Breaking Out Of The System Loop: How To Drop Out

From Robin Good

Originally written and published by Ran Prieur on April 2, 2004 as "How to Drop Out"

Dropping out of the present dominant system has both a mental and an economic component that go together like your two legs walking.

It's a lot of steps!

Maybe you notice that you hate your job, and that you have to do it because you need money. So you reduce expenses, reduce your hours, and get more free time, in which you learn more techniques of self-sufficiency and establish a sense of identity not dependent on where you get your money.

Then you switch to a low-status low-stress job that gives you even more room to get outside the system mentally. And so on, until you've changed your friends, your values, your whole life.

The point I have to make over and over about this process, and this movement, is that it's not about avoiding guilt, or reducing your ecological footprint, or being righteous. It's not a pissing contest to see who's doing more to save the Earth -- although some people will believe that's your motivation, to justify their own inertia. It's not even about reducing your participation in the system.

It is about reducing your submission and dependence: getting free, being yourself, slipping out of a wrestling hold so you can throw an elbow at the Beast.

This world is full of people with the intelligence, knowledge, skills, and energy to make heaven on Earth, but they can't even begin because they would lose their jobs. We're always arguing to change each other's minds, but nobody will change if they think their survival depends on not changing. Every time you hear about a whistleblower or reporter getting fired for honesty and integrity, you can be sure that they already had a support network, or just a sense of their own value, outside of the system they defied.

Dropping out is about fighting better.

[ ... ]

The path is different for everyone. Maybe you're already intuitive and decisive and know how to have fun, but you don't know how to manage money or stay grounded. Maybe you're using wealth or position or charm to keep from having to relate to people as equals, or you're keeping constantly busy to avoid facing something lurking in the stillness.

Whatever weaknesses keep you dependent on the system, you have to take care of them before you break away from the system, just as you have to learn to swim before you escape a ship.

How?

By going out and back, a little farther each time, with persistence and patience, until you reach the skill and distance that feels right.

At the moment there's no reason to drop out "all the way" except puritanism. I hate civilization as much as anyone, but in these last few years before it crashes, we should appreciate and use what it offers. Sylvan Hart (his given name!), the 20th century mountain man who even smelted his own metal, still traded with civilization, and once carried a sheet of glass 50 miles through the woods so he could have a good window. (See Harold Peterson, The Last of the Mountain Men)

Some of the happiest people I know have dropped out only a short distance.

They still live in the city and have jobs and pay rent, but they've done something more mentally difficult -- and mentally liberating -- than moving to some isolated farm. They have become permanently content with no-responsibility slack jobs, low-status, modest-paying, easy jobs that they don't have to think about at home or even half the time when they're at work. Yes, these jobs are getting scarce, but they're still a thousand times more plentiful than the kind of job that miserable people cannot give up longing for -- where you make a living doing something so personally meaningful that you would do it for free.

"Do what you love and the money will follow" is an irresponsible lie, a denial of the deep opposition between money and love.

The real rule is: "If you're doing what you love, you won't care if you never make a cent from it, because that's what love means -- but you still need money!"

So what I recommend, as the second element of dropping out, is coldly severing your love from your income. One part of your life is to make only as much money as you need with as little stress as possible, and a separate part, the important part, is to do just exactly what you love with zero pressure to make money. And if you're lucky, you'll eventually make money anyway.

~ more... ~


Also check out:

How To Drop Off the Grid

How To Drop Off the Grid on Howcast

Got a case of the Mondays? Why not blow off the cubicle life and try dropping out of society?

You Will Need

A soul-crushing job
Worldly possessions
Persistence

Step 1: Quit your job
If urgency is not a factor, try having a private conversation with your boss well in advance about your general displeasure and desire to be a part of the next round of layoffs. Hello, severance check!


Step 2: Discard your possessions
Discard all your worldly possessions except cash. Empty your bank account. In practice, carry as little cash as possible, but find several safe places to store your stockpile. Scatter these spots around so that even if one reserve is discovered, you still have others.


