
By Stewart Rhodes of Oath Keepers
and Brandon Smith of the Alternative Market Project
To put it simply, America is nearing a checkmate scenario. Like the final torrid maneuvers of a rigged chess match, we have been pressed, manipulated, and attacked into the last remaining corner of the “grand global chessboard” left to us; centralized control of all social and economic power into the hands of an unworthy elite. If we continue playing the game by their rules, we will lose. There is no doubt. There have been many solutions presented to us in the past to combat this development, but nearly all of them function within the constraints of Federal politics. Working within the system has earned us no quarter, and frankly, no results. Our only recourse (and, frankly, the best recourse all along) is to STOP relying on the rules of their game, and to walk away from the chess board completely.
Globalization is essentially just another word for centralization, and the key to centralizing any system is to remove all options until the masses are completely and utterly dependent upon a single dominant paradigm. Globalists have deceived many Americans into believing that centralization is a “natural” process - that their game is indeed the only one in town. The widespread acceptance of the fiat monetary system is a perfect example of the average person’s unfortunate lack of economic flexibility. Only recently, in the face of dollar devaluation and complete financial collapse have many finally begun to question the legitimacy of a single brittle and corrupt economic structure. American politics are no different.
The elites have conned us into thinking that the only possible “solution” to where we are is federal elections, which only vote in new puppets for the puppet masters to manipulate in an illusory shell game. We have been tricked into thinking we are free because we come together from time to time to select our rulers.
But of course, this country was not founded as a democracy, but as a Constitutional Republic, and in such a Republic as ours, liberty is not just about “kicking the bums out” every few years only to vote a new set of bums into Congress, as the globalists would have us think. Federal elections are just one small part of it. The Founders intended us to be active, sovereign citizens, in strong communities and strong, sovereign states, and that is about far, far more than merely voting.
But because the globalists – with the aid of complicit domestic counterparts - have been able to capture our education system, our media, our political system, and our legal system, they have succeeded in dumbing us down and duping us into thinking that all other mechanisms for constraining power have been removed from the table. In fact, we have been convinced that all of the other fundamental institutions of our republic– aside from voting - are illegitimate, or even criminal.
The Founders gave us a dual sovereignty republic. That means states are as much sovereign within their sphere as the national government is within its sphere, with a national government of limited, enumerated, and divided powers. As our Tenth Amendment makes clear, “[t]he powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
In Federalist 45, James Madison (widely considered the ‘father of the Constitution”) promised the American people that:
The powers delegated by the proposed Constitution to the federal government, are few and defined. Those which are to remain in the State governments are numerous and indefinite. The former will be exercised principally on external objects, as war, peace, negotiation, and foreign commerce; with which last the power of taxation will, for the most part, be connected. The powers reserved to the several States will extend to all the objects which, in the ordinary course of affairs, concern the lives, liberties, and properties of the people, and the internal order, improvement, and prosperity of the State.
Clearly the design of the Founders’ has been turned on its head. With the aid of complicit judges – which Thomas Jefferson called a “corps of sappers and miners” – who willfully misinterpret the Commerce Clause to grant Congress the power to regulate literally anything, we now have a ruling class who will admit of no restraints on national power with a national government of nearly unlimited de facto powers, grown like a metastasizing cancer far beyond the bounds of anything foreseen by even the most skeptical of Anti-Federalists from the Founding era. All actual, physical and structural powers of any real meaning – legislative, military, legal, law enforcement, and economic – are consolidated in the hands of the federal government. On top of this, they have grafted a hydra-like overlay of international law and international unelected agencies and untouchable international “officials” that are also being imposed up us by means of treaties, executive partnerships (such as the supposedly now defunct Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, now being revitalized by the Obama Administration) and other constitutionally dubious mechanisms.
While we are distracted with elections, they are planning the destruction of the dollar, the collapse of our economy, the final destruction of our sovereignty, and the total absorption of our entire system into the vapid body of an unaccountable global government.
