Jackson Hole mentioned How I found Freedom in an Unfree World. Here is a summary. Long but worthwhile for the type of people on this forum...
6 Flags & How I found Freedom in an Unfree World
HOW I FOUND FREEDOM
IN AN UNFREE WORLD
by Grandpa & Harry Browne
Harry Browne's Freedom Principles as Summarized By Grandpa & others. Brought to you by <
[email protected]>
Harry Browne defined freedom as living your life as you want to live it.
He claimed that you can enjoy a high degree of freedom right now. He
indicates that
:
Hoping to be free, many people engage in continual
social combat joining movements, urging political action, writing letters to editors and Congressmen, trying to educate people. They hope that someday it will all prove to have been worthwhile.
But as the years go by they see little overall change. Small victories
are won; defeats set them back. The world seems to continue on its path to wherever it ‘s going. Until they die, the hopeful remain just as
enslaved as they've always been.
The plans, the movements, the crusades none of these things has
worked. And so the un-free man continues to dream, to condemn, and to remain where he is.
There must be a better way
Fortunately, there is such a way.
There’s a way that depends entirely upon what you choose to do. You can
live your life as you want to live it no matter what others decide to
do with their lives.
By trying to change others in order to become free you’re always trying
to do something out of your control. On the other hand, you can use
methods to free yourself that are completely under your control.
There are two basic reasons why most people remain enslaved:
They’re unaware of the many options and alternatives available to them;
They accept without challenge certain assumptions that restrict their
freedom.
These are the “assumptions traps.” As long as you don’t challenge
these assumptions, they can keep you enslaved.
If you want to increase your freedom,
Grandpa’s Bye Bye Big Brother is must reading. I don’t know of any other
books that even come close to providing you with
such powerful self-liberating information.
Here is a brief overview.
Traps
Identity Trap #1: The belief that you should be someone other than
yourself. You need to be true to yourself. Find out who you are; be
yourself; do things your own way.
Identity Trap #2: The assumption that others will do things the way you would. You can’t control others, but you can control how you deal with them. Harry Browne says, "you have tremendous control over your life, but you give up that control when you try to control others."
Intellectual Trap: The belief that your emotions should conform to an
intellectually preconceived standard. Emotions are best regarded as
signals that tell you how you’re doing. Emotional Trap: The belief that you can make important decisions when
you’re feeling strong emotions.
Morality Trap: The belief that you must obey a moral code created by
someone else. In order to become more competent (and free) you need tostrengthen your understanding of the cognitive links between your
actions and the consequences you produce. Morality is basically a set of very general rules concerning what to do and what not to do, generally
involving large consequences. Blindly using someone else’s moral code,
tends to reduce your competence, because it prevents the forming of
proper cognitive links between actions and consequences. To be free you
need to create your own moral code.
Unselfishness Trap: The belief that you must put the happiness of others
ahead of your own. A world of maximum value is a function of the total
of maximum individual value. You know yourself and what you value far
better than you know others and what they value. Therefore, you are much
more competent to increase your own value than that of others. So,
maximum value is achieved by each individual maximizing his or her own
personal value.
Because we live in an "expanding-pie" world, it’s possible to maximize
personal value while at the same time adding to the value of others. We
maximize personal value by creating values for others to freely choose.
The assumptions that "selfishness" and "greed" are evil need to be
questioned.
Group Trap: The belief that you can accomplish more by sharing
responsibilities, efforts, and rewards with others than you can by
acting on your own; the belief that anyone can speak on behalf of
another.
To overcome the Group Trap organizations can be organized in such a
manner that the links between actions, results, and rewards are as
direct as possible. For example, instead of hiring additional personnel,
work can be subcontracted.
Government Trap #1: The belief that governments perform socially useful
functions that deserve your support.
Government Trap #2: The belief that you have a duty to obey laws.
Government Trap #3: The belief that the government can be counted upon
to carry out a social reform you favor.
