The Answer

After much thought and a lot of bridges to nowhere, I've realized that consciously trying to "change" things and "make a difference" is just a pitfall on the road to happiness. The only part of this world over which I have absolute control is myself: what I learn, what I think, what I do, what I eat, what I say, who I say it to, etc.

It sounds so simple, but most people seem struggle with this their entire lives. It is easier and more convenient to accept the opinions of those who hold power over us: politicians, police officers, newscasters, doctors, etc. If we are able to digest pre-packaged opinions and quick-fixes, we are never confronted with the real need to develop our rational faculties. For a non-political example, think of modern medicine. If we are sick, we go to a mainstream allopathic doctor who will give us a pill and a 5-minute pep talk. Does this solve our problem? Maybe, but more than likely it just hides the knowledge of the problem from us by alleviating our symptoms. To really solve a medical problem requires that we apply our rational faculties to their fullest. It requires our attention and dedication to truth, which we can deduce by rejecting false evidence.

Crohn's disease is an auto-immune disease, but is that the full truth? Suppressing the immune system eliminates the symptom, but does it cure the disease? And at what cost to your body? Perpetual bouts of allergies, fevers, colds, and sickness? You can live your (shorter) life by ignoring the disease and suppressing the symptom, but it is still the disease and its "cure" that will kill you. Or you can call a spade a spade, identify the truth of the cause, and apply yourself in fixing it. You can reduce sugar and gluten consumption, supplement for vitamin and mineral deficiencies, and be aware of the signals your body is giving you. And the key thing that you have to change is YOU.

The same holds true in politics. We all notice the disease of corruption that is the very essence of government. We can take the panaceas that our politicians and pundits prescribe, and we can live our lives. But it will be the disease and its "cure" that still kills us, perpetually, from cradle to grave. It may or may not literally kill us with a bullet for disobeying an increasingly tyrannical government, but it will certainly kill our capacity for virtue and happiness. If we ignore the truth that violence is immoral and condone the violence of the State as noble and necessary, then we have surrendered our minds to irrationality.

But how can you actually resist government? What change is possible? Physical resistance of any sort is suicidal and will accomplish nothing. If the goal of life is happiness, then we must recognize that it is something that can only come from within, and only if we are honest about the world. So that's what I do... I educate myself, inform my own opinions, follow my own advice, and speak the truth to whoever will listen.

But it is important to speak honestly. Call a spade a spade. Avoid abstractions and concepts, because they mask the nature of the world. Government is simply "the monopoly on the initiation of violence", taxation is simply "theft", printing paper money is simply "counterfeiting", civilian casualties are "murders." Once you start labeling things by their nature rather than their socially-acceptable designations, you begin to make many people uncomfortable. The more uncomfortable they become, the more they recognize the profound truth in what you are saying. Will that change the world? Probably not. But it will change my world. If somebody in my life is constantly belligerent toward what I am saying and is unable to present evidence to the contrary, then they are fundamentally dishonest. If they are intellectually dishonest and use the motions of rationality to defend the irrational actions of violence, then my life is better off without them. The American system was philosophically rooted in pursuing happiness, and you cannot begin to be happy if you live your life in fear of what other people think. Socially-acceptable conversation is the path to absolute tyranny.