Leashless - A Manifesto On Freedom

I want to be free.

I want to be free.

You want to be free. I want to be free. They want to be free. You want to be free. Why are we not free? They want to be free. I want to be free. Why are we not free? You want to be free.

You want to be free.

They want to be free. Why are we not free?

They want to be free. Why are we not free? Leashless attempts to address this question in a new way

We are not free because we need each other. "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need." Right

?

Wrong

Our obligations to each other as

a person at all? Is there a self

Are there even answers?

?

Wrong

but increase our well-being. Is one person

Right

human beings reduce our freedom,

What obligations? Obligations? Society? Am I not me? Am I not Free? I don't think I

owe you anything. outside of society? When considering these questions, who's answers count?

When you were

Yes, but you had

born, were you

no capability to

free?

use that freedom.

If freedom requires

completely on your

is the real question

capability, is it just

parents.

we must ask.

a word for power?

Depending on the

What are the real

State keeps you in

characteristics of

infancy until death.

being free?

?

Wrong

Free in what sense?

Right

No, you depended

Need Me Need

Want Prefer

Ability

World

People

We exist in a constant state of give and take with our environment: other people and the natural world around us

Without our needs Need

Want

we die or live in misery

Prefer

Without our wants we enjoy life less but it goes on Our preferences can even be about other people's lives

I need water I want a radio I prefer the blue

I need water

Regardless of politics,

Millions of people die of

nobody with unmet

dirty water every year

needs is genuinely free

I want a real job

Nobody's wants should

We do not choose our

Millions live in poverty

remove another's ability

needs, only our wants

even in rich countries

to meet their needs

and preferences

I prefer apartheid

Your preferences should

Therefore our wants

Some prefer things

not adversely affect my

and preferences are

which harm others

wants or needs

negotiable at all times

Most Libertarians

Ecolibertarians

derive freedom from

recognize that the

self-ownership

planet belongs to all

stating that you are

and that individuals are

If your acre is the last

your own property, and

their own masters

arable acre left, it will

not anybody elses

without any exception

not rain any more.

but this leaves

but balance the needs of

What is the fair price of

environmental and

all and the freedom of

ecosystem services, and

social justice unserved.

the individual.

to whom is it paid?

Land usually

The earth has no

becomes property

ruler. People are

by violence.

free upon it.

Air is shared

The enclosures

Do not legitimize

property as it

that exist are not

what was stolen as

exists unenclosed.

fundamentally real.

valid property.

Just land use must

They exist in

Land rights must

fully acknowledge

people's minds and

be derived from

these facts.

are kept by force.

the earth's rights.

The first Axiom

We "rent" the bodies

"The Earth owns itself

we inhabit from the

as we own ourselves."

matter of earth.

Whether it is a

When we die, inevitably

What then is the charge

corporate body or a

to it do we return,

we owe the planet just

being matters not.

unless lost in space.

for existing on it?

We start by assuming

All of our fundamental

What is the rent for

that the planet it its

needs are derived from

being alive, and to

own owner.

its ecosystem services.

whom is it paid?

The second Axiom

Further property

"The matter of your

arrangements are built

body belongs to Earth."

on simple embodyment

Each body comes with

What we create

No person speaks for

the same obligations to

together after simply

the earth in the matter

the earth

existing is our own.

of this simple duty.

breathing the same air,

But we are free only

Rather, we each decide

drinking the same water,

after doing our duty to

for ourselves what we

eating the same food.

the planet we rent from.

owe the place we are.

The third Axiom

Your rights over your

"Aught else that can be

own being are absolute

owned is ever yours."

and not alienable.

A person may or may

While your body is

Beyond that, the

not be considered

clearly rented from the

understanding of the

property.

earth, the rest is you.

rights of beings changes.

However, if a person is

This self ownership is

How we define or

in any way property,

defined as inalienable,

decide about rights

they are their own.

meaning no slavery.

changes over time too.

The fourth Axiom

This principle matters in

"Just property value is

seeking justice around

defined by utility."

"ownership" of assets.

The value of a piece of

If a poor person takes

The land was stolen

property is its use value

from a rich person, it is

from those who settled

to its current owner.

often need over want.

it by later rulers.

Those who own much

The utility of the asset

Where is righteousness

attach little real value to

transfer must be taken

in handling stolen

their property.

into account in law.

property?

On Property

"Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's greed." M.K. Gandhi

What about stuff?

In the long run, the tree

Around Self and Body

branch is matter, and

lies the world we live in.

therefore the Earth's.

Who owns this tree

While part of the tree,

But it is mine in the

branch? Is it the tree? Is

the tree owns its own

rented sense, a transfer

it the Earth?

branch, doubtless.

from its true owner.

