Bravo, Jeff!

Ian Freeman of Free Talk Live interviewed Jeff on the air on 4 July 2009.

Listen below or download here. MP3 audio, 5.6MB, 24 minutes 19 seconds.

With permission (thanks, Mike!):

From: Mike A. Segal
Sent: Thursday, May 07, 2009
To: Mike Gogulski
Subject: feedback: Thanks for leading the way.

I know you got into this just for yourself, but I need to say thanks for doing what you’re doing, writing about it, and making these writings public.

I’m a recent university graduate, continued leader of local libertarian/pro-liberty organizations, and begrudged bearer of these shackles which were fastened upon me as a birth-right, but which hold only the burden of responsibility, the nagging but persistent label of “United States citizen.”  I understand that many consider it a foolishly immature act to disrespect that label, a badge of acceptance into this private club that millions of oppressed foreigners with backgrounds far less fortunate than my own can only dream of joining.  But even as indispensable a tool as citizenship has become for navigating our modern world, being helpful is never an argument for being good.  I believe that those who want U.S. citizenship for anything more than its utility are yearning for something which that label cannot and will not give them.

If they are looking for a sense of group identity, let them turn instead to their family, friends, and local communities who they interact with and by whom they are influenced every day.  If they are looking for a role model, then let them remember those individuals who instilled in them the core values by which they live their lives, and those who have inspired them to learn about the world.  Those are gifts that can only be given by individuals, not states. Let them remember the free exchange of ideas which has sustained and advanced societies for millennia, and the philosophy of individual sovereignty on which the United States was originally founded. And if they are looking for freedom, then let them find it as best they can, but recognize that that freedom exists in spite of, not because of, that label.  Being freer than neighboring governments is not a justification.  Even the least harmful cancer is a disease.

Otherwise, if they are looking for handouts from the “public” wallet, for power or control, or just to be on what they think is the “winning team,” then I hope they become aware of the enormous crimes to which their government has been party in order to provide for them such luxuries, and of the enormous costs that those crimes have had for millions domestically and world-wide, so that they may make an informed and careful determination of whom they wish for themselves to be associated with.  I hope they remember that fondness for a nation does not imply fondness for a government, and that their identity is determined by their actions alone, and not those of the bureaucrats who claim to represent them, all the while acting contrary to their interests.

At this point in my life, I am not yet prepared to take such a bold step as you have.  In a few months, I’ll be moving permanently to New Hampshire as a part of the Free State Project, which I assume you’re aware of, and I’m really not sure where I’ll end up from there.  There’s already a small but incessant tickle in my gut, a distinct and incisive plausibility, that one day, at some point in my future, I’ll want to throw the shackles from my body and free myself of the badge of terror with which I was unwittingly associated, and formally renounce my United States citizenship.  So thanks for leading the way.

Mike Segal, President
Florida Liberty Alliance
www.floridalibertyalliance.org

Dear Mike,

Thanks a lot for writing this. You’re certainly welcome.

When I first imagined ditching American citizenship, I didn’t really conceive of making a public spectacle of it. I’m glad that I did, though, simply because I’ve put a stake in the ground perhaps somewhere near the extreme(ly consistent) pole of things. Moving to NH for the FSP is a movement toward that pole. There’s a camp there, a fire already burning, a network. Use it. It’s a wee bit colder out here, if you follow my analogy I’ve also been immensely gratified to have met, at least online, so many interesting and passionate folks.

Thanks again,

Mike

Duel points: Armed cleanup draws mixed reaction

Sunday, May. 4, 2008

MANCHESTER – Men with handguns strapped to their hips picked up trash around playground equipment at Harriman Park yesterday, including metal pieces from a gutted television left next to a park trash can.

“I think it’s an awesome idea,” said Central Street neighbor Gregg Bukette.

Video: