I attended "For the Love of FREEDOM!" and met Adam Kokesh -- @adamkokesh

The tour

For those of you who don't already know, activist Adam Kokesh is on Steemit, @adamkokesh, and is currently traveling through all lower 48 states doing his For the Love of FREEDOM! Tour.

I first encountered Adam's work on Steemit and started following with some interest, so it was serendipitous that I got to see him speak in Tampa, FL on September 11th. I was flying to FL for WordCamp Tampa 2016 and a family visit and started reading the electronic version of FREEDOM! while sitting in the airport. When I Googled Adam to get some more background, I found this description of the event in Tampa on his FaceBook...

This is not just another mind-blowing presentation from Adam Kokesh, it's also an exploratory tour for Kokesh 2020. Adam plans to run for President in 2020 on the platform of the peaceful, orderly, abolition of the entire federal government. Any support for ending the fed out there? Adam will be explaining why government is illegitimate, how we move past it, and why it is so important to be involved in this movement right now. He will have free copies of his extremely successful book FREEDOM! available and other FREEDOM! merch.

My mind was indeed blown because the last time I debated with someone about politics and voting in the U.S., I came to the conclusion that I could have trust or confidence in a candidate only if he or she ran on a promise to give up power. I see an implicit acceptance of the government's formidable control over our lives in all the current candidates' positions. This is dangerous and unacceptable no matter what their policies are supposedly going to be.

Of course I couldn't resist going and I invited some other people, and this ended up being one of the highlights of my trip!

Pictures from Adam's stop in Tampa, FL

The event is free but you can purchase a ticket if you want to attend a meet and greet before the presentation starts. I did so and I talked with Adam about his opinion on the military (which is that "having a military makes us less safe"), his book, cryptocurrency, Steemit, and how I initially found anarcho-capitalist ideas through Steemit.

Meet and greet with Adam and local activists

This was held at the VFW building in Tampa. There were quite a few veterans, members of the Libertarian party, and young people from the local universities and YAL.

The speech

My friends and I decided Adam is an excellent speaker and fun to listen to whether you agree with him or not. I especially enjoyed the dance part. (If you're wondering what the hell I'm talking about, check out the Jefferson Memorial flash mob from 2011.)

We all picked up free copies of FREEDOM! and merchandise at the book signing. I gave one copy of the book away and kept one. I finished the ebook a while ago but the signed copy looks so much cooler.

Outside before the trailer signing

I could tell that not everyone at the event had sorted out his or her thoughts on whether any part of the government should exist and how things should be, and some of them told me that, but we were all very interested in personal liberty. It was so nice to connect with some other people who actually care.

Can you find my signature?

The FREEDOM! trailer was already pretty much chock full of signatures, except in some places I am too short to reach, but I managed to cram mine in there.

Got some fun selfies with Adam outside

Another selfie

Conclusion

In recent months, it has become more and more clear to me that there is something fundamentally wrong with practically all speeches given by politicians and all of their discussions of policy. These consist of people telling other people what to do and how to live, because that's what policy implemented by a government (at least as we understand it) is.

I found Adam's speech in defense of freedom refreshing and inspiring because it really was beyond politics, as he claimed. Simply acknowledging that people have the natural right of liberty and helping them to realize this and think for themselves is different from arguing about policy. Recognition of personal freedom should be what informs our actions in relation to others.

I highly recommend attending one of the tour stops if you can and reading the book. I found it accessible and enjoyed the positive, optimistic tone. The sections on cryptocurrency, the internet, and the financial repression created by central banks are particularly good. While I don't feel as certain as Adam does that we are destined to live in a more free society, I do believe it's possible.

To get FREEDOM! for free in every digital format possible including audiobook, please go to:
http://thefreedomline.com/freedom

Also, Adam is throwing a building party from November 4 through November 13 in Ash Fork, AZ to celebrate his latest act of civil disobedience: building a house without a permit.

Marc Stevens, @marcstevens, mentioned this in his radio show, The No State Project.
https://steemit.com/nostateproject/@complexring/no-state-project-live-now-marcstevens

In his article Facts About Attack Against Adam Kokesh, Marc explains how he contacted the County Board of Supervisors for the county Adam's land is in to try to prevent things from escalating, and

No one on the Board of Supervisors could present any facts proving the constitution and code apply to Adam just because he’s physically in Arizona. Neither could one of their attorneys, Jack Fields.

I also recommend following Marc's work at MarcStevens.net.

Edit to add: I thought this was obvious and there should be no need to say it, but just to be clear, the $BD will go to @adamkokesh.