WendyMcElroy.com
So...you are staying in the StatesA considerable number of people have emailed to ask me a question re: my recent blog post Leave the Police state that is America. In one form or another, the question has been "where else is any better?" I have no answer. Or, rather, without knowing the personal circumstances of the questioner, I can't say. A quick and dirty answer is "any place that speaks English, other than the UK." Personally, if I had to relocate today, I would look at various venues in South America. But, happily, I intend to ride out the next few years on my farm in rurual Ontario. For a variety of reasons, Canada will weather the economic storms far better than the U.S.. Moreover, it has some social factors that I value highly; for example, per capita, it imprisons far, far fewer of its inhabitants than the U.S. and it is not paranoid about immigration. On the other hand, if you are a member of the gun culture, Canada is still more restrictive than the States; it is, after all, a government and,preferring one State over another is like taking your pick of diseases. But such are the choices available. As to where you should prefer, well, like I said...where to go depends on who you are and what you are seeking.
I'd rather discuss what those who value their personal freedom can do if they decide to remain in the U.S. because most people I know will make that choice...and I honestly wish them well. Perhaps the best way to provide insight is to tell some stories about friends from the decade I lived in Los Angeles, which was a wild and wonderful period of time. I ran with anarchists and authors, swimming in the backwaters of culture.
But I digress... I should be emphasizing the tactics some of my companions used to live as freely as possible. (In doing so, I will change data so the person is not identifiable.) I offer no opinion as to whether such 'tactics' would work today in a post 9/11 society nor do I suggest the anyone break the law. I mean that sincerely. Breaking the law can have terrible consequences and everyone has to weigh for themselves whether their circumstances make the risks worth taking. For example, if you are the sole support of young children, then you may opt for far less risk than a footloose anarchist author to whom L.A. seemed like a candy shop of experience.
So...friend #1. #1 was an attractive, charismatic man to whom things came easily. This is important to the story because his sense of confidence became both an advantage and a liability in dealing with authority.
I'd rather discuss what those who value their personal freedom can do if they decide to remain in the U.S. because most people I know will make that choice...and I honestly wish them well. Perhaps the best way to provide insight is to tell some stories about friends from the decade I lived in Los Angeles, which was a wild and wonderful period of time. I ran with anarchists and authors, swimming in the backwaters of culture.
But I digress... I should be emphasizing the tactics some of my companions used to live as freely as possible. (In doing so, I will change data so the person is not identifiable.) I offer no opinion as to whether such 'tactics' would work today in a post 9/11 society nor do I suggest the anyone break the law. I mean that sincerely. Breaking the law can have terrible consequences and everyone has to weigh for themselves whether their circumstances make the risks worth taking. For example, if you are the sole support of young children, then you may opt for far less risk than a footloose anarchist author to whom L.A. seemed like a candy shop of experience.
So...friend #1. #1 was an attractive, charismatic man to whom things came easily. This is important to the story because his sense of confidence became both an advantage and a liability in dealing with authority.
#1 had disconnected his real name (which was a common one) from his address. His driver's license etc. all listed old addresses from which he had moved and left no forwarding information. Whenever he needed to provide a name for his residence -- e.g. on a rental agreement -- he used the comprehensive package of fake I.D. he had acquired in a standard method. (Note to readers: don't write to ask questions; do a bit of research or buy books issued by the erstwhile Loompanics on the used book market; the info is out there.)
#1 had a rebellious streak that ran the full width and length of his body. One way the streak manifested itself was in speeding like a demon, for which he acquired a backlog of unpaid tickets that were issued to his real name. #1 literally hated the DMV and the highway patrol and, so, took particular pleasure in thwarting them. There was one thwart too many. One year, instead of paying to register his car, he cut out a square of transparent plastic in the color of the new year's registration tag and placed it over his old one. Unless you got up close, it looked exactly like the new tag. Of course, a cop got up close and ticketed his parked car for the violation.
The DMV decided to make an example of him. It decided to go beyond a mere ticket and hit him with a charge of altering a government document for purposes of fraud, which carried jail time. But the cops could not find him...at least, not at first. Through an investigation that I will speculate on in a moment, the cops finally knocked on his door and demanded to know if his name was #1. He said "no." They persisted. He invited them into the parlor where he opened a desk drawer, withdrew a wallet and showed him I.D. that 'proved' he was not #1. After some discussion, they left. Within two weeks, he had moved into a new condo, leaving no paper trail.
There are lessons embedded in #1's story. First and foremost, he was arrogant and foolish in how he broke the law. Speeding and similar violations are among the commonest 'crimes' to show up on police radar and it is foolhardy to break the law when you are likely to be caught. Moreover, rather than taking the easy remedy of paying a fine, he the situation accelerate out-of-control so that it threatened his freedom.