This is why we must stop playing by their “rules,” must get off of their artificial chess board, and instead play by the rules of our Constitution. This means taking power into our own hands as individuals, communities, counties, and states.
To do this, Neithercorp Press, the Alternative Market Project, and Oath Keepers are working together to focus on concrete solutions that can be applied by the average American in their day-to-day lives, in both the private and public spheres. In the limited time we have left, we urge Americans to focus on the following four key strategies (arranged in order of priority of needs):
1. Food and fuel independence and security – and other essential infrastructure (general preparedness) - as individuals, within local veterans organization chapters, neighborhood mutual aid societies, churches, co-ops, farmers markets, and at the town, county and state levels). In the aftermath of an economic collapse, food is the hardest necessity to improvise, and food scarcity is a serious achiles heel, exploited by oppressive regimes throughout history. To get started on food storage and independence, follow the advice on providentliving.org (you don’t need to be LDS to learn from their experience in food storage and preparedness, or to use their canneries). Likewise, we will need fuel, emergency medical, and resilient communication that can function in a grid-down crisis, devoid of internet communication (or with the internet shut down intentionally by means of a kill-switch).
2. Physical security and Independence - again as individuals, neighborhoods, towns, counties and states, to include forming neighborhood watches, mutual aid associations, a volunteer sheriff’s posse (staffed by volunteers under direct command of the sheriff), and county militias established by county ordinances but staffed by self-supplied and self-funded volunteers (as is done in volunteer fire departments all over this nation), and ultimately, a true state militia capable of “repelling invasions” (using the research and model bills of Dr. Edwin Vieira). Americans have plenty of guns, but not enough organization. See operationsleepinggiant.org for details.
3. Economic security and independence - as individuals and communities, including barter networks, use of silver and gold as real money, the development of valuable trade skills, and sound money bills at the county and state levels (as Utah just passed into law). The localization of community commerce is the only sure way to counter globalization. The more independent and insulated cities and states are from the corrupt and dysfunctional mainstream economy, the more safe and secure they will find themselves when that economy implodes. We must have an alternative to the fiat money system in place to preempt such an event. See alt-market.com for details.
4. State sovereignty and nullification of unconstitutional federal laws and actions. Veterans must support only sheriffs, state legislators and governors who have the guts and integrity to keep their oaths. To vote for an oath breaker, is to become an oath breaker. We must defend the powers reserved to the states and to the people by supporting state sovereignty resolutions and nullification of unconstitutional laws. See tenthamendmentcenter.com. And eventually we must kick the bums out, as GOOOH recommends. See goooh.com.
We will soon be publishing an upcoming series of articles that will provide in-depth details on each of the above four key pillars of action. While we should not turn our backs on the tactics of educating the public, supporting constitutional legislation, voting for honest and principled representatives, or nullifying unconstitutional laws (we should certainly make full use of the soap box, the ballot box, and the jury box) it is now time to dedicate ourselves to much more. The very future of our country, our liberties, and the prosperity of the next generation depends upon this.
For the Republic,
Stewart Rhodes
Brandon Smith
You can contact Brandon Smith at: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Want to get started building a barter group to protect your town, city, or state from economic disaster? Visit our networking page, sign up, and meet like-minded people in your area now!
http://www.alt-market.com/social

written by Evee , April 17, 2011
This is the right track. There are only two action choices we have: Direct or Indirect Action. Most people choose indirect, hoping they can get others to do (politicians, school boards, spouses, etc) so they don't have to do anything. Direct is we do it! Home school, grow food, uses silver, barter, pack up an move, divorce abusive spouse. Make the change yourself. This is your power and you can control it yourself. Thank you!! I moved to our family farm, which is food self sufficient and now working to get off the grid and get my ham radio license. My daughter is trying to set up a community intranet so we can communicate in our own circle. I have also donated to support your endeavor.
written by billnbart2 , April 19, 2011
good article. i would like to see a link where i might share the article via email.
written by GardenSERF , April 19, 2011
Before the checkmate comes the getting cornered in Delatang's Triangle.
written by The_MK , April 19, 2011
I want to return to a lawful country without the millions of idiotic maritime courts gouging us to support judges who could not make it as lawyers. In Texas, we have a real problem. We have the local nut cases giving children tickets to raise revenue. We have the local police, the sheriffs, DPS and other groups constantly harassing the citizens to RAISE MONEY SO THAT RICK PERRY CAN LIVE IN A $10,000 A MONTH PENTHOUSE.
