But you'll have to surrender political power.

Let’s take a step back and look at the big picture here.

Is there an all-powerful state that is watching you from CCTV cameras, monitoring you for hate speech at all times? Maybe if you live in London that is a day to day reality, but for most people, it is peer pressure that keeps a lid on any CrimeThink.

Your friends and co-workers will report you before Big Brother’s spies ever will.

This phenomenon decreases as you go to other countries where there is less pretense to democracy. Authoritarian states tend to be freer in many ways. When the people’s political opinion doesn’t matter, their opinions don’t have to be so closely monitored and controlled. Centuries ago in the West, you got only punished when you spoke against the king or the church, but now everything is self-regulated, every thing we do, say and believe, therefore potentially every word we say can bring social ostracization upon us. Alexis de Tocqueville remarked on this observation way back when:

I know of no country in which there is so little independence of mind and real freedom of discussion as in America. In any constitutional state in Europe every sort of religious and political theory may be freely preached and disseminated; for there is no country in Europe so subdued by any single authority as not to protect the man who raises his voice in the cause of truth from the consequences of his hardihood. If he is unfortunate enough to live under an absolute government, the people are often on his side; if he inhabits a free country, he can, if necessary, find a shelter behind the throne. The aristocratic part of society supports him in some countries, and the democracy in others. But in a nation where democratic institutions exist, organized like those of the United States, there is but one authority, one element of strength and success, with nothing beyond it.

If you didn’t complain too much about the king, you were otherwise left off the hook, not a bad deal by today’s standards, you must admit.

But then the era of mass democracy dawned, and people’s opinions suddenly mattered, therefore they had to be molded.

And now, you have regular shmucks who willingly enforce the ruling dogma of the state by keeping tabs on you, even though ostensibly they are in the same boat as you. The state doesn’t need to denounce you, your own co-workers will and HR will take it from there. The state doesn’t need to send SWAT teams after you, Antifa will do the dirty work for them.

As a result, people have become stunted. Have you noticed how difficult it has become to talk about anything other than Netflix with a regular guy? This is no mistake, the number of safe topics is diminishing every year. Football is politicized, Game of Thrones is politicized, people’s elective identities now revolve around their political identities.

Which is a shame for the little people living little lives throughout the country. There is a certain charm in living abroad in a country where the State is all-powerful. There’s a feeling of solidarity and comradery that comes from having no illusions about your ability to influence the throne. It does wonders for your ability to speak freely in mixed company. Whether its a Liberal or a Nationalist or even a NatsBol, you can find common ground. And why shouldn’t you? These are just hobbies for people in a less than democratic state. No one thinks anything will come of it. So why fight one another over what essentially is abstract theory? Why go out to “Bash the Fash” when the all-powerful State isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Better to pass the drink along, lighten up and have a laugh. You’re all in the same boat, after all.