One of the hot topics of the liberty community is EXPATRIATION.
"GTFO before SHTF!"
"I want more freedom, so I'm moving to Mexico."
See also, "the dollar is about to collapse" and/or "The next president is Hitler, I'm leaving".
Thing is, I TOTALLY GET IT.
Do What What You Feel Is Right
I'm not saying I do not FULLY understand where my friends and fellow freedom lovers are coming from here, or that I don't think there are plenty of valid reasons to 'get the fuck out', as it were.
HOWEVER, I have several very well-considered reasons for not choosing to leave, and for having no future intention to.
A whole lot of that hinges on what my own personal goals and preferences are, which are different than many of my friends.
However, some of the reasoning behind the motivations of many expatriating/expatriate-hopeful friends,
I tend to disagree with. You can figure out on what points, by reading below.
~[To my friend Jeff Berwick, @thedollarvigilante who founded Anarchapulco: that conference is the best Anarchist gathering I've experienced, I am honored to be a speaker there, and I loved Acapulco!]~
So without further ado--and for your personal consideration--here are the 3 major reasons this anarchist woman is not bailing out of The Imperial City.
#1
I actually "LOVE MY COUNTRY" {yes, I'll explain what that means}
_
A lot of people shout "I love my country!" without ever bothering to consider what a "country" is, or what they even mean when they say that. They identify with places they've never been, seen, or experienced, and millions who live on the same patch of dirt they do, without ever knowing more than a fraction of a percent of those people or the hundreds of micro-cultures within the arbitrary boundary lines of fascist Murica.
While I used to think in foggy terms and mushy concepts that don't exist, I now understand that a country is not a singular thinking or conscious entity unto itself,
AND
whether a person is referring to the physical patch of earth within certain human-conjured lines OR the individuals that live within those invisible lines, it's extremely vital to define what you mean by the word country.
It was also very important that I finally realized just HOW SMALL A PERCENTAGE of earth, or any so-called country, I have actually experienced.
So when I say I love "my country", I don't mean:
That it is physically 'mine' in any way. That is, I don't own anything other than what is on my immediate private property, and the region around my house, whether it is 'my town', or 'my state', is not actually owned by me.
I certainly can't claim ownership of the arbitrarily outlined 3.8+ million square miles known as MURICA.That I personally love every individual in it. I have not even met 1% of the individuals living within the drawn lines of the U.S, people of extremely different backgrounds and upbringings of immense variety. It would be dishonest to say I love 350+ million people I know precisely nothing about. I do not hate them, but then I do not hate or love anyone I do not really know.
That I love those who wear any government uniform or badge and claim to represent me while violating the freedom of others.
That I know all about the geography, that I have seen all the land and culture, or that I have enough information to actually be able to say "I love all the geography, people, and cultures of this region". No, I am not saying that either.
What I DO Mean:
I love that there exists within this land region a verifiable history of individuals who value the principles of real freedom, and are still verbally or otherwise advocating for liberty/challenging authoritarians.
I love that people are still talking about and believing in the notions of freedom in many cities/towns/subcultures, because even if individuals in the boundaries of The Empire are not very free, they are taught that it is valuable and many of them are starting to figure out just how much they are less free than they assumed.
I love the insane levels of geographic beauty here. I have a real sense of the size of the landscape, from road trips and on-foot travel/hiking, and I am in love with the absolutely immense beauty and extreme geographic diversity available all within the government-drawn boundary lines. I am in love with places here I have yet to see, only because I am aware of how much there is here yet to be explored and experienced. I see the experiences of others out in the wildernesses of this "country" in documentary, tales from friends and acquaintances, catalogues, photography, video, etc. I understand that millions travel from around the globe to see places here that look nothing like other places and offer things other places do not.
Somewhere else is not at all better or more beautiful JUST because it is somewhere else.
- I love just how fucking armed millions of Americans still are. Yes, we have got a massive gun culture here, and people are not as stupid as many anarchists depressively would like to believe. The evidence is in the data. Ammunition and firearms sales tend to skyrocket the minute the Lamestream Media breathes a whiff of new restrictive legislation.
People are waking up, and there's data to prove it if you pay close attention.
#2
They're The Ones Who Suck
_
I know that a lot of my friends and others who value freedom--and see how fascist this government has become--want to get out and protect their families.
Thing is, I'm just not afraid of what the government here can or might do. I used to be, but not anymore.
I decided the best defense is a good offense, really. And I intend to hack at the root--the belief in government/authority--right here in the heart of The World's Most Imperialist Empire.
