Independence Is Still a Revolutionary Act

Author of What to Eat When You’re Broke and Bloom Where You’re Planted online course

Independence is about a whole lot more than firing up the barbecue, drinking some beer with friends, and shooting off fireworks. It’s about more than blindly waving a flag.

It’s about the way we live our lives every single day. And 241 years later, independence is still the most revolutionary act you can commit.

Now, regardless of how you feel about this administration or the previous one, I think we can all agree that many of the liberties our parents took for granted are now in trouble.

The government, in general, cannot be trusted. The media cannot be trusted.  Those agencies that make all the onerous rules “to keep us safe” cannot be trusted.

Real liberty is up to you. Use it or lose it.

Many Americans are completely dependent upon the work of others to survive.

I’ve often written about how we’ve become a nation of consumers instead of a nation of producers, and with that decline in productivity, we have lost much of the freedom we once treasured.

This is because they are not independent. They are the opposite of that – they’re dependent.

• Their food comes in little cartons that have been inspected and labeled as safe, despite the numerous carcinogens and unpronounceable chemicals within.
• Their meat is raised in horrific conditions in a facility crowded in with other animals. These animals are so sick and stressed that they have to be constantly medicated and treated with hormones to make them grow faster and keep them alive until slaughter time. Those chemicals pass on to the consumer, of course.
• Their fruits, vegetables, and grains are doused with a chemical so carcinogenic that it isn’t allowed to be used in Europe and one state has insisted that all food so treated must be labeled as potentially carcinogenic.
• Their medicine comes from the pharmacy. They purchase it for enormous sums of money after a doctor’s visit that isn’t actually covered by the massively expensive insurance they are forced to buy, so he’s paid from their pocket too.
• Their utility usage is without thought. Their heat comes from a dial, their water comes from a faucet, and their electricity comes from those little plugs in the wall. If for some reason those things worked no longer, most people would have no idea how to function.
• Their children learn at a state-sponsored school what the state wants the children to know. Practical skills that will get them through life, like shop class or home economics, are now ignored and have been replaced with classes on social justice and health, which is far from anything in the health classes of the past.
• Their HOAs, cities, and communities pass rules about how their property can and cannot be used. These rules state that they can’t grow food in their own yards, they can’t raise hens for fresh eggs, and they can’t even hang laundry on the line to dry outside their homes.
• Their right to freely travel is infringed upon by thugs with the power to touch them inappropriately, go through their luggage, and make them miss their planes if they do not comply. They have to take off their shoes, earrings, and belts and walk through a metal detector to get on a plane.
• Each year, fees are extorted from them so that larger fees won’t be extorted. They pay fees to live on the property they purchased. They pay fees to drive the cars that they own, to have a license that confirms they know how to drive, to own a business, and in some places, to do something as simple as selling the eggs their backyard hens produce. If they’re caught skipping the payment of those fees, they can be kidnapped and put in a cage until they’ve learned their lessons.

And yet, they comply. They truly believe that this is what freedom looks like. When they lose freedoms they comfort themselves with, “This is the price we pay to live somewhere safe and civilized.”

How far we have sunk…

How distant we’ve ventured from those original settlers who said, “No more!” and declared their freedom. They fought and sacrificed to be free of a government that oppressed them, taxed them, stole from them, and enforced rules without any type of representation upon them.

And yet here we stand on July 4, 2023. We have somehow forgotten what freedom really means, and so we have lost it, incrementally and for many people, voluntarily.

The rights that were demanded nearly 250 years ago when the founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence have been systematically crushed “for our own good.” We’re being oppressed and stolen from. Rules are being enforced on us without representation. Because let’s face it, the only people that most of our members of Congress are serving are the ones lining their pockets. The President of the United States and his family have been caught on tape selling favors to China, our enemy, and nobody with the power to fix this is doing a darn thing about it.

We are taxed unreasonably, and if we don’t pay, they will take the money right from our bank accounts or steal our possessions.

In many states, we must ask for permission to catch a fish, drive a car, own a gun, or build an extra room onto our homes, just to name a few.

