What is freedom?

"Make no mistake, a monster on its knees is still a force with which to contend. The ability of large governments and large companies to crush their opposition with brute force represents a threat that will last for many decades to come. But the essential merit of the philosophy of the sovereign individual will provide a strong platform on which to build great new institutions, ones which are derived from principles of freedom rather than tyranny.

"We stand at the edge of a bold new reality. Like the Celtic peoples of the British Isles in the Fifth Century of the Current Era (Anno Domini) who saw the crumbling edifice of the Roman Empire taking with it heavy burdens of taxation, bureaucracy, corruption, arrogance, and caprice, we will see many of the problems of the status quo swept away along with the institutions that promote them. Rather than plunging into a Dark Age, the Celts of that ancient time saw vast opportunities arise for themselves and their posterity. The tradition of English, Welsh, Scottish, and Irish freedom and independence began with the disappearance of Ancient Rome. The religious freedoms we hold dear arose not because the agents of Constantine were about to force conversion to Christianity, but because the Celtic peoples were, for the most part, free to embrace Christianity or continue with their Druidic or ancient beliefs.

"The yeoman farmers of England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland were a force to contend with the likes of which the world had never seen. The powerful militia of yew-wielding bowmen and pikemen who defeated an eight-fold greater number at Agincourt, among countless other victories, did not arise under the iron boot of Roman tyranny. Rather, it grew out of a culture of freedom, of independence, of small landholders running their own lives and thriving on the fruits of their own labor.

"The postmodern sovereign individual is unlikely to be a farmer or a bowman. The tools of the modern age are microchip-driven information technologies rather than agricultural implements. It is the ability of ordinary individuals to have access to a vast array of information and use it to enhance productivity which has reduced the rate of return for practitioners of violence.

"While the sovereign individual of the coming age will need to defend himself, against criminals and against the last hurrah of the bureaucracies, he will have many weapons at his disposal. Public opinion has turned against tyranny, the insolence of office, and the idiocy of bureaucracy. Effective use of media, including the Internet, will permit the sovereign individual to undercut support for his oppressors.

"The new sovereign individual will be able to avoid many instances of oppression through the use of encryption technology, and by shopping for jurisdictions for his various business and personal interests. With a world wide web of communications systems at his disposal, the postmodern man can choose to smoke marijuana legally on the streets of Amsterdam one day, shop rural Nevada for a prostitute the next, gamble in Las Vegas, and bank tax free in the Cayman Islands, all without losing touch with his base of operations, wherever that may be. Regardless of your personal preferences or vices, there is a jurisdiction where you can partake of pleasures without fear of legal repercussions.

"Thus, the most powerful weapon against tyranny will continue to be a well-shod pair of feet. Of all the ways to resolve a conflict, the best one is to leave.

"That impulse, to find new horizons with fewer constraints, will have its ultimate expression in the development of the space frontier. Frontier people have always had greater tolerance for variation in behavior. Frontiersmen have always been willing to leave a man alone on the condition of being left alone. They have also had a consistent tendency to keep and bear arms for the defense of their personal idiosyncracies, families, and possessions.

"The 'end of days' foretold in the Bible may one day be recognized not as the end of life on Earth, but as the beginning of life in space; not as an indication of apocalypse, but of freedom from the tyranny of the diurnal cycle. If humanity succeeds in becoming a multi-planetary species, it is certain that our future will be of far longer duration than our past. The limitlessness of space affords us the opportunity to spread ourselves, our posterity, and our favorite species of life throughout the Solar System, the Galaxy, and beyond.