What Are Freedom Cells?

The American visionary and philosopher Buckminster Fuller recognized early on that a false and immoral system can only be overcome by creating a new structure that makes the old model obsolete. With the existing social power structures, however, this is easier said than done. Criticism of the systematic and socially accepted violence inherent in state structures throughout the world is available in abundance. Yet the critics again and again only throw the same statist shadows on the wall and sell this change of color in existing power relations as systemic change. In truth, conservative and liberal forces sing in the same choir when it comes to the legitimization of external authorities and state power structures. But what does a genuine approach look like? What would a decentralized and horizontal organization of social structures look like?

Introduction

The idea of Freedom Cells is now well over ten years old and goes back to the ideas of two Texan visionaries and activists. Through the official homepage Freedomcells.org, one can register with a simple email address and find various groups around the world. There is no paywall and one can contact people in one’s own vicinity with just a few clicks. But what exactly are these Freedom Cells?

Freedom Cells are decentrally organized and locally operating groups of around eight persons. All group members are equal and interact with one another voluntarily, peacefully, and directly. It is more or less a union of friends with the same ideas and wishes who help and support one another. The group is united by the desire to create alternative social structures and to offer peaceful resistance to the existing power relations. For this reason, agorism and counter-economic action play an important role in these groups. Concretely, it is also about preparing for times of crisis, a social collapse, and general supply shortages. For example, every Freedom Cell should create a food store for a period of at least three months. And if that perhaps sounds somewhat exaggerated, even the Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance recommends a ten-day supply reserve for every German household. Obviously, in an emergency this works considerably better in a group. Members can help one another, for example, in the procurement and storage of food and other consumer goods in large quantities.

The two founders deliberately created with the term Freedom Cells a counter-draft to the state propaganda model of “terror cells.” Instead of spreading terror, the language is to be reclaimed and freedom spread. Moreover, Freedom Cells operate as independently as cells in one’s own body and simultaneously function as a larger organism. From this perspective, every Freedom Cell plays a crucial role in the spread of counter-economic activities and is at the same time part of a larger network. This promotes the exchange of ideas and products between the individual groups.

Each individual Freedom Cell can create its own visions and mission statements. Thus some can concentrate on growing their own food and permaculture, others on the free education of our youngest generations, and yet others on counter-economic enterprises. However, every member should adhere to the clear principles of the Freedom Cell Network, which will be discussed in more detail in a later chapter. The preservation of the personal freedom of each individual should always be in the foreground. The guideline of eight members in a group derives from the research of Bob Podolsky and his book “Flourish!: An Alternative to Government and Other Hierarchies.” The idea behind it is that a shortage of individuals limits the group’s capabilities and an excess of characters brings the group into disorder and impedes it through a lack of focus.

The individual Freedom Cells connect with other Freedom Cells in their region and thus form a medium-sized network. These networks in turn connect to a larger network of decentrally acting peer-to-peer groups. With the growth of the network, the ability to support members and achieve common goals also increases.

The Freedom Cell Network functions similarly to the mycorrhizal network in nature. The fungal network acts as an impressive underground communication and supply system without central control and can connect trees over kilometers, exchange nutrients between plants, and even pass on warning signals in cases of pest infestation. There is no single large network, but many overlapping systems. In the same way, the Freedom Cell Network represents a decentralized communication and supply system consisting of many different, overlapping peer-to-peer groups. In a sense, it is about building a decentralized, voluntarist parallel society that is meant to one day replace the existing, coercion-based top-down society.

Origins

The idea of the Freedom Cell Network goes back to the initiative of the two Texan activists John Bush and Derrick Broze. The two visionaries are by now among the leading representatives of the so-called “Truth and Freedom” movement in the English-speaking world and have with the livefree.academy and theconsciousresistance also brought long-standing, successful projects of their own to life. Derrick Broze first recorded the concept of Freedom Cells in writing in 2017 in his book “Manifesto of the Free Humans.” A year earlier, the two had started a first website and developed the concept with a second vision through to the end of 2019. The Freedom Cell Network was to capture the restless energy of the freedom movement searching for solutions and set it in motion. The timing was actually chosen very interestingly. For just one year later, the use case was made more than clear by the worldwide emergence of totalitarian state lockdowns and the establishment of a two-class society through the orchestrated vaccine mandate. During the pandemic, the network recorded an exponential rise in interest and participation.

The website grew from approximately 1,500 members to over 34,000 users after COVID. Moreover, the messaging app Telegram experienced a rapid rise in user numbers in spring 2020, including members of the freedom movement who had been banned from other social media platforms. The Freedom Cell Network was part of this growth. Among the most active regions were Mexico, Australia, India, Canada, Portugal, Germany, and the USA. Overall, those involved estimate that there are now more than 40,000 people who are connected to some degree with the movement and the concept.

At the end of 2020, the Freedom Cell Network also launched their first own event with “The Greater Reset Activation.” The name was deliberately chosen as a counter-draft to the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos (Switzerland). While the WEF and its technocrats concentrated on central top-down planning, the focus was to be placed on decentralization and grassroots organization. This five-day solution-oriented event was to motivate and inspire participants and online viewers to take concrete steps in their lives to exit the state control network. The response to the Activation was overwhelmingly positive, especially during the COVID period, and resulted in an annual event that continues to this day with several hundred participants. From 2025, the event runs under the name “The People’s Reset” and is now receiving attention in the German-speaking alternative media as well.

Principles

The Freedom Cell Network has no central governing bodies, is not monopolized by the vision of individual groups, and even the handbook of Freedom Cells merely represents guidelines in the organization and handling. Nevertheless, this movement stands for clear values and principles. Whoever therefore wants to be part of this movement should clearly engage with these principles beforehand and identify with them. Those who do not adhere to these principles will therefore not be regarded as part of the Freedom Cell Network.

The Freedom Cell Network is decentralized and horizontally organized. It functions on the basis of voluntary associations. No individual person or group has authority over other groups or members. Each group can fundamentally live its own organizational and decision-making model. Sociocracy is the best-known model for equal autonomous groups, as Freedom Cells are.

And although the Freedom Cell Network is internationally oriented and has groups in many countries worldwide, the individual Freedom Cells function at the local level. Only through the direct cooperation of the members of a Freedom Cell can a sense of community arise. Ultimately, it is about the joint realization of goals and visions that advance the entire group. Local connections are the most direct source of cooperation and support.

The Freedom Cell Network fundamentally assumes that every participant is aware of the existing problems of our society. The network is therefore solution-oriented and wants to direct the capacity of all members toward the creation of a peaceful and free society. It is expressly not meant for discussing the latest conspiracy theories or engaging with the latest political theater.

The Freedom Cell Network does not tolerate, support, or endorse the use of violence against individuals, state representatives, or companies. It is a peaceful and non-violent movement that concentrates on creating and not on destroying. It advocates for the building of new institutions and parallel systems, not for violent revolutions. The network does, however, support the right of every individual to self-defense, which from the perspective of natural law should never be regarded as violence.

The Freedom Cell Network concentrates on building a decentralized parallel society and sees no sense or purpose in changing the existing political order “from within.” A sick system based on violence and coercion cannot be changed, but only overcome. Politics is part of the problem and therefore advertising for political candidates, elections, or lobbying within the network is not desired. Freedom Cells are apolitical and instead take responsibility for themselves and the community by creating common solutions for parallel systems.

Those who want to engage more closely with the Freedom Cell Network will find further information on the official homepage freedomcells.org. The handbook is also available for free download on our website under Research.