Permits and licenses are big revenue generators from start to finish – and if you proceed without asking permission, they will extort more money from you in the form of fines. If you refuse to pay the fines (or if you can’t), they’ll kidnap you and lock you in a cage, where you’ll be forced to perform manual labor for 10 cents an hour for whatever length of time the legal authorities feel is sufficient to teach you a lesson.

Then there’s civil asset forfeiture. In many instances, without due process or a trial, our possessions and money can be taken from us on the “suspicion” that they are the benefits of some crime we haven’t been convicted of. And even if we’re cleared, good luck getting that stuff back.

We’re unable to voice our opinions without incurring the wrath of so-called social justice warriors, who perhaps once actually meant well in an idealistic kind of way, but now just want to silence everyone with a dissenting opinion. These people can and will ruin someone’s life without hesitation, simply for the sin of wrongthink.

Every time a bad act occurs, people plead to give away even more of their freedom because they believe it will make them safer.  They are willing to be fondled and naked-body-scanned by the TSA in order to board a plane. They want to make a phone call and wait for the police to save them instead of picking up their own firearm and refusing to be a victim. They want to be surrounded by gun-free zones, safe spaces, and armed guards instead of taking responsibility for their own safety.

People believe that they must go and vote and choose “the lesser of two evils” in a presidential election that has been shown to be a sham directed by the media and social networks.  Why must we choose between evils? Are there really no good people in America that could take on that office? Perhaps the candidates we get are the candidates we deserve when we refuse to demand better.

Somehow, this land of rugged individuals has become largely populated with scared children who expect to be cared for, fed, protected, and made to feel good about themselves, all by government mandate. Many people seem to have no desire whatsoever to earn their keep, provide for their families, or take responsibility for their own safety. They expect the workplace to be one of sunshine and lollipops, with ample time off, equal pay for all, and., don’t forget, yoga with baby goats and lots of kind words for everyone.

Our culture is just so incredibly dependent.

And to some extent, we, the rugged independents who are left, have let this happen because the dependents are louder than us.

Freedom is terrifying to most people because it means that they, and they alone, are responsible for the actions that they take. An independent person succeeds or fails on his or her own merit. Independence, by its very nature, means that the possibility of failure exists. It requires a sense of adventure, confidence, and the ability to fail and get right back up again, and it seems like these things are being bred out of the American people.

It doesn’t have to be like this.

Whether you call it freedom, liberty, sovereignty, or self-governance, the point remains the same: if you’re reading this, you probably want to determine your own life, whether the result is success or failure. You want to have control over your ability to live, truly live, and not merely exist as a slave to the powers that be.

There actually is something we can do.

We can say no.

Hell, no.

We can be the squeaky wheel.

We can be louder than those dependent, noisy individuals who want to throw away liberty. We can.

You may feel like you aren’t in the right place in life to declare your independence. Perhaps you don’t have room to raise your own food. Perhaps you have a physical handicap that bars you from living 30 miles from civilization in a yurt located down a dirt road, over a creek, and in the woods. Maybe it’s all you can do financially to keep the refrigerator full of groceries for the week. Heck, maybe you don’t want to live in a yurt in the forest.

But wherever you are right now, that’s okay. Wherever you are, know that every single person, even the very free-est person you know, started at a place that was less free than where they are right now. The most important thing is to begin to recognize the chains that are on you so that you can begin, link by link, to break them.

How do you break free of the life that nearly every single person around you lives?

It’s simple, yet so complicated.

Here it is, the ultimate act of revolution.

It is so very simple.

You have to need less.

When you need less, you have less to fear.

Now, every year when I write about this topic, a few people come out of the woodwork to claim, “It’s not enough.”  Not everyone is a warrior, but taking steps to become freer than you were the day before is a cause for celebration.

It is simply reality that most of us cannot make a stand in every single aspect of our lives. We have children that could be taken away from us. We have homes that could be seized. We fear being imprisoned in a cage. We don’t want to lose our jobs because in this economy, we’re barely hanging on as it is. I get that, truly. I don’t want to lose my daughter or my home or be thrown in jail either. The folks in control have done their job in that respect, but we can work around it.

