Benefits or Entitlements

Benefits and entitlements, are they one and the same or are they different breeds of animals? There seems to be a trend for those in the bureaucracy of federal (and even state) government toward calling anything they pay out to citizens as entitlements. Now, I'm not sure. Is it because I'm becoming a crotchety old man (NOT)? Or, is it because those in the elected offices, their high ranking appointees and the massive legion of high level bureaucrats are using governmentspeak or doublespeak to get us to believe something that isn't true.

Would this be the first time the government has attempted (and often succeeded) in duping the "flock?" I think not. That is a huge topic for another time. However, as humans, we are basically pack animals. Although, it's probably more accurate to say we're like flock or herd animals. Watch cattle in the pasture sometime. When it's milking time they all line up one behind the other and follow the leader right into the milk barn. A new word becomes the "in" word to use in the pop culture - cool, dude, awesome, right on, righteous, bro, etc. All of a sudden, it slips into our vocabulary and pretty soon we're all using it. . . READ MORE

Another Home Run By Glenn

Who is Glenn? Glenn is Glenn Morrissette of the blog "To Simplify" fame. Glenn is another Vandwelling, nomadic, Internet friend (and another former Jersey Boy, like yours truly) who is now west coast based. Even though Glenn and I have never met face to face (though we actually came within about an hour of crossing paths once here on the east coast) I consider him a friend, because we've interfaced on line several times and have similar philosophies on life and freedom and the "To Simplify" and "Living Free" lifestyles. We will meet up in person one of these days, most likely when I get My McVansion out to the southwest or the western U.S.

Meanwhile, I enjoy following Glenn's exploits and adventures. We are from related professional backgrounds, Glenn is a musician and composer/arranger and I, of course, am a recording engineer/audio producer. The two fields go hand in hand, though there are occasionally some differences of opinion about things musical, in general, we support each other's professional habit. Oh yeah, and Glenn is young enough to be my son, but that's only a chronological difference and has nothing to do with our mutually enjoyed lifestyle of Vandwelling.

Today's post is a semi-guest post because I'm going to quote some sections of Glenn's last post on "To Simplify." Some of the readers of "Living Free" also follow Glenn's blog, so you likely have seen this post, however, as the title implies, this post is a home run for Glenn. He's very sharp, astute and like so many of the Vandwellers I've met or am in contact with, a modern day philosopher of sorts. He pretty much puts this ball right over the center field wall.

Fred & Mabel

Glenn says: The mail arrived in Ajo yesterday morning, and I got to thinking about the old days when, just like everyone else, I received mail every day but Sunday. Such needless extravagance in this age of digital wonders.

. . .

Other than the stack of 1099s that's typical for this time of year, the mail brought a small paycheck for some recent music work. $360 – not much to most, but plenty for me to live in comfort for a couple of weeks, and I dare say at a level of freedom that eludes even the super-rich. How many people have to bring in more than that every single day just to keep their whole juggling act going, and all for the privilege of doing it again tomorrow? I bet the Postmaster General is one of them.

Alas, so many have this whole freedom game backwards – thinking that it's out there somewhere with a huge six or seven figure price tag dangling off one end:

"Work, work, work, go, go, go, so I can one day buy my freedom." 

Does this sound familiar? As I tell people, I've "been there, done that, got the tee shirt and don't need to return." Maybe you find yourself in this exact rut right now. Having been there, I know what it looks like. I basically see a dog tethered to a pole allowing the dog just so much freedom. The dog goes to the length of the tether and basically ends up running in a circle like he's trying to catch his own tail and the harder and faster he runs, the deeper the rut he's creating becomes. Okay, maybe that visualization is a bit too graphic for some, especially those (like me) who have invested years in earning a couple college degrees. Now, in my case, I led an entrepreneurial career. So, on the one hand, I probably had more freedom of choice, however, not to be too smug about it, all I actually did was, perhaps, give myself a little more tether so my rut was just a bit further from the center pole than those buying into the 9-5, 40 year plan.

Glenn says: If people could only open their eyes and see that what they seek has been right in front of them all along, and that snagging it is as simple as making the choice to do so. No, peeling away the decades-thick morass of misguided crud that society sold you on won't be easy, but make no mistake about it, doing that is the true cost of freedom, and compared to the path most are on, it is the undisputed deal of the century.

I can't even guess how many times I have spoken to individuals and to groups in seminars and workshops where I haven't said that EVERYTHING in life is about choices. There is the true freedom. We have the freedom to choose how we want to live our lives and what we want. As, Glenn noted eliminating the societal conditioning or, as he put it, misguided crud that society sold you won't be easy. It absolutely won't, because from our earliest childhood we've been brainwashed and indoctrinated with an American Dream that is false. The American Dream was never about how big your house is or how expensive your Mercedes or tricked out pick-up truck is and so on. The American Dream has always been about freedom, honest to goodness, personal freedom where you are the captain of your own destiny and . . . that applies both to men and women.

Even today I was talking to a full-time RVer here in Florida who has been camped out in this particular Walmart parking lot for approaching two months. He is 65 years old, disabled and receives a small (and I do mean small) pension from General Motors and a Social Security disability benefit each month. He's been living like this for 30 years, full-time in a motor home. Actually, if Glenn or I had the amount of income this fellow has each month, we'd be living like kings (well, actually we are, we'd just be able to live more extravagantly). Yet, while this guy has nothing but time on his hands, every time I try to show him  how he could use his money far more wisely, live better, get computer literate and make his life much simpler and more efficient (he even has a wonderful idea for a small, easy to make pet toy he created for his own dog and everyone who sees it wants one and would make a nice small business) he uses the age old phrase so common among the masses, "I can't." I keep telling him he can't because he chooses not to change and use his time to his benefit. Simply stop saying "I can't" and start saying "I will." Commit one measly hour each day to work towards a series of simple life improving goals and within a short time he will be on top of his world.

Glenn says: It sometimes amuses me that more people can't see this, and at other times, it's a little depressing. Imagine that you've discovered the cure for cancer, and it turns out to be something so readily available, like drinking salt water through your nose while standing on your head, pinching your earlobes, and then doing the bunny hop around the block backwards six times while belting out "Tea for Two" at the top of your lungs.

Boom. Millions cured. Nobel Prize. Man of the Year. Streets named in your honor. I'm talking real face-on-a-box-of-Wheaties notoriety here. But you can't find a single person to listen to you because everyone refuses to believe that the cure to what ails so many could possibly be that simple. But then I'm reminded of how great it is to be this free . . . 

I really love Glenn's metaphors, "face-on-a-box-of-Wheaties notoriety." It makes me smile remembering all those boxes and the Wheaties I ate as a kid. But, obviously, Glenn gets it. And, amazingly, so do so many of the other Vandwelling, nomadic, living simply and free philosophers across this continent (and, by the way, around the world because we're not the only ones who get it).

Glenn goes on to poke a bit of fun at the RVers who drive, as he puts it the, "Enormo-RV's" and how they simply trade one neighborhood of close quarter neighbors and  homeowner's association rules for another. Well, folks, there, but for the grace of God, go I. I was convinced when I left the "Oakhill Ranch," the 49 acres with the nice brick ranch house and the barn, etc. on October 31, 2008, that I absolutely NEEDED a 40' diesel pusher, Class A motorhome with a couple of slides. I can't tell you how happy I am that I didn't fall into that particular trap. 

I do not condemn nor ridicule those who choose that path. I have a number of friends across the U.S. today who own and travel/live in and love their large condos on wheels. If they are happy and living the lifestyle they want to live, then they made the correct choice for them. I enjoy meeting up with them and spending time together with them as much as any of my Vandwelling friends. But, I'm just glad I, by a twist of fate and a kamikaze deer in the mountains of North Carolina, made a 180 degree change of attitude and decided to go small (about 50 sq. ft. small). I designed it, I built it and it's paid for, thus, it's mine, all mine - and it's home sweet home.

As Glenn wraps up his post: . . . as long as you're going to the trouble of convincing friends and family that you've completely lost your freaking mind, you might as well set yourself up with something that will handle the extra mile or so of narrow, winding, and rutted dirt road that extends blissfully past where Fred and Mabel fear to tread.

Friends, Glenn just described his (and mine and that of others of our philosophy, lifestyle and ilk) philosophy and definition of FREEDOM. It has never, ever been about money or material stuff. We inherited the Garden of Eden with all the beauty and grandeur anyone could ever want and it's all free for our enjoyment. Why do we want to kill ourselves for money to buy things we will use a few times and then set aside and have to watch depreciate and take up expensive space for years into the future. Worse yet, we'll probably pay for some of it for years and years into the future. Once we figure it out, all we REALLY NEED is here so ridiculously inexpensively that we can spend most of our time enjoying the limited lifetime we have been granted rather than working for "The Man." It reminds me of the take off on the Seven Dwarfs' (of Snow White fame) little song, "I owe, I owe, so off to work I go."

