SELF-RELIANCE (2005 A

SELF-RELIANCE (2005 A.D. VERSION)

By Andrew Cameron Williams

"My rule is: Forget about tearing down the establishment (it'll never happen, the Octopus is too powerful). Instead, concentrate on building an alternative culture and passing it down to anyone who cares. Real ceremonies create positive energy, but when you focus solely on exposing Nazis, you are living in their twisted world."

--Steven Hager, editor of High Times magazine

I've had the feeling for some time that the decisions of the US government--particularly the judiciary--are increasingly irrelevant to self-reliant Americans. The recent decisions by the Supreme Court on medical use of cannabis and eminent domain are particularly staggering. Only a sheep would accept them. And Americans--at least historically--are not sheep.

When Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote his famous essay on self-reliance, he was doing so at a time when the federal government was of libertarian proportions, just starting to feel its oats. Its citizens were still expected to make their own way in the world. One of Emersonπs contemporaries, Henry David Thoreau, wrote at the time that a true patriot ≥serves the State best by opposing it most.≤ In England, the political party that is in the minority is referred to as ≥the loyal opposition;≤ they are expected to dissent where they feel it needed, but they are also expected to offer their own solutions to the problems of the times. Thatπs why my webpage is subtitled ≥The Loyal Opposition≤ and not ≥Fuck Amerika!≤

Mind you, thereπs many and many a time when I feel that the latter is more appropriate and representative of my emotional state. And Iπve been feeling that way a lot lately, especially with the above-mentioned Court decisions and the flag-burning BS once again before Congress. Does anyone outside of Capitol Hill--and a few armchair patriots--think that a few burning flags will destroy America? First of all, those fire-furled copies of Old Glory probably werenπt even made in America; second, a burning flag is the equivalent of an upside-down flag stamp on a letter--a sign of distress that means your country is in danger.

When your country is in danger, from without or within, you have some choices: you can ignore it, you can protest anti-Constitutional actions, or you can shut up and wave your flag (made in China), boy. There is a further option: to outwardly give lip service to tyrants while subverting them under the rose.

This last option is by far the most engaging and difficult. It means being Janus-faced, but to a positive purpose. For every outward protestor of a Fascist policy, there is usually also one who mouths the words of the fascists while undermining their actions. Such persons constitute what is historically referred to as a ≥fifth column:≤ they give their oppressors the appearance of conformity while staying true to their patriotic instincts of free will and self-reliance. It is what Al Siebert, the father of resiliency psychology, calls conformist non-conformity.

How to stop the co-opting of dissent, when revolution is a catchphrase and anarchy a device to sell T-shirts to mall rats? Christ may have offered us a clue when he said to his disciples, "Be as gentle as doves, but subtle as serpents." And of course that oldest of cliches: ≥When in Rome, do as the Romans do.≥ In other words, give lip service to leaders but do what is in your hearts and minds to do. This requires tremendous discipline, high self-esteem and a clear, strong mind. I'm not always sure I have all three, but all I know is what Jonathan Edwards (the singer/songwriter, not the puritan preacher) once said: "If he can't even run his own life, I'll be damned if he'll run mine." And that goes double for you, Mr. Gonzales.