We can refuse to eat the poisoned apple that they graciously hand to us. We can stop sending our children to public schools for “free” education, or if they do go to public school, we can spend time working with them to teach them our values too.We can all stop purchasing processed food that originated as the bastard child of factory farming and a chemistry project. We can refuse to shop at Wal-Mart, K-Mart, or any of those corporate discount stores that have their products manufactured in sweat shops overseas so that they can undercut the Mom & Pop stores right out of business. We can buy as often as possible from businesses that align with our personal values.

Every single day, I strive to reduce my vulnerability to coercion.  Because the less I need, the more difficult I am to manipulate.

And you?

You don’t need this stuff they are offering, either. There is so much that you can do to free yourself from them.

You have a natural human right to be free.

This freedom is also supposed to be protected by our Constitution, which gets undermined on a regular basis. If you aren’t free, then revolution is your duty. Part of the power that the government holds over people is the fact that they hold the keys to the stuff we need. So, true independence is not to need the stuff they have.  When there is nothing that you require enough to submit, then bullying you becomes much more difficult.

Make your life a declaration of independence.

Here are a few steps you can take to make yourself less dependent on the whims of the economy, the government, and corporate interests. Don’t worry if they seem impractical to you. They may not all be possible right this moment. Pick one and act on it, then another.  Every journey begins with the decision to start the trip.

1. If you reduce your consumerist habits, you will lower your cost of living. Then, you’ll need less money. If you need less money, you can stop exchanging as much of your time for dollars.
2. If you grow your own food, you will never be dependent on the government to help you to afford to buy food made more expensive by their onerous regulations and made less healthy by for-profit companies that process it beyond recognition, all with a government stamp of approval. (Not to mention how much better the quality will be.)
3. If you barter your goods or services for someone else’s goods or services, then no one else needs to be involved. (Although I’m sure both parties will be happy to pay the government the taxes due for the barter exchange. *cough*)
4. If you don’t send your kids to school and instead educate them at home, then you don’t need to jump through medical hoops if you disagree with those hoops, just so they can attend school. You don’t have to watch them get brainwashed into dependency like the other kids. You don’t have to send them to a place that is so akin to prison that they can only go to the bathroom in the minutes between bells.
5. If you don’t make much money, you don’t pay much in the way of taxes.
6. If you are self-employed, you can’t be threatened with the loss of your job for non-compliance with *pick a ridiculous law*
7. If you shop locally, from farms and craftsmen, you don’t need the big box stores.
8. If you turn off your television and turn off TikTok and turn off the noise from the folks who just don’t get it and want to convince you that you’re wrong and a bigot and evil, you are free of those ridiculous influences that make you question whether or not you’re doing the right thing and if you really need those new whatchamacallits that everyone else is wearing.
9. If you have the ability and equipment to defend yourself, you don’t need to call 911 and wait helplessly for the police to arrive.
10. If you always object to unfairness, unconstitutional behavior, and dishonesty, you can help shed light on the issues at hand, and that is the first step towards resolving them.

The way you lead your life every single day can be a personal Declaration of Independence.

By refusing to concede your natural rights, quietly and resolutely, you are performing an act of revolution.

This only requires one thing: your consistent determination not to be infringed upon.

Make that decision today, and you will really have something to celebrate on Independence Day.

Go ahead. Be free.

What do you think?

What do you think about this philosophy? Are you making changes to free yourself from the system?

Let’s discuss it. Let me know how you are declaring your independence in the comments section.​​

About Daisy

Daisy Luther is a coffee-swigging, adventure-seeking, globe-trotting blogger. She is the founder and publisher of three websites.  1) The Organic Prepper, which is about current events, preparedness, self-reliance, and the pursuit of liberty; 2)  The Frugalite, a website with thrifty tips and solutions to help people get a handle on their personal finances without feeling deprived; and 3) PreppersDailyNews.com, an aggregate site where you can find links to all the most important news for those who wish to be prepared. Her work is widely republished across alternative media and she has appeared in many interviews.

Daisy is the best-selling author of 5 traditionally published books, 12 self-published books, and runs a small digital publishing company with PDF guides, printables, and courses at SelfRelianceand Survival.com You can find her on Facebook, Pinterest, Gab, MeWe, Parler, Instagram, and Twitter.