If you want to read Glenn's entire post directly you can go directly to his blog, "To Simplify" by clicking on this link. "Fred & Mabel" Thanks for the enjoyable and in many ways, amusing post, Glenn and the permission to quote you in my blog.

The Two Great Motivators - Pleasure and Pain

Perhaps you're familiar with this philosophy and psychological concept. If you've studied any Freud or, more recently, Tony Robbins, you'll have been introduced to this concept. Certainly other psychologists, motivational speakers and philosophers of the 20th Century used these two concepts as the base for basic human motivation. The reality is that this isn't a new discovery by modern psychologists or philosophers. In fact, Aristotle spoke of it in his book, Rhetoric, some time around 400 BC. And, if you want to go back to the Book of Genesis in the Bible generally accepted that the creation of all things by God began at 4000 BC, you'll see the pleasure-pain (also construed as reward-punishment) concept repeated in numerous scenarios.

If you are a follower of any number of motivational speakers and organizations that use motivation as a basis for advancing and becoming successful in any number of endeavors (music, art, athletics, business including multi-level and network marketing, other career paths, education and so on), you have probably been led to believe there are a slew of motivators. Let me name just a few of these so-called motivators: money, happiness, success, freedom, awards, promotions, homes, cars, expensive bling and toys and the list goes on. Some of the negative motivations or demotivating ideas include: failure, loss, divorce, being fired, being passed over for promotion, lack of money, lack of the home you believe you should have, the same with vehicles and other stuff.

Here is the reality. Everything I just listed and anything else you want to add to these lists ALL revert directly back to the two Great Motivators, gaining pleasure and avoiding pain. Success equates with reward and gaining pleasure. Gaining all the money you want (unfortunately, that never seems to be enough for the majority of people) reverts back to what the money can be used for to gain pleasure. There is no intrinsic pleasure in money itself. It's only what money can do for someone that matters. This applies to every other superficial motivator. The negative motivators are the things that cause pain (emotional, psychological, physical, spiritual and economic). The negative motivators are what motivate us to do things we may not like to do, maybe even despise those things, but if they will prevent failure, loss of family, bankruptcy and so on, one will do whatever it takes.

It is generally accepted by most legitimate psychologists and behavioral scientists that the stronger of the two Great Motivators is the avoidance of pain. Take only one simple example, working hard at a job or jobs that one dislikes, despises or hates for 40, 50 and even 60 years. Why would a person work all that time at something they hate? To avoid the pain of not providing for their family, putting food on the table, putting a roof over their head (regardless of how conservative that shelter may be) and failing in life as measured by the standards established by society. This society goes by many names including the Jones's (as in "keeping up with the Jones's") and "They" (as in what will "They" or "everyone else" think of me or, as I term them, "The Committee of They").

To Gain Pleasure

Once again, I'm not preaching Judeo-Christian doctrine or ethics, but simply illustrating the basic principles that were pretty plainly laid out by these early books. You can go to any number of other ancient philosophies and find the same thing. But, why did God create the Garden of Eden and put Adam and Eve there when he "created" them? Because this life we have was meant to enjoy pleasure. Adam and Eve were given everything they needed to be free and happy and enjoy an abundant life. The miracle that is this planet has always had the capability of providing people and the animals on the planet with a fulfilling and abundant life. But, when that "snake in the grass," Satan, tempted humans to want more than the abundance, freedom and happiness they were endowed with, everything changed.

Instead of relating this to religion, simply look at it from this perspective. Humans are greedy and easily corruptible. I dare say there has been no human who has walked on this Earth (other than, supposedly, Jesus, The Son of God - relating back to religious convictions, again) who has not expressed and displayed greed and can be easily corrupted (tempted). Depending on our origins in geopolitical terms, societal and familial standards and ethics, some are more greedy and corruptible than others. Read this carefully, please. People who are born into poverty, slums and a low class of living are not anymore corruptible or greedy than those born into great wealth and an opulent lifestyle. I would even go as far as to say that those who have more are far greedier and more corrupt than those on the lower end of the scale.

Those in the Middle Class may be the worst of all. They consider themselves above the lower class people and have no problem stepping on them and exploiting them in their efforts to realize the pleasure of living like the wealthy, opulent class. Of course, I'm making broad generalizations with this description. However, most of us don't have a conscious clue as to what is actually motivating us - other than more is better and will make us happier. Unfortunately, that's not true. More can make most people more comfortable, but not necessarily happier. And worse, yet, at what price?

Gaining pleasure is certainly what life is all about in my estimation. But, it's how you define pleasure that really makes the difference. Going back to Biblical references, virtually all religions, in some manner, describe a heavenly afterlife of some kind. It might be called Heaven or Paradise. In Asian religious philosophies this relates to a state of Nirvana. One reaches Nirvana when the spirit is free from the material, lust and avarice of the greedy, corrupt being. However, achieving these idealistic states is only possible with work, learning, change and practice. I also believe that Nirvana doesn't have to follow some Eastern philosophy, but that we can each define our own Nirvana and strive to reach that state.

We've often heard and likely said ourselves, "the best things in life are free." And this goes back to the Garden of Eden. Essentially, Adam and Eve had it all. They could want for nothing in the Garden. But, God put one temptation there and instructed them not to go down that path or they would pay a severe penalty. We know the rest of the story. It only took one serpent (Satan, Evil, The Dark Side of the Force, whatever you want to call it) to lure them down the path. Eve was the first to partake, but Adam went along with it. Personally, I don't think it matters if it were Adam or Eve, human nature is what it is and the results would have been the same either way. They sought more pleasure by following the snake's lead and they suffered much pain as a result.

My personal belief is that we deserve all the pleasure we can derive from this limited life on the planet. The very concept of working for 40 or more years doing things someone hates or even dislikes is abhorrent to me. I look at my own life and, now, realize how much of my time I spent working at avoiding pain and putting off pleasure. Don't get me wrong; I've experienced much pleasure in my lifetime. I am not bitter or angry about anything. I just realized that with some adjustments in my personal conditioning and orientation, I could have spent a lot more or maybe even most of my lifetime realizing pleasure. However, our parental, religious, educational, occupational and moral education and conditioning is really about avoiding the pain factor.

Avoiding Pain

Do not misconstrue my meaning. I'm not saying that we should not work or have purpose in our lives. I'm not suggesting that we be irresponsible regarding choices and obligations we assume. I'm also not passing judgment on anything that anyone has or wants. I'm simply saying that gaining the greatest pleasure in life may have nothing to do with the amount of money we accumulate, the size of the house or houses we own or occupy, how new or expensive our vehicles are, how much stuff and bling we have in the form of toys, jewelry, furnishings, designer clothes, RVs, yachts, private aircraft, etc., etc. It's even entirely possible that all of this accumulation may actually result in pain or cause pain for others in any number of situations.

Working at jobs that we have to take and dislike or hate in order to pay for indulgences is really not gaining pleasure. It's actually avoiding pain. The pain comes when you don't have those things and feel emotional or psychological pain because you're not keeping up with the Jones's or meeting your parents, sibling's, spouses or offspring's expectations. We start our life off with all kinds of dreams and once we become adults and responsible for our own lives, the dreams get shelved and life becomes a rut, a drudge and sometimes a nightmare. How many people do you know (maybe you're one of them) who keeps putting off living the life they want, their dreams (pleasure) for when they retire? But, a lot can happen over all those decades including death, becoming physically disabled, emotionally and psychologically maimed by death of a spouse, a bad divorce, your offspring making poor choices and ending up incarcerated or imprisoned by aging parents who refuse to make age appropriate decisions for their stage of life and straddle you with the responsibility (and, often, guilt) of giving up your life and taking care of them. It's not that we don't care or respect them. It's simply that in today's society, at least in this and other developed countries, there are better ways for older people to have a very fulfilling life (a better life than sitting around a house doing nothing and having no one their own age to relate to) right up until the end with other people they can relate to in their own age bracket.

Life is very complex and for most people, though they've learned to cope, painful. Most of life, for most people seems to be about avoiding pain and making choices, often-poor choices, to do something, not to avoid or alleviate the pain, but to act as a painkiller. For some people it's gambling and playing the state lotteries. For other people it's alcohol, prescription drugs or recreational drugs (often used with the excuse of it being for medicinal purposes). For others it's buying "stuff." Women will buy shoes and purses and all kinds of clothes, not because they don't have any shoes, purses or clothes to wear or use, but because it's a diversion from feeling the pain - pain avoidance, in other words. Men will buy new cars and trucks, ATV's, boats, fishing gear, etc. The current vehicles may be fine, fully operational and low mileage, but there is a big sale at the dealership and they feel they need it, despite the fact that their payments will increase and stretch out another six years. They don't need the ATV or motorcycle or boat. They want it because for a short period of time it distracts (avoids) the pain in their lives. Yet, they don't use the toys enough to justify the pain the payments, interest, insurance, storage and upkeep costs.

