Much of the tyranny we experience in our own lives can be mitigated or even halted if we just say “No.” Tyranny takes the active participation of its victims, as well as their passive acquiescence, to work. Sabotaging both requires the explicit refusal to play along.
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Here are some examples of how this would work:
– When the clerk at a retail store wants your zip code, say, “I prefer not to, thanks.”
– When a cop asks if he may search your car, reply with, “I don’t consent to any searches, Officer.”
– If you’re boss wants you to do some unpaid overtime, tell him, “I’d be flattered if you offered me some real work for which I’d be paid for, but I do have a life outside of this job I would like to get back to.”
– When a bureaucrat demands anything of you, tell him you’ll need some gratuitous information from him before you can even begin the arduous task of complying with his request.
– When an acquaintance at a dinner party wants to know your net income, tell them politely that it’s none of his business.
– When a public school teacher demands that you intrinsically believe their pabulum, reply with, “Does it state in the syllabus that I must accept what you say as gospel?”
– When family relative attempts to manipulate you into doing something that you don’t want to do, tell him, “I’ve already told you three times now, I don’t want to attend Uncle Roger’s BYOB party.”
– When a college professor is stubbornly insisting that everyone attend an extra credit lecture, make sure that you have other plans (“You don’t want me to break my previous engagements, do you?”).
– When a business client wants you to do something that is immoral (that is, violating male in se), clearly state that you are not an amoral mercenary who will do anything under the sun just for a buck; you have your own moral code and compromising that is not part of you contracted into.
Non-compliance is a frequently ignored method. Refusing to participate in the deceitful, diversionary, and/or destructive wishes of others is a simple yet hard technique to practice. By saying “No” more often (albeit prudently), I think you will find that the blessings of Liberty will be immediate and overflowing.
The Last Bastille 