Free State Observer

I have loved Bond (, James Bond), movies all my life. I love the exotic locales in which the stories take place; Bond’s supreme self-confidence, skill, knowledge of a million subjects, fluency in a thousand languages, cool head under pressure, horrible puns, outrageous car chases, bleeding edge gadgets, deadly aim and ultimate success against every megalomaniacal bad guy. Yes, many of the scenarios are laughable, but that’s part of the fun; I laugh my arse off while watching these movies. But watching a Bond flick recently, it suddenly occurred to me that I actually ought to HATE Bond, the ultimate nationalist tool.

Bond uses all his skills and determination, lays his life on the line a thousand times, for what? “For Queen and country”. “For England”. He is the world’s most dangerous (and destructive, judging by the way he totals his ever-so-expensive taxpayer-funded cars) lapdog. “M” tells him to fetch X, in obscure nation Y, and he does so. He unflinchingly murders anyone who gets in his way.

The irony is that his supreme cluelessness is repeatedly pointed out to him, in movie after movie, by the bad guys and the beautiful-women-who-love-him-and-die. In Goldeneye, the dishy villain Alec Trevelyan refers to him as “Her Majesty’s loyal terrier” and speculates on what Bond’s funeral will be like: “a small memorial service, with only Moneypenny and a few tearful restaurateurs in attendance”. Yep, that sounds about right. He has nothing to show for his life but dozens upon dozens of corpses, and some really nice tuxes.

We never even get an inkling of Bond’s own political views in the films (I haven’t read the books). Does he side with the Conservatives or Labour? He doesn’t care. He is the posterboy of successful government brainwashing.

Another random observation from Goldeneye: the bad guy aspires to lofty heights of horribleness in retaliation for some geopolitical event that occurred decades earlier which resulted in the death of his parents. Americans today should keep in mind that every random Afghani or Iraqi who is killed can potentially inspire another 911-caliber terrorist somewhere down the line. Hate is a powerful motivator, and there’s no surer way to inspire someone’s lifelong hatred than to kill someone he loves.

James Bond is perfectly comparable to “the Operative” in the movie Serenity. But in that film, the message to viewers is exactly the opposite. The Operative isn’t the good guy; he’s the *bad* guy. At the end of the film, when he’s had the veil of government brainwashing removed from his eyes, to his credit, he walks away from his former life of murderous whoredom for the pimp-daddy Alliance.

Of course, Serenity didn’t get a sequel, while Bond lives on, decade after decade. The pretty face playing the movie role changes periodically, but the Big-Brother-Knows-Best message remains the same.

Damn it, Bond… “why can’t you just be a good boy and die?”

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It’s primary day in New Hampshire. In towns all over the state, starry-eyed Free State Project early movers are standing at polling places (and from the looks of the sky, will soon be standing in a thundershower), holding signs, bright smiles plastered firmly to their faces, asking that their fellow New Hampshire residents choose THEM (or one of their friends) to be their elected representatives instead of those other guys who want to be their elected representatives. With very few exceptions, they’re all running as Republicans. Because, as we all know, the Republican Party stands for limited government.

What’s wrong with this picture?

I’m reminded of the excellent, if controversial, cartoon entitled No More Kings by the talented anarchist comic Dale Everett, creator of Anarchy In Your Head. A play on the popular Tolkien Lord of the Rings series, it shows Ron Paul holding out his hand, stating “Give me the ring, Frodo! With its power, I can lead the forces of liberty to victory.” I believe Everett’s goal was not to put down Ron Paul or his legions of fans; by all indications, if there is an incorruptible human being in American politics today, he’s the one. It was to show that the way to dismantle a corrupt and immoral system is not to attempt to put yourself in charge of it, confident that you will run it ever so much better than your neighbor (who, of course, is thinking the exact same thing).

Meanwhile, many hard-working political activists were shocked (SHOCKED!) when the Manchester Board of Aldermen used legal chicanery to refuse to put the spending cap for which they’d worked so hard gathering petition signatures on the November ballot. See the ridleo here.

Open your eyes. Freedom doesn’t come from an elected official (even if that elected official is your friend). It doesn’t come from a political party. It doesn’t come from any of the options printed on your ballot. It certainly doesn’t come from any piece of paper detailing the specifics of how a group of strangers can dispose of your property without your permission.

Thoreau had it right 150 years ago. “There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.”

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