Kayden Kross Official Blog: 150 men and a cow @ Kayden Kross's Official Site

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

150 men and a cow

A while ago I said I wanted to be a Native America Indian when I grew up, except with horses and without European colonization. I meant it. They really had it down.

I’ve refined this dream though. What I want is the stateless society back. The feather headpieces and the teepees were cool but it’s the environment that was ideal, without full time politicians and people displaced from the land and fears of old age and lost jobs. They had more stability than anyone today can ever hope to have because they had the ability to go straight to the source for their needs—the land. Even if you bought six thousand acres, cash, and moved your mother and your father and your 5 kids and your family cow out there and tilled the land and camped out in your teepee you’d still be strapped to western society because there is still property tax—and that has to be paid in currency that you can’t grow on corn. You’d still have to report back to someone and stay savvy enough about changing legal codes and zoning and tax laws and everything else not to lose what you’ve already paid for. And if you want to homeschool your 5 kids because you think it’s fucked up that American schools don’t ever teach about their own internment camps during WW2 or explain why the rest of the world is irritated with us or that they require children to learn how to use pastels in art class but not how to protect themselves financially in a world that they will be eventually forced to deal with then you’re gonna have to file paperwork for that too… and you’re gonna have to check in periodically with the government to let them know how things are coming along with your kids. You can never buy yourself out of your government.

Stateless societies didn’t have prisons or militaries or large-scale social unrest—but they didn’t have a frictional gap between rich and poor either. They were real democracies with real freedoms. They had strong social connections and youth was good but wisdom was better and life wasn’t seen as something that was slipping away but something that was only richer in time. Granted, women died in childbirth and men could die from an infection and kids could die just because they were kids and that’s unfortunate but it was quick and it was unexpected. Now we die chronically and slowly from radiation and pollution and artificial ingredients and stress that was never meant to be put on the body for long periods of time. We die from the inside out of cancer over years while suffering from the side effects of medication that won’t make it better but slow it down. We die en masse because of genocide and epidemics and famine all stemming from over population and an uneven distribution of resources. And kids still die just because they’re kids… we just can’t see past the borders of developed nations and neither can anyone else.

If anyone wants to buy me a sovereign island somewhere in the pacific I’ve already started designing the flag and shopping for cows. We’ll need to import a tribal population of about 150 to make it fun.

posted by Kayden Kross on 10:53 PM :: 10 comments

10 Comments:

Well, I love my country in a non attached type of way. However, if Kayden wants to start a true democratic country and needs supporters count me in. I'll bring the chickens and corn.

By Glenn, at October 15, 2009 3:37 AM

Democracy (Leonard Cohen)
It's coming through a hole in the air. From those nights in
tiananmen Square.
It's coming from the feel that this ain't exactly real, or it's real, but it ain't exactly there.
From the wars against disorder, from the sirens night and day, from the fires of the homeless, from the ashes of the gay: Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.
It's coming through a crack in the wall; on a visionary flood of alcohol; from the staggering account of the Sermon on the Mount which I don't pretend to understand at all.
It's coming from the silence on the dock of the bay, from the brave, the bold, the battered heart of Chevrolet: Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.
It's coming from the sorrow in the street, the holy places where the races meet; from the homicidal bitchin' that goes down in every kitchen to determine who will serve and who will eat. From the walls of disappointment where the women kneel to pray for the grace of God in the desert here and the desert far away: Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.
It's coming to America first, the cradle of the best and of the worst. It's here they got the range and the machinery for change and it's here they got the spiritual thirst. It's here the family's broken and it's here the lonely say that the heart has got to open in a fundamental way: Deomcracy is coming to the U.S.A.
It's coming from the children and the men, O baby, we'll be making love again. We'll be gong down so deep the river's going to weep, and the mountain's going to shout Amen! It's coming like the tidal flood beneath the lunar sway, imperial, mysterious, in amorous array: Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.
Sail on, sail on O mighty Ship of State! To the shores of need past the reefs of greed through the squalls of hate. Sail on, sail on, sail on, sail on.
I'm sentimental, if you know what I mean. I love the country but I can't stand the scene. And I'm neither left or right I'm just staying home tonight, getting lost in that hopeless little screen. But I'm stubborn as those garbage bags that time cannot decay, I'm junk but I'm still holding up this little wild bouquet: Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.
(Comment: Is Leonard Cohen dreaming?)

By Glenn, at October 15, 2009 3:54 AM

I think you might like this piece from Reason magazine:

http://reason.com/archives/2009/06/08/20000-nations-above-the-sea

It's all about individuals who are seeking to set up these floating islands in international waters so they can self-govern. In some ways, it's pretty far-fetched, but it brings up some fairly cool thinking of what it means to be a nation. Hope you like.

By Kevin Kuzia, at October 16, 2009 12:14 AM

Count me in; I'll gladly assume the role as an imported member of your tribe.

By Hays, at October 16, 2009 8:42 AM

I figured you for more of a medievil times kind of girl...with a silly crown on your head...while eating a corndog and riding a horse? heheh! ;)

By purple_wisdom, at October 17, 2009 12:42 AM

Huh? I figured you for more of a medievil times kind of girl...with a silly crown on your head...while eating a cookie and riding a horse...and priss kinda strolling along with your underwears in her mouth? heheh! ;)

By purple_wisdom, at October 17, 2009 12:53 AM

Yeah, yeah...

You seem to start your mid-life crisis a little early, young Kayden. From the periphery or from the distance of time previous societies can seem very idyllic. Plato's Athens is often held up as the (first) true democracy. Of course when Plato was speaking of democracy he meant for him and similarly well-educated and well-positioned men - not the peasants and women thank you very much.

Past times are attractive because from our perspective they seem simpler and thus truer. No IRS, no deadlines, no Wall Street, no internet and the 24-hour life that brings. BUt life in those teepees without central heating and air, no hot showers and antibiotics, and no WholeFoods or Safeways or Wegmans to bring daily food to the family table...

For all its faults, I like the times I live in now.

By Flater, at October 17, 2009 4:19 PM

John Lennon had a similar idea with Imagine. I would never scoff at your dream, Kayden, but you do realize that a stateless society offers no guarantee of harmonious relationships with your fellow citizens (no laws; no law enforcement), no mechanism for protection from exterior hostiles and no infrastructure for distribution of resources. And the comfort level is definitely minimal.

The other advantages might make it worthwhile, I just wanted to point out some of the potential downside. That being said, say the word and I'm right there for you on the island.

By Rob, at October 20, 2009 5:07 PM

Lets just go to your island on the weekends honey ;)

By Levi, at November 27, 2009 6:17 PM

You know, I enjoyed this post, because it made me think. These stateless societies often seemed to come up way short on the human rights bit, because too much attention to that kinda of thing was considered enough to put the survival of the entire group in jeopardy. The chieftain ran the show, and whatever he (because they were all he's back then) said was law. Disagreement would get you thrown out of the club or killed, which probably wasn't too pleasant. I guess the bottom line is that no matter what time period we live in, we've always had to sacrifice something to get the things we want.

By Jay, at December 7, 2009 4:13 PM