Check out The Freemen. This is pretty much where this stuff came from, whackos in Montana during the 90s who pulled off the longest standoff with the FBI in American history (may have changed since).

They had their own currency (which some locals would actually accept), and they were very, very good at painting themselves as innocent victims.

I believe that because of them and other groups like The Montana Militia are one of the prime influences for this movement.

It's the same impulse that made medieval people believe they could defend themselves from fairies and demons by saying the right things the right way. Some part of the insanity demands that a person who sees through the illusion can somehow win against the evil conspirators

My guess would be that by using the right words they pretend to be part of that power, because how else would one tell apart the laymen and true sovereign citizens.

Don't know if that even has anything in common with what they say their reasons are, that's too crazy to read 😅

They're grifters of the self.

takes a certain mental toughness to be kind.

If you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough

Similarly same is happening in Czechia. Sovcivs claim Czechoslovakia splitting wasn't constitutional or something like that. Similar idea, same bunch of dumb fucks.

Wasn't it a group of Reichbürgers that got arrested last year for planning a coup in a partnership with right wing military officers?

I find them baffling, what's their deal?

Is it like a religion for them or is there an actual religion?

I mean, that's basically Great Value Scientology.

It's mental illness and wishful thinking all wrapped up together. They believe whole heartily that if they don't agree to the rules of society they are under no obligation to follow societies rules unless a rule benefits them then they should also benefit. I'm sure there are some who are just using it to grift but I believe a majority of them honestly have some form of mental disability because I watched the trial for Darrel Brooks who decided to drive through a crowd at a parade killing six people and injuring several others and he was literally dumbfounded that he was found guilty because he believed the law didn't apply to him as a sovcit.

You know how some people think that a good lawyer can get anyone out of anything if they find the right loophole? SivCits take that to an extreme using completely made up rules. For example, your name printed in ALL CAPS refers to a legal corporation, while normal case refers to you as a human being. If your name is ever printed in all caps, such as on a summons to appear in court, that doesn't actually mean you.

They claim they don't have to follow laws because the flag has fringe on it and something, something, maritime laws. So US law doesn't apply to them.

If that doesn't make a whole lot of sense, it's because Sovereign Citizen doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

I think it's a wild and varied and disorganized mess dreamed up by people who have left the very idea of being reasonable far behind them long ago.

However, a crucial part of it is certain specific capitalization of words. I think some of them had been using caps lock to post rants on discus for too long and think that it has some magical meaning under law...

I say all that to say that they believe that there's a "legal entity" that is invoked when you capitalize versus plain case someone's name (amongst other things)...and that there is a difference between this "legal entity" and the person in a body...which there frankly plainly and obviously isn't.

Despite being told in court by multiple judges that the capitalization of things does not matter, they persist.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_citizen_movement#Immunity_from_laws_and_taxes

I thought the capitalization stuff was kind of a side show, but have since realized that not only is it crucial to their belief system, it also serves as a way to identify them on the Internet. If someone strangely insists on capitalizing certain words or phrases every time they use them and is otherwise very unreasonable, there's a good chance they're a sovcit (or should I say SOVCIT? 🙂).

I think it appears from a fundamental misunderstanding of the social contract. They disagree that they are bound by government and it's laws because they never agreed to it explicitly. They are wrong. Being born in America means your are a citizen and bound by it's rules... they still live here and utilize the infrastructure, they never renounce their citizenship and they don't leave, so it's all crappy entitlement shit to try and get out of tickets and bills and taxes

Congrats! You're one of today's lucky 10000!

Yes I've heard of at least 1 person in Western Europe trying this. They did not get far and are now way deep in debt. But luckily the government they resisted against assigned them a keeper to help get out of the debt. In an anonymous interview they said they regretted the whole thing and were mislead by others. They are now actually really grateful for all the help the government offers to people in shit, even though they got themselves there.

Australia's working on it and getting pretty far. Heck the original Q-board-owner-guy was Aussie. You'd figure that in the land of Rupert Murdoch though eh.

They're high on their own supply, is what they are.

COVID hit hard on mental health for many of us