and the "Ayatollah" (so-called) Khomeini's reign stand out.
Most people overestimate the power of government by a multiple of at least 100. At the same time, most people underestimate their own power by a fraction of at least 100. This debilitating misperception of reality is corrected during Freedom Step #10.
Author Kurt Vonnegut coined the word "granfalloon" to describe abstract concepts like "nation," "state," "country," "government," etc. He wrote, "To discover the substance of a granfalloon, just prick a hole in a toy balloon."
People who take the political system seriously also tend to FEAR it. "You can't do all kinds of things because the BIG BAD GOVERNMENT will catch you and put you in jail." People who fear "the government" reduce the number and the scope of the options available to them.
Once you take Freedom Step #10, you realize you only have to fear individual government agents who pose a direct threat to your life, property, or well-being. In some parts of the world - like most of North America - it's relatively easy to live your life so you have contact with a government agent no more than once or twice a year.
There's another way to look at politics that may help you to take Freedom Step #10. Imagine you're a Martian who knows nothing about earth culture. You see these earthlings slipping pieces of paper into boxes. The result of this activity is that a few people are somehow magically transformed (or transmogrified or transmuted) into "presidents," "governors," "congressmen," etc. - and these "superhumans" have gained the magical ability that makes their words "the law" that everyone else must obey. The Martian would regard all this as one of the silliest, stupidest, and most primitive superstitions imaginable!
After careful observation of human politics and religion, the Martian might conclude that earthlings suffer from mass-hallucination and that they should be avoided by the civilized inhabitants of the universe.
How to Discover the Nature and Politics and Religion
Restoring the American Dream by
Robert Ringer, particularly Chapter 8 "Keeping It All in Place."
The Benefits of Freedom Step #10
17 Steps to Freedom (Index of Steps)
Back
to: Freedom Step # 9
Freedom
Step # 11
Copyright at Common Law, West El Paso Information Network, 1997