Libertas is a four-part fictional anarchist series of short stories created to depict narratives of hope in an otherwise hopeless servile society. Latin for “liberty, free will, or no longer being in a state of confinement or servitude,” is a collection that presents characters of the Second Realm (that is, self-liberators and freedom seekers) as heroes. They are written to give those who have woken up to the truth and continue this new parallel culture of freedom in spite of the state.
This is PART IV in a four-part series of fictional short stories. Enjoy.
(IV) – MS. ALYS WAKES UP
Ms. Alys was excited about another upcoming election cycle. She had her candidate all picked out and she had researched all the issues. She was so excited when he came to town, there were lines outside the auditorium and she didn’t make it in to hear him before his great speech. She waited two hours in that line without getting in. On her walk back to her car, she saw a group of people with signs, there weren’t very many of them so she thought nothing of it. Man those people are wackos! Why don’t the police just arrest them already she thought.
It was all the talk at work the next day, “Did you get in to see him? Oh, that must have been awesome!” One of her co-workers said.
“No, I didn’t get in the line was too long!” Alys said.
Everyone seemed to be so excited about the future of the country and how this new great man was going to make things so much better. A few days later, Ms. Alys couldn’t wait to get home from work and get ready for the debate which was on every channel that night. She was going to have some friends over, some food, it was going to be fun.
The moment finally came, the first debate between the two candidates. She couldn’t wait for her friend to come over, they were going to discuss the issues, what was best for this country, how the future man could solve all the problems that the previous man never did.
They began watching, Alys was so emotionally excited. She wanted her candidate to win so bad. Her friend finally arrived just as they were discussing what the candidates were wearing, the posture of the candidates, what questions they were expected to be asked. Alys’ friend said she hoped the other man would win, which sparked an argument. Alys tried to be nice at first. She had invited her friend over and just wanted to have a pleasant evening, but she couldn’t let a comment against her man slide.
“To be honest,
I disagree completely. My candidate is going to do what your candidate never
did!”
“Excuse me?” Her friend said, “None of what you said is
true.” Her friend continued talking about how her guy was going to secure
the economy and jobs and how we all have to make sacrifices for the common
good.
Ms. Alys tried to stay silent, but her emotions got the better of her. Around mid-way through she started yelling at her friend, “I hate you, I can’t believe I ever hung out with you.” They had been friends since high school.
They finished up watching the rest of the debate in silence. Since then they haven’t really spoken. Alys had deep-seated convictions that her candidate was the right one. Gosh, I just can’t wait to vote, I’ll show her. He will win and make America great again. Plus, it was better then the alternative, her friend’s candidate, if she got in, God only knows what would happen. It would be soooo much worse.
A few months went by and Alys was closely following the poll numbers. Her candidate was down in the projections. A very complex series of statistical calculations were used to come up with these projections so she trusted that they were more than accurate. She had a link to the site on her phone and was constantly checking it. Even when she was at the gym, she ran on the treadmill and watched the talking heads on the selected news channel. It got her motivated, that there was something better out there, that she felt like she was part of something, and nothing, not even her best friend was going to take that from her.
On a regular workday, she couldn’t remember anything out of the ordinary or why she began to dig deeper. Perhaps it was her sense of curiosity. She saw something about the Libertarian Party on social media. For the most part, she just dismissed them as quacks.
They will never win, so why should I vote for them? It’s just a wasted vote, or even worse, a vote for the other guy!
There was a pretty good candidate, maybe he could become her great man? But was there a chance? She had put so much time and energy into her candidate, even going out and passing out fliers. It seemed like a waste to switch her loyalties now.
More freedom, less government. That sounded great. But, if she was going to put her loyalty behind this guy, she had to be sure it was worth it. She started e-mailing him and his staff about different books that she could read to see where their views were coming from. On the list was a guy named Murray Rothbard Who is this guy? Alys thought. Why has no one heard of him?
For the next few weeks, she began purchasing books from this list. For a minute she forgot about her loyalty to one great man. She began reading For A New Liberty: The Libertarian Manifesto by Murray Rothbard. It told the story about how these political parties began and how taxation is robbery. It was a guide to live free without the coercion of government / The State.
Ms. Alys still had objections. She wasn’t about to just read one book and give up on the promise of a better future that she believed her great man would provide. She still believed there could be a little government, just to keep things in line and prevent people from their own human nature. And, who would build the roads?
She still watched her candidate on TV. She still thought he was such a great leader and could really do a lot of good for a lot of people. She still wanted to vote for him. She believed he was going to do great. And, she thought, only totalitarian countries aren’t able to choose their rulers so she had a duty to vote.
Alys watched the Libertarian debate. She agreed with them but didn’t know they could ever win. She wanted someone to win, and plus, if her candidate didn’t win, it would be a whole lot worse if the other one was elected.
She kept reading books by Rothbard, Ludwig von Mises, and others:
A Road to Serfdom by F.A. Hayek
The Anatomy of the State by Murray Rothbard
Crisis & Leviathan, Critical Episodes in the Growth of American Government by Robert Higgs
Socialism: An Economic and Sociological Analysis by Ludwig von Mises
VONU: A Strategy for Self Liberation by Shane Radliff
Second Realm: Book on Strategy by Smuggler & XYZ
She couldn’t remember when the transition took place, but it wasn’t like a cutoff, it was more like an evolution. She realized from her own deductive reasoning and logic, that the coercive power of government was the leading cause of millions of deaths around the world and things would be much better off without it. She had her doubts about getting rid of police and military, but after a few months of reading and using reason and logic, there was nothing she thought couldn’t be done better and more efficiently through private enterprise, and the voluntary free market transactions of the individual.
That night it was late and she stayed up reading a book by Rothbard. She almost forgot that the poll numbers were in. Even though the majority of citizens voted for the ruler they wanted, and despite over 40% of the citizenry not voting, a committee of experts which was fully explained in the great Social Contract says that they will choose the ruler based on population centers. Her ruler won, but she was too busy reading to care.
The next day at work everyone was talking about it. “Why aren’t you excited Ms. Alys, your candidate won? You’ve been waiting so long for this? Surely you think he will be great for our great country.”
Alys just looked at her co-worker and didn’t know what to say. It was like now she couldn’t just say what she wanted to because she would be perceived by the Statists around her as a wacko and a freak. She just smiled and agreed. Alys looked forward to her lunch hour, where she would sit at the library and read more about individualism and liberty.
****
Ms. Alys Woke Up
I hope you liked the short story about Ms. Alys and how she woke up. In many ways, some of us can relate to Alys’ story, her evolution from Statist to Anarchism. Maybe you have not completed your research yet and are well on your way. I would highly recommend the links to the books above. Thanks so much for reading.
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