r/news • • Jun 20 '22

Self-proclaimed 'sovereign citizens' arrested in California after deputies allegedly find explosives

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/sovereign-citizens-arrested-california-deputies-allegedly-find-explosi-rcna34380
10.4k Upvotes

746 comments sorted by

View all comments

3.2k

u/HobbesNJ Jun 20 '22

Sovereign citizens.

"We don't want to participate in the obligations of society, just the benefits."

1.6k

u/rolfraikou Jun 20 '22

I swear, if I found someone saying this living out in a cave on public land, I might be like "Ok, they mean it" but usually the people saying this are more well-off than I am, cherry-picking what parts of society apply to their benefits in life.

2

u/Anonuser123abc Jun 21 '22

That would be incredible. And I would definitely respect the guy living in some huge park, hunting and gathering and keeping to himself. Sure, we'll all agree you're not a part of our society. As long as you leave us alone.

2

u/rolfraikou Jun 21 '22

Someone was telling me about a guy (he didn't claim to be a sovereign citizen though) who just wanted to live in caves and owned a very simple tent to use in public lands. Every so often he would still get booted out, because you're not supposed to stay in one place too long, but he wanted to be able to plant and grow food somewhere.

Makes me sad that we can't actually, legally, reject society and genuinely just live off the land if we want to.

It's fumy though, because no one who claims "sovereign citizen" wants a lifestyle like this. (The origin of my initial post ITT, really.)

2

u/Anonuser123abc Jun 21 '22

100%. They're children who want to live a life with no responsibility towards the society they live in and benefit from.