I am completely fed up, but I am also wary of anybody who follows the Koch Brother's initiatives because I have seen what they have funded in the Libertarian Party and I want no part of it. I also do not subscribe to alleged "free market" pseudo-comparative advantage which is going to turn the world into a plantation.
Unlike many people, I actually do understand economics. What we have now is completely unsustainable and ridiculous. We are using our tax laws and government to reward criminals and give big payoffs to unethical Congressmen and Senators. In particular, I am disturbed by the number that hold stock in arms companies and try to pretend that putting that stock in a trust lets them vote objectively.
I do not support Randian or Objectivist politics (these are actually Rothschild politics)
I do not support the far right politics of the Kochs
I do not support what Obama is doing
I do not support rule by Banksters (please see InsideJob)
I do not support the current idiotic FDA policies that are making people chronically ill with UNPROVEN VACCINES. We don't actually have studies that show that Vaccines produce immunity. (See book:Vaccine A by Gary Matsomoto about the anthrax vaccines)
I do not support water fluoridation
I do not support fracking which is destroying the integrity of artesian water storing rock formations
I support freedom and the common law as well as the Constitution
written by Riiiiiiiight , April 20, 2011
Meanwhile they're killing us by a thousand cuts. Oil has us by the throat. $4 a gallon for gas. $5. $6. We'll pay, till we can't afford to drive. No work, no money. No money, no nothing. Game. OVER. You guys make it sound like after the "big one," whatever that is -- economic collapse, civil war, "terrorist" attack, extreme weather -- the psychopaths running this planet will start playing nice. Great plan, but get fucking real. What you are trying to "preserve" NEVER EXISTED.
written by glum , April 20, 2011
The country is (probably has long been) under continuous emergency and that means all civil law is suspended/optional and form of govt. is military dictatorship under the pres. as commander in chief. Govt. is what he says it is. Govt. can arbitrarily invade your place and confiscate your stuff and arrest/detain you incommunicado indefinitely.
check out
USAvUS
The Truth as I see it--The original government and the current corporate government are not the same.
www.usavsus.info - Proxy - Highlight
Also, are we in bankruptcy and compelled performance in the interests of our creditors?
Has the US already been secretly/quietly placed under some sort of supra-national UN/ world governance authority/governance?
Under emergency rule, all bets are off. Govt. can lie to the people, conceal such things as the above, do whatever it wants, in the interests of 'preserving the public peace.'
written by Dale Netherton , April 20, 2011
Reality and human nature are on on side of the chessboard and the dummies that seek conquest are on the other. The debasement of the currency, the rebellion of the innovators and the incompetence of government planning make the checkmate favorable to the reality side of the board. Marx claimed scientific progression for communism and this latest offshoot is destined for a similar fate for the same reasons.
written by Brandon Smith , April 21, 2011
Frodo,
I think the suggestion that we "abandon" the Constitution is the most common I hear from:
1) disinfo trolls promoting some kind of collectivist solution or random violence.
2) idiots promoting some kind of collectivist solution or random violence.
The concepts and principles put forth in the Constitution are what make it binding, because they are the inherent concepts of conscience. That "piece of paper" is a symbol of our country's struggle to adopt and achieve a society based on those inherent principles. They are a part of every human being, regardless of what age they are born in. They are timeless.
Please tell me, Frodo, what YOUR solution would be to our current situation? All you listed were some teenage fantasies about "recalling everyone in DC" (how would you go about doing that...?) or some subtle inferences to an unfocused armed rebellion (without the principles outlined in documents like the Constitution, we just get another French Revolution....in other words, a disaster). The Founding Fathers were far wiser and more savvy in the ways of revolution than you will ever be. Please show some respect.
written by Mary , April 21, 2011
I've reprinted your article on our website.
http://www.ajosephproject.com....emove it.
