Whether one will be happier as a freeman or as a slave Liberty or servitude? or neurosis? – partly depends on the individual. But this choice is not open to most libertarians. Relative contentment in servitude is possible only for those who believe in it; most libertarians are too independent and well-informed. For libertarians the choice is between freedom and neurosis. What become of those libertarians of five years ago who gave up (or never tried) achieving personal liberty? Of people I knew, one is now a Catholic. Another is a Mormon. Another committed himself to a mental hospital. Many are occupied with chronic ailments. That is up to you, as Lee and Skye suggested. But in the immediate future I Freedom for what? think most liberationists will include: freedom to pioneer in freedom i.e. freedom to make a – career of liberation. At present there are no ways of self-liberation which are both easy and highly effective. Opt-out will become easier as more do it and develop techniques. But, right now, effective requires so much of time and resources that one who does it will probably make one’s it his main career eventually developing services for sale. – Liberation is a many-splendored thing; there are various ways to do it and a variety of physical and mental activities involved. Liberation draws on a wide range of skills and offers many satisfactions. To some, opting out evokes images of gathering berries in a far-off wilderness. Liberation does seem to be easier in uninhabited areas at least as a do-it-yourself thing, which – it necessarily is for the first pioneers. But it is also possible in large cities. Imagine, for example, an old expensive building, which appears to be only a private club, but which conceals an entrance way to apartments and workshops tunneled underneath. Freedom does more full-time professionals; not collective-movement indeed “need” preachers seeking a coterie of followers, but explorers/inventors/developer of liberated life-ways. (from LIBERTARIAN CONNECTION #15, November 17, 1970)
Liberty or servitude? – or neurosis? Whether one will be happier as a freeman or as a slave partly depends on the individual. But this choice is not open to most libertarians. Relative contentment in servitude is possible only for those who believe in it; most libertarians are too independent and well-informed. For libertarians the choice is between freedom and neurosis. What become of those libertarians of five years ago who gave up (or never tried) achieving personal liberty? Of people I knew, one is now a Catholic. Another is a Mormon. Another committed himself to a mental hospital. Many are occupied with chronic ailments. Freedom for what? That is up to you, as Lee and Skye suggested. But in the immediate future I think most liberationists will include: freedom to pioneer in freedom – i.e. freedom to make a career of liberation. At present there are no ways of self-liberation which are both easy and highly effective. Opt-out will become easier as more do it and develop techniques. But, right now, effective requires so much of one’s time and resources that one who does it will probably make it his main career – eventually developing services for sale. Liberation is a many-splendored thing; there are various ways to do it and a variety of physical and mental activities involved. Liberation draws on a wide range of skills and offers many satisfactions. To some, opting out evokes images of gathering berries in a far-off wilderness. Liberation does seem to be easier in uninhabited areas – at least as a do-it-yourself thing, which it necessarily is for the first pioneers. But it is also possible in large cities. Imagine, for example, an old expensive building, which appears to be only a private club, but which conceals an entrance way to apartments and workshops tunneled underneath. Freedom does indeed “need” more full-time professionals; not collective-movement preachers seeking a coterie of followers, but explorers/inventors/developer of liberated life-ways. (from LIBERTARIAN CONNECTION #15, November 17, 1970)