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02/12/2004 Archived Entry: "Some of my best friends are moles"
SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS ARE MOLES. Yeah, I do go on about the virtues of dropping out and not paying the effing state to commit foul deeds. And I have no use whatsoever for people who talk the ivory-tower theoretical talk of freedom but don't walk the right-down-here-on-the-gritty-ground walk of freedom. But that's not to say I imagine that everybody out there with a good job and a hefty tax bill ought to be cringing in guilt. Every subversive, underground movement (which freedom is, and must be, these days) needs its moles, too.
A few things that conventionally employed, taxpaying, within-the-system moles can do that "shruggers" often can't:
And these are just the things that popped to the top of my head in five minutes.
Only a handful of people -- maybe six or seven, ever -- have clicked the button to donate to this blog. But of those who have, I believe every one has been within the system. Of those, at least half have given more than once. And one great soul makes a kind donation every single month, receiving no reward for himself, but only wanting to keep the writing going.
Some of these folks talk about how guilty they feel for paying income taxes or prostituting their businesses to the demands of government. But if they didn't do that, then they couldn't offer the kind of help they have.
When the call went out to help Hunter defend himself against &^%$@!! Ohio felony concealed carry charges, the donations poured in. And I'm sure most of the folks who sent donations of $100 or $200 (or even $1,000 or more in a couple of cases) were nice, non-dropout taxpayers. Because for the most part, they're the only ones who have the means -- and the bank accounts, and the credit cards -- to give so much. Every donation, even for $5 or $10, was a statement of support. And it might be that somebody who gave $10 made a harder sacrifice than somebody with more means who gave $50 or $500. But as a purely practical matter the "good taxpayers" paid the biggest part of Hunter's lawyers' bills. And where would we have been without them?
Other non-dropouts, non-shruggers, have offered me all kinds of help over the years, from a plane trip to a place to stay if I'm ever in need. I don't know the backgrounds of all these folks, but many are obviously prosperous enough to co-own airplanes or live in nice homes. With notable exceptions, it's not the dropouts making these offers. If the really bad times ever come, then a whole lot of non-dropouts are suddenly going to be there, in committed and personal ways, to help less stable and secure freedom fighters.
And heck, without a few nice, taxpaying freedom lovers hiring me to write ... I personally don't know how I'd survive from day to day, let alone how I'd manage to go on nattering about the virtues of dropping out!
Yeah, I do believe that dropping out and refusing to fund the growing police state is the most moral individual choice. But it's not necessarily the most practical choice. And if we're really to have a freedom movement and not just a bunch of ragged individuals, we need our "mole" brothers just as much as we need any other sort of freedom partisans.
The only deep sin against freedom is the sin of hypocrisy -- of talking the talk when you don't even make an effort to walk the walk. But the walk can be walked down a lot of different paths.
Posted by Claire @ 10:26 AM CST
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