Thank you.
written by Frodo , April 22, 2011
Brandon, you claim that we need to stop playing "by their rules," and yet you still support the CONstitution? The same CONstitution that basically empowers these people at every turn? I'm somewhat baffled. And would you please tell me what, or who, it is that I'm supposed to show some respect for? I don't think that I attacked you in any way. Since you indirectly referred to me as an idiot, and equated what I wrote with "teenage fantasies," I could echo the last sentence of your response to me. By the way, I didn't infer anything. An inference is something that YOU would make from what I wrote.
You want solutions? Here are a few, among many. Nullification is gaining a lot of traction. The state legislatures can also pass legislation making "federal" laws unenforceable in their states. They can also start making their own money. There is nothing in the CONstitution that gives the crapweasels in Congress a monopoly on creating money. If you are so afraid of "abandoning" the CONstitution, maybe you should try studying it a bit more closely. And so on . . .
By the way, why don't you show me your legal evidence proving that the CONstitution is "binding?" If I took you into court, and sued you for breach of contract, and you hadn't signed it, I would be thrown out of court. However, the judge would ultimately claim to derive their authority from those same unsigned pieces of paper that you consider "binding." Exactly how does that work, pray tell?
Perhaps you should consider taking a course or two in contract law. Then you'd realize what a gigantic con this whole thing is. If you choose to respond, that will be the end of this. I'm not getting involved in some of the back-and-forth stuff that I see people on the Internet becoming involved in. If we disagree, so be it.
written by Brandon Smith , April 22, 2011
Frodo,
I see a lot of blathering but no substance to your response.
Again, I never said the Constitution is "legally binding". What I said was that the PRINCIPLES outlined in the Constitution are timeless, and binding in the sense that they are inherent in all people. If you are looking at the Constitution as merely a "legal contract" then you have foolishly missed the entire point of the document, which is to promote a path of freedom, not "demand" a legal adherence to freedom.
I agree that nullification is important, thats why we are working closely with the people at Nullify Now. However, nullification does not solve the problem of social framework, or even outline a path as the Constitution does. It is but one small part of a larger picture. So, yet again, please tell me what your position really is, clearly and concisely, instead of rambling on and on about "Zionist owned criminals" and "millions of gun owners" which you OBVIOUSLY inferred should initiate some kind of violent action without specifying what that action should be or how it should be undertaken.
What do you suggest we replace the framework of the Constitution with, since you claim it helps the elites so much (if it helps them, why are they attempting to undermine it at every turn? Your logic leaves something to be desired...)
How should we rebuild? ) Please, oh wise one, with your community college courses in contract law, tell me what your ideal society looks like...
written by Rick Mcc , April 23, 2011
I woke in the middle of the night from a night-mare. I am not a child I am a grown man. But I am haunted by what is happening in my country. It is eating me alive and they are laughing as they do it. I feel powerless to stop it. Then it came to me that the scam is only half over. In order for them to compIete it they must foreclose on all these houses they keep talking about. That is the real value they are after. The paper means nothing without having possesion of the houses. I have decided I will not sit by and do nothing, I will fight them with everything I know how to do. First off..........I WILL NOT GIVE MY HOUSE TO THEM......... it has been proven that any mortgage that went through securitization and MERS did not follow the proper legal chain. All foreclosures that have been taking place are illegal. Yet the courts and the Attroney Generals do nothing!!!! The Federal Government can see it so they try to erase those laws so it will appear legal. They are letting banks forclouse on lies. Well I for one do not care what the court says. It is illegal and I will not let my house be stollen from me. It is my start of telling them I am not going to let them get away with it. Just imagine if every homeowner in America did the same and refused to give up their house. Ok that thought needs some serious consideration. What would happen? every citizen in America behind bars? I dont think the police would go door to door evicting people. What happens when they get to their own door. How about big banks that would be the end of them. All this mess is about paper. We the people are the ones that have possesion of what is considered the value of all that paper. The paper they hold is just that paper its the real estate we hold that is the valuable thing. Let them laugh and put imaginary value in offshore banks. It is nothing. We are headed for a financial collapse anyway. So lets change the rules and not give them the valuable thing in the whole deal. We would be the ones with the power not them . Now that would be a revolution. It has already started I am not alone. But we need every citizen to do the same. We can get rid of them, they will be easy to spot they will be screaming they are being robbed. And then we start all over. With some different laws to protect the people and not big corporations.
