The Profundity Of Living Free

I'm not sure if I'll ever really be known for making any profound statements or pronouncements. I often quote the profound (in my opinion), three word statement, "Life is difficult," made by the late M. Scott Peck in his landmark book, The Road Less Traveled. I quote it because it's true.

There is profoundness about living free. We live in a world that, while we continually hear talk about living in a "free country" or a "free society," it is, in reality, not truly free. I don't think I'd be challenged if I said that we, who live in the, so-called, "free country" of the United States of America, the good old U.S.A., probably have more laws, regulations, rules and covenants controlling virtually every facet of our lives than any other country in the world. I would venture, further, to say we could multiply our laws, regulations, rules and covenants by a couple magnitudes, at the very least in comparison to most other countries except, maybe, England.

Is This REALLY a Free Country?

Here is a reality. In the United States we have federal laws, state laws, county (or parish) laws, city, town or village laws and neighborhood or community covenants. And, to add more complication and confusion into this mass of controls, the laws, regulations, rules and covenants often (very often, actually) conflict between the various jurisdictions. So, you're breaking laws when you're complying with the laws?????

Here are three examples. First, while some states have legalized marijuana either on a medical basis or, even as a recreational drug (like alcohol is) it is still against federal law. So, the state says go ahead; grow it and smoke it and the federal DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration), FBI and other federal agencies can still arrest someone for breaking a federal law.

Another example is that 13 states have approved and recognized legal marriages between same sex, transgender and bi-sexual couples and the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled these marriages are constitutional as allowed by the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. But, at the same time, cross the border and choose to live in a state that hasn't recognized such marriages and, viola, the marriage is null and void and there are no spousal rights.

A third example is assisted suicide laws. Currently, only four U.S. states and a few countries recognize legal "assisted suicide." Assisted suicide is not euthanasia  (or putting someone to "sleep" as we do with animals in pain). But, it is still illegal under federal laws and one is subject to arrest and being tried for murder or manslaughter or possibly conspiracy. 

These are only a few of the more controversial issues. I don't have time to list them all nor do I wish to bore you. You know what I'm talking about. And, some of these laws, regulations, rules and covenants control how long your grass may be or how brown it can become during dry seasons. You can be cited and fined. If you live in a community with a home owners' association you may only be allowed to paint your shutters, front door and garage door with a certain, prescribed palette of colors only available from a certain brand and store. If you choose to have a hobby, such as amateur radio, you may be under federal (FAA) laws, city or town ordinances and community covenants as to any antenna structures you want to erect to enjoy your hobby. It could take from months to years to gain all the permissions and permits and this is after you've already obtained a license from the FCC that permits you to operate your hobby radio station.

Please notice that I have not even entered the realm of religious doctrine and dogma, professional or occupational associations or unions, corporate or company rules or the "Court of Public Opinion.”

The Court of Public Opinion

I love the "Court of Public Opinion." I'm going to abbreviate it to CPO. These are non-written rules that control any number of things, don't require you to be charged with a crime or go to an actual court to be adjudicated and then be convicted of a variety of supposedly heinous things as determined by the committee of "They." One of the most interesting examples of the CPO is the recent character assassination of one, Ms. Paula Dean, a southern restaurateur, cookbook author, entrepreneur of a business that promotes a line of cooking utensils and accessories and a cable TV cooking show personality. Now, let me state for the record, I don't know Paula Dean. I've never been to a restaurant owned by her. I don't own any of her cookbooks. I don't use or own any of her branded utensils and, while I've seen her on a few talk shows and seen promos for her TV cooking shows, I don't recall ever watching one of them.

Thirty, forty and fifty years ago in the southern United States there was a very different culture and society. It was a society that segregated the black and white races. It was a mean, cruel, often lawless and brutally discriminatory society. It was the unfortunate remnant of an even earlier time when there were slaves in this country. Of course, our history books and TV shows and those who have a political and racial agenda don't want the public educated to the truth about this terrible time in our history. We all puff out our chests, put our hands over our hearts and proudly sing the national anthem as though we are the pinnacle of righteousness, fairness and piety. That is pure bullshit. We have been, throughout our history and even to the present, an immoral, unethical and brutally murderous country.

