Freedom Is Personal

This has been a very busy day, getting all the new page names and domain names to work. I mentioned it in today’s Regi Says. So today just a few thoughts about your personal freedom.

For some, freedom will be impossible without emigrating to new country; for others, it will isolating themselves as much as possible from society and “the system.” For others, it might only require keeping a very low profile and going about the business of living their lives as they choose in as unobtrusive a manner as possible. I’ll give you an example of this last.

I knew an older couple some years ago who lived in an old but very well maintained home in a typical old residential section of what had been a successful industrial city of the North East. In those days there were no developments, and though the homes were not separated by a lot of property, they were all unique and interesting, and the small bit of property was always well attended and attractive.

Most of the people living in those homes would have been considered middle- income. Everything was decent and attractive, but nothing was ostentatious. The older couple I knew living there were obviously happy, and living their lives exactly as they chose. They also happened to be multi-millionaires, though no one would have guessed it from the way they lived.

The husband was retired by the time I knew them and their family was grown, and the couple lived by themselves, though they did have some hired help. I know that they dined out often, and did a little traveling, but mostly just enjoyed their home, and though I know little about their personal life, it was apparently a simple and enjoyable one. Their money, of course, spared them many things that could have interfered with their lives, because they could afford to pay someone else to take care of those tedious things government like impose.

The point is, freedom is being able to live as you choose, and what that is, will be different for every individual. But there are a few basic principles I think fit anyone’s chosen life of freedom.

Some thoughts:

It doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. One reason I say only an independent individualist can be truly free is because an independent individualist does not care what anyone else thinks. The independent individualist does not need anyone else’s agreement, approval, encouragement, or help. If you need any of those things, you are not independent, you are dependent and one cannot be both dependent and free.

This does not mean you will not be interested in the objective opinion others have of you, such as those you do business with, or your loved ones. You’ll want them to know you are competent, reliable, and trustworthy, as well as worthy of their respect and love. Their opinion will matter because you know it will be based on their objective evaluation. Those that matter to the independent individualist are those whose opinions are not based on subjective feelings, and especially not rumor, or someone else’s opinion. The independent individualist will have as little relationship as possible with such people.

It will take time and effort. America wasn’t freed in a day. We all want freedom right now, but almost nothing of value can be had right now. The more you want to do, and the more radical the demands of your freedom, the longer it is going to take to establish that freedom. The individualist will not be satisfied with waiting for some program or movement to be successful in producing the mythic, “free society,” but will have a realistic view of what it will cost to be free in terms of both time and effort.

Nothing Lasts Forever. Whenever you have established your freedom, you must never stop being aware of possible threats to that freedom. Thinks always change and nothing lasts forever. If you’ve established freedom by moving to a country that provides more freedom than the one you were in, you cannot assume that conditions in that country that enable you to be free will stay the same. If money is part of your freedom scheme, which it almost surely will be, however you are currently producing your income, you cannot and must not assume that means will always be available to you. There is almost no product or service for which there always is or will be a demand. You will always have to learn and develop new skills.