Here's an interesting example of how the greed factor plays into this picture of pain. A man (or a woman) plays football in high school, college and then gets drafted into the professional league (it is likely a different physical sport for a women). These people began experiencing the pain of this choice during their first practice, but it really became apparent during their first actual game against an opponent who's intention (as is yours) is to tear the other team's heads off. But, as a professional player you will realize a contract, potentially, worth tens of millions of dollars. So, in search of the pleasure, you assume the pain that is inevitable. It goes with the turf, so to speak. You play the game for ten years and earn millions of dollars, often making way too many bad choices in using those millions. Your body is banged, bruised, lacerated and broken over and over again, but the greed to gain all that money that will supposedly bring pleasure drives you forward.

One day you realize that you just can't face taking another hit or the coach makes that determination for you. You retire or are retired (fired, in other words). But, now your body is pretty well worn out and broken up. Within a few years terrible arthritis and other debilitating physical ailments set in. You continue living everyday in pain that grows worse. One day in your 40's or 50's (a relatively young age in today's terms) you start realizing that you can't remember things or you can't do some simple thought processes that once were easy for you. Now, you realize that you have serious, irreversible brain damage. You traded a life of pain for all that money that's now being expended on medical treatments, medication and other necessities related to your situation. So, what's the answer? Start seeking sympathy from your "adoring" public about your terrible physical situation and passing the blame to the game and the league that paid you tens of millions of dollars for enduring the beating that you took. No one put a gun to your head to accept the pro football (or whatever sport it might be) job. You did it for all that gold you were going to be paid. You knew what to expect. You'd already played the game for six or seven years before the pros. But, now we should all feel sorry for you. And worse yet, you're going to hold the teams, league and the spectators/fans to blame and expect to extract more money from them because of your choice.

Pain vs. Pleasure

You could have followed another dream or maybe your real dream instead of selling your body and soul for the gold. Maybe you wouldn't have been paid millions on top of millions of dollars, but you might have loved everyday of your life doing something that still served a purpose and other people, while fulfilling your own dreams and life.

I certainly could have made any number of other choices in my life that not only would have avoided the pain, but actually gained me the real pleasures I was truly seeking. Indeed! I will not, hypocritically, blame my father, mother, sisters, teachers, college professors, friends, my Uncle Sam, clients, banks, my former wife or anyone else for my choices. I made them entirely on my own. And by the same token, I cannot and will not pass judgment on any decisions and choices you or anyone else made or makes. That's way above my pay grade. I simply want to suggest that everyone, myself included, needs to REALLY understand that there are only TWO GREAT MOTIVATORS that control every single choice we make from the time we're old enough to choose to spit out those strained peas we don't like as an infant until we are ready to head to Heaven, Paradise or whatever awaits us when we die. If we're smart, we'll choose to seek our own Nirvana while we're still alive on this Earth.  We'll focus on the choices that will take us toward the paths to the pleasure we seek and not be diverted down the paths that get us into the wrong relationships, debt, jobs we hate, but have to have in order to pay for the other bad choices we've made. Life is as complicated as we each want to make it for ourselves. But, it can also be as simple and easy and pleasurable as we want to make if for ourselves. What is your main motivator?  

Purpose and Passion

I've mentioned these two motivators a number of times before. But, the other day, while working on the details of the upcoming Veteran Speakers Retreat that I've coordinated for the past twelve years and this being my last year, something struck me about these two words and what they represent. So, some thoughts have been mulling around in my head and here they are.

Living free is both a philosophy of living and a lifestyle. But, some people get the wrong idea about living free. Some people think it means living for free, as in not being productive and living off someone else. Others think that it means being homeless, dumpster diving and scrounging for food, wearing used clothes and sleeping on park benches or in hobo villages. Still others may think it involves some kind of criminal enterprise such as being a con artist, Ponzi scheme operator or even a pickpocket. In reality, living free means none of these things.

Living free simply means that one has opened his or her mind (remember the mind is like that parachute, it only works when it's open) to possibilities for a lifestyle that is other than what is considered in contemporary society as traditional or mainstream. The living free philosophy has nothing to do with dictating where someone lives, what kind of housing or shelter someone chooses to live in, how they choose to dress (fashion/style) and acquire their apparel, what kind of diet they choose and enjoy and, perhaps, one of the most important facets of living free is how someone generates the resources (earn a living, if you will) to support whatever their chosen lifestyle is.

The Pre-conditioned Mainstream

Everyone comes from somewhere. Now, isn't that a profound thought? But, it's necessary to make that statement to understand why and how most people make the choices and decisions that determine how they will ultimately life their lives. The range is pretty wide when you think about it. Let's not consider individuals whose origins are from a society in other countries on other continents and possibly even underdeveloped or primitive tribal societies (and yes, there are still primitive tribal societies in the 21st Century).

As societies go, the United States is very young. It's only 237 years old if you use the Declaration of Independence in 1776 as the beginning of the U.S. Actually, the real beginning of the U.S. officially began operating as the United States of America under the oldest operating constitutional government in the world on March 4, 1789. So, in reality, the U.S. is only 224 years old. However, European colonization began as early as 1492 for the Spanish and 1497 for the British with the landing of John Cabot. So, those earlier ventures to North America extend the beginnings of what ultimately became modern society in the U.S. to about 516 years ago. Of course, the Norse Vikings reached parts of northeastern Canada as early as 1000. We'll not include that period for my purposes in this article. And for practicality, we'll just say that the foundation for the U.S. society began in the 1700's along with the beginning of the Industrial Revolution.

Now, why is this significant? Very simply it's because Western Europe countries are considered by most historians to be the most advanced, civilized societies of the time. For some reason, most of the earlier advanced societies in the Middle East and northern Africa as well as Asian societies like China and Japan, didn't keep up with the advances in Western Europe. I was in awe when I walked across the Charles Bridge (originally called The Stone Bridge) in Prague, Czech Republic and realized it was built between 1357 and the early 1400's (before "Columbus sailed the ocean blue") and it replaced a bridge that had been built between 1158 and 1172. The only structures we have in the U.S. that truly date back that long or longer are the Pueblo Villages in New Mexico. They date back 1,000 or more years. But, these were not considered an advanced or developed society. So, that brings us back to our migrating ancestors from Western Europe and the British Isles, of course.

I make this distinction because this was the basis for how our advanced society developed in the U.S. Since the U.S. was basically a frontier, the pioneers had the opportunity to begin the society with the contemporary lifestyle of the western European countries and the British Empire. Additionally, the U.S. was in its birthing stage as the Industrial Revolution was dramatically changing all of society forever. Although most early U.S. cities were modeled after western European cities, most of the western European cities were terribly antiquated and simply continued to function as they had for hundreds to even a thousand years or more. Even today, when you visit "so-called" modern Europe, most of the cities are centered on the antique buildings, streets and infrastructure. Newer, more modern forms of architecture exist in the outer suburbs and as replacements for the portions of major cities destroyed by the modern warfare of the 20th Century.  

The Industrial Revolution Alters Lifestyle 

The Industrial Revolution began around the mid 1700's in England and spread rapidly through Western Europe and the emerging society that would become the United States in the later 18th Century. I won't go into details of the changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution; you can study that yourself if you're interested. But, the Industrial Revolution is pretty much the catalyst for what we consider our modern, mainstream, traditional lifestyle. The reason, in my opinion, that the U.S. became the world leader in industrialization and eventually, the Information Age, is because the U.S. didn't have to restructure and rebuild the old societies, cities, manufacturing processes and mindsets of a population steeped in antiquity. The people who migrated to the U.S. were pioneers. They were a hearty stock who wanted to build a new life and ultimately a new society and nation. Individually, they all came seeking some kind of freedom and they were willing to do whatever it took to accomplish that goal. A huge number died in that process, but the passion for freedom and autonomy won out. They had a purpose and the passion to fulfill that purpose. 

Unfortunately, over the next couple centuries human nature played both it's positive and good cards and it's negative and evil cards. Greed and corruption, two fairly dominant human traits played out. The middle class was carved out. The unions were formed. Public schools became the standard. Each of these influenced what has become the mainstream, traditional American lifestyle. Unfortunately, in my opinion, all of this has led to the demise of what was originally termed the "American Dream." The dream went from seeking freedom and opportunity to do and be anything and anyone you wanted to become to seeking security and measuring success by the amount of money and unnecessary stuff a person could accumulate (while also accumulating huge debts in the process) thus, relinquishing the personal freedom and many kinds of opportunities.

The "American Dream" was born out of the Declaration of Independence. However, as we all know, at that time we were not all "created equal." There was a large population of slaves (mostly black, but some white) who had no opportunity. Women had minimal property rights until the 20th Century. They also didn't have the right to vote or hold public office. They were primarily relegated to housekeeping and childcare work.

