I remember when I use to be a statist, though seemingly long ago it was just four years ago I snapped out of it. Wealth redistribution was moral, police were the good guys, soldiers protected us from foreign oppressors, central bank was a good idea, businesses were killing the planet, etc. How foolish I was.
What helped me snap out of it was a mixture of George Bush’s lies, Ron Paul getting me to read Austrian economics and his railroading by the main stream media, and then YouTube opened me up to anarchists & libertarians who made sense. From there I jumped off the cliff of statism to find an “invisible” bridge like the one from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. It was there all along I was just conditioned not to see it until I made the leap.
The belief in self ownership and no ruler or master was a shock to my system when I realized what I saying to myself. Everything I was taught and conditioned to believe about our world was manipulative lies to make me bend my knee to the government. I was angry and depressed that I was a mere serf. I realized why my favorite movie was the Matrix. My subconscious was aware on some level the world was not right. The shock came when I tried to expose others to it. I was attacked from all angles. Enemies would gang up on me. Liberal and conservatives join forces to talk down anarchists. I tried to talk with the left first, but that was utter failure. Then I tried the right because of Ron Paul, but even Ron Paul’s minarchist ideals were attacked, much less mine. I continue to educate those who will listen as they see the country spiral to it’s death.
Being an anarchist can be lonely at times. A minority position where the individual and not the majority matter most. The non-aggression principles are ignored in favor of aggression by humans with special titles and uniforms. Governments never work and never produce anything of value. Democracy, Republics, Monarchies, etc just do not work especially for the long haul. They cannot exist without threatening violence by the few against the many. They cannot exist without extracting resources and life from the productive.
A belief that says monopolies are bad unless they call themselves the government is extremely illogical. A belief that says violence in bad unless one calls themselves a government agent is barbaric. Statism is a barbaric relic and I hope if humans survive long enough they will look back and view our time as one of the rule by barbarians and sociopaths. I hope they feel sad for us, but learn from our destruction and aggression. Anarchy and not state socialism is progressive, misuse words all you want statists your time will come, your empires will keep collapsing, and you will keep causing misery despite what fuzzy words you use.
The spirit of liberty is in every human being and once it is lit hopefully it will burn bright in mass…someday.