Government Trap #4: The fear that the government is so powerful that it
can prevent you from being free.
The above are Browne’s Government Traps. Grandpa adds the following:
Government Trap #5: The belief that government people can do anything
better than other people. Government people don’t have any special
magical powers.
Government Trap #6: The belief that governments will produce beneficial
results. Because government people essentially collect their income at
the point of a gun, they don’t have to produce anything worthwhile to
survive. In fact, their incentive is to make all problems worse so they
can demand more taxes to "solve" the problems.
Government Trap #7: The belief that government represents the people.
Individuals always represent themselves (Unselfishness and Group Traps).
To think otherwise is a delusion.
Government Trap #8: The belief that government can conjure up resources
from thin air. Everything government has, was essentially stolen at the
point of a gun.
Government Trap #9: The belief that government provides protection. Just
look at the crime statistics.
Government Trap #10: The belief that certain activities or functions
must be done by government. Government consists of people. These people
don’t have any special magical powers.
Government Trap #11: The belief that government must or can control
people. Because only individuals control the energy that animates their
bodies, it’s really impossible for anyone to control anyone else.
However, people can relinquish self-control by choice or unwittingly.
Government Trap #12: The belief that you have to do something about
solving the problem of government. You are best off solving your own
problems. In addition, you may also want to persuade a few others to
solve their own problems. If enough people solved their own problems,
the problem of government will disappear.
Government Trap #13: The belief that government exists as a volitional
entity. This is an aspect of the Group Trap. When having to deal with
"government," you always have to deal with individual human beings.
Realizing this helps make you much more effective in warding off any
attempts by individual government people to violate your freedom. Rather
than having to handle "the government," you have to handle one or a few
specific individuals. Frederic Bastiat said. "The State is the great
fictitious entity by which everyone expects to live at the expense of
everyone else."
Government Trap #14: The belief that the government’s constitution is a
valid, legal contract. All the government constitutions I know of are
fraudulent hoaxes. For a contract to be valid it must be entered into
knowingly, intentionally, and explicitly. Have you ever signed any
so-called "constitution" of any supposed "country?"
Government Trap #15: The belief that government can make laws. In the
final analysis, the noises and scribbles that emanate from the mouths
and pens of government officials are just noises and scribbles. The
power you ascribe to these noises and scribbles is your choice.
Obviously, the vast majority of people believe that the noises and
scribbles of government people constitute "the law." There are also
hordes of bureaucrats, police, and judges who regard "the law" as
sacrosanct. If they suspect you disrespect their "law," they tend to
feel very threatened and may become extremely vindictive. There are
times when your freedom depends on your ability to convince them that
you respect the noises and scribbles they call "the law."
Despair Trap: The belief that other people can prevent you from being
free.
You are always free to move on and start a new life.
Rights Trap: The belief that your rights will make you free. The U.S.A.
is supposed to be a country where certain individual rights are
guaranteed by the Constitution. Government officials swear an
oath to uphold the Constitution. Yet there are thefts,
robberies, rapes, murders, etc. every day. Furthermore, government
officials violate individual rights with abandon in the form of
taxation, regulation, more taxation, and more regulation.
In choosing your actions, you are far better off carefully considering
the consequences to yourself, rather than acting in accordance with your
"rights."
Utopia Trap: The belief that you must create better conditions in
society before you can be free. You’re far better off and much more
powerful if you concentrate on changing and improving yourself ‘ and
creating your own personal utopia of freedom and wealth rather than
trying to transform society.
The world-changers are powerless. They dream of remaking the world; but
they can’t, and so they’ve placed emphasis where they have no
power at all.
Free men recognize that they can’t change the world. and so they
concentrate on the enormous power they do have . They realize
that they can choose not to be involved in situations that don’t suit
them.
So they look for situations that do suit them. And they discover far
more opportunities for such situations than most people imagine exist.
