Don’t be too surprised if, after learning what “anarchy” actually means, you end up thinking, “Wait, that’s exactly what I want!”Etienne Note: The Art of Liberty Foundation has the ONLY stock of physical copies of What Anarchy Isn’t by Larken Rose available anywhere at ArtOfLiberty.org/store. Save 20% by using discount code: Liberty20 by midnight on Friday, December 12th. Pro-tip: Get it with Larken’s The Most Dangerous Superstition, Anarchy Exposed, and with both my books in our “Everything Bundle” IntroductionIf you pay attention to the mainstream media, Hollywood movies, or the usual political pundits, then hearing the word “anarchist” probably makes you think of a gang of mask-wearing, bomb-throwing punks—angry, violent vandals doing whatever they can to destroy civilized society. And these days, those who wield political power are going to great lengths—making up stories, instigating conflicts, etc.—to demonize and mischaracterize what “anarchism” really means. The purpose of this little book is to counter the spin and misconceptions.Regardless of your age, education level, income level, or views on culture or religion, don’t be too surprised if, after learning what “anarchy” actually means, you end up thinking, “Wait, that’s exactly what I want!”WHAT ANARCHY ISN’TBy Larken Rose, Illustrated by PoxoddMany people, when they hear the word “anarchy,” think of chaos and mayhem. They therefore assume that anyone who calls himself an “anarchist” must be in favor of disorder and violence. But that is the complete opposite of the truth.Just as the word “monarchy” means “rule by one person,” the word “anarchy” literally just means, “rule by no one.” But even that idea—the idea of a society without a government —makes some people imagine a primitive, savage type of existence, full of violent conflict and without compassion or organization. But that, too, is a completely inaccurate picture of what anarchism meansIn fact, most complaints about anarchism are the result of people misunderstanding what the philosophy is all about. Most people who are scared of “anarchy” are scared of things that anarchists don’t want and don’t advocate.To help correct such misunderstandings, we will use the example of two fictional islands: Authoritania, where there is a ruling class (government), and Anarchia, where there is no ruling class of any kind. These will be used to illustrate what “anarchy” actually means, and what it does not mean.One common misconception about anarchy is that it means “every man for himself” or “survival of the fittest,” where everyone has to be selfish and self-sufficient, where there is no real cooperation or organization, and where people all behave like violent, selfish animals.This comes from the false assumption that there can be no order or structure to society without government—that without some sort of governing political body, people couldn’t and wouldn’t find ways to get along, cooperate and organize for mutual benefit.But in reality, government is never about true cooperation. Whether it is a republic, a democracy, a dictatorship, or some other form, government always constitutes a ruling class which gives commands called “laws” and uses violence to punish anyone who disobeys. That is not cooperation. That is domination. It is one group forcing its will on everyone else and making them obey.Government forces people to fund its ideas by way of “taxation,” and forces people to cooperate with its plans by way of “regulation” and “legislation.” Ultimately, both are enforced by men with guns.In contrast, true cooperation is about people voluntarily working together, of their own free will, without anyone else forcing them to. And people already do this, in thousands of different ways every day, without politicians or “law enforcers” making it happen. So no, obviously cooperation does not require the existence of political power.And while it is true that authoritarianism and government power can be used to force people into various forms of organization, that does not mean that people are incapable of organizing without being forced, which they obviously already do, in many different ways.In fact, the most productive examples of organization are already anarchistic in nature. Consider, for example, your favorite grocery store. Everyone involved in the hugely complex operation of growing, processing, transporting, displaying and selling food participates voluntarily.Customers choose where to shop and what to buy, and all the other people involved—truck-drivers, stock boys, checkout clerks, administrators, etc.—do things in exchange for getting paid. This purely voluntary arrangement allows for an amazingly complex degree of organization and cooperation without anyone being forced to participate. This is literally anarchy in action.In contrast, whenever government does something, a very small group of people (politicians) comes up with an idea and forces everyone else to go along with it. In the authoritarian version of a supermarket, the ruling class would tell people what to produce and how much, and would tell customers what they must buy and what they must pay for it. Anyone who did not comply would be punished in some way. That is how government always does things.(Some anarchists prefer the term “voluntaryist,” because the philosophy is based upon the idea that all human behavior should be based upon voluntary interaction, not force.)Another common but incorrect assumption is that, if there were no government, people would have no way to defend against criminals or foreign invaders. But one does not need a badge or special “authority” to have the right to defend himself or others against attackers and thieves.Everyone already has the right to use defensive force—on his own, or with others for mutual protection. Anarchy means no one has the right to rule (i.e., no one has special rights); it does NOT mean people can’t get together to exercise rights that everyone already has. In a stateless society, even professional protectors would only have the same rights as everyone else.Another concern that some people have is that, if there were no government, then smaller, private gangs would spring up to rob, oppress and enslave people. There are a couple of reasons why this fear is misguided.First of all, even private street gangs and organized crime today exist mainly because of government, not in spite of it. Notice how many gangs today get their funding from trading in illegal “black markets”—drugs, gambling, illegal immigration, prostitution, guns, etc.