Seven Steps to an Aurelian Society

This list is presented in the interest of keeping resources out of the hands of the State and their accomplices in business by minimizing participation in the state economy by doing business in the informal economy whenever possible.

Buy Used

Buying used can often mean great savings, but it also means that the money you spend isn’t going into state or corporate hands. (craigslist, physical yard sales and local yard sale websites and facebook groups, farmers markets (also useful for soaps), thrift stores (you can often ask for a discount by way of tax exemption in these types of stores),

Use an Alternative Currency

Bitcoin, precious metals, bartering, local voluntary currencies are all ways to impede the States ability to tax and track your purchases. These are used preferentially to legal tender.

Grow your Own

Food. Personal gardening and farming can reduce your dependence on the state economy and ensure that your food is what you think it is, unlike that processed and treated in factory farms. Not having to buying food will reduce your grocery bill as well which further deprives the state of resources in the form of sales tax you would have paid on the product. A goat can provide 150lbs of meat per year and an average of 2 quarts of milk which can be drank, used in cooking, and made into cheese or soap. Even if you don’t have much land, you can take advantage of urban gardening and permaculture techniques to reduce your “government footprint”

Get off the Grid

Utility companies are often state owned, or at the very least take advantage of arbitrary property titles and monopoly status. Earth ships are around the same price as regular houses but have the benefit of having no electric or water bills. The buildings are designed to generate the electricity they need to operate and have their own water supply, both completely independent of the local utility company. Decentralized energy generation is achieved with a combination of solar and wind generation, along with building position, and insulation. Rainwater collected and purified in cisterns and ground based well water provide a source of water independent of the state economy.

Another great benefit of the earth ship is that it is constructed largely of recycled material, IE material that you can get for free, again avoiding the tax burden.

Quit Your Job.

Working in the state run economy enables the state to tax your income and manufacture your consent in a number of government programs including Social Security Insurance, Medicare, and Affordable Health care Act (ObamaCare). The government has an interest in having you believing that you can’t make a living without a job. It is not true. Take cue’s from illegal immigrants in the US; working under the table for cash. Freelance work is available in writing, coding, and graphic design. Self employment work in construction, painting, pressure washing, landscaping, and other handyman skills can be used for cash. This income is supposed to be reported to the state, but if it is paid in cash or bitcoins, how will the authorities ever know?

Peaceful Duplication

Since the IP debate has been settled for sometime, another way to not spend money so as to keep resources out of the hands of the State and corporations that benefit from state enforced intellectual poverty (in this case, media, broadcasting, film, and music industries, and patent war profiteers Apple and Microsoft) is to use bittorrent or other file sharing networks to download content. Almost any digital information can be acquired; music, films, ebooks, and computer programs.

Ditch Consumerism

Part of the Aurelian lifestyle is to spend as little money as possible in the state economy. That means becoming a producer. Still, there will be many things that can not currently be gotten through the informal economy (although most things can be bought used at least). Live frugally and avoid planned obsolescence. One example is using a straight razor instead of disposables (Alternatives to disposable consumer products).