A free person doesn’t try to remake the world or his friends or his
family. He merely appraises every situation by the simple standard: Is
this what I want for myself? If it isn’t, he looks elsewhere. If it is,
he relaxes and enjoys it without the problems most people take
for granted.
A free man uses his tremendous power of choice to make a comfortable
life for himself.
The power of choice. You have it. But you forfeit it when you imagine
that you can choose for others. You can’t.
But you can choose for yourself from hundreds of exciting,
happiness-producing alternatives.
Why not use that power?
Burning Issue Trap: The belief that there are compelling social issues
that require your participation.
Previous-Investment Trap: The belief that time, effort, and money spent
in the past must be considered when making a decision in the present.
You know the old saying, "Don’t throw good money after bad.
"In every case, the question is: With what you have now, what is the
best way to use that to get the most in the future?" What you’ve paid to
get where you are now is irrelevant; those resources are gone and can’t
be retrieved. Kiss the past good-bye.
Box Trap: A box is any uncomfortable situation that restrains your
freedom. The box trap is the belief that the cost of getting out of a
box is too high to consider. The problems associated with maintaining a
false image are part of the box trap.
To get out of a box, consider three factors, that is, the disadvantages
of the box:
The price you pay for remaining stuck in the box;
The cost of escaping from the box; and
What you could do after escaping the box, that is, the benefits you gain
by escaping the box.
Obviously, marriage or citizenship could be a box. There’s a very important
principle: the sooner you pay the price to get out of a box, the less it
costs you. In other words, the longer you stay in a box the more it
costs you.
Certainty Trap: The urge to act as if your information were totally
certain. Firstly, our perception is limited and subject to error.
Secondly, information evolves continuously. Tomorrow we’ll know more
than today. Some of what we know today will be proved wrong by what we
discover tomorrow.
Because we always act on incomplete or on at best partially correct
information, we take risks in everything we do. Harry Browne says:
The individual who ignores these risks can lose his freedom in three
important ways:
1. He’s likely to take risks that would be unacceptable if he were to
recognize them; and by acting rashly he can get himself into boxes that
restrict his freedom.
2. When things don’t go his way, his previous certainty can turn quickly
to despair and depression: after all, he was "so sure." Now that he’s
discouraged, his emotions can tempt him to run from his bad consequences
into a worse situation. In other words, he’s fallen into the Emotional
Trap.
3. By accepting opinions as absolute fact, he can allow his freedom to
be restricted by information that may not be true."
Harry Browne identifies five "information principles":
Popularity isn’t proof. The fact "everybody knows" could mean little or
nothing.
Be skeptical about new information. Don’t expect to have an explanation
for everything. To some extent, you always have to act in the dark.
You can’t see everything; recognize that you see only part of the
picture.
Recognize the risks and liabilities. Action always involves risk.
"You are the sovereign authority for your life. You are the ruler who
makes the decisions regarding how you will act, what information you
will accept. You do it anyway but if you recognize that you do it, you
can gain much greater control over your future
But whether or not you accept it, you are sovereign. You rule one life
and you rule it totally.
You decide which information you will accept or reject. You decide what
your next action will be. You decide what moral code you’ll live by
To be free, you have only to make the decision to be free. Freedom is
waiting for you anytime you’re ready for it."
DO YOU WANT TO ESCAPE THE CONTROL OVER YOUR LIFE AND PROPERTY NOW HELD BY MODERN BIG BROTHER GOVERNMENTS?
The PT concept could have been called Individual Sovereignty, because PTs look after themselves. We do not want or need authorities to dominate every aspect of our existence from cradle to grave. The PT concept is one way to break free. It is a coherent philosophy, a plan for a stress-free, healthy, prosperous life -- not limited by government interference, the threat of nuclear war, the reality of food and water contamination, litigation, domestic conflicts, taxation, persecution or harassment. Whether your problem is an unacceptable child custody decree or an unwarranted accusation by some Gestapo-style government agency, PT offers escape. It is a way out of any negative situation created and imposed upon you by any government.