—which are very lucrative, as well as very dangerous, because of government “laws.” In a free society, thugs and thieves—individually or in gangs— wouldn’t have any “black markets” to take over.More importantly, people who fear that without government, “warlords” would take over, are ignoring how much people’s perceptions matter. A criminal gang which everyone recognizes as illegitimate and immoral has far less power than a gang whose aggression is perceived to be legitimate and “legal”—its commands and demands being called “laws” and “taxes,” and any who disobey being seen as “criminals.”In other words, a population is far more likely to be oppressed by a gang which the people themselves imagine to have the right to rule than by some gang that everyone knows is bad, and that everyone would feel perfectly justified in disobeying and resisting, even forcibly.Imagine a private gang trying to do what government now does—extorting and bossing everyone around—but imagine if they tried that without any aura of legal authority. Then imagine how a well armed population would respond. The gang would fail, quickly and dramatically, and all those who resisted them would be viewed as righteous heroes.But when the people feel morally obligated to obey the politicians’ “laws,” any who resist are viewed as “criminals” or “tax-cheats,” even by their own friends and neighbors. Most people see government domination as necessary and valid, and so they cooperate with their own victimization.That is why government gets away with far more oppression and extortion than private gangs ever could: because most of the victims of “legal” thuggery and theft see it as necessary and legitimate. Millions of people tolerate the confiscation of a huge portion of their earnings and tolerate having many of their choices and behaviors forcibly limited and controlled by way of “legislation,” as long as the people giving the orders are seen as a legitimate political authority.But in a situation where the people don’t accept the idea that someone else has the moral right to rob them and rule them, the people stop cooperating and start resisting.The presence of government drastically increases the chances of people getting robbed—in fact, increases the chances to 100%, since every government “taxes” the people it pretends to “represent.” Meanwhile, the lack of an authoritarian ruling class makes the people far less susceptible to being extorted and dominated, and far more likely to disobey and resist any would-be thieves and thugs.To put it another way, warlords already did take over, called themselves “government,” and convinced their victims that it was righteous and necessary for the warlords to dominate and exploit everyone else, “for their own good.”Relying on government to prevent theft and oppression is completely ridiculous, since government is the biggest thug and thief there is, confiscating far more wealth than all other crooks and criminals combined.And government “protection” is always hypocritical. Government “law enforcers” may sometimes find and lock up some private thugs and thieves, but every government also commits “legalized” theft and extortion itself and calls it “taxation,” while insisting that it needs to do that in order to protect the people from theft and extortion. As patently absurd as that is, most people still accept it without question.When someone first considers the idea of a stateless society, he may also worry that the people who are truly malicious, destructive and sociopathic (and there are such people in the world) would be free to do anything they pleased, with no one to stop them. But this concern is again based on a basic misunderstanding of human nature.People who are willing to victimize others, by their very nature, don’t care about morality, or right and wrong. They don’t care if what they are doing is right, and they also don’t care if what they are doing is legal. They care only whether they can get away with harming others.In some instances, a would-be crook or thug might be deterred or stopped by force (or by the threat of force), whether by someone with a badge or by someone without one. What makes this deterrence work is not the legislation or the official badges, but the simple threat of harm to the crook.A sociopath doesn’t care about laws or social rules; he cares only about avoiding pain and hardship for himself. And that is true regardless of whether government exists or not. It makes no difference whether the threat comes from the police, or another citizen, or even another criminal.Discouraging nasty people from hurting others does not require special “authority,” only the ability and willingness to use defensive force. If the intended target of a would-be carjacker pulls out a gun, it doesn’t make any difference to the car-jacker whether that person has a badge or whether there’s a “law” against taking people’s cars.Without a ruling class, decent people would still have every incentive, ability and right to organize and cooperate to defend against thugs and thieves, and they wouldn’t need any badge, official title, “legislation” or special rights to do so. And, as with any service, people can hire others to help with protection; every person doesn’t have to do it himself.Now, some people might assume that if people organize for mutual protection and defense, then that is government. But that is not at all the case. Political authority is not about people coming together to do something that everyone already has the right to do; political authority is about one group of people claiming the right to do things which normal people do not have the right to do, such as taxing and controlling everyone else.Organized defense can be very effective without anyone claiming any special right to rule—in other words, without having any special “authority” and without being government.Even when there is government, there are still freelance thieves and thugs who are not deterred by the laws of the politicians anyway. But the ultimate irony is that, while so many people hope that government will protect them from common criminals, government itself always ends up being the biggest thug and thief around.To be blunt, creating a huge gang—one far too big and powerful for the average person to resist—and giving that gang societal permission to control and extort everyone else (by way of “law” and “taxes”), in the hope that that gang will prevent theft and thuggery, is a completely absurd idea.Another common objection to the idea of a stateless society (a world without government) is the notion that, if not for a group of “lawmakers” telling the rest of us how to behave, we would all behave like stupid, irresponsible, violent animals.This claim implies one of two things: either we normal people have no idea what is right and wrong unless and until politicians tell us, or the only reason we want to do the right thing and co-exist peacefully is because politicians command us to. A quick examination of your own motivations and behaviors proves that neither of those things is actually true.To argue that only government can make people behave in a civilized manner is particularly odd in a society where politicians are voted into power. If the people themselves have no moral code and no conscience and are just stupid, violent animals, why does almost everyone want government to keep the peace and protect the innocent?Would a population of vicious, heartless, evil people try to elect good people to keep the evil people in line? Obviously not. Human goodness and the desire for order and peace already come from the people, not from the “lawmakers” they vote into office.The same holds true of everything else that the government does. If people are so short-sighted and selfish that they can’t be trusted to voluntarily organize and fund whatever they deem important, then how can those same people be trusted to decide who should be in power? The implication is that the average person can’t be trusted to run his own life, but can be trusted to choose someone to run everyone else’s life.To argue that government is necessary for keeping society peaceful and civilized is to claim that normal people can’t wait to commit evil, but also can’t wait to vote for politicians who will forcibly stop them from committing evil.Contrary to what most of us were taught, government and politics are not a civilizing influence at all. Indeed, political authority is the arch-enemy of peaceful coexistence.People who would never personally rob their neighbors themselves constantly vote for the government to do it for them. People who would never dream of trying to control every detail of their neighbors’ lives think it’s just fine to ask politicians to do exactly that. The game of politics constantly encourages people to use the violence of the state to rob and control other people, without any risk or feeling of guilt for the one who votes for that to happen.Government, rather than serving as a check against the imperfections of our nature, instead drastically amplifies our greed, resentment, irresponsibility and malice, by giving us a “legal,” risk-free way to forcibly interfere with the lives and choices of our fellow man. In short, politics brings out the bully and meddling busy-body in everyone.In contrast, without a ruling class, people wouldn’t be forever asking “lawmakers” to interfere with their neighbors’ lives, and thugs and thieves wouldn’t be able to deny responsibility for their evil deeds by saying they were just following orders.Throughout history, far more theft, assault, oppression, and even murder has been committed by those acting on behalf of “authority” than by anybody else. Even basically good people, when they believe in government, condone things which they know would be wrong if they did them on their own.Most people know that theft and assault are bad, but they imagine that controlling their neighbors and forcing them to pay for things they don’t want is perfectly fine when done by way of the political process. Wrong becomes right when it’s called “taxation,” “legislation,” “regulation” and “war.”Anarchists know better. They know that human society will never be perfect, but that it would be a whole lot better if evil deeds were committed only by genuinely nasty, sociopathic people, rather than being advocated and committed by many millions of basically good people who have been taught to believe that aggression is morally acceptable when it’s called “taxation,” “law enforcement” and “national defense.”Using yourself as an example, how many things have you voted to have government do to your neighbors that you know you would have no moral right to do to them yourself?The fundamental principle of voluntaryism (a more specific term for anarchism) is very simple: it’s wrong to initiate force against any other person, regardless of badges, laws or alleged authority. The only time the use of force is justified is to defend against aggression. (This is known as the Non-Aggression Principle or NAP) The vast majority of people already understand this on a personal level, but they’ve been taught that this basic rule of social living does not apply when it comes to the game of politics and government. Without shame or guilt, everyone who votes asks the ruling class to do things to his neighbors which he knows would be wrong if he did them himself.Most people know how to get along and want a peaceful and just society. Giving up the belief in government doesn’t suddenly turn someone into a violent animal, because our morality doesn’t come from legislation, and our ability to organize and cooperate doesn’t come from any ruling class.Our ability, right and desire to be productive, to help each other, to protect the innocent and to stop the wicked, does not come from government. In fact, it is threatened by government more than by anything else. Indeed, most injustice, oppression and strife—most of “man’s inhumanity to man”—is a direct result of authoritarian political power.Contrary to what politicians pretend, ruling classes do not produce peaceful co-existence. Instead, they intentionally cause perpetual conflict and violence, exploiting our compassion, virtue and good intentions, turning them into wealth and power for the worst people in the world, while crushing the freedom and prosperity of everyone else.Of course, the people who benefit most from the political racket will do their best to convince you that it’s a social necessity. But ask yourself this: have the thousands of laws, regulations and taxes imposed upon you made you a better, more productive and more caring person?Is the world better off with the politicians taking your money and telling you how to live your life? Or would things be better if you were allowed to spend your own money and make your own decisions? Is society really best served by a small class of people forcibly imposing a centralized master plan on everyone else? Can the orders and threats of a ruling class make the world what it should be? Or would society be better served by freedom, a respect for individual rights, voluntary cooperation and peaceful organization? If this second option sounds better to you, maybe you should learn more about anarchism and voluntaryism.People are not perfect, and some are downright malicious and dangerous. And some people mistakenly view anarchism as a utopian idea that would only work if everyone were generous and