Violence solves many problems. Simply by eliminating opposition, war creates a kind of peace, though usually at the expense of some liberties. In war, both sides increase in power, but the side most likely to win is the one starting with more control. After a war, it is unlikely that any power will be returned to the working classes. How is a rebel group to overthrow a power as immense as something like the government of the United States of America? Bombings, attacks on police, and terrorism cannot hold the answer. Disregard the moral question regarding these tactics—they are impractical, even if they aren’t immoral. Terrorism creates fear, which only gives the state license to expand its power under the guise of “homeland security.” Attacks on police only result in more police. Escalation is the inevitable effect of the dialectic of war. How do we rebel without increasing the power we seek to overthrow?

First, the solution is not collective. The solution is individual. We will not find the solution in a corporate body, governmental or social. Individuals must seek to establish the order they wish to see, not simply wait on permission from the government or society. If we wait for a body to be galvanized, we will never act. The weight is on individual shoulders, not those of the state, church, or any other organization. If you are unwilling to act according to the liberty you wish to have, you do not deserve it.

Second, the solution is not reactionary. If we simply respond to bad laws by flaunting statutes or taunting state police, this will only encourage harsher measures on their part. Disobedience should be incidental, not intentional. The point of any revolution is not merely disobedience, but adherence to a new order. Disobedience to the current system and its codes will happen, but this is not a goal. In fact, if it becomes the goal, our actions will always be defined by the very thing we are trying to oppose! Act as if the current failing system did not exist, otherwise your reactions will always be in the shadow of what should be forgotten.

Does this mean that organized civil disobedience isn’t an answer? Absolutely not. Intentional civil disobedience is an open confrontation. Individuals together are more powerful, but they must first be individuals. Organized civil disobedience can erode bad laws, and this sort of disobedience is precisely what is needed today. Synchronous disobedience throughout towns, counties, states, and countries help cultivate a healthy mistrust of supposed authority. If all the bad laws disappeared suddenly, how would you live differently? What we are proposing here is that you start living that way now. Don’t wait for the laws to disappear, and don’t just show up for protests or gatherings where you’re guaranteed to be arrested. Create a precedent for the very thing you want to be established. Act now as you wish to act later.

There is comfort in groups, especially when a specific law is in question. Do not simply disobey a law for the sake of disobeying the law. This will more likely get you imprisoned than anything else. Live as freely as you think the world should be—no more and no less. If you think oppression shouldn’t be part of politics, don’t react with oppression against the state. As people begin to live freely, ignoring bad laws, those laws will cease to have meaning. Strength can be found in numbers, especially to overcome any reactionary fear of the state. But ultimately it is only the individual who follows liberty and guards it carefully.

Do not wait for the law. Create the law.

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