Well, while we’re having an “oldies and goldies” day, how about a re-visit to “Twelve Tips for Toppling Tyrants”? It was the Hardyville column that directly followed “Reactive Ralphie” and is an answer to him and others who believe that a constant frenzy will lead us to freedom.
Category: Mind and Spirit
Spirituality, moods, feelings, and thinking free to live free.
This week seems a good time to go back and revisit Reactive Ralphie (last met in 2005). And seek some balance. More on that later.
Friday brought two horrible-looking pieces of news that have made their way around the ‘Net fast and fearfully: The NSA is building a super data center in Utah. One that can — and will — scoop up the complete text of all our emails, break our encryption, and even report on where we parked last time we went to lunch. And a new executive order is a setup for “peacetime martial law” in America. By now, even Walmartian grannies have probably heard all this, and true paranoids have retreated to underground bunkers with their Super-Whiz-Whacker 3000 assault rifles and colossal…
Brandon Smith: “How to become an American extremist in style.” (Tip o’ hat to Jim B. in a recent comment section.) Douglas Herman: “All my heroes died broke, broken, not beaten.” Both those, especially the first, sound a lot like things I have written back in the day. I’m a little jealous. OTOH, it’s nice to sit back and enjoy the first-class rants of others.
In which I preach (or rather relay someone else’s preaching about) what I don’t practice (and I’ll bet he doesn’t, either). Swiss writer-entrepreneur-brainstormer Rolf Dobelli explains how news watching is wrecking our brains (.pdf) and screwing with our priorities. A sample (which resonates with me because I’ve said the same thing in less elegant words many a time): Out of the approximately 10,000 news stories you have read in the last 12 months, name one that – because you consumed it – allowed you to make a better decision about a serious matter affecting your life, your career, your business…
Here’s an aspect of the dreadful FATCA that hasn’t gotten much coverage. From jed in comments: homeless by choice (and on principle). “How to Be Creative.” I don’t buy the claim that there’s no such thing as “creative types” (OMG, there are indeed creative types). But the rest is surely true. Creativity isn’t just for artists, writers, and inventors. Neat idea: an urban food forest. Not quite sure, though, how “free” it can be. A U.S. government soldier decides to freelance. (ADDED: The story that it was one “lone nut” “going rogue” probably isn’t going to hold up.) “Gaining Respect…
Source. (Via Becky Chandler’s Twitter feed.) And yeah, yeah. Don’t tell me. You, my fine readers, don’t ask.
From a recent comment section: Here’s advice from a guy who found himself on the receiving end of other peoples’ hurricane bug-outs. A family of six chronicles how and why they live on $28,000 per year. Its governor willing, South Dakota will join the states that have (something close to) constitutional carry. Naturally, the brave defenders of the people object. Maybe with good reason. “Quietly, Quietly, the Revolution Arrives.” I’ve been saving this up to use in a related ramble of my own. But it’s getting around and Wendy’s essay is too brilliant to neglect. Here’s the latest mini-clip from…
Don’t get me wrong. Bryan Caplan makes some pretty good points in his short commentary “When to be Meek.” He notes that the oft-given advice to stick up for yourself and demand what you want can backfire on you. He’s got a point. If you want to spend your life and career in the conventional middle of things, a whole lot of “please, may I” and “yes, sir” might go farther than confronting the boss and Making Demands. But who the heck wants to spend life in the conventional middle of things? Oh, I’m all for “please” and “thank you”…