compassionate. But if people are too stupid, greedy and malicious to be free, aren’t they also too stupid, greedy and malicious to be trusted with power? If you don’t trust some stranger to have control over his own life, why would you trust him to have control over yours?Whether people are inherently good, inherently bad, or some of each, giving a small group of people power and control over everyone else is never the answer.Many still insist, “We need government because people can’t be trusted!”, as if government is anything other than people (some of the worst people around, in fact). And many still believe that obedience to authority is what makes us civilized, when in reality, it does the opposite. Far more evil has been committed in the name of “law” and “authority” than has been committed in spite of it.The ultimate irony is that most people are still desperately hoping to achieve a fair, just, free and prosperous society by way of the very institution that has been responsible for more theft, thuggery, extortion, terrorism, torture and murder than all others combined: “government.”Everyone knows that governments can be corrupt, abusive, inefficient, counter-productive, even tyrannical. But most people still assume that, if only the right people were in charge, that would fix the problem.But over and over again, regardless of who was in power and regardless of the particular arrangement or structure of the political power—a democracy, a republic, a dictatorship, a collective, etc.—history has demonstrated that power corrupts, and that freedom is far more conducive to peace and prosperity than any political solution ever has been, ever could be or ever will be.People have spent centuries trying to create a good society using different kinds of ruling classes, different kinds of legal structures, different ways of choosing rulers, and so on. But without exception, every authoritarian governmental construction has resulted in freedom and riches for a small few, and oppression, violence and poverty for others.What if, instead of deciding what the throne should look like and who should sit on it, all people of good-will embraced the non-aggression principle? What if, instead of looking to a ruling class to forcibly impose our values onto society, we embraced the concept of self-ownership?In a nutshell, anarchists want you to have complete control over your choices, your money and your life. As long as you are not using force or fraud to inflict harm onto others, they want you to have absolute freedom. All they ask is that you treat them the same way.These principles are simple and obvious, to the point of being self-evident. And yet they are diametrically opposed to the authoritarian principles that most of us have been taught.At the end of the day, you need to choose which you want: peaceful coexistence among equals (anarchism), or authoritarian domination, with some ruling over everyone else (“government”). The two are mutually exclusive.Despite what would-be rulers want you to believe, anarchism does not mean chaos and violence, or every man for himself, and having no government doesn’t mean having no morality, no organization and no cooperation. Simply put, anarchism means that no one is your master and that no one is your slave. And that’s all it means.For a more thorough understanding of why a stateless society—based upon voluntary cooperation and organization rather than based upon government force and authoritarian control—is the only moral or rational choice, read The Most Dangerous Superstition.Get What Anarchy Isn’t for 20% off Until Midnight Dec 12th at ArtOfLiberty.org/Store using the discount code: Liberty20What Anarchy Isn’t – A short pamphlet by Larken Rose – author of The Most Dangerous Superstition, that breaks down popular misconceptions about Anarchy and Voluntaryism. Anarchy isn’t about violence, chaos, dystopia, communism or anything else organized crime’s propaganda system would have you believe. If you have ever wanted to give a friend or family member a short treatise on the basics of anarchy and voluntaryism, this is it! The Art of Liberty Foundation has the ONLY remaining stock of physical pamphlets left.What Anarchy Isn’t – Single Copy $5 What Anarchy Isn’t – Five Copy Friends Bundle $20The “Everything Bundle”Includes What Anarchy Isn’t : $115The 64GB Liberator Flash Drive includes the PDF of What Anarchy Isn’t: $30 Save 20% by using the discount code: Liberty20 until midnight on Friday, Dec 12th

20% Off Until Dec. 12th, 15% off from Dec 13th-16th, and 10% off from Dec 17th-Christmas!Want to give some gifts that will be remembered for years to come and help your friends, family and colleagues better understand the scam of “Government?”Happy Holidays from the Art of Liberty Foundation! Get 20% off until December 12th using the discount code: Liberty20, 15% off from December 13th-16th using the discount code: Liberty15, and 10% off from December 17th until Christmas using the discount code: Liberty10! Shop for unique books and gifts now at ArtOfLiberty.org/StoreThe discount brings the price per copy down to under $10 for books and flash drives in our “Friends Bundles”! “Government” – The Biggest Scam in History… Exposed! – How Inter-Generational Organized Crime Runs the “Government,” Media and Academia. The best-selling book at over two dozen liberty-oriented conferences and events! Sales to 25+ countries! “Government” reveals the hidden control system and pseudo-religion of Statism used by an inter-generational organized crime system centered around banking and central banking to rob and control populations. This book distills 20+ years of research and open-source intelligence into short, easily digestible treatises on individual subjects and optimizes the information for the 65% of society who are visual learners.The book is designed to “wake up” friends, family and colleagues by using media ownership charts, visualizations, Venn diagrams and memes to shortcut visual learners to the moment of insight and make what was invisible now visible through visualization. Paperback Version – Usually $30.00 Holiday Sale price with Liberty20 20% Discount Code: $24.00High-Resolution Hardcover Version – Usually $50 Holiday Sale price with Liberty20 20% Discount Code: $40To See the Cage is to Leave It – 25 Techniques the Few Use to Control the Many To See the Cage is to Leave It – 25 Techniques the Few Use to Control the Many To See the Cage Is to Leave It, author and truth advocate Etienne de la Boetie2 takes you deep inside the methods and tricks used to manufacture our consent—from the classroom to the newsroom, from the ballot box to the battlefield. This book