planet, and protect workers’ rights, then we are somewhat optimistically relying on others to do so on our behalf.
become more powerful than nation states. Not with tanks and bombs, but through sheer collective bargaining power—the ultimate “brute force,” if you will. On a practical, everyday level, the Open State could confer to its citizens the same privileges which Google and Amazon currently enjoy, whereby our local taxes are negotiated en masse. The Open State could even assist voters in transcending the Punch and Judy show of political parties, widening the debate, helping to empower truly progressive parties. Now, I know what you’re thinking, but I’ll put it more politely—a “pipe dream,” right? Well, if the idea of a voluntarist virtual super state seems like pie in the sky to you today, then perhaps—just perhaps—you’re caught in the parochial mindset (okay, okay, zeitgeist) of our times—that of Statism. Just as the medieval peasant could not conceive of an “England,” “France” or “Spain” (or anything beyond their village) is it so outlandish to suggest that you too might be suffering from a not entirely dissimilar lack of imagination? It’s becoming painfully clear to a growing number of people across the world that the capitalist financial system (the profit imperative, the banks’ monopoly over the issuance of debt-based currencies, and our government’s insistence that we pay our taxes in so-called ‘legal tender’) amounts to little more than a system of modified slavery. Thus, if we fail to take the initiative and create global organizations that truly represent us, that speak for the
Our main barrier is belief—both in terms of commission (believing in the status quo), and omission (lack of belief in the possibility of something better). Coming together, transcending the illusory divisions, isn’t just an idealistic muse. It’s our only hope of survival. In short, we desperately need another “enlightenment.” Either we work together for a better collective life on this planet, or we die on it, fighting among ourselves for scraps. If they—whoever they are—laugh at our “Open State,” let them. Find your inner Transnistrian, and join anyway. Before long we will be issuing our own open currency (based on real goods and services in demand, rather than unpayable debts with compound interest), and trading both locally and internationally. Together, we can fund clean water projects, promote sustainable agriculture, and educate— not indoctrinate—our kids. “To desire freedom is an instinct,” once wrote E.C. Reigel, “to secure it requires intelligence. It must be comprehended and self-asserted. To petition for it is to stultify oneself, for a petitioner is a confessed subject and lacks the spirit of a freeman. To rail and rant against tyranny is to manifest inferiority, for there is no tyranny but ignorance; to be conscious of one’s powers is to lose consciousness of tyranny. Self-government is not a remote aim. It is an intimate and inescapable fact. To govern oneself is a natural imperative, and all tyranny is the miscarriage of self-government. The first requisite of freedom is to accept responsibility for the lack of it.” 3
Everest Fernandez keeps himself very busy and largely out of mischief by running the “Just4Growers” YouTube channel. Be sure to check it out.