The Right of Revolution
FedPosting, Article 10, Slavery, Your annoying personality, and Lauren Southern's revelations. Five short articles about what's on my mind.
Fed-Posting and Radical Content
In the age of respectability politics, there has arisen a new breed of Libertarians. Unlike the anarchists and radicals of the past or the principled small-government conservatives that filled the ranks of the Ron Paul Revolution and the Free State Project, these beltway libertarians care more about being accepted by the masses than they do about radically challenging the systems that oppress them.
To them, any content that deviates from popular acceptability is dangerous and harmful. The goal of engaging in politics is not to propose radical change and shift the perception of the conversation, but rather to win votes by appealing to as many people as possible. Well, I’m sorry, but people are stupid. Not only are people stupid, but the vast majority of them have also possessed an entirely different value structure and moral code than you and I. They care little for abstractions like liberty and freedom when they have comfort and conformity to appease them. They have their bread and circuses, and they are happy with that.
Any social media content that encourages resistance to the system, and challenges the status quo is attacked and derided as “Fed Posting” alluding to an insinuation that the poster is trying to entrap people in the act of resistance. The very mentality that allows for this is a victory for the psyop of the state, as subversives have been conditioned to police their own and discourage action against the state for fear it will make their politics unlikeable to the masses.
If you find yourself afraid to speak your mind and don’t speak loudly and proudly of your beliefs out of fear of offending others, then you care more for the opinions of strangers than you do for your deeply held values. You aren’t a libertarian, you are a populist, attempting to find the wave of popular sentiment to ride to success, and willing to say whatever it takes to find a grasp on acceptance, rather than wash the boat. Your Principles will never be popular because popularity is never static.
On July 4th, I lost a couple of supporters on my Patreon after posting an article to this substack account titled “‘Tis The Season to Celebrate Treason.” At least one of these former supporters was kind enough to leave some feedback in the exit interview under the reason why they canceled. “I am troubled by the fedposting on twitter”
Now I will never chastise anyone who leaves my Patreon, there are a million valid reasons and zero invalid ones. Nobody is obligated to support another financially under any circumstances. But I will remark, that it is odd to see anyone make it as far as becoming my patron, and then being offended by the content I post on a regular basis.
Article 10
One of the single most beautiful pieces of writing I’ve ever encountered in the English Language is Article 10 of the New Hampshire Constitution. It is complete, succinct, complete, and brutally raw. It explicitly explains not just the right, but the obligation to engage in revolution for the preservation of Liberty.
Government being instituted for the common benefit, protection, and security, of the whole community, and not for the private interest or emolument of any one man, family, or class of men; therefore, whenever the ends of government are perverted, and public liberty manifestly endangered, and all other means of redress are ineffectual, the people may, and of right ought to reform the old, or establish a new government. The doctrine of nonresistance against arbitrary power, and oppression, is absurd, slavish, and destructive of the good and happiness of mankind. -Article 10, New Hampshire Constitution [Right of Revolution] - June 2, 1784
If written today, as a tweet with no context, beltway libertarians would accuse the author of being a fedposting trap. But not only is it not fedposting, but it is also arguably one of the most important rights enshrined in a legal document. For all your other God-given rights, that government can only take away, the Right of Revolution alone recognizes your god-given right to seize them back at your discretion. Furthermore, the final clause “The doctrine of nonresistance against arbitrary power, and oppression, is absurd, slavish, and destructive of the good and happiness of mankind.” Invokes the precludes the notion that there is an ethical option other than direct action once all other means of redress have proven ineffectual.
Yet, so long as the notion of resistance is considered offensive, brash, and irrational, then the state will enslave each new generation with impunity. So long as the images of citizens storming the halls of Congress to demand a redress of their grievances is considered an insurrection, instead of a good start, we aren’t fighting to free ourselves from slavery, only to loosen the chains.
Abolish or Reform?
