Gypsies and a TAZ

When I refer to Gypsies here, I’m talking about the Romani, the traveling people. What’s a TAZ? Temporary Autonomous Zone. It’s a place where the laws of the local region, for all practical purposes don’t apply. It could be anything from a Biker party to a Rainbow gathering.

What do they have in common, and what does that have to do with doomers, preppers and other freedom lovers?

Plenty.

A common complaint among freedom lovers is that there is no one place where they can experience the freedom they desire. Various attempts have been made, with mixed results. The United States itself is one such attempt. In more recent times, we have the Free State Movement. Let’s be kind and call them works in progress. I’ll argue that the US freedom project has done a lot of backsliding of late.

While having a fixed geographical area for freedom loving people may be desirable, it’s at best a long range goal. In the short term we can model ourselves on Gypsies. They are in larger societies, but only marginally connected to them. They have their own languages, laws, and traditions. Their goals are different than the larger societies goals. Lip service is given to the dominant culture, but only as much as is necessary to survive.

We outsiders should think more like Gypsies. We are in a larger culture, but not really invested in it. Doesn’t it feel like we are no longer talking the same language as the people in our consumer culture? We are impressed by things like deep pantries, good gardens, alternative energy, and a home shooting range. Skills are even more important than stuff.

Accept that you aren’t going to change the dominate culture and concentrate on building your own Gypsy tribe. We have much in common with each other and it might benefit us to act like a people apart.

Problem is, we aren’t very thick on the ground. We are scattered. That’s where the TAZ could come in. Gatherings of like minded people could stake out temporary zones of freedom. Before the powers that be can get their act together, we’d disperse once more. However, for a few hours or days, we’d live by our rules alone. It’d be darn good practice to see how well those ideas and practices would work in the real world -if only for a short while.

The Rainbow People have done it for years. There’s no official leaders. When they take over a National Forest, they overwhelm local law enforcement. They live by their own code for a few days. You don’t have to like them to learn from them.

The dominate cultures have aways hated Gypsies and other independent groups. They’ve been persecuted for years, yet they are still among us. Perhaps they have a thing or two to teach us?

-Sixbears