"You Can Walk Away"

 Below is a guest post.  I have not read it because I don't have time.  Do not complain or hold me responsible for what is in the post.  Also, do not credit me for anything good in the article either.  It is merely a reader who wanted to share his writing and I have accommodated him:

You Can Walk Away

 

By Agent in the Field #1582

 

It is obvious to many of us that the system (the status-quo blend of government, corporations, academia, and media) generally does not support the interests of pro-capitalist, pro-liberty, pro-nationalist, and small government Americans.  So what is to be done about it?

 

As long as America remains a republic governed by a democratic process, the most popular position will win.  But many of the popular positions are dysfunctional and reinforce the status-quo.  It is also doubtful if spending your time trying to change the broad opinions of the people will produce results; sheer social inertia, indifference, or election tampering may get in the way.  But there is another faster and more practical option: withdraw your support from everything you oppose.

 

The system requires your cooperation in order to keep functioning.  It has many defenses against attack.  But it has none against abandonment (Quinn, 1992).

 

I repeat: the system has no defense against abandonment.

 

I do not mean to abandon your actual responsibilities, or to fail to live up to your objective legal obligations (like paying taxes), or to break contracts that were freely made.  I do not mean to abandon a geographical region either, although this can be an option.  What I mean is, you do not have to actively give the system your support. 

 

Instead, you can withdraw your support from every sphere where it is not explicitly required.  Indeed, you can take advantage of your natural laziness and simply refuse to engage with a system that does not represent your interests.

 

Below (in alphabetical order) are some ideas of how to withdraw support from the system.  This is not intended to be a list of recommendations, nor is this list anywhere near complete.  It is only intended as a thought-experiment to get your creative juices flowing.  You must decide for yourself what is best for you, and in what manner to act.

 

Businesses 

• Are businesses more concerned about virtue-signaling than about producing products and services?  Then stop shopping at those businesses.

 

• If a business is using the labor of illegals and not hiring American citizens, then don’t shop at that business.

 

• Is a business behaving in a disgusting way?  Then refuse to work for them.  Refuse to give them manpower, and encourage others not to work for them.

 

• Is a business asking you to round up at the checkout to throw money at an intractable social problem?  Then don’t round up – ever.

 

Busybodies & Beggars 

• Does an environmentalist want you to sort your own garbage/kitchen waste/yard clippings and waste your time?  Ignore him.  Dump all your garbage into one big trash bag in a manner consistent with law.

 

• Are homeless people begging you for money?  Don’t give them any.  Saying “I only have a credit card” works fine.

 

• Does a miserable activist have a grievance de jour?  Don’t sign the petition.  Don’t listen to their speech.  Don’t give any money.

 

Culture 

• Does viewing porn make you vapid and weak?  Then stop watching porn.  Meet actual people instead. 

 

• Is somebody rewriting old books and/or movies in order to infuse them with a modern, ideological agenda?  Then don’t purchase those rewritten products.  Keep and preserve the old.

 

• Are you tired of throwing hours of your time away on the television?  Then stop watching television.  Get involved in the community around you instead, in any small way.
  
  
• Is a social movement trying to inspire racial or gender guilt in you?  Then abandon those people!  Refuse to accept unearned guilt.

 

Dating & Marriage 

• Is the present contract of marriage bad for men?  Then don’t sign that legal contract – talk to a lawyer and create your own contract instead.

 

• Are feminists in your community insufferable?  Then don’t date them.  Don’t give them any attention.  Ignore them & refuse to engage with them.

 

• Did a woman deliberately cheat on you?  Then dump her.  Don’t give her a second chance.

 

• Are women in your community fat?  Then don’t even approach them.

 

• Does a single mom want you to take care of her kids?  Then run away fast in the other direction!

 

• Are you throwing money at a pretend girlfriend online?  Then stop!  Save your money & find a real live girl in meatspace instead.

 

Finances (Warning: Nothing in this section should be considered to be financial advice) 

 

• Are you constantly buying stuff you don’t need?  Then stop buying stuff you don’t need.  Take greater pleasure in life from nature, companions, art, music, and free books & DVDs from the library.

