What now?

Note: I write this with the nation in limbo regarding who has won the election.  But hourly it appears that the mob (including the media) is poised to manufacture as many "votes" as needed to steal the election.  Short of a miracle, I expect Joe Biden to be shoe-horned into office.

 

 

The bitterness of Donald Trump's forced removal from the office of President of the United States will not soon fade.  I expect that ugly tinge to remain on the palate, a constant reminder that organized deception subverted, strangled and beat into submission the political will of half the people in this country.

So what now?

I'm speaking of my personal response, not an organized institutional fight anymore.  Those battles, if they are fought at all, will be fought without my help.  Outright physical war where we begin shooting people in the head seems the only option left, and while it may come to that in my lifetime, I will not fire the first shot, not yet.  

Instead, it's time to think about a sane response, appropriate action in the face of despotism and tyranny.  When my views are rejected, I choose to reject the rejection, what I think of as the John Gault response.

So here's my plan for the next four years and beyond.

1) Don't participate.  Since I'm early retired, and trying to stay that way, it's somewhat easier for me to shelter from the tax man what little income I have coming in.  If I don't make much, it's easier to keep it, using legally available methods to shield my income, like 401K contributions, HSA accounts, deferred income and so forth.  The left needs money for their fine new vision of utopia?  You won't confiscate it from me because without much income, there's none there to be taxed.  

By living simply and frugally and reducing consumption, my already minimal participation in the economy also starves the sales tax side of the equation.  In the same way the fictional Gault's followers simply withdrew their talents and their capital from the moochers and takers, I will become nearly invisible.

2) Concentrate on my core pursuits.  By core pursuits, I mean those activities and interests that bring me satisfaction and happiness.  Most of mine are relatively simple, relatively low in financial costs and don't require permission of government.  

Thus I expect to do more fitness running in the coming years.  Solitary miles on back roads and trails cost little other than a few pairs of shoes.  

Backpacking looms large as well, both short trips and some lengthy adventures.  There is something delightfully subversive about long distance travel with a backpack.  I can, and have, simply disappeared into the woods in North Carolina, popping back out three weeks later in Georgia, having walked through three states to get there.  Along the way I registered nowhere, told nobody my full name, spent cash for what little I needed (mostly food) and went where I wanted to go when I wanted to get there.  

Hunting and fishing will also rise in importance.  Enjoyable for their own sakes, both activities serve the dual purposes of providing simultaneous recreation and food, literal bodily nourishment.  Yes, I must be licensed by the state to do both if I leave my own land, but my lifetime Sportsman's license fees were paid years ago.  The state will get no more from me, while I am free to hunt and fish for the remainder of my life without paying a single dime if I don't wish to do so.  The game and fish I bring home allow me to spend less on groceries, and thus avoid more sales taxes.  The simple acts of fishing and hunting allow me to be more self-sufficient, something that used to be more common and ought to be again.

While outdoor recreation keeps my body in shape, reading and writing will nourish my mind.  Neither costs much, if anything.  In fact, I make a little money from the writing (very little).  The life of the mind remains a joyful pursuit, doubly so since there is little a corrosive and impotent state can do to keep me from it, especially if I eschew televised news and social media, which I already do anyway.

In fact, I plan to have as little contact as possible with the authoritarian tyranny poised to take power. The ballot box has proven impotent in the face of the mob, so that course is now closed.  I do not plan on voting ever again, certainly not in a national election.  I will, however, diligently practice my marksmanship.  

Refusing to participate in the mob rule now descending on our once proud country - this is the course I choose in order to remain sane and safe. The choice has always been ballots or bullets, but I choose neither.  Armed insurrection is not as effective as simply starving the monster to death.  The system has failed millions of us, so I will simply abandon that system as it lurches and stumbles towards self-destruction.