Introduction

Welcome to FREEDOM! Your freedom, if you want it, not sometime in the future, not when some program has been put over or some political agenda has succeeded, but freedom NOW, beginning today!

The “Free Individual” is for those choosing to live their lives as free individuals in this world in their lifetime. If it is truly freedom you want, the “Free Individual” is the place to start.

Your Freedom, Beginning Now

There are no other pages on the Internet like the “Free Individual.” You will not find the principles of securing your own individual freedom on any Libertarian sites, or Objectivist sites, or anarchist sites, or religious sites, or any so-called Conservative political sites no matter how many times they use the word, “freedom.”

The “Free Individual” is not here to convince anyone to seek freedom, however; it is only for those who already know, “free,” is the only way they care to live and are serious about achieving their own freedom.

What’s Here

The Introductory pages and permanenet articles of the “Free Individual”describe the basic principles of real freedom and how to achieve it.

Practical Freedom discusses how to determine what freedom means to the individual. Everybody is different, with different abilities, different objectives, and different dreams. What freedom means for any individual, and what will be required to achieve it will be different for every individual.

Expat and PT addresses one method of becoming free for many individuals. Where it is the government oppression of the country one lives in that prevents them from being free, becoming free may mean leaving the oppression behind, and choosing to live in another place where one can be free.

In conjunction with the Expat and PT themes, the “Free Individual” provides a new International Living article, featuring a new country or other interesting information for those interesting in living in a new place, every day.

Independent Living is another method some individuals choose as their means to be free. Rather than leave their country to escape the oppression of a government regulated economy and society, they simply choose to live independently of the system.

Money is a very important aspect of freedom. Freedom is necessary both to earning money, and keeping money, but money is also a tool for achieving freedom.

Investing and Saving are important methods for the free individual to understand, especially saving. Some concepts and resources on these subjects are introduced in this article.

Online Resources is a page of annotated links to other freedom oriented resources on the WEB, that freedom loving individuals may find interesting or useful. This and additional link pages will be expanded over time.

Freedom Philosophy is an introduction to the philosophy of the Independent Individualist that hosts the “Free Individual.” This is the philosophy of freedom because only independent individualists can be truly free. Freedom pertains only to individuals—there is no such thing as “collective freedom,” and only the independent are free, because one cannot be both dependent and free.

Objectivism is the philosophy of Ayn Rand. Though neither the Independent Individualist or the “Free Individual” are Objectivist sites, because there has never been a greater advocate for individualism and individual freedom than Ayn Rand, and many of the principles of individualism and freedom found in the Free Individual pages will be found in the pages or Rands writings as well. We do not recommend Rand’s philosophy without reservation, but she was right about individualism.

Ayn Rand Books is a page of with descriptions of Ayn Rand’s books and links to resources for them. We recommend them all as good sources of ideas for individualists.

Daily Freedom is an index to “Your Daily Freedom Vitamins:” short articles providing practical, useful, and interesting information and ideas for those who choose to live free. There is a new article every day.

What’s Not Here

Generally, news, politics, and world affairs will not be included in the, “Free Individual,” with the exception of some particular news of events (such as pending laws) that would have direct bearing on one’s pursuit of freedom. The Independent Individualist will continue to publish that kind of material which is of interest to individualists.

Not A Secret To Everything Site

If an individual wants to be free, they can be, but like all other things in life, it must be earned. That means the individual must learn how to secure his own freedom, and must be willing to make the effort required to achieve it.

I recently republished and updated an old article, “The Secret Key to Every thing,“which describes the motivational-training and personal-development industries which are all promoted as promises of “easy to learn” and “easy to implement”methods or tricks that guarantee success, happiness, or wealth, or anything else one might want. They are all scams, because there are no “easy to learn”and “easy to implement” methods to anything worthwhile in life. Everything of value requires time and effort commensurate with the value of that which one desires to achieve or acquire.

The “Free Individual” can tell you how to find freedom in simple objective terms, but the “Free Individual” is not a personal development site. Do not expect a secret formula for establishing your freedom. Freedom means being free to live your life as you choose, bearing the consequences of your wrong choices and enjoying without limitation the rewards of your right choices. Only you can determine what those right and wrong choices are, and only you can take the action necessary to achieve what you have chosen.

A correct philosophy can provide the principles by which you can determine what right and wrong choices are, but it cannot tell you what specific choices to make or make them for you.

The purpose of the “Free Individual” is to provide real useful principles and resources which those seeking freedom may use to achieve that liberty. It is not about convincing anyone to seek freedom, or joining a program or movement, or promoting some freedom producing program. It is about being as free as possible in the real world today, which, like everything else in human life, is something an individual does and accomplishes by their own effort.

What Freedom Will Cost

If you are to be free, it will cost you. It will cost you the effort to determine what freedom means for you, the effort to discover how to achieve that freedom, and the effort to implement whatever method you ultimately choose.

But the costs will be more than just that effort. In my article, “Atlas Shrugged: A Model for Individualist Revolution” I outline four things as the “Price of Rebellion,” that is, the cost of being free. They are, “The Risk,” “Being Misunderstood,” “The Denunciation,” and the “Emotional Costs.” These are not mere abstractions, but the very real experiences any one who chooses to be free will have.

If you are willing to bear the risk which cannot be evaded, being misunderstood and denounced are perhaps the most difficult costs to bear. If you choose to follow the path of freedom, be warned, you will neither be understood or appreciated for your effort and will be regarded by most as either a fool, a danger, or a “trouble-maker”—though it will bewilder you that those toward whom you hold no animosity and for whom you are no threat at all, hate and despise you. What they will despise you for is not for what you are (which they can never hope to be), but for what they are not.

Still, it is the emotional cost that most are least likely to anticipate and find most difficult. You will almost surely have to give up some relationships that will be emotionally difficult, and being misunderstood, even despised, is not emotionally easy.

Despite the costs, however, for the independent individualist, no price is too high for freedom, and nothing will induce him to surrender it.

Paying, But Minimizing The Price

The price of freedom cannot be evaded, but it can be minimized. Like most tasks in life, there are more economical and efficient ways to accomplish the same thing. The purpose of the “Free Individual” is to provide the philosophical principles, methods, techniques, and practical resources to most efficiently achieve one’s own freedom.

Many people are spending their lives in a pursuit of freedom that cannot possibly produce it. The “Free Individual” will show you how to avoid wasting your effort, time, and emotional energy on what will not do anything but frustrate you—so you can concentrate your effort on the only objective that matters to you, your complete freedom to live your life as you choose in the world today.

Please enjoy the “Free Individual,” and please enjoy your freedom. If you have suggestions, or questions, or complaints, please use the “Contact” page, or feel free to express yourself on any of the comment forms.”