 

• Do you really need that overnight delivery?  Or are you just spending money on stuff you don’t need?

 

• Do credit card companies charge too much interest?  Then pay off your credit cards each month so you don’t pay the interest.  Use cash for most transactions instead.  Using cash also deprives the credit card companies of the fee they charge businesses for using the card.

 

• Are your concerned about how large banks may misuse your money?  Then consider moving your money into smaller, more local banks and credit unions. 

 

• If you don’t like what banks are doing with your money, consider putting some of your money into a safety deposit box where nobody can use it.  Every deposit or investment you make is an act of volunteering your money for other people to use. 

 

• Are US politicians behaving irresponsibility with their money-printing?  Then exchange some of your US dollars for other currency.  Consider getting a foreign bank account (beware of IRS reporting requirements, which can have severe penalties).  Consider getting some cryptocurrency.  Consider buying some land.  Purchase some gold, or silver, or precious stones.  Buy tangible items of high quality and lasting value. 

 

• Is a payment processor deplatforming people due to their political views?  Then stop using that payment processor.

 

Health 

• If businesses push alcohol on you, then refuse to make drinking alcohol a habit.

 

• Does the local drug dealer push drugs on you?  Then refuse to purchase drugs.

 

• Are unhealthy industrial foods being pushed on you?  Then refuse to purchase that kind of food.

 

• Do you need that sugary, corn syrup drink?  Water works fine instead.
  
  
• Is medical care too expensive?  Then say “No” to that expense by keeping yourself in great shape.  Pay a doctor for an annual checkup.  See a dentist regularly.   Invest in preventive medicine to avoid shelling out the big bucks to treat medical conditions that arise from self-neglect or poor hygiene. 

 

Media 

• Are movies terrible?  Then stop buying movie tickets.  Stop spending your precious time watching that garbage.  Cancel your TV subscriptions.  Only purchase films that you actually like.  Go to a used goods store & buy several dozen used DVDs at a time.  Trade and share them amongst friends. You can also rewatch old classics: there is a world of great film and animation that was made before the modern era.  Download them by legal methods.

 

• Are social media companies practicing censorship?  Then stop using those social media companies.  Keep a mailing list and email your friends and family instead.  Or better yet, start your own website, write a paper letter, or go visit them in person.

 

• Is a tech company firing people who don’t deserve it?  Is that company selling your data and violating your privacy?  Then quit using that tech company’s services.  Use alt-tech services instead.

 

• Is an online bookseller censoring books?  Then stop using that online bookseller.  Use your public library instead.

 

• Does the news media constantly lie?  Then don’t watch their television shows.  Don’t click on their websites.  Don’t purchase their newspapers or magazines.  Don’t read their articles.  Don’t buy the products in their advertisements.  Go to alternative sources if you want to know what it going on in the world. 

 

Politics 

• Did the politicians think it was a good idea to fight undeclared foreign wars?  Do those wars seem nonsensical to you?  Then don’t volunteer to fight those wars.

 

• Is your State enforcing anti-property rights or anti-liberty laws?  Then don’t volunteer to work for that State.  If you are on a jury, you can vote to acquit the victims of State aggression.

 

• Do political parties not represent you?  Then don’t donate money or time to those political parties.

 

• Are you unhappy with your choice of political candidates?  Then don’t vote for them.  Write-in “none of the above” instead.

 

• Are athletes politicizing sports?  Then stop watching sports.  Stop buying sports paraphernalia and other useless junk.  Go play sports with your friends instead.

 

• Is there a protest occurring in your city somewhere?  Don’t waste your time with a counter-protest.  Ignore the protesters and don’t give them any attention. 

 

• Did a riot destroy lots of local businesses because the political leadership refused to act?  Then don’t volunteer to clean it up.  Better yet, refuse to live in that kind of city.

 

• Is a politician offering you free stuff?  Then take the free stuff, and afterwards, refuse to vote for that politician.

 

• Are the homeless a problem in your city?  Do politicians refuse to address homelessness in a meaningful way?  Then don’t volunteer to work at the soup kitchen, homeless shelter, or free medical clinic.