So, the, so-called, American Dream at the nation's birth wasn't equally shared and enjoyed by all members of the emerging new society. Many things have driven change in this country and the American Dream has changed and evolved right along. But, for those (primarily white men and especially those who were born into some position of influence) who chased that elusive dream, there were wonderful opportunities and fulfillment.

Certainly, while things are still not completely equal, there are many Black, Asian, Hispanic and those folks from other origins as well as women, who through purpose and passion have moved up the ladder and made significant achievements.

The Changed American Dream

But, as all of this has happened, the American Dream has changed as well. Many consider the American Dream to be dead or virtually impossible to realize any longer. That's probably because the fulfillment of the Dream is now equated with living in larger and larger, more costly housing and accumulating more and more stuff. In order to acquire all these trappings of, so-called, American Dream success, credit has been expanded. Most homes are mortgaged to the hilt. Cars are now either leased or have financing as long as six years. Plastic money (credit cards) has expanded, as has the accompanying debt, to astronomical levels. And advanced education costs so much as to leave many young people in huge amounts of debt as they start life out. Unfortunately, it appears that the original American Dream has been corrupted to being buried in debt by the accumulation of stuff. Those in poverty now can often actually live as well, and in some cases better, by living off the public dole financed by the, so-called, productive members of society, only numbering about 50% of the population. The old saying, "the rich get richer while the poor get poorer," seems to be fulfilled. We see a huge and growing gap between a, generally, very greedy wealthy class, a collapsing middle class and enlarging poverty class.

I was fortunate (or maybe not so, in some ways) to have earned two college degrees at a time when it was still affordable and I didn't have to face a life of unforgivable debt. But, I still remember many of the successful people of that time didn't have college degrees. A college education wasn't an absolute necessity for success. It could open some opportunities. There are many examples of college grads that ended up working for those who didn't hold college degrees. My father was one of those examples. He never earned any degrees, but parlayed a couple night school drafting classes into becoming an in demand non-degreed electrical/mechanical design engineer in the emerging aerospace industry with degreed engineers under his supervision.

Contemporary examples include the late Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Michael Dell and Mark Zuckerberg, among others, who are indisputably four of the most successful men in the world and don't have college degrees. And, don't forget Henry Ford, Thomas Edison and Walt Disney (a high school dropout). The point here, again, is that they grabbed the literal meaning of the original American Dream. The trait and motivation they and so many others like them had was a defined purpose and the passion to achieve their dreams. This is true in all fields of endeavor.

A Welfare Society? Some Work To Support Those Who Don't!

Now, it is not and never has been my position to pass judgment on anyone. People are people. Some of us will achieve great accomplishments, realize great success and probably accumulate great wealth of some kind in the process. Others, will become the "worker bees," a term I never liked and still don't, but as in a beehive, these are the members of society who do all the day to day tasks of keeping the society (hive) functional and, in general, healthy. And then there are the less fortunate people. Some of them are just plain "bottom feeders." They contribute little, if anything, to the society and live off the productive members. There are also those who weren't dealt a very good hand in life. They may have physical and/or mental limitations. There are also those who have fallen from a better position in life to a lower or bottom rung for a variety of reasons. Some of the circumstances were of their own invention while other circumstances were just destiny.

The amazing thing is that there are many examples of people who grew up in abject poverty and despair through the circumstances of their birth, yet, they went on to carve out the stepping stones to a successful life. They discovered their talents. They may have been blessed with great athletic abilities or artistic or musical abilities. They may have had a superior intellectual ability and were able to impress the right people, thus, opening doors and opportunities for themselves. Skin color, ethnicity and gender didn't stand in their way. They found a purpose in their lives and they grew a burning passion to win that Olympic Gold Medal or work their way up through the military ranks to become a high level officer or kept inventing things until one of them captured the attention of the right people or wrote and/or performed music at every opportunity until someone who could open doors finally heard the person. There was no magic. There was no real secret. It simply took a defined purpose and then a burning passion to achieve and live the life the individual wanted.

I won't discuss the bottom feeders or those who use their abilities to go into criminal enterprises that create pain and harm others to their own advantage. They are, unfortunately, ever present. But, also fortunately, the worst of them seem to be a very tiny percentage of the population of most societies. There are, also, those who are conditioned by their parents (if they even know who they are) or other influences to beat the system. When you teach someone how to fish or hunt or grow food, they can eat for a lifetime. When you simply give them handouts, they learn to stand there and wait for the next handout. Their purpose in life becomes to be the best at doing nothing productive and expecting handouts. Their passion becomes to manipulate the system so they live the best they can while doing nothing productive in return. In the animal kingdom we would call this leeching off a host.

Rewarding Non-productivity

Unfortunately, when you reward this behavior by making it easier and easier to be on the dole, as it appears has happened in western Europe, England and the U.S., this segment of society grows and lives off the segment of society that will eventually diminishes in size as they realize they are being fleeced. In the U.S., current estimates are that 15% of the population receives SNAP (food stamp) benefits each month. This doesn't include the myriad of other local, state and federal programs that support those unable or unwilling to support themselves.

Now, believe me, I'm not a person who wants to see any of our children or even our adults who are disadvantaged for a period of time be undernourished or starve. However, where there is no "payment" in return in the form of doing something productive for the community, state or country, where is the incentive to have any purpose or passion to achieve on your own?

Channeling Purpose and Productivity

So, not to belabor an issue that's a political hot potato, I have to wonder what we can do in this country to inspire and motivate people to want to find a real purpose in their life and to light a burning passion to go after that purpose. In my case, I've been an entrepreneur all my life. I've created several businesses and along with those businesses I created jobs and work for other people either as employees, contractors or suppliers. I've realized some of the rewards of being a productive member of society. And, I've reached a point after doing this for over 50 years where I decided to reevaluate my lifestyle, my needs, my wants, my purposes and my passions. Some consider me retired, but I don't recognize that word in my vocabulary. Others may think I'm living off the taxpayers because I draw my Social Security benefit - which I involuntarily had to contribute into for over 50 years along with my Medicare coverage that I contributed to for 48 years. I might add that I cannot live off the stipend I receive from Social Security in today's economy and I have to pay for portions of my medical care just as I had to before Medicare and I had regular health insurance.

But more than that, I NEED purpose in my life. I need a reason to get up each morning and plant my feet on the ground and get up and get moving. I also NEED something to be passionate about. Oh, sure, I could be like the extreme political liberals or conservatives and run around ranting and raving about something I can't change like what's right or wrong with our government (and please, don't tempt me). But, as I didn't stand in "peace vigils" with Student Peace Union during the Vietnam War era, because I was busy working on productive things that actually could make a difference, I don't waste my time on politics because there is no percentage in it.

So, here I am, 68 years young and I still have some unfulfilled purposes in my life. Hooray! I have some burning passions that need to be fanned. Yes! While they are entrepreneurial in nature, they are socially entrepreneurial. This means that while they have some basis in a business structure, the ultimate purpose, other than supplementing my small Social Security monthly stipend, is to further some things I'm passionate about. And, of course, these purposes and passions encompass my "living free" lifestyle and my yearning to freely wander as a location independent individual to explore and learn about this country and the world, to experience things I've yet to have the pleasure, experience or adventure of and to meet as many interesting and fascinating people representing Americana as I can. You'll learn more about these purposes and passions of mine in the near future and I'll be looking for input and, in some cases, assistance as I pursue them.     

Freedom Requires Courage . . .

Freedom Requires Courage! I find those three words about as compelling and impacting as the late M. Scott Peck's opening statement, "Life is difficult." in his best selling classic, The Road Less Traveled.

Indeed, true freedom does require courage. I picked up this thought from a fellow responding on one of the Yahoo groups I subscribe to about Vandwelling. One individual posted about his solution to acquiring a van type vehicle to travel and live in and others were weighing in with their thoughts on the subject.

Steve A., posted his contribution to the subject and it went like this, I quote him:

. . . I avoid debt like the plague. I count being debt-free as important as regular maintenance. A credit card for emergencies is wise, but don't trade your freedom to the banksters except as a last resort. Debt = slavery, and it will destroy your peace of mind. Rent is also a losing proposition, helping to pay someone else's mortgage. No property means no property taxes. Van dwelling is considered hostile by the authorities because they can't stand the thought of people not being chained to the economic "system" and not slaving to pay taxes. Freedom requires courage, which is why van dwellers are the most interesting and thinking people you will find.

I think it's important to clarify that van dwelling or full-time RVing people do not evade taxes. They simply choose to avoid paying any tax they feel they are not legally bound to pay. So far, there is no "law of the land" that I know of that demands, commands or in any other legally binding way requires anyone to own real estate or help anyone else finance the other party's real estate and pay that party's real estate taxes through the rent they would pay to occupy the other party's real estate. In other words as ruled by the U.S. Supreme Court, "The legal right of an individual to decrease the amount of what would otherwise be his taxes or altogether avoid them, by means which the law permits, cannot be doubted." So, avoiding paying any taxes you are not legally bound to pay is fully sanctioned. This is not to be confused with evading taxes that you are subject to by law or tax code.