Some individuals choose to vent their frustrations with protests or acts of violence. The PT merely avoids conflict by refusing to play where the rules are unfair to him. We move our a*s and our assets out of the forum.
WHAT DOES “PT” STAND FOR?
PT stands for many things: Perpetual Traveler or Permanent Tourist, for instance. However, a PT need not travel all of the time, nor any of the time for that matter.
A PT merely arranges his or her paperwork in such a way that all governments consider him a tourist, a person who is just Passing Through. In the eyes of government officials, the PT is merely on a temporary sojourn or vacation.
The advantage is that by being seen as a person who is only Parked Temporarily, the PT is not subjected to taxes, military service, lawsuits or persecution for partaking in innocent, but forbidden pleasures. Unlike most citizens or subjects, the PT will not be persecuted for his beliefs or lack of them. PT is a concept, a way of life, a way of perceiving the universe and your place in it. One can be a full time dedicated PT or a part time PT. PT is elegant, simple and requires neither accountants, attorneys, offshore corporations nor other complex arrangements. PT is the Perfect Thing.
THE THREAT CALLED GOVERNMENT: Governments, under the guise of protecting us, have intruded into every area of life, taking the largest part of our earnings in taxes and then rewarding us with little aside from restrictions and harassment. All modern governments these days have virtually eliminated individual privacy. They continue to increase limitations on freedom of choice in many areas of human activity. Each country has its own unique restrictions.
Even Western democracies are growing increasingly fond of keeping their citizenry on very short leashes, if not completely shackled. The Constitutions of most nations give lip service to the absolute freedom to travel, but in practice every government severely limits travel with passport, visa and other requirements. A few passports even bar their holders from visiting certain nations at all. By imposing entry restrictions on foreigners, most nations invite tit for tat measures. Personal finances, currency controls, domestic situations and job requirements make the freedom to go anywhere at anytime just a dream for most people.
PTS OPERATE LEGALLY, BUT OUTSIDE THE USUAL RULES.
The properly equipped PT operates outside the usual rules, gaining perfect mobility and a full slate of human rights. PT is the logical and natural path to freedom from proletarian dictators, ambitious politicians, emperors, occupying armies, ruling classes and the tyranny of the majority. Indeed, freedom from the arbitrary whims of sometimes deranged politicians and the destructive powers of rampant bureaucracy is the essence of PT.
PTs, People of Talent, can, at a few strokes of the pen, be truly free of Big Brother.
Oppressors and exploiters in the modern world exercise control with paperwork and computers. One of your first and prime objectives is to get your (real) name off of all computer lists, customer lists, and official registers of any kind. This is easy to accomplish. PTs first drop off voter lists, then vanish from the roster of property owners or taxpayers. Your present government will no longer be interested in you if they think you have left the jurisdiction and have ceased to be a citizen or subject. It is the goal of the PT to achieve invisibility by taking on a new nationality and acquiring an offshore address.
For some citizens, like Germans or Swedes, it is necessary to first acquire a legal residence elsewhere. For others, Americans, for instance, just notifying the home country that you are no longer living within their jurisdiction is enough to have non-resident status. Being a PT opens up all sorts of previously unknown possibilities for the PT.
For instance, US banks are not permitted to encourage or even tell US customers that they can keep accounts abroad in foreign currencies. Foreign banks are not permitted to advertise such accounts in the US. Regulated financial institutions are forbidden to advertise the fact that when the dollar or any currency is devalued, all local bank accounts, stocks and real property decline predictably in relative value.
A dollar decline of 80% against many commodities and other currencies occurred in the US between 1985 and 2012. Similar predictable declines in the dollar and most other major currencies have happened many times since then. The vast majority of US citizens are kept in the dark about the simple procedure for avoiding very predictable losses. PTs made a sure 100% or more on their money in one year by buying property or things in the places where currency had just been devalued, or by switching from dollars into yen, Swiss francs or Euros.