 

Religion 

• Do religions ask you to accept the absurd? Then don’t support organized religions.  Don’t attend those institutions, and don’t give them your money.  Seek guidance in philosophy instead.  Seek fellowship with other like-minded people.

 

• Does the funeral industrial complex want to rip you off by selling expensive caskets, embalming the body of a dead friend or relative, and selling a plot in a graveyard?  Then go for cremation instead.  Scatter those ashes!  Create your own funeral rituals that don’t involve you getting fleeced.  Talk to your friends and relatives well ahead of time on how they want their bodies to be disposed of after they shuffle off this mortal coil.

 

Schooling 

• Are you a student under the age of 18 who hates school?  Then leave!  Work with your parents & try to set up a homeschooling, or tutoring, or community-college situation.  Even a partial solution would be beneficial.  Alternatively, you can study hard and graduate from school early.  No public school system can prevent students from demonstrating their understanding through sitting proficiency examinations.  If you want to get out early, hit the books!

 

• Are the universities charging too much tuition?  Then take as many AP courses as possible and skip a year of college via earning AP credits.  You can also refuse to take student loans.  Try to get your general education courses completed at a community college and subsequently transfer to a 4-year university.  Work a job, search for scholarships and grants, and pay as you go.

 

• If you really must go to a university, at least major in a STEM field.  Try to get around the liberal arts requirements as much as possible.  Only give what is required to get the grades and degrees you need, and then get out.

 

• Remember that liberalism on University campuses requires volunteers.  Don’t volunteer for any cause that advances the institutionalization of nonsense.  Don’t staff their interest-booths.  Don’t go to their guest lectures.  Don’t sign up for their mailing lists.  Don’t register for their useless courses.  Don’t attend their protests.  Don’t answer their surveys.  Don’t put up their posters.  Don’t have drinks with your nutty professor.  Don’t give them a single penny, calorie of energy, or moment of your time beyond what is required.

 

Taxes 

• Are income taxes too high?  Hire an accountant and take advantage of every legal way to reduce your burden. 

 

• Is the sales tax too high?  Then stop buying stuff you don’t need.  Find alternative ways to get the things you want.  Secondhand shops, garage sales, give-aways, swaps, or online sellers are options to consider.

 

Tech 

• Are cell phone companies tracking you?  Then stop using a cell phone.  Get an old-school landline and answering machine instead.  Keep a cell phone around for emergencies only.  If you must have a cell phone, check it only once per day.  Keep it turned off otherwise.

 

• Are you tired of watching advertisements on the internet?  Then switch to a browser with an ad-blocker or install one.

 

• Does American tech censor you, deplatform you, or manipulate search engine results?  Then build your own platforms, or make use of those in a different country.

 

Transportation 

 

• Do you hate your daily commute?  Then say “no” to that experience by changing jobs, working online, or finding a place to live closer to work.
  
  
• Are you flying somewhere?  Pack goodies in your carry-on in order to avoid the expensive airport food.  Take an empty water bottle & fill it up after you pass through security.
  
  
• Does an airline charge you for checked bags?  Then limit your belongings to a carry-on, whenever it is practical to do so.

 

Conclusion 

 

I hope that these examples have shown that the system requires your voluntary participation to continue.  Very few things are actually required and the power indeed lies in your hands.  You get to decide your level of participation and what is acceptable to you, and what is not.

 

However, while there are many ways to say “no” to the system, saying “no” is not the same thing as saying “yes.”  One cannot reasonably live a life based upon the things you refuse to do.  One must primarily pursue goals and achieve something distinct.  You cannot just reject that which is stupid, destructive, or wicked; you must also court, nurture, build, and encourage the good, but that is the subject of a different essay. 

 

Withdrawing your support isn’t a sexy strategy and it may not directly make the world a better place.  But saying “no” in countless, tiny ways will give you more of a sense of agency and lead to greater satisfaction and peace of mind.  The world might indeed be going mad, but you don’t have to participate in that madness. 

 

You can walk away.

 

References 

 

Quinn, Daniel (1992).  Ishmael: A Novel.  Bantam Books.