written by Alananda , April 25, 2011
for getting off the globalists' chessboard. I'll keep all of you posted on our local vote count as we invite other souls, kindred and neighbor alike, to depart those dialectic squares. In the meantime, I have to say that, like meat attracts yellow jackets, it seems to me that wasps have taken notice of Alt-Market and zoom in. Be discriminating.
written by Ethan Allen , May 16, 2011
I can't sat whether the little countries in the UN are complicit with globalization, or their leaders. People are people, and they want to survive. The Evil Ones have set us against each other in our beloved country, to keep our eyes averted from their thievery. We must reach out to the unlikeliest of allies. The white working class resents black America's use of tax dollars. Well, dopes, the Evil Ones socio-engineered our disfunctional inner cities, specifically to give folks that are only a few rungs from the bottom of the ladder somebody to blame, to hate, to resent, and to keep down. It's been a sophisticated dog and pony show, and we fell for it. I'm not a holy roller, but Jesus saw for himself how difficult it would be to boot out the Romans, so he went with Plan B, which was, turn the other cheek, get along with the tax collectors, and outlast the Roman occupation. If the Jewish Elite weren't so antsy, they might have let Jesus live, but no. They wasted Him, got a succession of other Messiahs to wage war on the militarily superior Romans, and what did they get? Diaspora. If they had waited until 410 A.D., the Roman Empire fell apart, and the Jews would have inherited their own land. Maybe we modern Americans will similarly screw up, and the Indians will get THEIR land back, just by being patient. The scoundrels who oppose goodness are like the Hitlerian Germans. They annotate everything, soup to nuts. They will undo us, by the book, at least on the surface of things. We may be able to exploit that, by keeping our noses clean, WITHOUT GOING VICHY! But if they attack directly, that will force our hands. Small groups of armed resistors will struggle. That's why springing loose the truth about 9/11 could be a keyway to enlisting the general public in this struggle for freedom. The new bin Laden raid is more show, put on as a cautionary against the slowly growing truth movement. God help us. Amen.
written by AnAmericanWoman , May 30, 2011
Obama said it himself. Never let a (good crises) go to waste.
Now that Bin Laden is dead (this government) will (invent) a new foe/enemy so they can have an (emergency) to keep us at HIGH crises levels.
How sick is that? I want this country to get back to normal again.
We have been at high (crises levels) for several years now… Enough is enough!
And now they are saying (its ok) to FORCE our people into dangerous (x-ray scanners) or to force them to be (hand fondled) by govt agents--in our airports. Profiling works. SO let’s USE it again. Now the bad guys have more (ease of travel) in our own country--than WE do. This is WRONG!
The bad guys are (outside of America) and coming thru our WIDE OPEN borders everyday --illegally. Why are they still WIDE OPEN? We are the ONLY COUNTRY (in the world) allowing this idiocy to happen. ALL other countries have secured-fenced borders—Even Mexico (has fenced) its southern border… Why haven't we???
Common sense says we (need to fix) these things. Let’s get off our asses and (FORCE our state senators) to do it... Or become the next senators ourselves and DO it!!!
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written by Richard Marshall , August 22, 2011
Yes, we're reaching a crises situation here in the good 'ol US of A! I believe what would be of utmost importance right now in gaining ground on our enemies, both foreign and domestic, is to ensure that Obama the fraud is eventually found out. We should make that #1 on our agenda to turn this ship around. If, by exposing Obama as the fraud he obviously is, then, everything he's put his signature to will, of course, be null and void. The obvious next step will be to ensure that he does jail time for his fraud on the American people.
