The Pepper Files: A Journey Through Freedom, Awareness, and Change

The Pepper Files: A Journey Through Freedom, Awareness, and Change

G'day, I'm Wayne Pepper, but you can call me Wayno. This is my introduction to The Pepper Files—a place where I'll be sharing stories, thoughts, and lessons about life, freedom, and how things have changed over the years. You see, I’ve been around long enough to have lived through a time when life was simple, free, and real. But now? Well, let’s just say things have changed, and not always for the better.

The Good Old Days: A Different Kind of Freedom

When I was a kid, we didn’t have electricity, let alone the internet or smartphones. I remember eating my dinner by the light of a kerosene lamp. We got our first TV when I was a teenager, and even then, it was a bit of a novelty.

Growing up on the land, we had real freedom. We played in the mud, drank from the local creek, and roamed through paddocks filled with tiger snakes. We learnt early how to drive tractors and trucks—none of this waiting until you’re 18 to get your licence. I was riding horses fast, sometimes with no saddle or bridle, picking fresh blackberries without getting torn up by the butchers, and spending entire days away from home exploring.

No one was worried. No one was tracking our every move. That was freedom. Real freedom.

Teenage Years: Less Rules, More Responsibility

Fast forward to my teenage years, and life was still pretty simple. No traffic lights in country towns like Bathurst, Orange, or Tamworth—you could drive from one side to the other in minutes. If you got caught doing burnouts in your dad’s car, the biggest worry wasn’t a fine—it was that the cops would tell your dad. And that was a punishment you really didn’t want!

Every farmer carried a firearm in their ute, car, or tractor. It wasn’t about violence; it was just normal. But bit by bit, rules crept in, control tightened, and what once was just part of life became ‘illegal’ or ‘regulated.’

The Shift: Welcome to Big Brother

By my 30s, I was a truckie with a young family. That’s when things really started to change. Speed cameras popped up, fines became a regular part of life, and little Johnny Howard took our firearms—though that’s a story for another day.

Everywhere I looked, new rules were being made up. More regulations, more restrictions. It wasn’t just about safety—it was about control. And it’s only sped up since then.

Why The Pepper Files?

I’ve started The Pepper Files because I’ve known freedom, and I see it disappearing fast. Not just fading away—bolting at full speed. And most people don’t even realise it’s happening.

See, if you don’t know your rights, you don’t have any. That’s how the system works. They count on you not knowing. And if you’re not aware of what’s going on, you can’t do anything about it.

I’ve learnt many of life’s lessons the hard way—through mistakes, failures, and bad decisions. And those are the lessons that stick. The real gold is found in the moments you’d rather forget—money troubles, relationship breakdowns, choices that haunt you. That’s where the learning is.

Someone once asked me what my biggest mistake was. I laughed and said, ‘It’s nice that you think I’ve peaked!’ Because the truth is, I don’t think I have.

The Comfort Zone: The Silent Trap

Most people live in their comfort zone. You know what happens in your comfort zone? Nothing. That’s why they call it that. You don’t take risks, you don’t challenge yourself, and you don’t grow.

If everything you believe is safe and unchallenged, you’re not learning. Anything outside your belief system feels like a threat, so you reject it. You keep running on the same mouse wheel of life, day after day, thinking you’re making progress, but in reality, nothing changes.

But life will push you out of your comfort zone whether you like it or not. And if you’re not ready for it, you’ll struggle to cope.

Awareness: The Game Changer

The key to learning, growing, and changing is awareness. Without it, you’re sleepwalking through life. But when you’re aware, you notice things—patterns, shifts, opportunities, and problems.

Back in the ’90s, I had a business, and I noticed something strange. One day, I walked into the bank, and suddenly, everything had changed. You couldn’t just walk up to the counter anymore—you had to line up. Within a week, every bank, post office, and government office around the country had the same system.

At the same time, suddenly, you couldn’t ring a bank, council, or Telstra without speaking to a robot first. And you couldn’t access your own bank information without proving who you were—even when the staff knew you by name.

That wasn’t just a small change. That was a major, engineered social shift. And most people didn’t even notice.

The Problem With ‘Progress’

If you were born after 1980, you probably don’t know any different. And that’s the scary part. It only takes one generation for massive changes to be accepted as ‘normal.’ That’s how governments work. They don’t need to convince you—just the next generation.

And once something is changed, there’s no going back.

The Pepper Files: A Journey of Awareness

So here we are. You know a bit about me, and why I’m doing this. The Pepper Files is about documenting what’s happening, shining a light on what we’re losing, and hopefully, waking a few people up along the way.

I’m still learning. Still growing. And I want to bring others along for the ride.

I’ll be uploading a video every week. If you want to come along, hit like, hit follow, and let’s do this together.

Let’s get out of our comfort zones, ask better questions, and start seeing the world for what it really is.

See you next week.