Many people make decisions and choices in life that are, all too often, influenced by misinformation, lack of knowledge, intimidation and fear. The tax codes and all the levels of taxation one may be subject to including local city or town, county, state and federal are voluminous and intimidating. Many people take the "safe" route and pay everything they believe they must pay. They live their lives believing they must live within the lines or inside the box that seems to be the standard established, once again, by an unknown committee of people or authority we refer to as "They."

That's the reason Steve A's comments and most significantly, the three words, "Freedom requires courage," really were meaningful to me.

Condemning the 1%

It never ceases to amaze me when people bad mouth and condemn the "so-called" 1% or the "Rich" people for not paying their fair share of taxes. The problem is, in probably 98% to 99% of the cases, the 1% have indeed paid their fair share as prescribed by law. And, why shouldn't they? They have been blessed with the good fortune to be wealthy. They can afford to pay their taxes. The problem is that those who haven't been as financially blessed see things through a "them and us" filter and pass judgment using a double standard. But, the wealthy pay CPA's and tax specialists to go over their finances with a fine tooth comb and prepare their tax returns taking every legal tax deduction, exemption and credit allowed by the current tax code of the current time. Most very wealthy people contribute more money annually to qualified charitable causes than the average family earns in a year and sometimes as much as many average families earn in a year.

I have a personal friend who is very wealthy. No! He's not a billionaire, not even close, but his net worth is still far more than most people could imagine. His church wanted to buy a new concert grand piano for some of the fine concerts and musical events the church sponsored and hosted. The piano was going to cost $35,000.00. Now, that's a lot of money. He knew the congregation couldn't raise that kind of money within any reasonable time. So, he told the pastor to present a fund raising proposal to the congregation to raise the money. This gave the congregation a feeling of "ownership" in the project; they had "skin" in the piano. They set a time limit to raise the funds. When the deadline was reached, a brand new $35,000.00 piano graced the front of the sanctuary. In fact, the congregation had only raised $10,000.00 of the $35,000.00 required for the purchase. My friend funded the other $25,000.00. However, the congregation never knew that. They believed they had raised those funds. My friend stipulated with the pastor of the church that his contribution was to be kept in total confidence and go to the pastor's grave with him or the deal was off. In other words, my friend wanted to remain anonymous and allow the rest of the congregation to believe they had achieved this worthwhile goal. 

This goes on everyday in our country, hundreds or perhaps thousands of time a day. So, why should these wealthy people not be able to take advantage of the tax laws as written? But, there are factions in our society that want to create divisiveness. It could be in government, religious organizations, educational institutions, the corporate world and other places including within families. The fact is that nearly 50% of the people in this country don't pay any taxes at all. They have no skin in the game, but they condemn those who do pay taxes for not paying enough. In fact, many of those who don't pay any taxes not only don't have any skin in the game, but their share is being paid by those who do pay. And, further, these same people are actually receiving financial benefits (often referred to as entitlements) from the tax funds of those who are paying their fair share. I'm not passing judgment against anyone. It is truly unfortunate that anyone finds them self in a financial or medical situation to need such financial benefits. However, my point is that those who are not paying any taxes are actually using the same laws to not pay any taxes that allow the wealthy people to avoid paying some taxes. It's one of those double standard situations I mentioned.

Freedom Requires Courage . . .

It truly does require courage. First, you must be willing to become educated and stop being influenced by those who are misinformed. Some one much wiser than me once told me when I was a young man, "If you want to learn how to make $100,000.00 per year, you have to listen to and learn from people who are making $100,000.00 per year. Do not expect ten people who each make $10,000.00 per year to show you how to make $100,000.00." Now, that sounds pretty simple, doesn't it? Of course it does. That's because it is a simple truth and fact. And, most truths and facts can be broken down to the simplest and most common denominator. Don't get your tax information from hearsay and others who have never had to file taxes or who don't have to file taxes because their income is so small.

Second, freedom requires the courage to stop living in fear and being intimidated by the government (at all levels), in the case of taxes. Becoming educated in the tax knowledge that impacts your life is one way. "Knowledge is power!" Then you can't allow yourself to be intimidated by the people who you pay to work for you. Remember, every government employee, no matter at what government level and no matter what his or her job is, is paid from taxpayer money collected from the hard working, productive members of the private sector. Governments don't do anything that produces revenue. They get their money by collecting (or confiscating as they just did in Cypress) money from the private sector. The only place money is produced is in the private sector.

Every government at every level has a department of tax collection. The most feared agency in the U.S. is the Infernal Revenue Service at the federal level. I almost had to vomit while listening to some of the testimony, under oath, by the acting (forced to resign) head guy of the I.R.S. about this current scandal targeting specific kinds of organizations and individuals for political reasons. This is no different than the way dictatorships, communist and similar governments target their opponents and dissidents. If this man were a civilian in the private sector, he'd be facing a judge and a jury and probably facing a lot of years in prison for, among other things, perjury, obstructing justice and criminal negligence. Instead, he'll likely retire on a six-figure income with a bounty of additional benefits at taxpayer expense.

It requires courage to stand up for what's right and your personal freedom and my personal freedom are our right. It's not the amount of money we don't have that deprives us of our personal freedom. It's the amount of debt we get into that deprives us of that freedom. It's the misinformation, the lack of knowledge, the fear of the unknown that may befall us if we don't march in step with some authorities' drummer and buckling to intimidation of a variety of thugs in our society. It's not much different than "protection rackets" operated by organized crime lords. They just have different titles including I.R.S. agents, bill collectors, bankers, bosses, neighborhood bullies, police officers and you can add any other labels and titles you want to.

Yes, Steve A. is right, "Freedom requires courage . . ." People who choose to live free have to, at some point, take a stand in their own mind and heart. If you want to live free you have to define what that freedom looks like and how you define it. You have to determine the cost since you know that freedom is never free. You must stop being intolerant of others. Some of the others are the people who have become known as the "1%." Sure, there are some real greedy, exploitive, uncaring people in that group. But, remember, you may be partially or even completely living your current lifestyle because of the generosity 1% or the businesses they created that provide jobs. And, believe it or not, if it were to be your dream and goal to become a member of the 1% you could do it (a lot easier than winning a half billion dollar PowerBall lottery). So, you might actually become one of those that a lot of people loath and condemn. Are you really a bad person?

You'll have to prepare yourself by learning all you can about the choices you are making. That knowledge becomes the power to face the thugs, their intimidation and not fear the unknown because you're making it known. This may take you days, weeks, months or even years to fully achieve. You may not be ready or in a position to walk into your bosses office tomorrow and tell him or her to "take this job and shove it." That's probably not the best way to do it, anyway. Then you have to decide on a myriad of details. Where you'll live. How much space you'll need. Will it be a fixed location or on wheels? How much money will you require to live as you've outlined your living free lifestyle? Where will that money come from? What things will you pursue with your freedom? And there will be other things you'll have to determine. Then you can begin making the changes and moving toward your living free goal.

Freedom is both intoxicating and additive. I know very few people who ever want to go back to their former lifestyle once they have experienced living free. While I'm still becoming acquainted with a number of people who identify themselves as van dwellers, I have found them to be one of the most interesting groups of people I've encountered in my lifetime. They are all very individual. They are intelligent and resourceful men and women of all ages from young adults to Golden Agers, from a variety of backgrounds and careers and they all find interesting ways to support their lifestyles. And the thing they all have in common is that they love their freedom.

Be Courageous! Live Free! 

Living Free Quick Start Program!

Living Free or at least living freer seems to be catching on as a lifestyle trend. I hear more people talking about the idea all the time. I see people taking a variety of steps toward gaining or regaining the personal freedom they want for themselves and their families. If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know that living free is my mantra. We live in a very complicated society with way too much "stuff" that costs too much money to buy, maintain, store and insure. There are so many facets of daily life to attend to, cope with and keep up with. They all breed stress, anxiety and, often, depression. Living free requires making some choices then taking positive action.

Two years ago I developed a 12 Step program for Living Free. You'll find each of the steps described in greater details in subsequent posts. But, let's face it. Like with many things in our life, we are very often in denial. It's one of those "can't see the forest for the trees" kind of things. In other words, we are so wrapped up in the details and minutia of daily life that we may be missing the important and most meaningful things life has to offer.

I also know that how I define living free and my lifestyle choices may not relate to your definition and choices. Each individual is going to have very different ideas about their own life. That is as it should be. Biting off a 12 step program or plan may also sound very ponderous. Heck! Life is already too complicated. Who needs to attempt taking on a 12 step plan that can involve a multitude of choices and changes to implement?