PT freedom extends much further than monetary concerns. Neither the PT nor his family need be inconvenienced by government instigated wars or military service that they would rather avoid. The flexibility and mobility inherent in being a PT means that one will never be an unwilling draftee, victim, jailbird, concentration camp inmate, casualty, refugee or displaced person. PTs choose their own surroundings and their own fights. They are not swept along in torrents of hysteria caused by forces beyond their control.
Rest assured that by making PT theory your secondary religion, you will be able to remain comfortably beyond the reach of Big Brother's ever extending grasp. It is impossible for any government to attack or wipe out PTs. Why? Because
we are an amorphous group without consistent behavior patterns. From the point of view of any government official, we appear to be the most desirable kind of tourist, respectful of local laws and authority, low profile and prosperous. PTs cannot be identified, classified or isolated from the general run of tourists. Thus, unlike some publicity seeking individualists or tax rebels,
the PT courts no danger and invites no confrontations.
A Canadian investor, with a large income from his stocks and bonds, would normally be obligated to sacrifice almost half of his earnings to the Canadian government. He could choose to reduce his tax burden in the most common, but ill advised way, the fiddle. He would then become a criminal -- at least in Canada. Canada taxes its citizen/residents on their world-wide income. BUT become a Canadian non-resident, (citizen or not - move out of Canada) and voila - you're only taxed on your Canadian income, and not taxed at all if your income, interest, profits, etc. are all earned and received outside Canada.
Many countries have only civil penalties for tax violations, but Canada, the UK and the United States have made tax evasion into a criminal offense, resulting in what are in effect debtors' prisons for those who refuse to pay taxes. It would be far more sensible for this Canadian investor to break free and become a PT. Similar possibilities exist for all citizens of all Big Brother governments.
HOW TO BREAK FREE: By merely moving themselves and their assets abroad (possibly by establishing a legally recognized residence and domicile in a tax haven), most investors are able to legally avoid handing over half their income to the bureaucrats. As a PT, he would then also be free to roam the world as desired, provided he did not remain anywhere outside of his new tax haven home long enough (or in such a visible way) as to be considered resident for tax purposes. Thus, the PT avoids all income taxes without resorting to fraud. [Publishers Note: There are of course other ways to handle the situation depending upon individual circumstances and desires. Find an existing PT to be your mentor. Contact the publisher or see the Resource List.]
YOU NEED NOT AND SHOULD NOT BREAK THE LAW! Fraud is not necessary. A theoretically perfect PT need never file tax returns, government required disclosure forms, nor any other paperwork. The major exception to this scenario is if you are a US passport holder. Americans, to become PTs, have to divest themselves of what is commonly known as the most expensive passport in the world. [Publishers Note: The book, Bye Bye Big Brother, discusses the particular problems faced by Americans in greater detail. But as a general rule, Americans who earn (as a couple) over approx. $160,000 a year or any unearned income from dividends or interest are taxed by the US at the same rates whether they reside within or outside of the US. It is not illegal to acquire a second passport or to give up US citizenship. But it's a complicated issue and how to handle (and whether to consider a renunciation of citizenship) depends on individual needs.]
If you don't enjoy forcible extraction from your bank account or restrictions on your basic human rights, then you can easily move and either register in a tax haven or declare yourself to be a legal resident of anywhere you please. If you don't like paying taxes, they can legally be avoided. There is no government that has the legal right or the practical ability to tax a PT who neither lives within its borders permanently nor has any assets there. The PT is free to enrich the world with his talent, skills, invention, industry or artistry and then enjoy 100% of the fruits of his work or enterprise. Unlimited, untaxed wealth and the power to dispose of it as you please is one of the major benefits of becoming a PT. PTs can produce good things, be paid in full without withholdings or deductions and then spend their earnings on what gives them pleasure.
