Anyone read "How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World"?

[memelia]

Book seems timely especially in today's chaotic climate. Anyone read it yet? Thoughts?

How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World

 

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[OldFaithful]

Never read it, but a quick google search suggests it might be interesting. I'm putting it on my list of books to search out at the local library.

 

[Unknown]

I thought it was poorly written garbage. Multiple people recommended it. They all owe me an apology.

There's only one good thing to take from it. Do what makes your life the way you want it to be.

It's so bad that at one point he quite literally tells you to leave your kids if they don't fit into your life plan.

 

[LeoistheSun]

I'm liking it a lot.

 

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[Late Bloomer]

Book seems timely especially in today's chaotic climate. Anyone read it yet? Thoughts?

How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World

It was one of the first books I read that suggested that there are socially predefined scripts that are not in my own best interest. Browne helped people get that point in his day, but I think that MJ addresses that theme in a more approachable, relatable way for today's audiences. Browne's work encouraged me to think about what my ideal life and business would be like, if I could start with a blank page. But he didn't explain how to launch a business or freelance career that could help me get out of the corporate job and into this new world.

 

[Tommo]

An old one but a good one. Last year the Daily Telegraph in the UK compared his Permanent portfolio to others and found it came out ahead of them all except for one year over a 20 year period. One of the great libertarian thinkers and writers imo.

 

[GuestUser4aMPs1]

I thought it was poorly written garbage. Multiple people recommended it. They all owe me an apology.

Interesting. Since starting the book, I'll keep this in mind.
To put it otherwise; it rambles on a lot?

 

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[GoGetter24]

It had a few clever ideas at the beginning. Talking about how a lot of the control governments have over you is actually due to simply co-operating with them, and how a bit for forethought can allow you to simply avoid doing what they want you to.

A good example he gave was that in his city, school attendance was compulsory, but a trick you could do was to enroll your kid in 2 schools, and then file transfer notices between the two. Then both schools would have the kid registered as a student of the other school.

And people do actually do stuff like this. Masayoshi Son, for instance, wanted to register as a citizen of Japan under his real name, but couldn't because it wasn't a Japanese name. Instead of just then giving up and saying "can't fight city hall", he just asked them "what makes a name a Japanese name?". Answer "an existing citizen has it". So he got his wife (who was a citizen) to legally change her surname to his, and went back.

Basically an extended version of the famous Gandhi saying: 100,000 Englishmen cannot control 300 million Indians if they refuse to co-operate. That is: don't fight, sidestep them.

This concept was also covered by Saul Alinsky: "use the enemies rules against them". Rules are the enemy explaining in detail how they'll behave. Using the rules against them, or to defend yourself against them, is a key tactic. Big corporations know this, which is why they spend so much money inventing tax loopholes like the "dutch irish sandwich".

So that first 1/3rd of the book was interesting. But he then went into kooky crap about not caring if your wife gets banged by other men. At which point it was clear he's a friggin weirdo, and I put the book down. He's clearly a narcissist, who's chief concern is doing exactly what he wants to do at any time. "F*ck everyone else, they aren't shit and they aren't gonna control me one jot" basically.

 

[TheOwl8]

It is an excellent book. One of the first books I read after college that made me start to question the 'script'.

His ideas about freedom make many people uncomfortable. If your wife cheating on you would destroy your life, are you truly free right now? Essentially, your expectations about what someone else "should" do, become a voluntary prison we mentally place ourselves in. Total freedom is terrifying, and it is difficult to offer this freedom to ourselves, let alone to others.

I don't agree with much of what he writes, but it is a really interesting read on questioning how free we truly are.