pulls back the curtain on the world’s most successful mass manipulation: Statism—the indoctrinated, pseudo-religious belief in the desirability, necessity and legitimacy of “government”.Book WebsitePress Release & Book SummaryPaperback Version of To See the Cage – Usually $19.84 Holiday Sale price with Liberty20 20% Discount Code: $15.87High-Resolution Hardcover Version of To See the Cage – Usually $40 Holiday Sale price with Liberty20 20% Discount Code: $32The Liberator – A 64GB uncensorable, credit card-sized flash drive crammed with evidence of “government” and media criminality. that can be easily copied for friends, relatives, and colleagues. Includes the ePub 5th edition of “Government” – The Biggest Scam in History… Exposed! and To See the Cage is to Leave It – 25 Techniques the Few Use to Control the Many. Along with companion and reference material that is disappearing off the internet. Chock full of essential books in PDF, documentaries in MP4, short videos, 1500+ dank memes, truth music from the liberty movement’s hottest artists, and HUNDREDS of prepping and survivalism resources.We are widely distributing evidence of “government,” media, and academic criminality, including instructions and stickers for making your own Liberators using low-cost, commodity 64GB flash drives available on eBay, Best Buy, or other computer retailers. You are authorized and encouraged to make copies for your friends! The Liberator’s content is split up into Five primary folders:1.“Government”– Companion media to “Government” – The Biggest Scam in History… Exposed! and To See the Cage is to Leave It , 2. False Flag Terrorism for Police State and Hoax Shootings for Gun Control, 3. “The Covid” – Plandemic & Economic Warfare, 4. Voluntaryism – The Only Political “ISM” Fair For All, 5. Prepping and Survivalism. Preview the entire contents at Government-Scam.com/LiberatorThe Liberator – Uncensorable Credit Card-Sized Flashdrive(included ePubs of both “Government”- The Biggest Scam in History… Exposed! AND To See the Cage is to Leave It)Usually $30.00 Holiday Sale price with Liberty20 20% Discount Code: $24.00Money Saving Bundles“Government” + Liberator Bundle! – A Paperback Copy of “Government” and a Liberator Flash Drive – Usually $45.00 Holiday Sale Price with Liberty20 20% Discount Code: $36.00High-Resolution “Government” Hardcover Version + Liberator Bundle – Usually $65 Holiday Sale price with Liberty20 20% Discount Code: $52.00The Paperback Trifecta – To See the Cage + “Government” + a 64GB Liberator Flash Drive – Usually $60 Holiday Sale price with Liberty20 20% Discount Code: $48.00The High-Resolution Hardcover Collector’s Trifecta – To See the Cage + “Government” + a 64GB Liberator Flash Drive- Usually $100 Holiday Sale price with Liberty20 20% Discount Code: $80.00The Everything Bundle -Give me Liberty… and give me more! The Everything Bundle includes both of Etienne’s books: “Government” and To See the Cage, The Best of Larken Rose, along with a collection of potentially life-altering introductions to voluntaryism. 1 × “Government”- The Biggest Scam in History… Exposed!, 1 × The Liberator 64GB, 1 × The Most Dangerous Superstition by Larken Rose, 1 × Sedition, Subversion, and Sabotage – Field Manual No. 1 – A Three Part Solution To The State – By Ben Stone, 1 × What Anarchy Isn’t – By Larken Rose, 1 × Three Friends Free – A Children’s Story of Voluntaryism, 1 × Anarchy Exposed – A former police office reports on his investigative journeyUsually $115.00 Holiday Sale price with Liberty20 20% Discount Code: $92.00Friends Bundles – Low Cost Bulk Copies for Friends, Family & ColleaguesFun Fact: Over 10% of our books and flash drives are sold as viral “Friends Bundles” where readers realize the importance and uniqueness of our work and share with friends, family and colleagues. Donors to the Art of Liberty Foundation make these bulk copies available at prices as low as $11 per copy. Many are donated to libraries and mini-neighborhood libraries, made into coffee table books in Airbnbs, or left in waiting rooms or the back seats of Ubers and Cabs. You can donate to support this at ArtOfLiberty.org/sponsor“Government” Five Pack “Friends’ Bundle”- Five Copies of “Government”Usually $65 Holiday Sale price withLiberty20 20% Discount Code: $52.00To See the Cage – Five Pack “Friends’ Bundle”- Five Copies of To See the Cage is to Leave ItUsually $50 Holiday Sale price withLiberty20 20% Discount Code: $40.0064GB Liberator Flash Drive Five Pack “Friends Bundle”- Five Liberator Flash Drives – The Perfect Stocking Stuffer Usually $65 Holiday Sale price with Liberty20 20% Discount Code: $52.00Five Copies of What Anarchy Isn’t by Larken Rose – We have the ONLY stock of these anywhere. Usually $20 Holiday Sale price with Liberty20 20% Discount Code: $16.00Five Everything Bundles – Five copies of (almost) Everything, including Liberator Flashdrives, Stickers, and the best introductions to voluntaryism anywhere. Usually $555 Holiday Sale price with Liberty20 20% Discount Code: $444.00Ten Packs of Books and Flash Drive’sThe Ten Pack of “Government” Friends Bundle – 10 Copies of “Government”Usually $115 Holiday Sale price with Liberty20 20% Discount Code: $92.00To See The Cage is to Leave It – Ten Copy “Friends Bundle”Usually $100 Holiday Sale price with Liberty20 20% Discount Code: $80.0064GB Liberator Flash Drive Ten Pack “Friends Bundle”- Five Liberator Flash Drives – The Perfect Stocking Stuffer Usually $115 Holiday Sale price with Liberty20 20% Discount Code: $92.0010 Books and 10 Liberators “Friends Bundle” (and Pop Up Guerrilla Bookstore Refill) – The refill for our Pop Up Guerrilla Bookstore is also the lowest cost option for getting copies for friends, family and colleaguesUsually $100 Holiday Sale price with Liberty20 20% Discount Code: $80.00Cop Block Shiny Badges(Still Doesn’t Grant Extra Rights!)Own a piece of libertarian activist history! In 2013, Cop Block produced a one-time run of “Shiny Badges” modeled after the Keene, New Hampshire’s police department badge from a manufacturer of “real” police badges. The heavy-weight badge features the cop block logo and the words: “Shiny Badges Don’t Grant Extra Rights,” reminding police of the incredible delusion required to believe a shiny badge grants an exception from morality or the “right” to imprison peaceful people for victimless crimes, among other transgressions. We have the last five four (4) of these available anywhere! The badge comes with an “Everything Bundle” that includes our best books on voluntaryism. The Cop Block Shiny Badge – Only Five Four (4) Left… Anywhere!!Usually $250 Holiday Sale price with Liberty20 20% Discount Code: $200.00The Best of Larken RosePolitical philosopher Larken Rose’s master works on the moral, utilitarian, and logical case for voluntaryism. All are included in the “Everything Bundle”. “The Most Dangerous Superstition” shows how nearly everyone, as a result of one particular unquestioned assumption, is directly contributing to violence and oppression without even realizing it. If you imagine yourself to be a compassionate, peace-loving, civilized human being, you must read this book.The Most Dangerous Superstition – By Larken RoseUsually $14 Holiday Sale price with Liberty20 20% Discount Code: $11.20What Anarchy Isn’t– A short pamphlet by Larken Rose… The perfect introduction to peaceful anarchy and voluntaryism by exposing What Anarchy ISN’TUsually $5 Holiday Sale price with Liberty20 20% Discount Code: $4Anarchy Exposed! – A former police officer reports on his investigative journey by Shepard the Voluntaryist and Larken Rose – Help the cops and sheriffs in your life and town understand the case for voluntaryism/peaceful anarchy and the immorality of “government”! Usually $9 Holiday Sale price with Liberty20 20% Discount Code: $7.20PLUS.. So Much More Available at ArtOfLiberty.org/StoreDid You Miss Us on Giving Tuesday?Did you miss us on Giving Tuesday? We hope you will consider supporting the Art of Liberty Foundation this holiday season. We simply can’t do what we do without the support of our sponsors. Substack has started censoring ourselves and other freedom movement journalists on the platform. It has been a bait & switch to get us on a platform where we were initially allowed to build an audience and earn money. Once they had us they have turned us off algorithmically similar to the same shadow banning we see on Twitter/X, Facebook and other platforms that will put tempting content from controlled opposition voices into your “Feed.”The BEST way to support us is directly here: https://artofliberty.org/sponsorship-program/ We will give you the same or better perks for “Going Paid” direct, including granting Paid Access to all four of our Substacks for sponsoring at the same level as Substack. Sponsor at the $50 a year tire-kicker level and get the same Black Friday Deal we are offering for “Going Paid” on Substack: This month get a free high-resolution hardcopy of either “Government” – The Biggest Scam in History… Exposed! OR To See the Cage is to Leave It – 25 Techniques the Few Use to Control the Many. This deal end on Christmas Day so act now to help amplify the voices of Liberty.

While Others Hack at the Branches of Evil, We are Striking the Root! Dear Friends of the Art of Liberty Foundation,This Giving Tuesday, we’re asking you to join us in striking the root and paving the way for a freer, voluntary world. By becoming a sponsor of the Art of Liberty Foundation, you’re not just donating—you’re partnering with us in our mission to end war, indoctrination, propaganda and tax slavery worldwide.At the Art of Liberty Foundation, we challenge the status quo by exposing the illegitimacy and criminality of “government” and its hidden partnerships with the monopoly media, mandatory schools, and tax-supported government universities. We are unique in achieving a “one-way revolution” by exposing the unethically manipulative techniques and tricks that the inter-generational organized crime system behind “government” is using. Because no one likes to get tricked and “chumped,” once exposed we are freeing minds and educating our friends, neighbors, and relatives on the good karma alternative of REAL Freedom! Why Your Support MattersYour sponsorship fuels projects that make an immediate impact:Developing Viral, Uncensorable ContentThrough low-cost “picture books”, USB flash drives, posters, and stickers, we’re bypassing media monopolies and algorithmic censorship to deliver the message of liberty to the masses.Conducting Groundbreaking ResearchWe explore actionable paths to transition from centralized control to decentralized solutions like private schools, free-market arbitration, and anonymous digital cash. Your support helps us identify and promote these transformative ideas.Creating Visual Learning ToolsWith books, infographics, and videos tailored for visual learners, we simplify complex ideas about voluntaryism, libertarianism, and the flaws of government systems. Our media makes the invisible visible and empowers people to challenge the existing paradigm.Exposing Government IllegitimacyOur resources don’t just advocate for change—they expose the immorality, illogic, and easily rigged corruption of “government”, equipping individuals with the knowledge to understand the prosperity and harmony possible in a world of REAL Freedom.What Your Sponsorship SupportsBy supporting us, you help distribute resources like:“Government” – The Biggest Scam in History… Exposed! Scientifically designed to wake people up with visual evidence and easy-to-understand breakdowns of how governments manipulate society.The Liberator Flash Drive – A portable, 64GB library of truth featuring documentaries, eBooks, and resources that educate and inspire.The Everything Bundle – The ultimate toolkit for sharing the message of liberty and voluntaryism.Your Sponsorship BenefitsBecoming a sponsor isn’t just about giving—it’s about joining a movement.Tire Kicker ($50)Receive a paperback copy of “Government” OR To See the Cage is to Leave It OR a Liberator Flash Drive.Sponsor ($100 – $499)Receive a paperback copy of “Government” OR To See the Cage is to Leave It + a Liberator Flash Drive + Stickers.Sustaining Member ($500 – $999)Receive a signed hardcover of “Government,” AND To See the Cage is to Leave It AND a Liberator Flash Drive, Stickers, and an invitation to 500 Club Calls with Etienne.Patron ($1,000 – $4,999)Everything above PLUS a T-shirt, Everything Bundle, and a personal call with Etienne.Benefactor ($5,000 – $24,999)All the benefits above PLUS a Pop-Up Guerilla Bookstore OR 10 Books + 10 Flash Drives.President’s Club ($25,000+)Host an Art of Liberty Foundation presentation in your town similar to our Liberty on the Rocks conference, receive 5 Everything Bundles, and become a key partner in spreading the message of liberty.Help Us Reach Our GoalWe’re on a mission to raise $25,000 to launch our upcoming book: Voluntaryism – How the Only “ISM” Fair for Everyone Leads to Harmony, Prosperity and Good Karma for All. So far, we’ve raised $7,665.62 from 120 donors with $17,334 left to go—and with your help, we can close the gap.Donate TodayPrefer crypto? Donate with CryptocurrencyPrefer to mail a check? Download the form here.Together, We Can Make HistoryThank you for joining us on this journey.Yours in