Here’s the latest reader question, along with my reply!
Chris asks: Are there other places with more freedom one might relocate to?
My answer: Yes, there are. This includes even Russia and China, where on an everyday level, the average person is less oppressed by petty tyranny than in the United States. For example, there are no “buckle up for saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaafety” (at gunpoint) laws in Russia or China and in both of those countries, one is at greater liberty to transact business without micromanagement by the government.
I have a friend (Fred Reed) who lives in Mexico. He ex-patted there some years back and says the water’s fine. He says you can bring your donkey into the local dive bar, if you like. Also, the corruption is honest. You pay the cop $20 and he goes away.
I gather South America has its charms, too.
But, easier said than done – if you are not in your young 20s and unattached. The young 20-something can start a new life relative easily. He can handle several years of living poor while he builds a career/business. By 35, he is all set. New friends and maybe a family, too.
But what if you are in your 40s or 50s?
Much less appealing – to this writer, at least – to attempt a reboot in middle age. To lose the friends of a lifetime; to try to make a new career – without having the 20 or even ten years to spare to do it in.
I therefore try to scrape as much freedom as I can from the bottom of the barrel.
Just moving from Northern Virginia – an extremely un-free area, where you literally can’t do anything without it being against the law and some law-enforcer waiting to catch you doing it – to rural SW Virginia exponentially increased my practical, real-world liberty. For example, I can “get away” with not buckling up for saaaaaaaaaaafety, even though there is a law – because there are far fewer enforcers of the law here.
On a more meaningful level, I live in a county without zoning laws and there is no HOA – so I can pretty much do as I like on my property, at least relative to what I could not do back in Northern Virginia. I can, for example, cut down a tree – or plant one – without asking permission. And they can’t punish me for not asking it. I can shoot TVs in my backyard, Elvis-style.
I do not have to take my truck in for emissions testing. I can slap “Farm Use” tags on it and avoid the saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaafety inspection, too.
But the biggest improvement in practical freedom came as a result of cutting my property taxes by two-thirds and eliminating my house payment by purchasing my current house outright. That was made possible just by moving from a very high-cost area to a very low-cost area.
This took off a lot of pressure, which is itself a substantive increase in liberty. I am much more free to do as I like in terms of work, for example. If I still lived in Northern Va., I would be unable to express the heretical view I do here. I would have to whore myself out for the Red or the Blue.
I will write more on this topic shortly… .
. . .
Got a question about cars – or anything else? Click on the “ask Eric” link and send ’em in!
If you like what you’ve found here, please consider supporting EPautos.
We depend on you to keep the wheels turning!
Our donate button is here.
 If you prefer not to use PayPal, our mailing address is:
EPautos
721 Hummingbird Lane SE
Copper Hill, VA 24079
PS: EPautos magnets are free to those who send in $20 or more. My latest eBook is also available for your favorite price – free! Click here. If you find it useful, consider contributing a couple of bucks!  
I see the appeal of the city, access to lots of pretty people and things, high income, and convenience. When I visit one I try to limit it to no more than three days. Stick around too long and the likelihood of having to deal with some contrived issue skyrockets.
Out here in the Way Out West lots of people have noticed we have it pretty nice, so they’re leaving the rat colony and staking a claim. But lately there are people moving in who aren’t here for the lifestyle. They came for the job, or the opportunity for one. Or they left their hulking wreck of a tax-infected city because it became unlivable. But they miss their city, or at least the ideal of the city. Instead of taking time to see what they have here and adapting, they’re trying to recreate what they had. And the low hanging fruit is to get the politicians to spend more money. And they love to spend money. Money for police, money for “education” money for “infrastructure.” As long as it comes from someone else’s pocket they’re happy to take it.
Yep. That’s what is happening out west. People are moving away from the shit. Then they want to recreate the shit they left, right here.
Time for the locals to put their foot down. If the morons up here can defend unnecessary gas pipelines cutting through protected pinelands and win… Then surely small town locals in numbers can stand up against encroaching citiots, fight their bs propositions and come out on top. No town should tolerate yuppie cockroaches.
It’s more subtle things. School bonds for example. Locals believe in the government schools just like the new clowns that move in from urban areas. If it’s for the children, you “must hate the children” if you are against the school bond, the parks and on and on and on it goes.
You can’t opt out, you can only go more rural and lessen the burden.
Hi Ancap,
I’ve thought about showing up at the local county government board of supervisors meetings and asking how it is that someone else’s decision to have children imposes a legally binding obligation on me and others to provide “education” for their children. Of course, I don’t do this because I know what the response would be.
I am “selfish” and “hate kids.”