Step 3: Abandon your car
Abandon your car. It might be a good idea to leave the engine running in a community that you have faith will waste no time in making it disappear for good. But be careful—you’ll still have to leave a potentially dangerous area on foot!


Step 4: Find a new home
Find a new habitat. The wilderness is an option, but is not recommended for entry-level drifters. You may want to try squatting in an abandoned space such as a warehouse, former home, commercial space, school, tunnel, or cave.

--> Know the law. Squatting is a crime in many jurisdictions and may get you arrested. However, in some places it isn’t against the law, and squatters may even be able to become legal owners of their adopted homes through an eventual process known as “adverse possession.”


Step 5: Destroy your demons
Kill off your inner demons. Discarding your old life and rebuilding a new one means scraping off some of the old baggage that brought you here in the first place. Addicted to cigarettes? Painkillers? Gourmet coffee? If you’ve decided to drop off the grid, you can’t afford these vices anyway. Get rid of them.


Step 6: Get a job
Find off-the-map employment. Farm work is possible if you can find a situation where live-ins are permitted. This type of work is usually below minimum wage. Many small towns don’t have day-labor programs, but if you’re marginally groomed, try knocking on doors & asking the townsfolk if they have outside chores you can do in exchange for lunch.


Step 7: Keep moving
Move on—to wherever the wind may blow you. It won’t be easy. Life will be a daily struggle. But hey, at least you’re not sitting bored out of your mind in some box.

--> Thanks to the United States subprime mortgage crisis, there are currently more vacant homes in the U.S. than ever in history, totaling over 2 million. Out west, nearly 7% of all homes are vacant! Happy squatting!


Vanishing Point: How to disappear in America without a trace

"In the midst of the words he was trying to say
In the midst of his laughter and glee
He silently and quietly vanished away
For the snark was a boson, you see" - Paraphrased

13-Year-Old Protester Detained at Tiananmen Square for Peace in Korea

Thirteen-year-old environmentalist Jonathan Lee from Ridgeland, Mississippi, unfolded a banner in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in China on Monday Nov. 22 stating, “End the Korean War: sign a peace treaty,” “nuclear free” and “DMZ children's peace forest” in English and Chinese. Within minutes, Lee and his mother, Melissa Lee, were removed by plainclothes police who waved off crowds of journalists and curious onlookers.

Prior to the protest, in an interview with RT TV, a Russian media outlet broadcasting in English, Lee said he hoped his actions would reach out to the Chinese authorities and “touch them so that they will really consider peace in North and South Korea.” Previously, the teenager had met with a list of high ranking officials, including President Obama and South Korean President Lee Myung Pak, to discuss environmental issues.

His plea is to build a forest with chestnut trees in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) to be played in by children from both countries. The DMZ is a heavily militarized buffer zone that has cut the peninsula in half since 1953.

"I have to say that no matter how big, how small, what age, it doesn't matter you know, we can all help. So go out and help," he said according to NTDTV.

~ more... ~

Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura S02E03 - Wall Street

Jesse goes inside the secret billionaire's boy's club to find out what caused the financial meltdown and how the group allegedly continues to manipulate and control the stock market and oil, gold and silver prices. From Wall Street to Washington, the governor barges in on the rich and powerful to demands answers.