liberty,“There are always a few, better endowed than others, who feel the weight of the yoke and cannot restrain themselves from attempting to shake it off: these are the men who never become tamed under subjection and who always, like Ulysses on land and sea constantly seeking the smoke of his chimney, cannot prevent themselves from peering about for their natural privileges and from remembering their ancestors and their former ways. These are in fact the men who, possessed of clear minds and far-sighted spirit, are not satisfied, like the brutish mass, to see only what is at their feet, but rather look about them, behind and before, and even recall the things of the past in order to judge those of the future, and compare both with their present condition. These are the ones who, having good minds of their own, have further trained them by study and learning. Even if liberty had entirely perished from the earth, such men would invent it. For them slavery has no satisfactions, no matter how well disguised. – Étienne de La Boétie (1530–1563)

Black Friday Starts Today!Black Friday Starts Today at the Art of Liberty Foundation! “Go Paid” ($50 Annual) on any Art of Liberty Foundation Substack (Important News, Five Meme Friday, or the Daily News from the Art of Liberty Foundation (Including the once per day Digest version) and get access to ALL Four Substacks PLUS Your choice of either a High-Resolution Hardcover Edition of either “Government” – The Biggest Scam in History… Exposed! OR To See the Cage is to Leave It – 25 Techniques the Few Use to Control the Many. US subscribers get free shipping and international subscribers get a $10 USD shipping credit toward delivery. We can calculate the cost if you send us your postal address at In**@**********ty.org, OR just “Go Paid”, OR Upgrade, and we will reply with all the details.A Special Offer for Founding Members“Go Paid” on Substack (or Upgrade) to the $250 Founding Member level and get a SIGNED high-resolution hard copy of To See the Cage is to Leave It – 25 Techniques the Few Use to Control the Many AND a SIGNED high-resolution hard copy of “Government” – The Biggest Scam in History… Exposed! AND everything else in our “Everything Bundle” of books AND stickers AND a full years access to all four Substacks. This is the ONLY option we have for signed copies except for catching Etienne at a conference or event. US subscribers get free shipping and international subscribers get a $10 USD shipping credit toward delivery. We can calculate the cost if you send us your postal address at In**@**********ty.org, OR just “Go Paid”, OR Upgrade, and we will reply with all the details.To See the Cage is to Leave It – 25 Techniques the Few Use to Control the ManyNew Book Exposes Trillion Dollar Government & Hollywood Psychological OperationThe Art of Liberty Foundation, a start-up voluntaryist public policy foundation, announces a new book, To See the Cage is to Leave It—25 Techniques the Few Use to Control the Many. The latest book, by Art of Liberty Foundation founder Etienne de la Boetie2, exposes that the government and Hollywood have been running a multi-generational, trillion-dollar psychological operation on the population to indoctrinate them into accepting a ruling class, confiscatory taxation, and inflationary fractional reserve currency issued by private banks.Etienne and James Corbett discuss To See the Cage is to Leave It on The Corbett ReportThe book details 25 unethically manipulative techniques the “government” and monopoly media have been secretly using on the population, ranging from a hidden curriculum in their mandatory schools and scouting to the secret placement of propaganda in over 1,000+ movies and 1,000+ television shows. These techniques include subliminal messages and product placement of the American flag “anchored” to moments of high-positive emotion during the “programming”.Technique #1 is mandatory government schools running the Prussian model of education to indoctrinate children that “government” is legitimate, desirable and necessary before they are old enough to evaluate the logic and morality of that assertion.The goal of the program has been to get free and independent human beings to self-identify as “Americans” (or “Canadians,” “Russians,” Israelis, etc. as every “government” is, essentially, running the same playbook) and be tricked into a pseudo-religion calledStatism, the belief in having a “government,” using what can only be called classic, textbook “cult-indoctrination techniques.”Statism is the completely indoctrinated belief in the legitimacy, desirability and necessity of having a “government” even though there is no ironclad law of the universe that “government” is legitimate, desirable or necessary.The book posits that there is an inter-generational organized crime system centered around banking and central-banking that has been controlling the information the public receives about the legitimacy, desirability and necessity of “government” using mandatory schools and monopoly media to “legalize” fractional reserve banking and trillions of dollars in “bailouts” and “stimulus” that is handed to the controllers even though the system is inherently unfair, inflationary, and secretly stealing the value from everyone else’s money.This organized crime system has been using the exact same techniques used by disingenuous religions and cults to trick the population into a worldview where they are easily robbed, controlled, and trapped in a no-win game of rigged elections where the same interests secretly own both parties.The book includes multiple videos exposing the techniques that can be clicked-to-play in the ePub version and QR codes that can be scanned while reading the physical book to bring up the companion material.The award-winning documentary Theatres of War exposes the Department of Defense and intelligence agency involvement in more than 1,000 movies and 1,000 television shows. Click Image Above or Scan QR Code to Watch Short 1:51 Trailer.This short 8:32 example video shows how the American flag was “product-placed” an astonishing 469 times in just twelve Michael Bay movies, including Bad Boys, Armageddon, and multiple Transformers movies, as an example of one of the techniques covered in the book. Click the image above or scan the QR code to watch.The book also exposes a dozen+ sub-techniques used on Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Police and Military to indoctrinate obedience to hierarchical command and control and, ultimately, to get the police and military to set their morality aside and use violence on peaceful people for the “church leadership” of the indoctrinated