It sounds like it was a fascinating meeting of the minds and that it went well.
Henderson says, “I emerged with more hope for the antiwar movement than I’ve had in a while.”
The U.S. Treasury Department is required to publish a list of people who have renounced their United States citizenship.
“[D]uring the quarter ending [, a] total of 502 individuals expatriated.
This is the highest quarterly number of individuals expatriating for many years.
In fact, during that one quarter, there were more expatriations [than] in the combined previous seven quarters.”
International Tax Blog speculates that this is because of a recent change in the law concerning tax treatment of expatriates.
Until recently, even if you renounced your citizenship and moved to another country, the U.S. still wanted you to file tax returns for 10 more years, and would tax you on all of your income if you spent more than 30 days a year in-country.
Now “moderately wealthy individuals can expatriate without any U.S. taxation… the 10 year tax filings are no longer necessary, making the expatriation a clean break from the U.S.”
Inspired by Gandhi’s whole-system approach to nonviolence, they are guided by five principles: simplicity, service, activism, inner work, and celebration.
In terms of simplicity: they grow their own food (including everything from peaches and nuts to goat cheese) in permaculture food forests and they can food for the winter; they travel by foot, horse, bicycle, or public transportation (Ethan has been in a car less than 10 times in the last 10 years); they live electricity-free and computer-free, eating dinner by candle-light every night; they make their own music with guitars, a piano, and their own voices; and they tell stories by the wood stove at night.
Some of their many forms of service and activism include: they live by the “gift economy,” sharing free food, free lodging, free permaculture courses and more; they helped start a bicycle cooperative in a local town; they advise people on natural building techniques; they are war-tax resisters; and one month a year Ethan leads a group of costumed “superheroes” on bicycle-powered spontaneous service adventures in various parts of the world.
For inner work they regularly share readings from various spiritual traditions, study Nonviolent Communication, and support one another to live with open hearts and minds.
