“Just because you do not take an interest in politics, doesn’t mean politics won’t take an interest in you.” – Pericles
Pictured here is a version of ‘The Peaceable Kingdom’ by Edward Hicks. One of 62 versions of paintings by the same title and artist. Hicks was an early 19th Century American Painter and Quaker minister. Within this painting are a variety of religious and messianic symbolism, but also incorporated are contemporary affairs of early America. Depicted in the foreground is a prophetic verse from the Old Testament Book of Isaiah:
“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.” – Isaiah 11:6
Depicted in the background are Early American politician and Quaker, William Penn and his ‘Treaty with the Indians’. A common theme across all of this imagery is disparate groups living harmoniously in Peace. From the infancy of this American nation, living in harmony amongst those unlike ourselves was a founding ideal. People came from around the colonized world to find solace and reprieve from various forms of religious and political oppression.
I have been involved in politics now for a few decades. I should be ashamed to say it, but they have come to consume many facets of my life, and they won’t leave me alone. As a schoolchild, I was taught certain principles upon which our existence relied as a free society. Namely, a divinely ordained right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. At least for my generation, I believe that most of us desire these things for ourselves, our friends, our family, and our neighbors. Equity in these things requires mutual consent of the governed. i.e. I want these things for you, and in return, you want these things for me. In our mutual consent to allow these things to each other, we are benefited as an American Society. This is how 50 independent states operate as one. But somewhere along the way these ideas have seemingly been forgotten or replaced by pursuits of self-interest at any cost; whether they be well-intended pursuits by individuals, or nefariously pursued ends by wealthy and entrenched bureaucratic and corporate interests. Federalism and the idea of self-governance are effectively extinct in America. Cultural, ideological, and political hegemony rule the day.
A century or more of public policy has increasingly eroded the safeguard protections afforded by the U.S. Constitution to individuals, such that the American political system now works to perpetuate itself in spite of the Constitution, rather than afforded or confined by it. As such, a multi-tiered system of justice and access now exists to the general populace, perhaps not seen since the time of slavery or Jim Crow. Whereas the public dichotomy is divided along a political spectrum, a more nuanced but effectual dichotomy exists of those inside the sphere of influence, and those outside of the sphere of influence. Those inside the sphere are held to a differing standard of justice from the general populace. This is readily demonstrated in the Presidential Administration of Donald Trump; the rejected outsider billionaire who ascends to the highest office in America, only to be violently opposed and maligned by those from within the sphere of influence on all sides of the political spectrum. He is subjected to unending contrived scandals and legal challenges. The general populace is bamboozled into believing that they too reside within the sphere of influence, and membership demands resistance to his illegitimate authority. If ever there was an illusion of a political dichotomy, the magician gave up any attempts to conceal his secrets. He has handed the spectator a coin and asked them to retrieve it from behind their own ear.
The American system no longer affords the due process and legal remedy guaranteed by the Constitution, and political solutions have proven to be ineffectual as well. Covid-19 related mandates and the failure of courts to protect due process against such autocratic dictates demonstrate this. Churches are shuttered while brothels and casinos are judicially permitted to remain open. Restaurants and the hospitality industry are subjected to burdensome rules that regulate them out of existence. Small business is foreclosed while large corporations rake in record profits. Our electoral policy is desecrated by executive fiat; all the while executives handing down these edicts operate under a different standard for themselves. The system perpetuates itself in such a way that the political solution denies legal remedy and vice versa. An unholy alliance of the political class, in conjunction with the corporate class, the press, and big tech has served to stifle challenges to its agenda. “Did you know that political candidate Y is your new master? Click here to find out more.” This alliance powers ahead to dilute American sovereignty and concentrate control in global hands, with impunity. Any objections to this trajectory are met with gaslighting and projection. i.e. “we’re not colluding, you’re colluding” or “there is no evidence for your claims.” A cacophony of logical fallacies abound. Which brings us to ‘Why withdrawconsent.org?’
There comes a point where victims of abuse decide they’ve had enough, they pack their belongings and they walk out the door. They withdraw their consent to be a victim of the abuse. That’s what this relationship feels like, abuse. As of now, most Americans espouse the idea that certain protections to free association, speech, religion, due process, and self-defense are sacrosanct. In practice, they are dangerously teetering on the edge of insolvency. I have often asked myself, what recourse does one have in this scenario? Do I sell off all possessions and withdraw from society as a recluse on a homestead? Do I move to another country? Do I buy an island and establish my own rules? Do I stay and fight unjust systems? The truth is that I don’t have an answer to these questions, but they are answers worth pursuing. This is the reason for withdrawconsent.org. I hope to create a compendium of ideas on life preparation, self-sufficiency, civil disobedience, and even self-defense within an unjust system. Thanks for visiting!
“Whenever you are fed up with life, start writing: ink is the great cure for all human ills, as I have found out long ago.” – C. S. Lewis