Frequent readers of my blog will know that I am not exactly happy with the huge growth of government we’ve seen of late, so this post shouldn’t come as a big shock. This was inspired by listening to a recent episode of The Survival Podcast, a favorite podcast of mine that discusses various topics related to sustainable living and self-sufficiency (crazy mountain men barricading themselves in underground bunkers with huge stockpiles of weapons this is not!).  

In the episode, the host Jack Spirko is discussing some of his philosophies about why he believes in this modern survivalism and makes an observation that while we are seemingly taxed at every turn we are making a choice to be subject to these taxes by our actions. We make the choice to buy the useless crap that we buy on which sales tax is collected from us, income taxes are collected on the profits made by the retailer, the manufacturer, and everyone in between, employment taxes are collected from the businesses and employees that made and sold us this crap, fuel taxes are collected from the shipping companies that transported the raw materials to the manufacturer and the finished product to the retailer as well as from us as we burn fuel to go to the store and buy this stuff, and the list goes on and on and on. And then on top of that our inability to stop buying useless junk (and even seemingly useful items we really can’t afford) requires us to work as hard as we can to earn a paycheck, which is subject to income and payroll taxes. Ultimately our consumerist ways continue to enslave us more and more to the government in the form of taxes, giving government even more power to run our lives and make us even more dependent on what the government is willing to provide for us.

But what if more and more Americans realized that what is now promoted as the American dream is nothing more than a giant hamster wheel in which we work for our government for about half the year, and that with certain changes in their lifestyle they can effectively get off the wheel? By eliminating our worship of stuff we would spend less money and pay less sales taxes, as well as eliminating the taxes that were generated as the stuff made its way through the manufacturing, distribution, and retail channels. By spending less money on stuff we become less dependent on traditional income, meaning we can live on a lower level of income which in turn lowers the amount of income taxes we must pay. The key is a return to a more self-sufficient lifestyle like the one our grandparents and those before them lived. We lessen our dependence on the trappings of modern life and save money as we:

• Use our land to build gardens that can produce at least some of our own food.
• Learn to take care of and fix the things we already have instead of just throwing them away and buying new stuff.
• Distinguish between the things that we need and those we merely want.
• Live what many would call a frugal lifestyle, using our resources wisely to build long-term peace and happiness rather than short-term pleasures.

More and more people throughout the world have made the decision to depend on themselves, as is evidenced by the exponential growth of The Survival Podcast and other venues like it. In working towards this more self-sufficient lifestyle, these people are also making the decision to be less dependent on the government whether they realize that or not. The interesting thing from a political perspective is that as these people do more for themselves presumably their activity in the traditional economy lessens, and with it so do the taxes generated by their economic activity. This results in lower government revenues meaning government is either forced to reduce spending or to delay a reduction in spending through enacting even more taxes on those still running in the hamster wheel or by issuing more debt. The government could just issue more debt as it always has, although as the world markets slowly recognize that this debt is becoming less likely to ever be repaid the market for even more debt offerings is limited at best, reducing the likelihood of this being a viable option. In this scenario increased taxes will further disenfranchise those still on the hamster wheel and encourage more of them to make the migration to the self-sufficient lifestyle to escape the ever-growing tax burden, which will ultimately come to a head in a demand from the populus to reduce the size of government as the base of taxpayers shrinks to the point they can’t possibly support the high level of government spending. The result is a taxpayer revolt ultimately leading to a smaller government more in line with the libertarian ideal. Of course the politicians could save us the trouble and just reduce the size of government now, but doing so reduces their power and is thus unlikely. But fret not, as at some point common sense will return.

So there is why I believe that frugal living and self-sufficiency is the fuel for a libertarian revolution. As we make decisions in our lives to become more self-sufficient, use our resources more wisely, and reduce our dependence on the government and others, we demonstrate that we don’t need Big Brother to take care of us and can do just fine if government will just get out of the way.