Leading up to the American civil war, The practice of slavery was absurd, disgusting, and abhorrent. There were many in the north who rightfully possed the motivation to do something about the evil institution of human slavery. Men kept as chattel, the property of another with no rights or dignity was an affront to god, and to the notion of human liberty. Fighting against the practice of slavery were two groups of activists with dramatically differing approaches.
The first group found the practice of slavery abhorrent, and the treatment of slaves to be criminal. So to change things for the better, they fought and lobbied for laws that improved the conditions of the slaves. Demanding better treatment, better food and clothing, more sanitary living conditions, and the ability to keep their families together. They sought to alleviate the evils of slavery by improving the conditions of the slaves.
The second group was deeply offended not just by the practice of slavery, but by the first group of activists as well! For by working so diligently to improve the conditions of the slaves, and to increase their comfort, they unwittingly reinforced the systems that kept slavery legal in the first place. The second group recognized that these superficial comforts were meaningless unless all men could be free of their chains and bonds as slaves. And to them, those who sought to improve the conditions of slaves sought only to pacify those in bondage who sought freedom, and quell the notion of revolt before it could blossom.
The fedposters, radicals, anarchists, and subversives aim to abolish the systems keeping you enslaved today, while the beltway libertarians and agents of the regime seek to have you pacified with piecemeal change dosed out meaninglessly to give the illusion of improved conditions.
Which group has your interests at heart, and which is actually an agent of state conformity?
Politics is not a Personality
Is there anything more egregiously annoying than a 35-year-old white woman whose entire personality is someone who identifies as a Hufflepuff?
I raise you, the Libertarian with no non-libertarian friends.
Politics is not a substitute for a personality, and if your social circle has become exclusively those who you do nothing but banter about libertarianism with, then you’re quickly becoming a part of the problem plaguing the liberty movement.
The reason you’re not winning elections isn’t that your ideas are too radical, it’s because you’ve never bothered to get to know anyone else well enough to understand what normal people value and how to convince them of your ideas. I won’t go on a long-winded philosophical rant about this subject, but I’ll leave you with a one-liner and a piece of advice.
Praxis isn’t a circle jerk in a group chat.
Get a fucking hobby.
The Whole Truth
On Monday, Lauren Southern dropped a bombshell documentary on YouTube exposing the behind-the-scenes corruption, grift, fraud, and abusive culture prevalent among the influencers and content creators of the dissident right. She told her personal story and carried the weight of all the emotions imaginable in sharing the traumas and betrayals experienced as an optimistic and motivated reporter in alternative media.
For me, the biggest takeaway from the 3-hour expose and manifesto was that allowing personal conflicts to interfere with your principles, can drive your friends to become your enemies. And that those accused of betraying you, will inevitably fulfill that prophecy because your actions push them to it. And this is a valuable warning to anyone who’s so embroiled in politics, that they can’t differentiate their colleagues and friends.
She covers much more, and much more important subjects in the film, but this minor takeaway stuck with me, as a problem I see happening not just to the Dissident Right, but within the Liberty movement as well. Be careful.
Subversive #76: “The Right to Revolution”
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Summary
Tonight’s show will be all about the state of resistance and the current state of the liberty movement, what plagues it, where its potential lies, and where I stand within it. The tentative agenda includes talking about my takeaways from Lauren Southern’s new movie, the notion of “fedposting,” the division within the Libertarian party, and the importance of actually doing something, instead of sitting around and waiting for others to make you more free…
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"It is complete, succinct, complete, and brutally raw."
And when, in 2012, NH Judge Lyon ruled, on those words, used in defense of peaceful protests, that the only judge of whether the system wasn't working (and thus the time for revolution) was himself and other judges inside the system, I knew that any attempt to solve the problem that way (using the Constitution) was useless.
Time has only proved me correct. When Chris Sununu and every politician who supported mandates and lockdowns, when they are tarred and feathered and run out of NH, maybe those words will mean something beyond pretty words nobody honors.