The Freedom Now series of articles, "provides practical methods, concepts, and tools for achieving a free life in this world today." In this second article of the series I will answer the most frequent question The Autonomist has received, "what is the purpose of The Autonomist?" Another, "tool for freedom," will also be introduced.

Why The Autonomist?

There is only one kind of freedom, individual freedom. There are no "free societies," or "free countries." There was one country, in all of history, that came very near being a truly free country.

Although it was never completely free, during the first 150 years of its existence, individuals enjoyed more freedom under a government than at any other time in history, before or since. That country, of course, was the United States of America. The freedom it is noted for, was not, as is almost universally and mistakenly believed, the result of the kind of government the United States was under, but the fact there was very little government for that first century and half.

"Freedom and government are contradictory terms," The Autonomist Notebook says. No government has ever made men free, and the more government there is the less free the citizens are.

The American revolution was fought to throw off the shackles of a foreign government. The constitution was written to prevent the American government from becoming the same kind of oppressive government most immigrants to America had come here to escape. The bill of rights was added to that constitution with the specific purpose of stating explicitly the freedoms the government must not violate.

Today, there is not one freedom named in the Bill of Rights that has not been curtailed or eliminated by Federal, State, and Local governments. The government that was meant to preserve individual freedom has become the single biggest threat to that freedom. If we are going to be free, it is from government we must free ourselves.

So You Think You Are Free

The Autonomist is about individual freedom, yours and mine. It is certain no one else is concerned with our freedom, and if we are going to be free we are going to have to secure that freedom ourselves.

Most people do not really want to be free and The Autonomist has nothing to offer them. Many people who really do want to be free, have no idea how to begin making themselves free. They do not really understand what freedom is, most do not believe it is really possible in this world, at least not in this day and age. Even if they do believe it is possible, they are frequently discouraged by the difficulty of the task or by doubts, either about being able to carry it off or whether, in the end, it is really that important to them. How much freedom does anyone need anyway?

"After all, America is still the freest country in the world, isn't it? It's not possible to be perfectly free, is it? By in large, we are pretty darned free and can do just about anything we want, can't we?" So the rationalization goes.

Unfree

One of the purposes of the Autonomist is to demonstrate just how unfree we really are. Most people do not realize just how far down the road to what can only be called a totalitarian state, we have come. Most people are so busy with their own lives, (as they should be), they just do not have time to notice the daily abuses of power, the examples of oppression, and unprovoked violence against innocent citizens and their property that are daily occurrences.

To help us stay aware of just how oppressive government has become and the very real danger of loosing all our freedom, the Autonomist will provide both articles and ASAP entries, from what will be called the, "Still Think You're Free?" (STYF) department. These stories will include examples of such things as the following:

• Stories of growing police corruption, abuse, violence against innocent citizens, destruction and confiscation of private property, intimidation and oppression, such as the ASAP entry, Thugs & Thugs

• Facts and incidents demonstrating the complete erosion of property rights, as private property is being confiscated by government agencies at every level for everything from so-called environmental issues to eminent domain. Where property is not being taken outright, it is being regulated to the point where property owners can do almost nothing they choose with their own property.

• Examples of the loss of free speech to multiculturalism and government control of media and education, such as the article, Freedom of Speech means Freedom to Offend

• Articles about loss of our right to bear arms such as We Are Not Alone, Mr. Farah, But We May Be Losing, and the ASAP entry, Guns

• Examples of the outright theft of our incomes by ever more oppressive taxation. The American Revolution was fought over taxation that was a mere fraction of the tax burden born by American citizens today.

• Details about the complete invasion of individual privacy. No one is secure in their person, property, or "papers."

• You are not free if you have to get someone else's permission to do anything, especially when you have to pay someone for the privilege. Today, there is almost nothing you can do of any importance without getting some government's approval or some bureaucrat's permission, and usually have to pay some kind of fee for that permission provided in the form of a permit or license.

  The most insidious and dangerous threats to freedom are perpetrated in the name of protection, not from the threats of force, which is what government is supposed to do, but from people's own supposed ignorance and mistakes. It is the argument for all those oppressive regulatory and enforcement agencies like the SEC, FDA, DEA, and BATF. The so-called War on Drugs (WOD) is an example of protectionism turned into tyranny. Most innocent citizens assume the WOD has nothing to do with them, without realizing the threat it is to their own property, health, and welfare, nor do they realize how many innocent people have been killed, had property confiscated, or simply been deprived of the drugs necessary to their own health and welfare by this horrible abuse of power. See ASAP entries Doctor Faces License Revocation and Have Pain, Go to Jail, for examples.

• Government interference in every aspect of our lives and business, from telling us what size toilets we must have to how often we can have specific medical tests. The extent of government interference in the private lives of individuals is no better exemplified than by the intrusion of government into the lives of families and their children; for example, this ASAP entry, Your Children Belong to the State.

Why does the Autonomist emphasize philosophy? The American Revolution was a philosophical revolution. It was fought over philosophical principles, the principles that individual's had a right to their own lives, that they did not belong to society, or their community, or their government; that they not only had a right, but were required by their nature to pursue their lives and their happiness, without the interference of anyone else, and by their own lights and effort.

