Sovereign Citizens

This term – Sovereign Citizens – was new to me until a few weeks ago. I had honestly never heard it before!

Apparently a sovereign citizen is someone who does not accept Australia’s (or any country’s) legal framework or government and consider themselves outside the law. It has reached the stage in the US, such that the FBI now considers sovereign citizens to be domestic terrorists and the Department of Homeland Security has listed them as the No 1 domestic terror threat. There is a similar growing concern in Australia.

These people, these “sovereign citizens”, apparently do not believe in paying taxes, pay motor vehicle or drivers licence fees; they don’t recognise the need to submit to anyone – but themselves. This is a recipe for utter chaos, for anarchy.

What these people forget is that their freedom to act as they wish stops at the point when my freedoms (such as they are) begin.  What these people forget is that living in any society requires compromise – and I repeat, their freedom stops where my freedom begins. This is why we have laws and a legal system – to determine where that point is – where their freedom stops and mine begin. 

What these people conveniently forget (or never realised) is that nothing they do is in isolation. What these people maybe don’t even comprehend is that there is an unwritten Law of Unintended Consequences (or the Law or Cause and Effect).

Whatever these “sovereign citizens” do will affect others and whatever others do will affect them, in ways they cannot even begin to imagine – this is how society works. Don’t “sovereign citizens” drive their unlicensed and unregistered cars on roads paid for with tax-payers money? If injured would they not attend a health facility paid for with someone’s money? What about schooling for their children? Someone, if not them, pays for that! If a natural disaster affected them – a flood, a fire or some such event, who would they turn to for help? I would guess that it would be the government!

I have to admit that I cannot comprehend the level of selfishness; the level of indifference to others; the lack of respect shown to others (respect which they demand for themselves) and most importantly the lack of understanding, these so called “citizens” display. It would appear to me that they are showing distinct symptoms of Narcissism. This can be quite a serious psychological condition.

This is my take on the curious and disturbing phenomenon of “sovereign citizens” – for what it’s worth.

Preppers

I first came across the term “prepper” when I read about the recent appalling loss of life at the Sandy Hook Primary School in Connecticut. Apparently the mother of the perpetrator was a “prepper” – meaning I believe, someone who is prepared for the worst case scenario or a disaster and there are no, or very few, survivors. So these “preppers” accumulate stocks of what they consider essential supplies – including weapons and the necessary ammunition.

Now I have no real quibble with the concept of storing food and while I have a philosophical aversion to having weapons in the home I recognise that there are certain situations when they are useful – mainly in a rural setting. I will admit to once owning a Beretta 9mm hand gun – this was about 40 years ago in Africa when things got a bit wild and woolly – but I never had occasion to use it and sold it after about five years. The problem was that I did not know where to keep it safe – particularly as we, at that time, employed servants.

My concern is about the psychological state of the “preppers”. What do they think will happen in a worst case scenario? Fighting off all comers to preserve your patch in a dire situation is not a good idea. No one can live in isolation and survive for long – we are gregarious creatures and need others of our kind for support, companionship and for our general well-being.

It is necessary to recognise that in extreme circumstances a community spirit is the only one that will ensure long term survival. A community spirit means sharing – both good things and bad; both times of plenty and times of hardship; both food, clothing and lack of food and clothing. If anyone has more than others - hoards and defends it against all comers others, who may have nothing, could possibly adopt the same attitude and attack to obtain the supplies they need for survival. If this happens then anarchy will prevail and anarchy means a complete breakdown of any semblance of order and is not good for the survival of anyone.

To adopt the presumed attitude of the “preppers” that, “I took the trouble to look after myself. It is your fault if you were stupid enough not to do the same. What’s mine is mine – you are not getting any of this. Go and look somewhere else”, is  not only very selfish but is a long term self defeatist attitude. There will be times when a “prepper” will need help of some kind. If a “prepper” is not prepared to accommodate the needs of others then why should others accommodate them?

We have to share and share alike; we need others around us to survive.