At 0000 on eighth of September Twenty Oh Seven I left my apartment for the last time and have since lived on the streets. My bike under the extreme weight of the cavalry's full cargo and my considerable weight broke a spoke that punctured the rim, tube, and tire. Barring a few days and a few nights here and there where I scored a couch at a friends I have lived on the streets.I have been without money and have survived by the kindness of my friends.
I worked briefly canvasing for Grassroots Campaigns Inc (a two bit marketing firm posing as a progressive organization that I will soundly thrash at some other time)on an ACLU contract. I helped a friend gather ammo and military surplus from an estate sale and then unload it at a gun and knife show. Some of the things that were in that house cannot be discussed in this forum, suffice to say we had no dealings with those items. This netted me a decent amount of survival gear and MRE's as well as good will and a close up view of the world of gun shows. I helped some other friends move up from Colorado, good will, meals, and cash. Surviving on the streets is tough work if you are not willing to beg.
I am now preparing to take what I have earned from GSI and what I can make from selling my bike to the local collective and making my way to a friend's house on the otherside of the country. I'll be in a red state and I'll be nearer the capital. I'll be a continent away from my daughter and the pain twists my soul when I think about that.
Why would one endure these indignities? The stares of people as I enter the public library carrying my life around with me, the anxiety of having to steal food, the sleepless wandering of finding a new campsite when the authorites roust you from the previous one. There is a purpose to this and its become a kind of madness for me. I can not in good faith call myself an American if I am not willing to give up every comfort and stability to restore my freedoms. Our founders signed their own death warrents in order for an America to exist so if we cannot endure some discomforts in our own quests for freedom then we do not deserve to call ourselves Americans.
Homework assignment: significantly lower your comfort level. Learn to live without cable or tv period (I had a diet of not but tv news for a week and came away with nothing but a burning desire to kick anyone who said, OJ or Britney, in my vicinity, no one would know an AG canidate was before the senate) live without home internet if the local library provides you with an hour or more a day, stop driving NOW, if you have a job with a totally vile company like I did find one that is more socially responsible, quit your current job if you need motivation. Throw comfort and stability to the wind they are the chains that hold us back from using our full outrage to bring this administration to heel.
Post your sacrifices below.