K.I.S.S.

So, let's apply the K.I.S.S. principle to making your life freer. The objective is to feel and live freer then you currently are. The result of living freer should be more harmony and happiness. So, to Keep It Simple Sam or Sally, I've created a simple, effective, 3 step plan to get started down the road to living free.

The three steps are:

1. Simplifying

2. Downsizing

3. Economizing

Here is the hypothesis. If you can simplify your life by reducing the number of details and minutia, downsize by eliminating some thing or some things that drain your time, energy and resources for a minimal useful or psychic return and econimize by cutting out expenditures that have a negative return or, at best, a minimal return for the money spent, then you should begin realizing a freer life and lifestyle. Does that make sense?

1. Simplify

Once again, even these three steps can look daunting if you attempt to eat the entire elephant in one sitting. The most effective way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time and that's the way you should approach making the choices and changes to achieve a living freer lifestyle. Look at it this way. If you can eliminate one daily or weekly function in your overly busy life and that frees up one hour per week, that's 52 hours a year that you will reclaim and can now rededicate to something more meaningful or productive or relaxing and probably all three.

2. Downsize

Can you think of a single thing in you life or in your home that takes up space and/or time to store or maintain? Perhaps it's a closet full of old board games or even obsolete electronic games that have been replaced by something newer. I have absolutely no doubt that there is at least one thing that you can do without. Most likely you can think of many things, but just start with one. If that space was vacated it could be reassigned to something more relevant or, better yet, it should multiply into greater downsizing in the future, possibly even a smaller home or business location.

3. Economize

One of the biggest challenges most everyone faces in our contemporary society is financial issues. You don't even have to listen to the news, cable news analysts, read the newspapers or most any serious periodical to know finances are one of the most significant issues for most people. And, this isn't only a U.S. domestic issue. It's global. The exciting thing is there are so many ways to economize and become more frugal without denying yourself of a very nice lifestyle. In fact, by becoming more frugal, you're going to find the resources to live better and freer. It's like getting a tax free pay raise.

Suppose you can economize by saving $50 per week on various things that may not really be as important as you thought they were or they are recurring expenses that have outlived your interest or their usefulness. This will result in $2,600.00 of tax free found money per year. Will that make your life better and freer? Will you and your family or significant other (if you have them) happier? That found money can do a lot of things for you including getting you out of debt and contributing to a future, financially secure living free retirement, maybe even an earlier retirement.

No Rocket Science Required

So, are you with me on this? I know this sounds simplistic, perhaps, overly simplistic. But, I said we were going to apply the K.I.S.S. principle, so the operative word is simple. Unfortunately, it's often the simple things that are overrun by the complex details of life. Also, I can't tell you precisely what you should simplify, downsize and economize. I don't know your life. However, let's make this perfectly clear. This is not rocket science or brain surgery.

21 Days and $24,000.00 Tax Free

In 1982, I was attending a friend and client's seminar on closing sales. Now, I make it a point, anytime I attend any function, especially an educational function, to gain something from it. One nugget of information or an idea can positively change a person's life. At the seminar, my friend, Dave, discussed a book I had read years before this particular function. The book was Psycho-Cybernetics by Dr. Maxwell Maltz. In the book Dr. Maltz said that it takes 21 days to make or break any habit, good or bad. I was already familiar with this concept, but I decided that was going to be my takeaway from this particular function. I thought about it and finally decided I was going to stop drinking coffee. I didn't have a problem with coffee and I liked coffee. But, I realized that it was a habitual aspect of my life, as it is for the vast majority of adults.

That day in 1982 was the last day I drank a cup of coffee. It's 31 years later. I still like coffee and I can drink it any time I choose to. But, it is now a habit to NOT drink coffee. I like it, but I didn't and still don't need it. I can't tell you how much money not drinking coffee has saved me over the years, but I dare say it's well into the range of several thousand dollars. Just one cup of some kind of premium coffee each day, seven days a week at an average of $3.00/cup is a savings of about $1,095.00 per year.

One Target, But A Triple Score

So, let's examine this. First, this one choice has simplified my life. I don't have to plan stops at any of the variety of places that sell such premium coffees. At one stop per day at about 10 minutes per stop, that's nearly 61 hours per year that I've gained and made my life simpler. Second, I don't have a car full of empty coffee cups and I don't have a coffee maker to take up space, clean and maintain. That is one less thing to complicate my life - by downsizing an appliance and accessories I don't require. Third, I've already economized by nearly $1,100.00, but add to that the savings from not buying coffee grounds and other fixings for making my own coffee. That's an additional savings of probably more than $300.00/year.

So, one lifestyle choice has simplified my life, downsized my "stuff" and given me about a $1,400.00 to $1,500.00 tax free raise each year. Average it out over the years to $800.00 to allow for inflation since 1982 and I've realized about $24,000.00 of simplified life. Not bad, huh? That's the price of a reasonably nice new car or several nice vacations or it could earn some nice dividends in a retirement plan.

And, of course, I can (and have) done this with other facets of my life. They are all personal choices for MY lifestyle and may not relate to your choices or lifestyle. The other significant thing to illustrate the K.I.S.S. principle is that I only chose one facet of my lifestyle and it positively impacted the three steps I'm suggesting you consider for starting to live freer.

K.I.S.S. - A Reprise

Here's another thing to include in this equation. Whatever facets of your life you choose as your first stabs at simplifying, downsizing and economizing, they don't have to be major things. Going back to the elephant illustration, choose small things initially. Believe me, when you take a look at your week, you're going to be saying, "Boy, if I didn't have to do this one thing, my life would be simpler." Or, "If I could just get rid of this thing I never use or wear any longer I'd have more space and feel less cramped." And, "If I cut back on this one expenditure a little each week or I walked to the park or gym instead of driving and burning $3.50 to $4.00 per gallon of gas instead of calories." You'll never notice the loss of whatever it may be. However, you'll sure begin to realize the positive benefits and improvement to your life. You'll realize that you're just a little freer then you were. And that, my friend, is the whole point. You can live a freer and happier life.

Remember what I said about habits taking 21 days to make or break? Once you get in the habit of finding ways to simplify, downsize and economize, you will have developed a proven and positive habit that will serve you for the rest of your life. You may wish to adopt a question I always ask myself when I see things that catch my eye. "Can I live without this?" By learning how to say yes to that question most of the time, you'll have more time, need less space (reduce your carbon footprint, too) and have more money to save, go on vacation, educate yourself and your family with and anything else that will fit into your living free lifestyle. The major result is that you're going to be freer and happier and, heck . . . isn't that the real bottom line, anyway?

12 Steps for Living Free - Revisited

This is my 2013 update on this particular post. As I've indicated earlier, I’ve been on a personal quest to live freer and happier all my life. But, for the last four and a half years, at this writing, it’s become the main focus of my life. I’ve learned much during this period. I guess I could say I’ve minimally “earned” another masters degree and, possibly, a PhD in Living Free. The path has been interesting, exciting, challenging and, often, difficult and, sometimes, painful. We live in a very complicated world, it has become more difficult since the last time I updated this post and I dare say that it will only become more complicated in the future.

In The Beginning . . .

Fifty to sixty years ago, when I was a youngster and a young adolescent, life was pretty peaceful, relatively speaking. I was born just before World War II ended and the following year the Baby Boomer Generation began. It was a time when the economy began to boom as a result of the war effort finally ending the Great Depression. There were programs like the GI Bill to assist service men and women returning from the war to gain education and to buy homes they could have never afforded before the war. The job market was expanding as technology began a rapid developmental period.

Then we had the Korean War followed by the Vietnam War that I participated in as an active member of the U.S. Air Force (and as a result of the Selective Service System draft). Faster and faster our world was getting smaller and smaller and becoming a more and more global society. The U.S. became the wealthiest nation in the world and one of the few Super Powers, ultimately to become the only surviving Super Power. Change was constant and rapid. Technology accelerated the changes by leaps and bounds. 

Somehow, I became a non-conformist. No! I was not a “hippie” or “beatnik.” But, I was an entrepreneur and entrepreneurs are, by their very nature, non-conformists. We don’t see things as they are. We see things as they can be with the innovations each of us adds to a capitalistic society. I became a “serial entrepreneur,” always restless and always looking for new ways to do things that moved business and society ahead. Early in my business career I bought into the idea that it was the small businesses that would lead the world by embracing new technologies. My chosen field was electronic media and more specifically, the growing recording and video production industries.

I began my interest in electronic media when I was about 11 or 12 years old starting with photography (actually, a graphic-visual medium at that time, now an electronic medium), then discovering short-wave radio, becoming a licensed amateur radio operator just after my 14th birthday and going on to found both the amateur radio club and the on-campus broadcast radio station at my undergraduate college. I discovered the recording and sound industries during the first month of my freshman year at Montclair State College (now, a university) in Montclair, New Jersey. What a ride my life has been since that time.