cult.During “basic training,” military recruits are forced to undergo a variety of unethically manipulative techniques, including verbal and physical abuse, excessive stress, degradation and humiliation, sleep deprivation, isolation and the artificial conformity of the uni-form (single form) and shaved heads replacing individual physical appearance with a group appearance further reinforcing the artificially created group dynamic. The services are notorious for inciting peer pressure and collective punishment, including “blanket parties” where the non-conforming are beaten with improvised flails (soap bars or locks in a towel/sock). The Marines take the doors off the stalls in the bathroom so recruits can’t have even a moment of privacy to reflect on what is being done to them or the fact that they are committing to murder whoever the church leadership tells them to. They are injected with debilitating “vaccines” and forced to sing march cadences that normalize murder, among other techniques.Some of these techniques used in government-affiliated youth programs, including the Young Marines, Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Explorers, and JROTC include the uniform (Single Form) and head-shaving, which replaces an individual’s appearance with an artificial, psychologically-reinforcing group appearance.Hare Krishnas, Rajneeshpuram members, Heaven’s Gate, Jim Jones’s People’s Temple Members, and Unification Church Members (Moonies) are other organizations that asked adherents to suspend individuality and shave their heads and/or assume the uni-form.Another technique exposed by the book is that the monopoly media has been using trick photography to give the “President” and “Church Leadership” the appearance of holiness through subliminal halos and/or photographing them in front of religious iconography.The Artificially Indoctrinated Holy Symbol of the American Flag is Manipulatively Woven Into the Burial Ceremony of the Deceased – A trick to get the participants to associate the memory of their beloved deceased with the flag, even though it is the policies of the ”church leadership” that are frequently responsible for their deaths.Paid-For Flag Worship Woven Into Stadium Events and Sports – Weaving flag worship ceremonies into stadium events is another type of unethically manipulative product placement of the flag and “Anchoring” technique. Everyone loves a football or baseball game, so the organized crime system pays teams, previously as much as $53 million a year, to add flag-worshipping events and military jet flyovers to important games to “anchor” the excitement and good times of an outdoor event to the flag and ”government.” The fact that the US “government” is paying the teams to participate proves it is artificial.Interestingly, the book breaks down the idolatry of Statism, where the hidden curriculum of the mandatory government schools, monopoly media, scouting, and police/military training circumvents the objective morality of the Judeo-Christian tradition with the subjective morality of indoctrinated Statism.This is a page from To See the Cage Is to Leave It exposing technique #20, where middle school children are taken to “Mecca” (Washington, DC), where they are taken to the “Cathedral” of the Capital (that looks like the Vatican… for a Reason!), and the “Temples” (Monuments”) where they are shown the “Deities” (Lincoln, Washington), where the environment is kept artificially hushed and reverent.They will be shown the “Holy Document” of the Con-stitution, which is kept preserved in helium under bullet-proof glass similar to other religious relics, in an atmosphere reminiscent of a church or cathedral.The book has a good news message: We don’t really need “government!” Everything the “government” does would be done better, faster, and cheaper by the free market without the waste, fraud, abuse, extortion, and unethically manipulative indoctrination. The book is dedicated to all the good people working for the “government” in the bureaucracy, police and military and features specific tips for helping to reduce the harm the “government” is causing in the world.The book breaks down how the military, especially, is NOT bound by the oath they took because of a well-recognized legal precedent known as fraudulent inducement. Because the organized crime “government” lied to the population about the legitimacy, desirability and necessity of “government”, used unethically manipulative indoctrination and propaganda techniques in mandatory schools and through monopoly media, and because “government” is illegitimate, illogical and immoral on its face, the military is not bound by the oath they took because there was “fraud in the inducement.”To See the Cage Is to Leave It – 25 Techniques the Few Use to Control the Many is available in a high-resolution hard cover version for $40, paperback for $19.84, and ePub for $7.77 at SeeTheCage.com There are five & ten copy “friends bundles” for spreading the word, and a $40 bundle with Etienne’s previous book “Government” – The Biggest Scam in History… Exposed! which offers a deeper dive into who is behind the program, the monopolization of the media.The book is available to bookstores and libraries through Ingram. The ISBN numbers are: Hardback, 979-8-89692-576-7; Paperback, 979-8-89692-573-6 . The book is available on Amazon Kindle HERE.Black Friday Starts Today at the Art of Liberty Foundation! “Go Paid” ($50 Annual) on any Art of Liberty Foundation Substack (Important News, Five Meme Friday, or the Daily News from the Art of Liberty Foundation (Including the once per day Digest version) and get access to ALL Four Substacks PLUS Your choice of either a High-Resolution Hardcover Edition of either “Government” – The Biggest Scam in History… Exposed! OR To See the Cage is to Leave It – 25 Techniques the Few Use to Control the Many. US subscribers get free shipping and international subscribers get a $10 USD shipping credit toward delivery. We can calculate the cost if you send us your postal address at In**@**********ty.org, OR just “Go Paid”, OR Upgrade, and we will reply with all the details.A Special Offer for Founding Members“Go Paid” on Substack (or Upgrade) to the $250 Founding Member level and get a SIGNED high-resolution hard copy of To See the Cage is to Leave It – 25 Techniques the Few Use to Control the Many AND a SIGNED high-resolution hard copy of “Government” – The Biggest Scam in History… Exposed! AND everything else in our “Everything Bundle” of books AND stickers AND a full years access to all four Substacks. This is the ONLY option we have for signed copies except for catching Etienne at a conference or event.