I don’t live above or below society’s rules and laws, I live outside of them.

Why you might ask? Because those who are truly free have no need of society’s constraints.

When one evolves to the point of living life of their own accord, treating others as they would have themselves treated, being at peace with the world and oneself, rules and laws, formal and informal, are merely suggestions to be followed or dispensed with at will.

Not everyone can live this way, some need these social concepts in order to survive. They crave the illusion of control and security. More often though, they need these rules in order to dominate others.

What’s to stop me from killing indiscriminately, from robbing others, from doing evil, given that I live outside of the rules and laws of society?

I ask, what’s stopping you? A law, a rule, social mores, religion? Certainly not.

These concepts don’t prevent action, they prescribe a punishment should the right person be caught. Often these ideas are used to justify such heinous acts.

Only the individual has the ability to choose for themselves, their actions in life. Given this, the only thing that stops one from doing evil is oneself.

Surely it could be argued that one can stop others from doing evil, but this is not truly stopping others, only restraining them. Does the wild animal suddenly become tame once it is restrained?

As I walk through this world, rules do not constrain my actions, though this is not to say I am not mindful of those granted authority to carry out the will of institutions of power.

I do not flout my freedom, for a free person has no need to do so. To challenge and incite supposed authorities gives others power over oneself. This is not the mark of a free person. Their can be no power without consent, only coercion.

Coercion is the mark of those who reside under and confine themselves to tyranny. One who is free does not use and has no need of coercion, thus why one lives outside of the law, subject only to one’s own code of conduct.

The institution of rules and laws are still to be used by those who are free, but only as a defensive measure. Until such a time as a majority of people liberate themselves, it will be necessary to employ this system, as no defensive tool is to be unconsidered in the defense of liberty.

I will not consent to coercion and as one who is free I cannot and will not employ coercion. I will use every tool available to diminish the many forms in which coercion takes and I will rejoice in each step closer we take.

While the world burns and society loots, I will live my life as one who is free.

By: George M. Spooner