In order to achieve their ends, the planners must create power—power over men wielded by other men—of a magnitude never before known. Their success will depend on the extent to which they achieve such power. – The Road to Serfdom, F.A Hayek
Every anarchist should understand a basic principle, that of freedom. Freedom is, in essence, one thing: power. And what is power? Power is the ability to act effectively. Freedom is not being allowed to act effectively; it is the ability to act effectively. With this in mind, think, what is tyranny, what is serfdom? Serfdom is powerlessness. The achievement of tyranny is proportional to how well those who intend to tyrannize have taken away the abilities of other individuals to act effectively, while retaining their own abilities. Note that you may be a skilled and effective surgeon, for example, but if your abilities do not extend beyond that, if they are limited in certain key areas, you will not be free, not even to do surgery. These three pillars sustain freedom, in order of importance: Hide, Run, Fight. The stronger you make these pillars, the more freedom they can sustain. The weaker they become, the more you slide into serfdom, and the easier it is to enslave you.
Hide
The first pillar, "hide," is the most important one by far. It is the master pillar. "Hide" stands for deception, though really it is much more than that. Hide abilities are those which allow you to influence the way others, potential or actual friends or foes, see you. This can be a change from prey to predator, from stranger to friend, from wanted person to stranger, from criminal to victim, from common man to emperor, and yes, even from person to grass. Its purpose extends beyond itself, as its role as an empowerer of the other pillars is as important, if not more important, than its role as an individual pillar. This is your "day-to-day" pillar, it never exhausts itself as others do. Other pillars require time spent reinforcing them, because they are weakened with use. You may get experience, which can strengthen them, but it is impossible to use run or fight forever. There is no such problem with hide. It is also not only about how others see you, but about how you see others, as you cannot hide from a fish by jumping into the lake. Examples of abilities in this pillar are things like oratory, languages, knowledge of the legal system, neurolinguistic programming, make-up application, understanding of terrain, and lying.
HIDE EXAMPLE 1 – Conceal an act
As a young teenager, your ability to lie to your parents and other adults is very important in order for you to consume certain substances. You must make them see you as someone trustworthy enough not to be too heavily supervised. If you are not competent enough there, or even if you are, your ability to understand the terrain where you live, your room for example, can keep them from catching you. Understanding their suspicions can keep you from making mistakes. When you are caught, your ability to soften them can make the difference between being kidnapped and shipped to one of those islands where "bad" kids go for "treatment," and simply being told to be careful with it.
HIDE EXAMPLE 2 – Conceal yourself
Say you are framed for a crime. That itself is a failure to control the way the framers see you, but it's ancient history now, you must play with the cards dealt. What can you do, without having to go into run or fight? First of all, make yourself invisible to potential enemies, like the people at the supermarket who saw your face on TV last night. Then make yourself invisible to known enemies, like the people who framed you. Cut your hair, buy a wig, dress up, dress down, get plastic surgery. Don't go out. Don't go in. Make yourself liked by potential friends, and loved by known friends. That by itself will save you a lot of trouble, but let's say you fail to do this effectively and end up being found… which brings us to the third example
HIDE EXAMPLE 3 – Conceal strength
So your room is surrounded by the SWAT and you are not willing or able to run or fight. They know who you are, and where you are, so you would think hiding was over… but it isn't. Now may be the time to… surrender. Granted, it is not always a good move, sometimes even fighting off an entire SWAT team by yourself is a wiser choice than surrender, but most of the time, it is not. In this way you make a superior enemy spare you, so you can plot a move out of weakness and into strength… but wait, you say, why is this example called "conceal strength" then? Because they can already see your weakness! What they do not see is your strength, your ability to triumph even after being supposedly defeated. If they did, you wouldn't even have the choice of surrender.
Run
The second pillar is run. It is the pillar of distance, of avoidance. It's best used to avoid confrontation when the balance of power is consistently against you, but when the hide pillar is weakened to the point of uselessness while you face an overwhelming threat, it is your only hope. There isn't much to be said about run, as it is a simple matter of… running. Things like money, vehicles, physical fitness, are all useful for strengthening this pillar. Strengthening the hide pillar (like getting a passport) can also strengthen this pillar, as it is easier to run when people aren't following or trying to stop you.
Fight
The third pillar is fight. This means actual physical combat. It's something you should engage in primarily to hold the other pillars together, as you cannot live by it alone. In fact, the more you use it, the less effective it becomes. It's something that should be used when you are backed into a corner with no option of using the other pillars, or when you can safely overpower the other party. Weapons, the skill to use them, practical training in martial arts and military tactics, knowledge of explosives and muscles are examples of fight resources. You shouldn't forget however, that picking your battles and not using more or less force than appropriate is half of what matters, as sometimes you should turn the other cheek, and sometimes you shouldn't go for anything less than a kill. There are a lot of people who focus on fighting too much, and these people put themselves at great risk. There are also people who put themselves at great risk by not acknowledging the need to engage in it. This pillar is the least useful and most difficult to apply correctly. But it absolutely cannot be ignored.
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Strengthen these three pillars, and you will build a fortress of freedom, master them and no state can breach it. Fail to keep them at a minimum level of strength, and you will be enslaved, even in the absence of a state.
