When it comes to crypto, gardens, and guns, of course these things are indispensable tools for the exercise and defense of freedom. But without a well-developed mind, they’re as useless as a politician’s promises before an election.

Escaping Fantasy Island

Fantasize about your stack of bitcoins saving you from excessive fiat printing all you want, or your stockpiled weapons and ammo bringing automatic salvation from merciless state invaders. You’ve got the canned food, the gas generators, the solar power, and even the kick-ass garden. You’re light years ahead of others who don’t realize society is on the brink of final collapse, shifting into the life-suffocating, all-invasive, all-restrictive medical surveillance dystopian panopticon that is planned for us. It’s still not enough.

It’s undeniably true the excrement is hitting the fan, and in a way never before seen on this planet. The aforementioned tools — guns, bitcoin, and gardens — can certainly allow one to survive and thrive where other humans likely won’t fare so well, especially when every last move of the herd will be traced and tracked for their “health.” And it’s definitely better to have these tools at one’s disposal than to not. Still, without one most crucial element to survival, even the best prepared individuals will be caught pants down, completely compromised.

The Power of the Mind

All things are ready if our mind be so.

-William Shakespeare, Henry V

All the gear, gadgets, and money in the world mean nothing without a sharp and agile mind (and finely attuned gut) predisposed and willing to deploy them effectively, in tune and in flow with whatever one’s current situation may be.

Take bitcoin for example.

Let’s say a fellow named Marvin has a stack of BTC that would be the envy of any monetary survivalist. Marvin knows should the US dollar crash, he will be A-okay, because his stack of digital gold is sitting firmly out of the reach of thieves (federal and common alike). He hasn’t thought about what to do in case of a power grid collapse, and he knows that sometimes the huge, centralized exchanges he trusts can be hacked. He doesn’t know what “mesh network” even means, either, but it probably doesn’t matter. You see, there’s a funny thing about Marvin. He doesn’t use bitcoin to trade or make payments in daily life. His actions don’t match what he says he’s about.

Marvin always files his taxes carefully, painstakingly noting each and every crypto transaction and every fraction of a cent he has ever gained by allowing some BTC to sit in an exchange wallet for even just a couple seconds. Nobody wants a run in with the IRS, after all. But Marvin knows when the day comes that non-state-approved bitcoin transactions are made illegal, he is definitely going to stand up and disobey. He’s just happy for the heightened restrictions on crypto now, and the increasingly stringent know-your-customer regulations. They ultimately spur mainstream adoption which results in “number go up.” At heart, though, trust him. Marvin is a true rebel. What he really wants is freedom. Just not right now.

There’s also Susan, Marvin’s sister, who is similarly milquetoast. Susan thinks forced masking of children in the name of covid19 prevention is child abuse. But for now, since she needs to keep her solid job as a nurse at the city hospital, she sends her three kids to an elementary school where they are masked, separated from friends with plastic dividers, and not allowed to talk much of the day. Susan knows, however, that “when the day comes” she will be prepared to stand up and say NO to the powers that be, boldly shouting down before the masses this travesty and affront to human dignity that is mask propaganda.

She also thinks the new vaccine is unsafe. But as it’s a bit extreme to resist the forced penetration of her own body, she’ll probably just take the jab to avoid making waves, and also to keep her family safe from unwanted and uncomfortable social scrutiny, of course.

Last, let’s look at Marcus. Marcus has made all the preparations and has the heart for standing on principle. Guns galore. An overflowing crypto portfolio stashed in myriad cold storage cubbies. A huge plot of land with food growing like the Garden of Eden. Most importantly, he feels truly ready to defend his individual rights. What’s wrong with Marcus then, you may ask. Well, there’s only one thing missing in Marcus’ case: he doesn’t know where his line is. For all his libertarian preparations, Marcus has not prepared his mind for the uncomfortable reality of constant flux. So here’s how this plays out, ultimately:

The Standoff

Marcus is ready. He’s been reluctantly dreaming about it for the past 20 years. The day the Feds approach his house to take him and his family away. He’s watched the Waco and Ruby Ridge documentaries. He’s relished the thought that he’s a bold protector and will not be caught off guard when that day comes. They won’t touch his bitcoins, his guns, or his loved ones. But reality, unlike the movies and mainstream media portrays it, can be painfully and tragically unremarkable.

A complaint is issued by a neighbor while Marcus is away at work for the day (he works 12-hour shifts at a nearby steel mill, one hour from his home). Someone has called child protective services, having noticed Marcus’ son playing outside unattended — and what’s more, unmasked — in a local neighborhood park. This was the last straw for the conscientious, concerned neighbor. Not only had the child been putting others in danger at school by not masking, but the anti-vaxxer family has also been putting their own child in danger by the same token, and brainwashing the little one into their wild conspiracy theories about the nature of government and modern medicine.

CPS and law enforcement show up and decide to take the child into temporary custody after a brief search of the home reveals it is quite messy, and some anti-government literature is found on the bookshelves. It turns out this is not the first complaint that has been received. Marcus’ wife is not prepared for the surprise visit, and assured by the state agents that she will see her child again shortly, goes along with their requests, watching as they rip the boy, kicking and screaming for his mother, from his home. It’s over as quickly as it began. There’s nothing but an unremarkable, silent finality in the empty house as the woman calls her husband at work. What could she have done? Any self-defensive action would have certainly made things worse for her little boy.

At this point, Marcus has two choices: try to work with the state so he can maybe see his son again or go and attempt to take him back by force, which will almost certainly lead to his death or incarceration, cementing the fact that he will no longer be there to take care of and raise his little boy, leaving him alone in the hands of the state and the other complete strangers the state may deem fit to raise him. The heroic, golden-hued fantasies about how he would defend freedom seem tragically naive and even stupid now. This is real life. Make no mistake, he and his wife could have done it. But they weren’t prepared.

The Freedom of Constant Flux

Be formless, shapeless. Like water … Water can flow, or it can crash. Be water, my friend.

–Bruce Lee

The thing is, none of us know exactly how we will act or react in a given situation without experience, practice, and focused mental meditation and spiritual preparation. If you’ve had no taste of disobeying authority even on a small scale, and all the discomfort that comes with it — the social shunning, the stomachaches and stress, the debt and poverty and even threats — how will you ever be prepared to risk it all when huge things are on the line, like your life or family?

The good news is we can get started now, getting comfortable with unifying and saying no to the state. Buy that “illegal” fruit from the roadside farmer’s market. Go into the store without a mask. Say no to the local school when they demand your children are muzzled. Refuse to close your business for “covid19.” Build something without a permit. Receive pay under the table or in crypto. Get to the gun range and practice, practice, practice. Shun licensing rackets and do what you want. Meet your neighbors and feel them out. Lie to those who would threaten your freedom. Network, cherish, and build solid relationships with those who understand the immutable reality of self-ownership. Why? Because at the end of the day no amount of careful, conservative avoidance of tyranny will stave off its imminent arrival at our doorsteps.

If we wait forever, there will be nothing left at all to disobey for. Each individual’s path is different, admittedly so, and of course charging headlong into one’s own untimely end at the hands of democide isn’t always the best answer. But nor is endless procrastination. Freedom isn’t tomorrow. Freedom is now. The focus is not disobedience to evil. Disobedience to evil is rather a natural byproduct of choosing not to be a slave, and to live peacefully and free, right now.

The battle starts and ends, then, in the mind.