'We need to understand Magick to understand ourselves'

From SECRETS OF YE DARK ARTE CALL'D DUCDAME -- BLACK MAGICK & CURSES by Robert Anton Wilson:

"... What do we mean by Magick? As Aleister Crowley, Epopt of the Illuminati, 97th degree Order of Memphis and Mizraim, 33rd degree Scotch Rite, 10th degree Ordo Templi Orientis, "Baphomet" to the profane and "Phoenix" within the Sanctuary of the Gnosis, the Great Beast 666, etc. wrote:

MAGICK is the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in Conformity with Will. Illustration: it is my Will to inform the World of certain facts within my knowledge. I therefore take "magical weapons," -- pen, ink and paper; I write "incantations" -- these sentences -- in the "magical language," i.e. that which is understood by the people I wish to instruct; I call forth "spirits," such as printers, publishers, booksellers, and so forth, and constrain them to convey my message to those people.
--Magick, by Aleister Crowley, Weiser, New York, 1997, p 126]

In other words, the distinction between "magick" and "communication" exists only in our traditional ways of thinking. The uncanny Egyptians attributed both inventions to a single deity, Thoth, god of speech and other illusions.

In the existential world -- in the sensory-sensual continuum -- Thoth still reigns and language still has magick. All communication contains sorcery and/or hypnosis, because humans use howls, snarls, yaps, purrs, gargles, gurgles etc. -- noises of many sorts -- to create a neuro-semantic "grid" projected upon all incidents and events. We generally call these grids languages. We literally "see" incidents and events only as they register upon that grid.

If I use certain words that cause you to have certain predictable neuro-somatic reactions, I have cast a spell upon you. I have enchanted you. I may even have cursed you. [Sure you want to know more about this?]

My method of spellbinding or enchanting or cursing may not involve the traditional drums and rattles of the tribal shaman, but the laws of neurolinguistic programming governing the transactions do not differ. I once triggered widespread scotoma, primate herd panic and psychoclonism in one nut cult called CSICOP simply by ridiculing them. They thought of themselves as Rationalists but I "magically" turned them into terrorized savages acting exactly like the ancient Irish kings who ordained death for any Bard writing satire against them. [No applause, please.]

To understand the language of magick one must first understand the magick of language. Let me define certain key terms. It may help disperse the fog of ignorance and superstition that has covered this subject for centuries.

By the sensory-sensual continuum I mean all that humans can experience, as distinguished from those "things" [or non-things, or nothings] that they can only make noises or chatter about.

Examples: [A] I can say "If you open that box of candy, you will find three chocolates inside." Going to the box and opening it, in the sensory-sensual continuum, will quickly confirm or refute my statement, because you will inevitably find [1] less than three chocolates, [2] exactly three chocolates, or [3] more than three chocolates. Results [1] and [3] refute my statement; [2] confirms it.

But [B} I might also say "Opening God for similar investigation, you will find three persons inside," as in fact Romish Magick does say. No investigation of the sensory-sensual manifold can ever confirm or refute this. Scientific philosophers generally describe such statements [about things beyond confirmation or refutation] as "meaningless". Without speaking that harshly, I venture that we cannot fathom our situation in space-time if we habitually confuse ourselves by mixing type [A] statements with type [B] statements. We may never achieve Total Clarity [short of infinity] but we should at least have the ability to distinguish between what humans can experience and what they can only blather about.

Distinguishing between these two types of statements seems necessary for sanity and survival, because all forms of illusion, delusion, mob hysteria, hallucination etc., dogma, bigotry, "madness," intolerance etc. "idealism," ideology, idiocy, obsession etc. depend upon confusing them. The people who released poison gas in the Tokyo subways, the Nazis, the Marxists, nut-cults like Objectivism, Heaven's Gate, Scientology, CSICOP, etc. represent some of the horrors and curses unleashed by mixing Class [A] statements with Class [B] statements.

All forms of Black Magick therefore depend on confusing and mingling these two classes: the nonverbal experiential and the verbal nonexperiential. ..."

~ more... ~

NSTIC: Not-So Trusted Identity in Cyberspace

According to recent reports, the Obama administration is making a new DHS national identity authentication program a high priority. The National Strategy for Trusted Identity in Cyberspace, expected to be signed by Obama this winter, is another program in a string of recent government attempts to centralize human identity in the US and abroad.

