If you haven’t read Everyday Anarchy yet, I really recommend taking just a couple hours out of your day to read it. Once you have read it, I’d really like to hear your thoughts about it here.

Here’s the audio version, pdf version and if you want a print copy you can buy it here.

Here’s a great series on procrastination from Freedomain. Free yourself from the chains of “should”.

Personal Freedom and Responsibility

When I was an Objectivist, I had an ambivalent relationship with anarchy. When reading Rand I was never comfortable with the idea of a government, especially when John Galt himself said, “I swear by my life and my love of it that I will not live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine.” I didn’t see a reason why any man or group of men should have power over anyone else. However, when I thought of anarchy I thought of gang warfare, no better than the way our governments work now. Then I thought of my own life, and thought about the lack of unchosen relationships, the lack of violence, the lack of any sort of real control in my own life and wondered why that couldn’t work on a world-wide scale.

I ask you to at least read the first chapter, and if you like what you read, keep going! It’s free and short, so there are no excuses!

You can find the PDF and Audio here.

Let me know what you think! And thank you Stefan Molyneux for releasing this book for free.

Stefan Molyneux is offering all three of his non-fiction books for free! You are out of excuses, load up your iPod and print out the PDFs. These books will rock how you think about the world, your relationships and yourself.

I used to hand out copies of Atlas Shrugged to people I knew and say something along the lines of, “If you ever wanted to know more about me and what I think, read this book.” Atlas Shrugged was a good broad start, but if you want an extremely close look at me, my values and where I am taking my life, these books are by far the best place to look. If you are like me, and you really desire to seek freedom and truth in your life, these books will have a huge effect on you.

http://freedomainradio.com/free.html

Download it here:  On Truth, The Tyranny of Illusion by Stefan Molyneux

This is the book that started the biggest change in my life.  If you are interested in seeking the most freedom in your life, this is where I recommend you start.

Freedomain Radio has a great new feature. Since there are now over 1000 podcasts at FDR, the Philosophysician was created to help narrow them down into custom feeds. Try it out! It’s the best philosophical education out there, and it’s free (donations suggested if you find the podcasts valuable!)

http://www.freedomainradio.com/phiphy/

The more I listen to Freedomain Radio and the more I read about what other members of FDR suggest, I have started to narrow the 900+ podcasts down into an “essential listening” list. This is not to say that all of the FDR podcasts aren’t great, but I think that if you want a crash course in personal freedom, these are the podcasts to listen to. The podcasts in the feed below are podcasts that helped make my pursuit of personal freedom much more productive. If other FDRers read this list and have any additions, feel free to leave a comment (with the podcast number and/or title) and I’ll add to the list.

MAF’s Essential FDR Listening Feed

Want to create your own filtered feed? I created this one using Yahoo Pipes.

I had the pleasure of reading The God of Atheists over the holiday break. As you all know, I’m a big fan of anything that Stefan Molyneux writes but I was not sure what to expect in regards to his fiction writing, since I am only familiar with his non-fiction writing. I know that Stefan has a creative mind but I had no idea that he could write such a complicated story in such a fluid, entertaining and enlightening way. At first I was shocked by the number of characters that were introduced. I have admittedly had problems following characters in other fiction, so I was intimidated by how many names I had to remember. I was afraid that there was no possible way I could follow all of the characters and their complicated stories. Fortunately Stefan weaved three or four subplots, with at least three characters per subplot together almost seamlessly. I had a little trouble following each story and found myself becoming very emotionally involved with the characters and relating to each one in some way or another. I also found myself playing a game of “find which character is the author”. I think I figured it out, but as most literature, I think each character had a little bit of the author weaved in.

I don’t like to give away too much about the plot or characters in the literature that I review, because I love reading books without knowing much about them. I think this makes the adventure of reading that much more exciting. So, I will try to give the readers of this blog the same effect and end this review. I think that all you need to know, in order to inspire you to pick up a copy of The God of Atheists, is that this book tackles the issue of moral relativism and its unfortunate embrace on atheists… all with a cast of characters that any atheist (and maybe a few deists or agnostics) can relate to. One more teaser for you Objectivists out there… I enjoyed this book as much as Atlas Shrugged, so that’s saying a ton about my respect for this story.