Next lesson: the fake I.D. saved him. There are several things he did correctly in this regard. He acquired more than one piece, more than merely a driver's license so that he was able to show the cops a convincing package. He kept the I.D. in one wallet in an accessible and plausible place so that it could be produced immediately. He had no other I.D. on him; his real I.D. was upstairs in his bedroom. Moreover, the arrogance that had failed him before became an advantage because it meant he could pull off scamming the cops -- a feat I would find difficult.
#1 also did the correct thing by moving. I have no idea if the cops ever returned to his old address but I do think an arrest would have resulted if #1 had still been there.
I remember how strenuously he tried to figure out the trail by which the cops had come to his door. He didn't want to repeat the mistake of having his real name linked to his real address. There were 3 likely possibilities. The least likely: he could have forgotten to close the garage door and, so, a passing cop recognized the license plate of his car...but he was meticulous about closing the door. He could have been turned in by someone with a grudge...but few people knew of the tickets and the cops would probably not have accepted the fake I.D. if they'd been be tipped of by someone with such inside knowledge of #1. Most likely: he had been offering his condo for some Libertarian Party meetings and that was a group in which he used his real name. Although #1 did not believe anyone from the LP turned him in, he thought the authorities were routinely collecting information on LP activists as they did on activists in many, many organizations. Using their files, the cops had matched an address to his real name and, even though it was a "soft" lead, they checked it out.
Thus ends the story of #1...or, at least, all of it that's relevant to my purpose. Tomorrow, I'll tell you about #2 and the consequences of a police raid.
#1 had a rebellious streak that ran the full width and length of his body. One way the streak manifested itself was in speeding like a demon, for which he acquired a backlog of unpaid tickets that were issued to his real name. #1 literally hated the DMV and the highway patrol and, so, took particular pleasure in thwarting them. There was one thwart too many. One year, instead of paying to register his car, he cut out a square of transparent plastic in the color of the new year's registration tag and placed it over his old one. Unless you got up close, it looked exactly like the new tag. Of course, a cop got up close and ticketed his parked car for the violation.
The DMV decided to make an example of him. It decided to go beyond a mere ticket and hit him with a charge of altering a government document for purposes of fraud, which carried jail time. But the cops could not find him...at least, not at first. Through an investigation that I will speculate on in a moment, the cops finally knocked on his door and demanded to know if his name was #1. He said "no." They persisted. He invited them into the parlor where he opened a desk drawer, withdrew a wallet and showed him I.D. that 'proved' he was not #1. After some discussion, they left. Within two weeks, he had moved into a new condo, leaving no paper trail.
There are lessons embedded in #1's story. First and foremost, he was arrogant and foolish in how he broke the law. Speeding and similar violations are among the commonest 'crimes' to show up on police radar and it is foolhardy to break the law when you are likely to be caught. Moreover, rather than taking the easy remedy of paying a fine, he the situation accelerate out-of-control so that it threatened his freedom.
Next lesson: the fake I.D. saved him. There are several things he did correctly in this regard. He acquired more than one piece, more than merely a driver's license so that he was able to show the cops a convincing package. He kept the I.D. in one wallet in an accessible and plausible place so that it could be produced immediately. He had no other I.D. on him; his real I.D. was upstairs in his bedroom. Moreover, the arrogance that had failed him before became an advantage because it meant he could pull off scamming the cops -- a feat I would find difficult.
#1 also did the correct thing by moving. I have no idea if the cops ever returned to his old address but I do think an arrest would have resulted if #1 had still been there.
I remember how strenuously he tried to figure out the trail by which the cops had come to his door. He didn't want to repeat the mistake of having his real name linked to his real address. There were 3 likely possibilities. The least likely: he could have forgotten to close the garage door and, so, a passing cop recognized the license plate of his car...but he was meticulous about closing the door. He could have been turned in by someone with a grudge...but few people knew of the tickets and the cops would probably not have accepted the fake I.D. if they'd been be tipped of by someone with such inside knowledge of #1. Most likely: he had been offering his condo for some Libertarian Party meetings and that was a group in which he used his real name. Although #1 did not believe anyone from the LP turned him in, he thought the authorities were routinely collecting information on LP activists as they did on activists in many, many organizations. Using their files, the cops had matched an address to his real name and, even though it was a "soft" lead, they checked it out.
Thus ends the story of #1...or, at least, all of it that's relevant to my purpose. Tomorrow, I'll tell you about #2 and the consequences of a police raid.
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