Immigration regulation and environmental disaster management are only a few of the scenarios driving demands for nationalized identity in government. India, a nation with a history of using emergency population control measures [1] recently adopted a national biometric identity system for it's burgeoning 6.2 million people [2]. Germany, the nation most associated with the phrase "You're Papers, Please?", debuted another national identity program using RFID tags, a commercial pallette tracking technology,[3] November 1st. Even the UK, a nation whose ministry retracted plans this year for a national ID program, multiplied efforts [4] to bring about another ID card program through the national health care system.

In the US, national identity proponents continue to lobby proposals using a broad interagency strategy under Homeland Security. The increasing number of proposals range from emergency management, cybersecurity, immigration reform, healthcare reform, education reforms and even environmental policy. Contractors, like Boeing and Lockheed Martin, are lining up to negotiate bids with legislative bodies over a national cybersecurity bill, the Federal Information Security Management Act. A bill weighing heavily on presumption and another ID card program (a).

The National Strategy for Trusted Identity in Cyberspace or NSTIC[5], "focuses on the protection of the identity of each party to an online transaction and the identity of the underlying infrastructure that supports it. This Strategy seeks to improve cyberspace for everyone – individuals, private sector, and governments – who conduct business online."

It appears the business of data authentication is considered a recession proof boom when the government is buying. L-1 Solutions is a biometrics start up still living on the promise of State budget endorsements for the Real ID Act (b). Special interest groups like Coalition for a Secured Drivers License [CSDL] and private contractors pitch legislative candidates on many points of adopting regulated technologies. These include: convenience, a futurist amenity, identity security, and national security right up to population control[6] in the events of environmental or, as DHS defines, man made disaster.

~ more... ~

US launches giant eavesdropping satellite

The United States has placed in orbit a vast reconnaissance satellite reputed to be the largest eavesdropping device ever launched into space.

The largest unmanned American launch vehicle, the Delta-4 Heavy rocket, roared into the the night sky in Cape Canaveral, Florida on Sunday carrying the mysterious satellite on a mission dubbed NROL-32.

The National Reconnaissance Office did not disclose the purpose of the satellite but widespread reports in the US media suggest it is for eavesdropping on enemy communications.

"This second Delta IV Heavy launch for the NRO is the culmination of years of hard work and dedication by the combined NRO, Air Force, supplier and ULA team," said United Launch Alliance vice-president Jim Sponnick.

"ULA is pleased to support the NRO as it protects our nation's security and supports our warriors defending our nation around the world."

~ more... ~

Cyber Command Prepares the Ground for High-Tech War Crimes

While a bureaucratic turf war rages between the CIA and U.S. Cyber Command (CYBERCOM) over which secret state agency will be authorized to launch network attacks outside a "war zone," the big losers, as always, will be those unfortunate enough to find themselves on the receiving end of a military-grade "logic bomb."

Last week, The Washington Post reported that CYBERCOM "is seeking authority to carry out computer network attacks around the globe to protect U.S. interests." Leaving aside the thorny question of whose interests are being "protected" here, the Post tells us that unnamed administration lawyers are "uncertain about the legality of offensive operations."

Coming from a government that's incorporated the worst features of the previous regime into their repertoire, that's rather rich.

"The CIA has argued," the Post informs, "that such action is covert, which is traditionally its turf." Pentagon thrill-kill specialists beg to differ, asserting that "offensive operations are the province of the military and are part of its mission to counter terrorism, especially when, as one official put it, 'al-Qaeda is everywhere'."

That certainly covers a lot of ground! As a practical matter it also serves as a convenient justification--or pretext, take your pick--for our minders in Ft. Meade, Langley or Cheltenham to consummate much in the mischief department.

And with alarmist media reports bombarding us every day with dire scenarios, reminiscent of the "weapons of mass destruction" spook show that preceded the Iraq invasion, where China, Iran, Russia and North Korea are now stand-ins for "Saddam" in the cyberwar Kabuki dance, it is hardly surprising that "liberal" Democrats and "conservative" Republicans are marching in lockstep.

~ more... ~