# What Do Sovereign Citizens Get Out of All Their Nonsense? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 31, 2019, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-sovereign-citizens-get-out-of-all-their-nonsense/834851 "2019-05-31T21:41:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Showing post:** 117
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2019, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-sovereign-citizens-get-out-of-all-their-nonsense/834851/117 "2019-06-10T05:06:42Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > These SovCits don’t stop to think > > 1. Does this apply in states that never signed the Articles of Confederation? All thirteen states signed the Articles of Confederation. > [@BigT](#): > > It it were only keyboard commandos, it wouldn’t be so widespread. No, people exploit this stuff for profit, writing books where they claim it’s worked for them. If I were to buy into such nonsense, I guarantee you I would not be paying for those books with “government” money; I’d use one of those alternative instruments the books suggest. > [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > As a cadet at West Point he was court martialed for being “drunk on spirits.” He got out of the charges by saying he had been drinking beer. What a clever lad. I’ve seen military cases dismissed that should not have been; they should’ve been continued with a corrected charge sheet. The majority of those cases were for “damage to government property” when a soldier got himself a sunburn or other injury. The best one, though, centered on an improperly complete DA Form 31 (Request and Authority for Leave). The soldier was gone for a year and two weeks. Of course he did not get paid for the whole year, but he did not get punished either. My guess is that the command did not really want to deal with him any longer than necessary so letting him off got him gone sooner. So, how did he get away with a year-long leave? Simple, friends, simple. He accidentally wrote the wrong year in the return date and the chain of command signed off on that. > [@k9bfriender](#): > > My brother went SovCit over ten years ago, and this describes him perfectly. :eek::eek::eek: > [@Czarcasm](#): > > I have found most of them to be mean-spirited shitheads looking for a way to cheat the system, and most of them are stupid enough to believe anybody that tells them what they want to hear. Yep. SovCit/FOTL/etc. bs is yet another flavor of CT nonsense. And CTers are mean-spirited shitheads who only care about how wonderful, smart, and damned clever they appear to be. And they’re egotists, obviously, which is why, as you say, they believe what other CTers tell them: it’s what they want to hear and, “By God, there’s someone out there saying it, dammit, I hear them, so it must be true, damn, I’m clever!” > [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > In fact, it is the exact definitional opposite of civil disobedience. > > People engaging in civil disobedience know they are breaking what they consider to be an unjust law and are willing to accept the consequences of their actions. > > Sovereign citizens don’t believe in laws or the legitimacy of governments and believe their magic sayings will protect them from any consequences. > > There may not be two more dissimilar systems of thought in the universe. Yep. Not only are those engaged in civil disobedience willing to accept the consequences of breaking the unjust law, they usually couch their disobedience on other aspects, legitimate aspects, of the legal system. They are not touting the constitution as illegitimate nor that they are some fictional identity. They are calling on their society to honor its ideals and, get this, basic laws to right a wrong. > [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > they also claim something about a US flag with the gold fringe on it . Either the fringe means it’s not a legit flag or it is legit , cannot recall which one. They claim that [a flag with fringes on it is an “admiralty flag” and therefore a court displaying such flag is an admiralty court with no jurisdiction over them](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Admiralty_court#Admiralty_Courts_in_the_United_States). > [@BrianDime](#): > > I worked with a guy, maybe 20 years ago now, that was one of these. He didn’t pay taxes. On his paperwork in HR he claimed a TON of dependents or something similar, so they withheld very little from his pay. Then, at the end of the year (watch this kids! you won’t be disappointed!) he would file a 1040 that was blank except for his signature at the bottom. His thinking (and I’m SURE he didn’t come up with this on his own) was that you 1) Have to file a tax form, and 2) can’t lie on the tax form, so he had found the “One secret loophole the IRS doesn’t want you to know about”. He should have filed an ID10T, instead. That reminds me of the F14 pilot joke: Question: What’s the biggest problem with the Tomcat? Answer: The R10 switch. > [@digs](#): > > Or the cops just want to see their ID, warn them about their tail light, and get back to busting meth labs in Rural-Ass Ammurica. > > I cannot believe how patient some of these police are. I often wonder if they get “Dealing With Sovereigns/Elderly/Mentally Ill” training. > ETA: Hey, Cop Shops, handy hint: Do NOT hire me. I’d spend exactly thirty seconds with these people. “Okay, you have the count of ten to get in the back of the cruiser, or I’ll tase you and drag your twitching body in there myself. And by the way, I LOVE tasing people like you…” I do believe LEO not only conducts training in various police departments around the world, but also there are seminars to discuss these particular loons. > [@Nava](#): > > ‘_calabacitas de colores_’+ contract & > [@](#): > > - not an actual type of contract. Drat! --- _[View the full topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-sovereign-citizens-get-out-of-all-their-nonsense/834851)._