But, here’s the rub. I went into business to secure my own freedom and happiness and, ultimately, created my own form of enslavement. As I went through the four years of my Air Force enlistment, I met my future wife. I began to conform more and more to the traditional values that most people embraced and, in so doing, gave up more and more of my personal freedom and, with it, much of the happiness I was seeking.

Please! Do not misconstrue my meaning. We still lived a fairly non-conforming lifestyle in many ways and there were many wonderful, happy times. My son was born and became the most important accomplishment of my life. He became an intelligent, capable, productive and FREE member of our society. But, I had set aside many, if not most, of my personal ideals and philosophies of personal freedom and happiness.

A Lifetime Later . . .

It was not until I reached my early 60’s that I realized just how much. During all those years there was a continual gnawing feeling deep inside that kept telling me that I had sold myself out and traded many of my ideals, values and dreams for more traditional values and standards. I had relinquished my free spirit, freedom and happiness for a self-imposed imprisonment as a “wage slave.” I had conformed to how “they” (those who chose to live a traditional and conforming lifestyle) thought I should live my life. Of course, I made that choice freely.

Enter The 12 Steps

I identified and have been developing a 12-step approach to living free as I’ve been reinventing myself and traveling on my quest to regain my own freedom and happiness. Sure, 12 step programs are popular for many things beginning with the Alcoholics Anonymous program. Bill W. and Dr. Bob first introduced the AA 12 Step program in 1939. Millions have benefited and the movement has spawned numerous 12 step programs addressing many other addictions and compulsions.

My Living Free 12-step program is designed to help anyone who feels trapped or imprisoned by their own thinking and is not as happy as they want to be. It helps you make choices to break away from whatever you feel is holding you back from attaining all the freedom you desire, however you define living free for yourself. Living free should, as a natural consequence, result in a happier, fulfilled life.

12 Steps For Living Free

Here, then, are my 12 Steps. In this post I list the Steps  and provide a brief description of each step. Each Step has a link connecting to more detailed information and implementation for each step.

Step 1. Dreams and Reality – You begin by facing your reality as it is today. You grew up dreaming about your perfect life – where you’d live, a lifestyle, who you’d marry, a family, what you would do (occupationally or professionally) to support yourself and your family, your adventures, travels and so on. Dreams always evolve as you grow and experience life. What happened? Life happened, that's what. What is wrong and right about your current life? You know that you’re not truly happy and you never seem to have time to do the things you want to do. This is where you find yourself asking the question, “Is this all there is?” It’s time to take your dreams out of that dark closet, blow off the dust and revisit them.

Step 2. Self-discovering – Once you come to the realization and have accepted that all is not as you feel it should be, then you can begin exploring what you and your life are all about. This is where you will find the roots of your discontent, unhappiness and lack of personal freedom.

Step 3. Taking a Personal Inventory Part I & Part II – It’s time to take an assessment of your personal assets. This doesn’t mean just your tangible assets, however. It means going back through your life. What are your core beliefs? What did you learn from your parents, teachers, religious experiences (if any), and what are your professional/occupational, educational and training experiences? Who is your family? Who are your friends? Depending on your age, this inventory could become a very long list.

Step 4. Simplifying Part I & Part II – Life is complex. The average person (and family) has to juggle all the complexities of daily domestic, professional and social life including where you live, relationships with family and friends, raising children if you have any, the complexities of whatever your vocation or profession places upon you, health issues, finances, local, state and federal rules, laws and politics, the economy and the list goes on. The more we have and attempt to do, the more complicated and clouded our lives become. Simplifying our lives contributes significantly to achieving personal freedom and, ultimately, happiness. Simplifying can be done fairly quickly if it is undertaken in numerous small incremental steps evaluating what is important and not important in your life as you progress.

Step 5. Downsizing – If you were fortunate enough to be born and grow up in the United States, no matter what strata of society you come from, you have accumulated “STUFF!” Stuff can take several forms. It can be tangible stuff like furniture, books, CD’s, vinyl records, old clothes, etc. It can also be mental/psychological/emotional stuff (often referred to as “baggage”) like lost friendships, painful memories, unrealized hopes, etc. It’s time to let go of this “stuff” and get out of the “Stuff Warehousing Business."

Step 6. Economizing – This is a serious and vitally important step. You have to evaluate your relationship with money, investments, debt and what you really need, financially, to live free and happy. If you are in debt you are not free. You will likely be very surprised by the outcome of this step.

Step 7. Avocations & Vocations – Do what you love and the money will follow. Maybe you’ve heard this before. Living free is not about having the highest paying job or career you can have. When you work for money you’re very inclined to become a “wage slave.” Finding YOUR best Avocation (as opposed to a vocation or occupation) means discovering something that you love doing and would do for free except . . . people will actually pay you. Thus, you can earn the income you need to sustain your Living Free lifestyle while doing something you really love to do.

Step 8. Relationships – Your relationships contribute a lot to how you define yourself. Very good relationships are supportive, encouraging, non-judgmental and collaborative. Relationships that do not provide these qualities are very often toxic relationships and will drain you physically, mentally and emotionally - and many times, financially. This is true of professional and personal - platonic, romantic and familial relationships. In order for you to be free you have to eliminate all toxic relationships and develop positive, mutually beneficial, supportive and collaborative relationships.  

Step 9. Making Amends – No one, and this includes you, goes through life without being hurt and hurting others. Most often these hurtful events are not done maliciously and often without knowledge that you or the other party has been harboring these painful feelings. To be truly free you must first and foremost forgive yourself for being human and making mistakes. Then you must forgive those who have, in some way, wronged or hurt you. And, equally important, you must seek to make amends with anyone you may have knowingly or unknowingly hurt. They may or may not forgive you. If they don’t forgive you it is their burden to bear. You have made your amends and are free of any further guilt. You can’t be free and carry lifelong guilt on your shoulders.

Step 10. Giving – What will you give? You’ve probably heard that you must give to receive. In Biblical terms it was stated that, “as ye sow, so shall ye reap.” Giving of yourself, whether financially, other tangible items such as food/clothes/shelter to someone in need or giving of your time are all ways of giving. You will gain freedom, happiness and fulfillment from this simple action.

Step 11. Spirituality – This is not about God or any specific religious belief system. And this is not some “New Age” philosophy. This is simply about your connection with nature, the universe and a greater intelligence and truth then you can comprehend. You may choose to identify your spirituality by any of various names like God, Jehovah, Yahweh, Allah, Jesus, Vishnu, Buddha or any of a number of other religious and spiritual belief systems. You may choose to connect through nature. Even many atheists display forms of spirituality, though they may not recognize it as such. How you connect with others and with nature is part of spirituality and that connection helps make living free possible.

Step 12. Creating Your Life List (aka a Bucket List) – It’s never too early to create a Life List. Like everyone else, you were born with a “terminal disease” called “Life.” The vast majority of human beings don’t know when the end of their lives will actually come. So, why, then, are you putting off creating a Life List of all the things YOU want to experience and accomplish for yourself before you leave this world? As far as we know, we only get one time around in this life on Earth. Life and everything about it is a miraculous gift and we don't get a dress rehearsal. So, what are you waiting for? Retirement? It may never come. It’s time to create your personal Life List and take every opportunity to experience and complete the items on your Life List - BEGINNING NOW!

These are my 12 Steps for Living Free. There are, of course, other facets of the human experience that also contribute to our freedom, happiness, well being and fulfillment, but they can all be incorporated into one of these twelve steps. I’ve defined and explained these 12 steps in more detail in other posts. The title of each of the 12 steps is a link to the detailed post on that particular step. I hope they will help you define living free for your life . . . the Greatest Gift you’ve been given. 

Predictable

What is predictable? People!

You can pretty much count on the predictability of people like you can count on the fact that it will be 12 noon everyday at the same time in whatever time zone you lives. So, what's wrong with being predictable? Actually, in most cases, nothing. We can predict when the sun will rise and fall, the tides will come in and go out, when there will be a new moon, when the seasons will change and how the vast majority of people will live and react to specific situations.

Based on the premise that we can predict how the majority of people will live and react to specific situations, anyone who doesn't fit this pattern is an enigma. It's easy to understand why individuals who "choose" not to adhere to these predictable patterns are considered "non-conformists," "outsiders," and "mavericks." But, are we really all that different?

Well, based on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs pyramid, no, we're not. Here is a simple representation of Maslow's pyramid:

 Certainly, at the base of the pyramid all our physiological needs are pretty much the same. But, by the time we move up to the second step of the pyramid there are significant differences that start becoming noticeable. The third step, while it seems that we might all be pretty similar, harbors even more differences. The fourth step opens up more opportunities for differences. And, in my opinion, probably a majority of people never achieve the step of true self-actualization.

Two Fringe Groups

There is the general population in cultures and societies that aligns very closely with the Hierarchy Pyramid. Then, as I see it. there are two fringe groups.