As I've said before, this dragon believes that ideas are all that change the world
Ideas form beliefs, outlooks, world-views; they are what people act on. In a land where people already value freedom, and have a history of valuing it, all I need to do is help them discover their own chains, and The Empire dissolves with very little sound. If you listen closely, and keep your finger out there in the world wide web where the pulse of freedom already is, you can already hear the leak. It deflates as we speak.
I refuse to run off the playground because there's a bully on it. I'd rather defend myself against the bully, and have everyone else on the playground stand up to him so that he is rendered powerless and irrelevant.
When a bunch of aggressors try to use force to take over a region and people, it does nothing to help take back stolen land or free others if everyone who believes in freedom just runs away from the aggressor and leaves them with their mentally/physically enslaved victims.
I'm staying here and fighting back with the one thing they can't stop with deadly force:
THE IDEA WHOSE TIME HAS COME.
The revolutionary concept that there is no such thing as a legitimate group of bullies.
#3
If It Doesn't Happen Here, There Will Be Nowhere To Run
_
If freedom can wake up here, it can wake up anywhere.
Arguably, from some perspectives, this is the hardest "nut to crack" for freedom lovers.
But it is also the biggest threat if it is not cracked.
Americans are some of the most heavily-schooled and indoctrinated among the first world countries, put through 12,000 hours of spirit-breaking, critical-thought-crushing, government-funded prison. Yet, we're told from birth we're living "free", so many Americans essentially think black is white and up is down, slavery is freedom.
Yet, it also makes sense to say:
If it CANNOT happen here, it will not happen anywhere else.
Arguably, Europe and much of China (the cultures and beliefs of a lot of the individuals there) have a far deeper and more embedded, entrenched, ancient history of militarism and submission to authority. They are extremely steeped in statist collectivism and individual freedom isn't even heavily discussed and valued the way it is in the cultures of modern day America.
In addition, wherever there have been places where freedom might have been, or perhaps was uprising,
the growth of Imperialist America is quickly getting the boots of global domination on the ground in those places and upending/subverting/bombing innocents who were minding their own business, all in the name of "freedom".
Wherever you're running to,
If the government of the United States only continues to get larger, and more powerful, and expands its reach,
You will not be free long, and even if you are right now, your children and/or grandchildren certainly won't be.
I don't mean to beat a dead horse... JUSTKIDDINGYESIDO.
The dissemination of the ideas of real liberty: Voluntarism, Anarchism -- the idea that all human interactions should be based on consent, and no one has the right through election or title to violate the free will of another by force,
is all that is going to save the world, protect you, and free the world.
Practically Speaking
If you want practical freedom just while you are alive, I understand that. Lots of places in the U.S.S.A are stifling of actual freedom.
Yet, lots of places here are still not LESS free than many places in Mexico, or Canada or elsewhere.
Lots of places here are, in a practical sense if not on paper, still more free than many other places on the globe one might run to.
I have noticed how much many individuals in the liberty community seem extremely ignorant to just how much of the region called the United States is untouched, unexplored, full of armed and freedom-minding individuals,
and how much of it is rather practically free--where you can live un-assailed by government powers for the most part, and where regulation is not stifling or is nonexistent.
Do your research, inform yourself.
Be wary of sensationalist, fear-mongering hype, that generates deep emotions in you.
News that makes you feel fear, makes you want to run, makes you feel you cannot be happy if you don't get thousands of miles away from where you are.
Fear manipulates, and authoritarians who want to rule the world want you to give in to it.
THAT WAY THEY CAN PREDICT YOU.
In The End, These Pros Outweigh The Cons
I live among the beautiful, biologically diverse and rich landscapes of Arizona, which is largely unsettled and unexplored, I could spend a lifetime seeing all it has to offer.
Surrounding my home is the biologically diverse and rich lands that are within the boundaries of the so-called America, and I want to explore those lands still. I do not take the unique beauty here for granted.
I live among a culture of individuals who are extremely heavily armed here in Arizona, and who value private property; many of whom are armed with major weaponry and are prepared to use it against the federal government.
Fun Fact: Arizona is home to The Big Sandy Shoot, an event that happens every year and is coming up in October. Hey @thedollarvigilante, you should seriously consider flying in there to do an Anarchast episode live from that event, more people need to know about that gem!
And there are already many thousands here in this region of the planet who are fighting to get it back through decentralization, the internet, and withdrawing their money and consent from government and authoritarian rulers.
{Disclaimer:
For my friends who loved Mexico and wanted to go there, I get it, and that's your choice. It is not objectively better than mine though, because I have a different focus on things and I love the beauty and freedom I already have here.
I did not see more beauty in Mexico than beauty I have witnessed here, and I actually did not witness more freedom there than lots of places I have experienced here (though Acapulco is freer in places than the major cities of the U.S.) Do what you must, my friends, but think carefully about why and above all: Do it for the right reasons, not out of fear.}