PT POSSIBILITIES: As PTs, only restrictions imposed by ourselves can keep us from experiencing the wonders of the world. The PT can and will drive, fly or sail across international frontiers when and where he wants, alone or with anyone he chooses. PTs move freely without exit permits or visas. As PTs we should be mentally, financially and physically prepared to leave anywhere we happen to be and go to the other end of the earth at the first whiff of danger, or just in search of greener pastures. The PT is able to move fast and decisively, to disappear and resurface anywhere, anytime.
As PTs we can read what we want to read, eat what we want to eat, see what we wish to see, imbibe or ingest as desired and invest anywhere in anything. We are completely free from restrictions placed upon us by governments. We can buy or sell what we please. We can associate with, employ or live with people whom we find agreeable and pleasing. If we want to change friends, employment or climate for any reason, we can do so almost instantaneously without the need to get any sort of permission from the state. Until you become a PT, the range of opportunities denied to you is inconceivable. We don't miss the things of which we are unaware. This report will raise your consciousness as to the nature of freedom. It is one way to rid yourself of limitations. This includes mental baggage as well as the restrictions imposed by Big Brother.
Upon becoming a PT, I discovered that I could drive at top speed on a public highway without ever getting a ticket. The secret was merely using the German autobahn where there are no speed limits. Fast motoring may not be your cup of tea, but the point is whatever your particular pleasure or peculiarity may be, there are always going to be several places in the world where it is legal and available. In Germany, the land of BMW and Porsche, the vast majority of the locals feel that it is their inalienable human right to zip along as fast as their cars can go. A PT need never be tempted to break any laws. If he feels like doing something illegal, like smoking a joint or playing a hand of high stakes poker in a town where gambling is not permitted, he simply goes away and does it where it's legal. A PT seeks out places where he can do as he pleases, legally and openly.
WHY SOME WEALTHY PEOPLE LEFT IRELAND: Many men and women in Ireland were forced to become PTs because divorce is not allowed. The thought of being forced to stay married for life to a much disliked spouse was enough to send them far across the seas. The Irish still consider many types of physical contact between two consenting adults to be a crime. This list includes adultery (even if one party was deserted by his or her spouse thirty years ago), fornication (sex before marriage) abortion (even if the result of a rape) and even oral sex between married couples. All of these activities are punishable by jail terms in Ireland. Many other Christian and Muslim countries controlled by God fearing Fundamentalist moralities have restrictions on human behavior that we believe is a private matter. Ireland is a great place for a PT to have a passport from, but in marital, sexual and reproductive matters they are still in the Middle Ages.
WELCOME TO FREEDOM!
With a PT lifestyle, gone is all the fear of fines, censure or jail for victimless crimes. Gone is the fear of eating certain natural vitamins, turtle soup or roast pork or drinking wine, illegal activities in almost half the world. Gone also is the fear of violating such laws as prohibition against peeing in a toilet reserved for members of a certain race or category. Goodbye to all such laws. Goodbye also to all censorship and managed news. Goodbye to government forms in quintuplet. Our personal finances, the medical treatment we need, our personal domestic life and relationships are strictly our private affair, not objects to be manipulated by government against our personal interests.
PT MEANS REAL FREEDOM: As PTs we can study any philosophy, raise and educate our children in our beliefs and opinions without contradiction from our government controlled school curriculum. We can pass on our knowledge and point of view according to our inner lights. We need not follow the dictates of an obtuse school commissar who bans our favorite books and forbids mention of those truths we find most self evident.
As PTs we finally become able to invent, improvise, abandon, reject or follow any religion, personal morality or way of life we choose. We can shop, have a drink or eat when we want, not just when the local laws allow restaurants and stores to be open. For those with unconventional thoughts, habits or beliefs, PT is the answer. Life can be lived spontaneously, free, without state imposed restrictions.