One of the fringe groups is composed of folks I like to refer to as Living Free. It's a very minute percentage of the total population. This living free concept is, of course, the basis for this blog. The unique characteristic about this living free group is that, for the most part, they are non-conformists and mavericks. The only credo is living free and choosing to live differently than the vast majority of the population. Some individuals in the group live this way due to a variety of  unfortunate circumstances. However, like the early hunting and gathering bands, they seek the basics of life and carve out a niche for themselves.

Others in this group are in a position where they could easily choose to live the stereotypical and predominant lifestyle of their culture or society. Perhaps they have already been there and have chosen to abandon that lifestyle for one of personal freedom.

Allow me to make some disclaimers. Some of what I'm saying is broad generalizations. Some of it may be exaggerated for impact. There is no one-size fits all. But, I'm far from a radical political thinker. And, let's not kid ourselves. There is no such thing as total freedom in this world. In some manner we all are influenced and have to bow to "The Man."

However, in a world that has become so complex, expensive, time consuming or, maybe it's better to say, all consuming, this group of individuals choose small, compact, simple and economical lifestyles. Some are embracing a small, but growing movement toward "Tiny Houses." Others are living in rural locations in small cabins or refurbished travel trailers. Still others may have chosen to give up the sticks and bricks homes in the city or suburbs in favor of a nomadic life, like a turtle, with their house on their backs, living full-time in various forms of recreational vehicles, vans or even cars. There are even a few who pack a tent and travel by motorcycle or even walk.

This group of living free, non-conformists, while often envied by the masses who stay in "The System," are probably the least understood. I dare say, this group of people may also be the most content, fulfilled and happiest in the ways that matter most.

The other fringe group is the "Power Class." These are the people who, consciously or sub-consciously, claw, kick and bite their way to the top of the various societal structures purely for the heady feeling of power and/or to achieve great wealth, regardless of the cost. Of course, none of them will ever admit that openly. They want everyone to believe that they are there to "serve" you and me and the "working class." But, don't let that fool you. They are narcissistic power and greed driven, easily corruptible individuals who will use anyone and any means to achieve their own ends. You know who they are. They run our governments, major government agencies, the military, the financial system, the major industrial complex and so on.

Of course, to be fair, there are a few people who are not power hungry, greedy, corruptible narcissists who manage to make it into some of these lofty positions. But, it's interesting how, unfortunately, sooner or later, they seem to fall into the pattern. One recent example is Lance Armstrong. Once a hero, role model and the image of overcoming challenges like his cancer. Today, an admitted cheater, liar, fraud and abuser of anyone who got in his way.

Listen to the President(s), listen to the outgoing Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton when being questioned about her failings and those she led and her leader said of the four Americans murdered in Libya, "Was it because of a protest or was it because of guys out for a walk one night who decided they'd go kill some Americans? What difference at this point does it make?" That's pure arrogance from someone supposedly charged with the responsibility for the safety and security of her charges and representing her country, its integrity and its people.

Back to the Predictable - Greece and Spain

So, what does all this have to do with predictability? In a word, everything.

Why am I bringing up Greece and Spain? It's simple, really. People are predictable because they will react in similar fashions in similar situations. Much of Europe has been extremely liberal in government employment. The governments are over employed (too many people to do the job), provide large amounts of vacation, personal time, sick time and other time off, cushy benefits including, universal healthcare, early retirements and large pensions. Additionally, they have required this same thing from private sector jobs, usually through unions.

But, someone has to pay for all this. Their tax structures and revenues didn't bring in enough to cover it all, especially when the Great Recession, spawned by the U.S. economy, impacted them. The result has been that unemployment went up with large numbers of government employees and private sector employees being laid off. Government employees protested in some violent demonstrations when the government said they had to raise the retirement age and apply other necessary changes. The two countries where this has been most prominent have been Greece and Spain, however, Italy, Ireland, France and Belgium joined in.

It's really quite simple. We want everything, don't want to give up anything, BUT don't want to pay any more money in taxes to keep taking. "Don't cut our wages. Don't cut our cushy hours and vacations. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! I don't care how you get the money, that's your problem. Just gimme more." That is the cry of the masses of people who have relinquished their freedom (and don't even realize it) in exchange for security and handouts.

The U.S. is facing precisely the same set of circumstances. Now, the narcissistic leaders in Congress and the White House want the masses to believe they are going to solve the problem by supposedly cutting deficit spending by some minute fraction of the total spending and taxing the wealthiest part of the population. This is pretty much the same thing as you or me wracking up a $100,000 credit card debt and only paying the minimum due on the monthly statement, while continuing to spend at a higher rate each year. It won't work. So, why is it that a simpleton like me, using basic elementary school and high school arithmetic can understand this, but the mass of the population doesn't get it. And worse yet, is it that the narcissists in Congress and the White House don't get it either (that's very scary) or in the words of our out-going Secretary of State,"What difference at this point does it make?"

I caught a clip on the news last night about the Pentagon planning to furlough all their civilian federal employees one day each week without pay to save 20% of their annual payroll for civilian employees. The employees are already protesting and it hasn't even been officially announced. Sounds just like Greece, Spain and the other European countries. How about if we cut back all the salaries of Congress men and women and their staffs, cut the president's, vice-president's, cabinet members and all of their staff members by 20%? How about if we eliminated paid holidays, vacations, sick days, maternal or paternal maternity leave, personal days and pay for days when the government closes for bad weather? How about if we pared back their pension plans increased the amount of time in service to qualify for retirement pensions and made sure they were on the same healthcare plans as the rest of the population. By the way, it's the rest of the population who have to work to generate the money to pay the federal payroll and benefits?

We can, of course, carry this down to state and local government employees, too. The private sector already knows how this feels, but they're going to have to bite the bullet more, too. Maybe some jobs will need to be consolidated in the government sector. Maybe we need to close down some government departments and agencies that are redundant. Why not sell off all the surplus government property, buildings, resources and equipment that is tying up and costing capital.

I'll tell you what will happen. The Occupy Wall Street protests will look like a Kindergarten recess at an elementary school. The excuses from the Pentagon civilian employees as to why they can't take cuts are flying like crazy - I have kids in college (so do private sector parents); I have a sick spouse, husband, whoever (so do private sector employees); I won't be able to pay all my bills (so do private sector employees and why are you living outside your means???); etc., etc. Of course, it doesn't matter that the civilian counterparts in the private sector have been enduring this for at least the past five years. It doesn't matter that many of the private sector folks have lost their pensions, IRA's, 401k's, health insurance plans and even their jobs - and now they're going to have to pay a "tax that will not be treated as a tax" penalty if they can't afford to buy private health insurance.

We'll see work stoppages and work slowdowns. We'll see government employees going on strike (like Greece and Spain). Sure, it's against federal law for federal employees to strike against the government, but since government employees are represented by unions (Only 11.3% of the entire U.S. workforce is currently members of a union and by far the largest number are government employees), they will do it anyway. The government won't have the manpower to arrest the strikers, detention facilities, courts and prosecutors to try them nor the prisons to incarcerate them for their breach of federal law. So, it will be a moot point.

It's All Very Predictable

Additionally, let's consider the unfortunate people in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and other states severely impacted by Superstorm Sandy. Their losses are unimaginable. Those unfortunate Superstorm Sandy folks are now whining, crying and becoming more belligerently vocal because the federal government hasn't dropped all the myriad of other priorities to give them money that doesn't even exist. Predictably, it's the same thing that happened with the Hurricane Katrina victims.

But, is it really the responsibility of the rest of the citizens, who chose not to live in high risk locations, to provide the funds for rebuilding these homes and businesses in the same risky location? Consider how much help the farmers and residents of areas along the large navigable rivers receive when those rivers flood. They know they're going to flood. They have to account for that. Most of their assistance comes from their own resources. How about people who build homes in idyllic mountains and forest lands where wild fires are regular occurrences?

It simply has no end. And, the sad thing is that, except for the two fringe groups, no one else seems to get it. If you want freedom, you have to be responsible and accountable for your own actions. If I do something stupid, that's my responsibility. If I choose to live a lifestyle I can't afford and my job is eliminated, it's not my employer's responsibility nor is it the responsibility of my neighbors or the productive revenue generating parts of society (which the government is not and suckles off, is never weaned from and continues to become more and more insatiable).

Predictability! While I don't condemn the majority of the population who have bought into the system (we've all been sold a bill of goods by the narcissists), I also cannot feel sorry for them. Just as I've made choices in my life that were detrimental, so have they. But, I don't look for them to take responsibility for my choices, right or wrong. Therefore, I predictably see the world continuing down this predictable road to perdition, still believing that 2+2=22. They won't understand why they are in pain, why they are sliding backwards and why, sometime in the future, it will all come crashing down like a house of cards. Life is predictable.