My name is Bret and I am a potential FSW member. FSW played a role in my decision on Wyoming but only modestly, most of the factors that caused FSW to exist were primary factors such as the low population density, general amount of freedom, low unemployment/good business climate, etc. I am looking to do things a little different though. While Wyoming is a lot more free than most places it is not as free as I personally want.
Here is a view into my thoughts on the matter. It sounds too good to be true for many however the concept is sound and the BIA manual on this was updated this year making it more permissive than the 2008 policy was. The short version is "form an indian reservation and let suitable candidates be tribal members regardless of ancestry". The long version is below.
I want to be clear about this, I am not talking about a para-military type compound. I am also not talking about a freeman type movement or any type of separatist or secessionist movement, at least not in the classical sense. This is an indian nation carved out which would be equal to any other state in most respects.
Massive federalization has resulted in an inability to vote with your feet and move to a different state that has different laws which are more suitable.
Government subsidies, excise taxes and bailouts make it difficult to vote with your wallet. With subsidies you pay for items you do not want to. Excise taxes discourage one item over another. Bailouts require you to pay for the work product of a failed company.
Excessive government regulations have stripped the ability to vote with your labor. Regulation compliance has a cost, in a small business this compliance is a larger percentage of the operating budget. This in turn discourages fair competition between a “David vs Goliath”.
These are essential freedoms that many did not even know they had let alone lost. They are important even if they do not seem like it.
The average American is taxed 20-40% of their income. Your labor was traded in a fair value trade for your wage, no profit was generated. The government claims that 1-2 days per week of that labor belongs to them. When you attempt to spend the your wage you have more taxes.
To make matters worse taxes go for things like warrantless wiretaps, assassination lists, censorship, and all the silly laws we have tolerated over the years. We end up with bridges to nowhere, tunnels for frogs, obvious graft and corruption.
I desire to OPT-OUT of all of that. This is not about destroying the country, it is about restoring my freedom and having a voice that matters.
I am a Bureau of Indian Affairs registered Indian. That registration entitles me to take land and make it “Indian country”. This can be any parcel of land. I could get just enough land for myself and a few of my friends but I would like to share the gift of expanded freedom with others and build a community.
Indian country can have it's own government, that government gets 100% control over the rules of who is and is not a tribal member. There is no blood quantum requirement for tribal membership under current law. To put it another way, under current law it only takes 1 qualified Indian to set this up and then anyone can be made a tribal member regardless of ethnicity. Becoming a tribal member does not require you to renounce anything, it does not require you to forego any programs or benefits, I for example hold a US passport but am a member of one tribal nation and can vote in their elections (as well as my state of residence).
The ultimate goal is full national sovereignty, a level on par with what the constitution says the member states should have but sadly they do not. This is a goal that may never be realized however the first step is to opt-out of 99% of the system. The last 1% requires one of several great events to occur which will be described below. The government does not give up its power easily.
I am seeking to build a community where we all have a vested interest in each other. Not a place where you have to help your neighbor but a place where you want to help your neighbor. Where individuals have social contact with each other, they know their names, they greet each other as they walk down the street. They look out for each other knowing that they too will be looked out for. From what I have seen when I was in WY and from what I have read that is common there, as it appears to be in most rural environments (even where I live in California currently).
This is not a commune. Each person should succeed or fail on their own merits. They should own the product of their labor. They should be able to live their life as they see fit providing they do not impair anyone's ability to do the same. Freedom and personal responsibility are inextricably intertwined. In order to have large amounts of freedom you must also have large amounts of personal responsibility, as one diminishes so too does the other. You must be personally responsible for your actions as well as self deterministic. There will be no welfare. With a community, assistance is often provided through voluntary not compulsory means.