Is it you? Is it me? Let us

On the ground, if I pick

Your desire for my

untangle this matter

up the branch, it is mine.

branch.. is it a need, a

swiftly and clearly.

This is common sense.

want or a preference?

Existing property

Land rights are

rights are largely

descended from either

based on violence

colonial or feudal times.

Usually property rights

Kings granted lands to

Military power turned

are artifacts of previous

military figures, who

into money though land

social control.

gave them to their sons.

not looting.

Copyright started as

Land became tradable

Colonialism is even

censorship. Patent has

for gold, but passed by

simpler: kill people and

better roots though.

inheritance.

take their stuff.

Property rights can

If Eldred vs. Ashcroft

change and be

had gone the other way,

remade any time

old would equal free.

Copyright is changing

Patents are changing

Could we redefine land

right now - for the

too - large companies

to include ecosystem

worse!

rebelling against them!

services in the rights?

The DCMA and similar

Patents are stifling

Could we redefine

laws extend it's reach

innovation because

money so it was a

brutally.

they've gone too far.

better fit to real value?

Use and property

If you prefer your bucket

Need, want & prefer are

is kept clean, and I leave

three different things.

it dirty, I am careless.

If you need this bucket

Usually property rights

Property is a shorthand

to live, and I take it from

are oriented around

for talking about needs,

you, I am a murderer.

things and not people.

wants and preferences.

If you want this bucket

But, in truth, a thing is

A dollar means different

and I take it from you, I

its usefulness or its

things to rich and poor,

am at worst a thief.

value to a person.

it is not objective value.

Fixing our property

Taxation is often used

rights systems

to give property to those who have none.

Copyright and patent

The old, violence-based

But if we got real about

are new forms of

property system takes

human needs we could

property made by fiat.

away.

have one system.

The limited liability

And the new social

The point of the

corporation is also new

security systems patch

property is the thing's

property made by fiat.

the bug with more.

usefulness to you.

What would a sane

Leased land is subject to

property rights

rational environmental

system look like?

regulations.

What is yours is yours

Regional land use

The income from land

and people may not

assemblies set local

leases genuinely belongs

take it from you.

agendas - not global.

to all and can be shared.

Land is leased, not

Limited liability and

Need,Want & Prefer can

owned, on the basis it is

similar fiat subsidies to

help set priorities for

really owned by all.

groups are phased out.

everyone.

Freedom is not Property, Property

Need

Want Prefer

is not Freedom

property

Rather, you want or need and "property rights" get in the way.

Need

Need

Need

Want

Want

Want

Prefer

Prefer

Prefer

This confusion of

Governments take from

Systems made to

freedom and property is

people using their own

manage property wind

the Libertarian problem.

"property rights."

up controlling people.

who is free here?

Dependence and control go hand in

Need

Want Prefer

hand

We need use of property for our needs, wants & preferences.

Need

Want

Prefer

Prefer

Need

Need

Need

Want

Want

Want

Prefer

Prefer

Prefer

Need

Need

Need

Need

Want

Want

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Prefer

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Need

Need

Need

Need

Need

Want

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Want

Prefer

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Need

Need

Need

Want

Need

Need

Need

Need

Need

Want

Want

Want

Want

Want

Want

Prefer

Prefer

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Prefer

Prefer

Need

Need

Need

Need

Need

Need

Want

Want

Want

Want

Want

Want

Want

Prefer

Prefer

Prefer

Prefer

Prefer

Prefer

Prefer

The people who "own"

We depend on their

But even at the top,

that property now have

property, and they then

people are not free -

some control over us.

control us with money.

different chains bind.

Class War?

Need

Want

Political control of key

Prefer

assets is the main game.

Inherited land titles, serve to fix wealth.

Need

Want

Prefer

Prefer

Need

Need

Need

Want

Want

Want

Prefer

Prefer

Prefer

Need

Need

Need

Need

Want

Want

Want

Want

Prefer

Prefer

Prefer

Prefer

Need

patents and copyright all

Need

Want

Need

Need

Need

Need

Want

Want

Want

Want

Want

Prefer

Prefer

Prefer

Prefer

Prefer

Need

Need

Need

Need

Need

Need

Want

Want

Want

Want

Want

Want

Prefer

Prefer

Prefer

Prefer

Prefer

Prefer

Need

Need

Need

Need

Need

Need

Need

Want

Want

Want

Want

Want

Want

Want

Prefer

Prefer

Prefer

Prefer

Prefer

Prefer

Prefer

Otherwise everybody

But concentrated

More property is not

takes a little, and wealth

wealth pays for progress

the key to freedom.

doesn't concentrate.

and infrastructure.

Less control is the key.