Next, would be the enablers that have helped him perpetrate the fraud, i.e., the MSM, Pelosi, Reid, most, if not all of the Dems, and the RINOs. By being able to expose these rats for who they are, AND JAIL TIME, this will discourage any further endeavors in that direction.
I hear the court in the Orly Taitz case is now saying she does have 'standing'. Well, we'll see how that turns out. And, I've heard that the Surprise Tea Party, in Surprise, AZ, have asked Sheriff Joe Arpaio to look into Obama's BC and his records. I'm not sure if he's going to pursue that or not. In any event, Obama's records and his acting more like a dictator everyday, is not going away anytime soon.
So, push hard for Obama's disclosure of his records, and the audacity of this fool putting out a fraudulent document claiming it's his real BC. Pahleez!!!! How stupid does he think we are! That's my take on how to begin to take our country back. The sooner the better.
written by Winston , August 22, 2011
All of us should realize by now that "voting" for change doesn't work. All voting does is let off steam while the globalists working to centralized the government control of the work into a One-World Government/Economy/Religion. Our political candidates (at the puppet-President level) are hand-picked by the Bilderbergs, CFR members, Illuminati, etc. (globalist elites). If we are sincere in desiring to retain our Constitution, Rule of Law, and national sovereignty we must push back agaisnt illegitimate President Obama/Barry Soetero and all Washington establishment elites.
written by Jazzabelle , October 03, 2011
The debate over whether the Constitution is legally binding and/or important puzzles me somewhat. It is only a corporate constitution. Our national constitution is still in full force and effect, exactly as written, and it is binding on the federal and state governments. It isn't binding on citizens, because it wasn't written to control citizens; it was written to govern the government.
Those who feel that the Constitution is being violated by government are typically confusing the national Constitution with the corporate constitution of the corporation that has the contract to execute the business needs of the government (most people simply refer to that corporation as "the government," although that isn't technically correct). The corp. gets control over people by contract. If you haven't signed on, you haven't lost the God-given rights that you were born with (as our Founding Fathers believed). Of course, if you were ever victimized by someone claiming to act for the government, you'd have to explain to the court why s/he didn't have the authority over you that s/he has over most people ... and in order to do that, you'd have to understand the law somewhat. Still, I'd rather spend some time learning the law than throw up my hands and consider my liberty gone for good. I find teamlaw.org a good resource for that...but you don't strictly need it if you're willing to do the legal research on your own.
written by Dennis Wilson , January 04, 2012
@ Brandon Smith
"What do you suggest we replace the framework of the Constitution with,..."
In Aug 2006, I addressed that very question in my article
“…to institute new Government, laying its foundation…”.
From Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence, dated 1776:
* "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness."
*
I submit that the government of the United States of America operated mostly within the limits of the Constitution from 1788 until the Constitution was openly ignored and blatantly subverted by President Abraham Lincoln from 1861 to 1865, and that since that time, instead of being restored and restrained to its original limits, the government has instead expanded its powers far beyond the limits once imposed by the Constitution and has indeed become destructive of the ends enumerated in the Declaration of Independence and for which the Constitution was allegedly created to protect.
That is a premise of this essay and since there is ample evidence of this published elsewhere, proof will not be offered in this essay. Such being the case, the focus and purpose of this essay is to exercise, in Jefferson’s words, “the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government”.
http://tinyurl.com/yjpmdsc
Whether you agree or not, I hope you will give it consideration--after all, you DID ask...:)
Dennis
written by Robchipman , February 14, 2012
Pretty interesting stuff. However, I think you give the elites and the politicians too much credit. They are just venal and greedy.
They are also pretty single minded.
One thing that you've left out is knowledge, especially of history. I'm north of fifty. I can see how much memory changes as years go by - people younger than me don't remember things from my youth because they weren't born yet.
The saying that there is nothing new under the sun is very true. A study of history combined with the internet and discussion should make us harder to rule.
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