One goal is self sufficiency. To provide enough food by farming and ranching with extra for export to be able to acquire the items we would need or want such as salt, toilet paper, toothpaste, that new big TV and video game console. With a large enough community there exists the potential to do non-farming related work such as the butcher, the baker, the candle stick maker, or just operating a tavern, restaurant, exporting wind/solar power. Each person gets to decide what they would want to do, jobs are not assigned by anything other than the true free market (something that rarely exists anymore). There is an exception to this, no casinos. Casinos require special permission, they complicate the process, they bring in other problems, they just aren't that good. Alcohol laws must also conform to the surrounding state laws, this is a requirement of the government to prevent creating pockets of loopholes in the state system with respect to age and similar.
Suitable candidates would have to have a few common traits. Personal responsibility, self determination, community respect, tolerance of others and be generally law abiding. The last requirement is there because certain laws cease to exist such as federal firearms laws and federal drug laws (most tribal governments have laws against them and they have and can call in the DEA, FBI and others the Wind River reservation also had the issue of non-members dealing on the reservation which allows them in). I do not want to have to deal with people abusing that to skirt the law and ultimately create problems for everyone else.
There are 14 laws that the federal government has jurisdiction over for tribal members on indian land, no other laws apply except when dealing with non-members (then all state and federal laws apply to that person and in things dealing with that person). The 14 laws are murder, manslaughter, kidnapping, maiming, rape, arson, burglary, robbery, larceny of more than $1000, assault with a dangerous weapon or resulting in serious bodily injury, assault with intent to commit rape or murder, incest, felonious sexual molestation of a minor, felony child abuse or neglect (18 USC 1153). For example, "simple assault" does not exist in that list, if it is between a non-member and a member then it would be prosecuted federally (if there is not a federal law then the state law applies but it is still prosecuted federally).
No state taxes. No sales tax, state excise tax, sin tax, property tax, etc. Federal taxes may be eliminated under certain circumstances as well. No building permits or building code although personal responsibility dictates that you should build sound buildings. State sales tax does apply to non-tribal members making purchases on the land, there are estimated and actual methods available in WY.
The government will be limited to protecting the rights of the people, nothing more and nothing less. Any government position will be unpaid. There will be no professional government workers, they must work for a living like everyone else. Government positions will largely be title only and have no real power nor require any real amount of time. There is a requirement for certain titles so that government to government discussions and contracts to be signed but outside of that there is no real power for the politician.
The process is fairly straight forward. Land is purchased and then placed into a trust through the Bureau of Indian Affairs. When the land goes into a trust it becomes “Indian country” and it is no longer part of the state. Ownership of the land is by the trust, the land may not just be arbitrarily sold. Banks may not foreclose on any properties within indian country either. Indian country is a "domestic dependent nation" (Cherkoee Nation v Georgia, 30 US 1 - 1831). This means that it is not a state and is a separate special entity. The IRS views Indian country as a state and the government is taxed the same as a state government (ie it isnt).
The only real differences are the laws that no longer apply and the potential to not pay federal income or payroll tax. Indians living on indian land who earn their wage from the land itself (not just on it but from it) are exempt from federal income tax. There are other potential ways to exempt a store owner or other "non-land derived income" as well, but until that is reviewed by a tax lawyer I do not wish to affirmatively state that it would be legally valid. Indian country is not bound by the US federal constitution (Talton v Mayes, 163 US 376 1896) as they never ratified it. The Constitution would not prevent us from printing our own currency with whatever backing we desire. The exchange rate could be fixed in a way that the level of income falls below the threshold to cause income tax to be due.
If the US collapses the states are free to go their own way, this also includes "domestic dependent nations". The state would have record of where Indian country is, providing the state is not hostile towards Indian country as California and New York have proved to be, it should be quick and painless to affirm full sovereignty at that time. If the US recovers there is still more freedom than would otherwise exist. I see it as a win-win.
This could be as small as 160 acres for me and some friends or 12,000 acres for no more than 750 people (16 acres per person average to account for food and housing requirements). A high population density makes it harder to fulfill the self-sufficiency requirement, although part could have a higher density, a town center with the bulk being farm/ranch land.
