I’m going to pop some bubbles with this blog post. The only thing worse than no hope; is false hope. You’re better off not chasing a carrot and running from a stick. It’s best to just go after whomever is holing the carrot and stick. Don’t get me wrong. Chasing is good. Running is good. Doing anything is good. This blog post isn’t for those that are sitting on their couch. This blog post is for those that keep running and yet stand still.
Don’t plan on assassinating a dictator.
There’s a very easy mistake that baby-anarchists make, and that’s to just get rid of the head honcho. Sometimes the easy answer is the right one, but not in this case. Most likely, removing the head will only create a power vacuum. In the end, the position will be filled with a different shadow puppet. “New look, same great taste.”
Don’t plan on assassinating the dictator and installing a puppet.
How much experience do you have managing people? You have to keep this puppet of yours in-check. If they get too much freedom, they might decide to not be a puppet. If they’re a puppet for you, they might decide to be a puppet for someone with bigger pockets instead. If they do a bad job, are you going to fire them? Good luck with that.
How much experience do you have running a country? Probably not much. The main problem that all centralized forms of government have, is that they can’t possibly know everything necessary to run such a huge operation. They have to make assumptions which often turn out wrong. If you ran it, or if some guy off the street ran it, that problem would persist. No one person, could know that much.
Don’t buy politicians.
Politicians are expensive. You’d drain your pocket book in a hurry. This is a very, very short term solution.
Don’t try to change politics from the inside out.
Some people think that they can “infiltrate” the government and exact change from the inside out. They just need a good person to go and shake things up. I can assure you that, good intentions are the least of your concern. I had similar aspirations for a humble organization such as Chrysler. No amount of high spirits and gung ho attitude could possibly pull the malaise out of those poor lumps. Those people were already defeated. Now imagine taking on all of the United States! The reality is that humans are herd animals. If the herd is lazy, there is a high probability that you will become lazy, and a slim probability that you will transform them to being industrious.
Don’t start a revolution.
This has to be the worst idea for social change. At best, one issue gets changed. If you hate war, you should also hate civil war. Revolution is no different.
Don’t vote.
Unfortunately there are no good candidates. Anyone who wants power, must be suspect of abusing that power. Saying “I don’t want to abuse power” is exactly the thing you would say if you wanted to abuse power. If you don’t want someone to abuse power, don’t worry about who has that power. Just worry about getting power away from anyone. Remove the incentive.
Now for the good part…
Talk to people.
Talk to everyone and anyone who will listen. Bring it up in every conversation until people get sick of it. Challenge people on their wrong beliefs. Have some facts ready. Ask people what they want out of government, and show them that; not only can government not deliver, the free market can.
Don’t stop until you’ve talked to literally everyone. Talk to people at work. Talk to people at the grocery store. Talk to people at the bank. Everyone is a potential convert.
Meet up.
Hang out with like minded people. Especially people who are “on the border” of converting. They just need a nudge. Your best bet for converts are people on the border, not boot-licking-statists.
This will also help for the sake of sanity. People are herd animals, so it’s inevitable that you’ll feel like an outcast among government-sympathizers. Your mental health will improve if you hang out with people who can empathize appropriately.
Write like the wind.
You need to get the message out there. You can talk to people 1-on-1. I encourage this. It’s highly effective. However, you should also do broadcast. You could reach 100 people at a time! Your converts per time will go up. At the very least it will prime your victims subjects to think about key topics. For me, the key topics were: central banking, war, and imminent domain.
Art all over the place.
For better or for worse, people are not convinced based on logic. They are convinced based on emotions. If you can make them feel a particular way about a particular topic, then you can convince them. Effectively, you’re short cutting the epic facebook wars and 10 page long emails back and forth explaining the nuances of neighbors hording nuclear material.
Start a business.
There’s nothing like first hand experience that can teach you about the government and the free market. There is no economics class that can elucidate the concepts of “supply and demand” better than offering a service and competing against others.
The government feeds off of passive people. Couch potatoes are the batteries that fuel government. The first thing that people do is nothing. Starting a business is it’s own act of defiance.
Fall madly in love.
Anarchy is for lovers. There’s nothing like letting your partner leave at any time, that keeps you on your toes. Love is personal and nearly impossible to understand or communicate. This makes it nearly impossible for government to squash it, unlike the many other things they squash.
Ultimately, the things that matter most, are the things that make us most human. Participating in the human experience is what being human is all about. Now go out there and do what you do best.