Knowledge, for human beings, is as necessary as food and water to life. There is an almost endless variety of things which constitute food and will nourish us, but there are certain essential proteins, vitamins, and minerals, which our diet must include, because they are necessary for the processing and use of all other nutrients. Philosophy is to knowledge what the essential nutrients are to food, philosophy provides the basic principles required for the proper use of all other knowledge. The Autonomist highly recommends Ayn Rand's book, Philosophy: Who Needs It. Read the introduction to that book, which is also Ayn Rand's 1974, "Address To The Graduating Class Of The United States Military Academy at West Point."

Choosing to be Free

Ultimately, being free means being able to do whatever you choose to do, the way you choose to do it, when you choose to do it, without getting anyone else's approval or permission to do it. It does not mean anyone else is obligated to provide you the means or resources for doing what you want to do, or that anyone else is obligated to protect you or 'save' you from the consequences of what you do if you make bad choices; and, it does not mean you can do just anything—you cannot do what you do not have the ability to do and you cannot do the physically impossible. You cannot be free, and do not deserve to be free, if what you choose to do interferes with anyone's else's freedom.

For you to be free, you only need to be able to do what you choose to do. How you make your choices is an individual affair. There are objective ways to determined what is best for you, but only you can do that. It is possible in your current situation you are already free; you may already be able to do whatever you choose to do. That is very unlikely, however, unless you choose not to do very much and live mostly as a hermit.

Most likely, there are things you want to do that you are not completely free to do, or not free to do at all. If you want to practice medicine, for example, you are not free to do that. You have to fulfill all kinds of government determined procedures (follow a government mandated academic regimen) and get their permission (licensing) to do it.

Obviously, if you choose to practice medicine, meaning the legitimate use of medical knowledge and technology you offer as a service to others and for which you expect to be paid, and choose to do it freely (without getting government approval and permission to do so) you will have to do it in defiance of government regulation. There are risks in defying the government, and there are ways to minimize those risks.

It would be nice if we lived in a world where everyone realized those who choose to produce a product or provide a service of value to others is a virtue that must not be restricted by government regulation. In that kind of world, doctors would simply refuse to let the government tell them what to do. Most doctors actually enjoy the government enforced monopoly they enjoy, (which implies they do not have confidence in their own ability to compete in a free market). Think about that the next time you go to your doctor.

I have chosen this example of medicine, because it is obviously one that would require very serious choices, and a great deal of work, and lots of risk that would have to be eliminated. I have also chosen it, because, as difficult as it will be for some to believe, there are individuals right now in this country who practice medicine, make lots of money doing it, and do it without government permission or approval, and with less risk than government approved doctors face every day (from malpractice suits, for example). These are not quacks, not part of the alternative-medicine scam supported by the US Government, but legitimate doctors dedicated to providing medical services to some community of people who would otherwise not have medical services. I use the example, also, to encourage those who think what they want to do is not possible to do freely. There is always a way.

Here is one example of a flourishing medical community all outside the government model, "Vast, underground network of clinics caters to immigrants". These are not the best examples of sound medical practice, of course, but there are exceptions even in that community.

Practical Freedom

By, "practical freedom," I mean things you can do (or must do) to be more free. These are often little things that can be done to help eliminate the government interference in your life.

These will include methods and plans for such things as:

—Dealing with government agents and agencies when you must. It is best not to deal with them at all, but when they force themselves on you, there are right ways to deal with them. Your purpose is not to prove things to the government or its agents, your purpose is your freedom. In all cases, the objective is to be rid them as soon as possible.

—Privacy practices or things that you should make personal policy. One, for example, is to reveal to no one any detail of your private business or life. When talking to anyone, except those you choose to make a part of your personal life, if you must discuss any aspect of your private affairs, always speak in generalities, never specifics. There are also many practical methods by which one can maintain their privacy that will be explored.

—Wealth, making and keeping it, is an absolute necessity to freedom. One cannot be free if dependent in any way on any other individual or agency. To be free one must be independent, and above all, financially independent. The autonomist is not a financial advisor or employment consultant, but will provide real information and hard data for using freedom to accumulate and keep wealth and using wealth to achieve and keep freedom.

These are some examples of what The Autonomist means by "practical freedom."

Tools for Freedom

One of the greatest tools for freedom is the Internet, but using it is also one of the least private means of doing anything. The government has access to everything you do on the internet.

In our first "Freedom Now" article you were introduced to PGP, Claire Wolfe, her wonderful freedom articles, especially the article on PGP and how to download and use it for maintaining your own email and Internet privacy. In this article I would like to introduce you to another internet security tool. It is not free, like PGP, but it is much more powerful, and provides the same kind of complete privacy as PGP but for all of your Internet activities.

It is called Total Net Shield™ The Anonymizer people provide a number of good computer and Internet security tools, including a less expensive package, called Anonymizer Private Surfing, which provides privacy for your internet surfing, and combined with PGP, might give you fairly good privacy. The Autonomist, however, recommends Total Net Shield for anyone who does not want to have any doubts about their privacy. PGP is still important for providing others a means of secure (private) communication with you.