Hello! My name is Mark and I’m a member of the Free State Project. This blog is dedicated to publishing my online comic strip, “Other People,” whose theme is inspired by Mary Ruwart’s adage that freedom comes from “honoring our neighbor’s choice.” All too often, unjust laws are passed with the support of voters who have been taught to fear the freedom of their neighbors. This path serves merely to make criminal suspects out of all of us, even if we have not injured or caused damage to the bodies or possessions of others.
As an anarchist, I firmly believe that all forms of government corrupt those to whom power is given. Many of us live in representative democracies where the power lies with the voters and where it is only by corrupting the electorate that such government authority is able to survive. As voters, we are pandered to by politicians who know that their claim to authority comes only from the extent to which they can instill in us the fear of others. It is my hope to convey the message that we have less to fear from each other than we might otherwise think. Whether it is the fear of “greedy capitalists,” “evil terrorists,” or even the seemingly innocuous bugaboo that people left to their own devices will willingly sell you unsafe goods, all fears are fair game.
This is not a political cartoon. Although some supporting characters may represent various political archetypes (majority, minority, left-wing, right-wing, etc. ), it is not my present intention to portray actual political figures, current or historical. My purpose is not to endorse or defame other people, but to criticise the involuntary system of government in which they partake. It’s only by acquiring tolerance for the freedoms of others that we may find freedom for ourselves. Freedom is Other People.