Nobody is Free Everybody exists in cycles of mutual control

The CEO reports to

Need

Need

Want

Want

Prefer

Prefer

Need

Want

the board who report

Prefer

to the shareholders.

Shareholders are

Even at the highest

It is not us and them, it

controlled by politicians

levels, nobody

is us-and-us. We are all

bought by the CEO.

experiences freedom.

in this together.

Next Steps

"I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent." M.K. Gandhi

What is Freedom?

But if we could fly, and

Freedom is an internal

were not allowed, that

state of being.

would not be freedom.

It exists in the

Freedom exists when

Needs go unmet while

relationships between

people do not stop us

the preferences of the

people, nowhere else.

from doing as we like.

rich are treated like law.

That we cannot fly like

Right now, property

But freedom is not

birds is not a restriction

rights are the biggest

property, and it is

on our freedom.

obstacle to freedom.

freedom we must seek.

Separate social

Need

Need Want

control and

Prefer Want Prefer

economic control property

society

Marijuana is illegal because of social control, not economics.

Need

Need

Need

Want

Want

Want

Prefer

Prefer

Prefer

The system of land

"Property rights" laws

How can we do this

ownership which makes

are different from social

more sensibly, so people

rents high is economics.

control laws.

are as free as possible?

Use swadeshi to

Need

Need Want

simplify property

Prefer Want Prefer

rights issues property

society

Swadeshi is Gandhi's term meaning own (swa) land (desi.)

Need

Need

Need

Want

Want

Want

Prefer

Prefer

Prefer

It's often understood as

Actually, it's more about

Swadeshi can make you

being about localization

thinning out property

much harder to control

for political control.

rights dependencies.

through property.

Use punk rock to

Need

Need Want

simplify social

Prefer Want Prefer

control issues property

society

Most social control does not have much legal force.

Need

Need

Need

Want

Want

Want

Prefer

Prefer

Prefer

Drug laws are one

As long as you don't

How you organize your

notable exception but

hurt people, they usually

psyche to resist control

mostly you live free.

don't bother the free.

is your own business.

What about taxation? Isn't taxation theft? Need

Taxation is what governments charge you for renting stuff.

Want Prefer

They own all the land,

They own all the money,

We are long past the

you just lease it from

you just lease it from

point where taxation

them. It's their land.

them. It's their money.

was meaningfully theft.

everybody can be free

Freedom is when we stop controlling

Need

Want

Need

Need

each other

Prefer

Want Prefer Need

Want Prefer

Need Want Prefer Want Prefer

Need

Need

Need

Want

Want

Want

Prefer

Prefer

Prefer Need

Want

Need

Do not let other people

Need

Want

Want

Want

Prefer

Prefer

Prefer

Prefer

Need

Want

control you, even those

Need

Want

Need

Prefer

Need

Need

Want

Want

Prefer

Prefer

Need

Need

Prefer

Want

Want

Need

Prefer

Prefer Need

Need

Want

Need

Prefer Want Prefer

you love.

Want

Want

Prefer

Need

Prefer

Want

Need Need Need

Need

Need

Want

Want

Want

Prefer

Prefer

Prefer

Want Prefer

Want Prefer

Work towards meeting

Work with others to

Change the shape of

your needs without

define sane property

society to promote

other people's property.

rights and become free.

freedom.

Prefer

How are we controlled? What

property

social

"own land"

"push back"

can we do?

Need

Work towards owning property for your needs

"build ethical connections" Want Prefer

- business and/or land.

Push back against social

Find people with similar

Maintain political

control where you find

goals and cooperate

pressure on insane

it however suits you.

with them in freedom.

property rights systems.

What is leashless?

It does not distinguish

It's the minimal system

economic, social and

required to be freer.

political control.

It's a lot like Gandhi,

Freedom exists when

Identify and understand

Libertarianism,

people do not stop us

your needs, wants &

Syndicalism and so on.

from doing as we like.

preferences.

Critically, it focusses on

Whether they use

Work on owning what

short personal steps

property rights, law or

you need and cooperate

towards freedom.

society does not matter.

with others to do it.

Next steps

Economic instability is

We can and must do

probably not over, and

something quickly.

political may follow it.

Firstly, identify leashless

Leashless is a political

Work on getting the

people: it's a state of

analogue to the

collar off and seeing

mind. Make friends.

resilience movement.

freedom around you.

Use SCIM to identify

If people are building

http://leashless.org

your needs and work on

infrastructure and want

@leashless

owning infrastructure.

peace, work with them.

Enjoy, and thank you.

leashless is the work of Vinay Gupta and is in the Public Domain.

This is an alpha release and it should really be a book. But not yet.

The title image contains images CC-BY licensed images by laverrue and David Paul Ohmer.