I think it’s time I lay out the truth as I see it. If you want a detailed explanation on how I came to this truth, I suggest you pick up a copy of On Truth (Tyranny of Illusion), UPB and listen to Freedomain Radio. Yes, these are all links to the same site, one created by Stefan Molyneux, whom I owe a great deal of thanks to for being patient in my journey from Objectivism to a more active minded look at philosophy. I was originally directed to these ideas by my active minded girlfriend, so I have her to thank as well. Of course I have plenty to owe to Objectivism to getting me to a point where I was actually able to think for myself, but since I disagree with some key points in Objectivism, I no longer refer to myself as an Objectivist. Call me a philosopher. Call me a thinker. Don’t label me under a blanket philosophy though. It is unfair to call me a libertarian, market anarchist or anarcho capitalist as well, because each of these do not encompass what I think about philosophy. Yes, I do agree that we should be as free as possible, but those labels (anarchist, etc) come with several problems. For one, they come with a lot of assumptions about what I think and I don’t want anyone assuming what I think. Two, I don’t want to get stuck in the “club” mentality again because I see this as a form of dogmatism that can only lead to a blank out when considering other ideas.

I do not think that anyone who reads this blog would disagree that life should be lived by this statement: I swear by my life and my love of it that I will not live for the sake of another man, nor ask another man to live for mine. That said, I agree with Ayn Rand’s axioms when it comes to metaphysics and epistemology. I agree with many of the conclusions she made with ethics, but can not agree with all of the conclusions or all of the ways they were derived. The one major disagreement I have with her ethics is the need for a state of any type. I think that the existence of a state is a direct contradiction with the non-aggression principle because it puts the power of the state above the individual. It implies that men can not be trusted to be rational, and must be forced (at the point of a gun) to arbitrate their disputes in a court. It also implies that men can not be trusted to protect themselves against irrational men (or groups of irrational men).

Our goal as philosophers should be to spread rational ways of thinking. I think that our mistrust in men to become rational is what has lead to our trust in god, trust in the state, and even trust in our non-chosen relationships of any sort. I think the only way to introduce long lasting change into this world is to demonstrate the change in your own life, and the relationships you have with other people. I think men have the capability to become rational.

I think it is unfair to my rights as an individual to be born into a state just as I think it is unfair to any individual to be subjugated to the will of other human beings. Of course we must rely on our parents to feed us, clothe us, give us shelter when we are young, and teach us right from wrong* but once we are able to sustain our own lives, no other man should have a right over it. I see a government as a slap in the face to humanity and a slap in the face to rationality, just as I see religion and abusive relationships as a slap in the face to humanity and rationality.

*Our parents can lead us astray when it comes to right and wrong, and I think this is the root of where change will happen.

I know this begs the question, “How can anarchy work?” I think this is a cynical question that implies a lot about your trust in humanity, but I will answer it anyways: I do not expect to see my ideas come to fruition in my lifetime. I expect to live my ideas by creating my own anarchy. One where I choose my relationships, one where I make decisions on what I am obligated to do or not to do and one where I demonstrate my ideas so others can see it is possible to live my ideals. I expect these changes in ideas to slowly spread, like many other ideas have in the past. I expect the future to be bright and free of gods, government and unchosen obligations. Only once a majority of men accept these ideas as true and stop participating with the state, with their church and with their abusive relationships, will these ideas become reality.

If you wish to believe that men can not achieve this level of rationality, by all means, keep on thinking and living the way you do. If you are afraid to face the reality that you will have to slough off your abusive relationships, unchosen or not, and live a life where most people think you are nuts, then do not explore these ideas. I know that ignorance can only lead to neurotic behavior, not bliss. I also know that breaking free of the chains that you have control over is not bliss either (but the result may be). Your education to freedom will be pain, because you will have to make a choice between your ideas and those who are against your ideas. It will be pain because you will realize that most people around you think that it is right for you to be forced into a prison for not paying your taxes, forced to love people who abuse you and forced to love a being that does not exist.

That leads to more questions I am sure… Do I pay my taxes? Yes. Why? Because the gun is still against my head, and I value my life more than I do fighting against a group of individuals that literally out-gun me. The rest of the questions are up to you to ask, and not to assume anything about me. I’ll answer them, but only voluntarily. If I see a sign of an individual supporting force against me in any manner, I will refuse to participate in their charade, and not answer their question.

I am being patient now with the readers of this blog. I want to help you understand why government is force and why your support for any form of government implies force against me. This patience can only go so far, so please explore this idea on your own. Don’t take my word for it, but please, do think about it.

Much of this post was inspired by this video, so check it out when you get a chance.