We gloat over being the ONLY super power left in the world with our massive 11 aircraft carrier groups, nuclear weapon arsenal, a stealth Air Force and advanced Army and Marines. What that means is that we have the power, if we choose to, to do what we did to the American Indians who were the indigenous inhabitants of this continent before we came and took their land, destroyed the forests, virtually annihilated the buffalo herds and massacred an unknown number of men, women and children through the white man's lust and greed for power. There may not be a lot of people in this country who know that there were some 3,000 owners of black slaves who were, themselves, free black men. The black race condemns the white race for slavery, yet slavery was practiced freely in their native land of Africa and the African chiefs actually sold many, if not most, of those who ended up as slaves in the new world, to the white traders. But, there were also white slaves in this country and when Asians, especially from China began making their way to the United States, many of them were treated as little more than slaves.

But, that's enough of the history lesson and back to the CPO and Paula Dean. I have not followed this story on a day-to-day basis. I find it another grandstanding effort by the mass media and by certain elements of our society, for whatever reason, to assassinate someone's character and destroy a life. Here are the facts as I see them. Paula Dean, once upon a time, used a word that was fairly common in the colloquial and slang of the day. I heard the word, I even heard my father use it and, though I don't use the word to describe anyone of any race today, I'm sure as a youngster growing up in a society that used the word, I probably used it from time to time, too.

No! I'm not from the south. I'm from 10 miles west of New York City. I went to a high school with about 4,000 students of which only three of them were black and we had very few other minorities since we were basically of white European ancestry. One of the black kids was in my class of about 800. Richie was just one of the guys. He was on our football team and he was well liked. I even had the great fortune to attend college with Richie, though we didn't see much of each other since we were in different majors and hung out in different circles. The point being that 50 years ago was then and this is now. I was also brought up in a world of male chauvinism, but I doubt that you'd find anyone who considers me a male chauvinist today. The world has evolved and so have we all, hopefully.

The Double Standard of the Court of Public Opinion

Now, to once again, show the double standards by which we live in this "free society" and, so-called, "free country," let's take the standard bearer of our country. Yes, I'm referring to the current President of the United States, Barack Obama. I'm not going to do any political grandstanding and I am not making any racial implications, though you may read that into this, so I don't give a damn if you're a Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal, black or white, man or woman or anything else. I'm simply going to state some facts.

Citizen #1 of our country, duly elected by the people of this country to represent us to the world, and supposedly the most powerful man and the leader of the "free world," is an admitted user of illegal drugs. It's in his own books, written by him. He did that, not in the 50's and 60's, but in the late 70's and 80's. Yet, we have elected him to this position and put him in charge of the most powerful military the world has ever known and given him the keys to the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons in the world, enough to destroy the entire planet. But, he's an admitted drug user - a long time ago. I'm assuming (and seriously hoping) that he no longer uses any of those drugs. What happened to the CPO in this case?

I'm not going to go any further into this other than to say that it's okay for him to have done something very illegal and not only be given a pass, but raised him to the highest position in this country, even the world. Yet, a little southern woman, who happens to be a successful white, entrepreneur and free enterprising individual used a word, which is not illegal (maybe not nice, not socially acceptable, hurtful), considerably before our president broke the laws of the land. Her public image isn't even a close second to Citizen #1. But, she is crucified, has had her character assassinated and her businesses seriously damaged, if not destroyed. Yet, she broke no laws. She has been tried and convicted in the "Court of Public Opinion."

"I Don't Care!" 

Yes! That's my profound statement! I don't care. In order to live free in this very oppressive society where fairness and justice are only platitudes and not really practiced equally, I can't care. I have to find whatever ways I can to distance myself from all the laws, regulations, rules and covenants that control and contradict one another. I have to find the way to live as freely as possible in a society that is at it's core a paradox and a sham of an ideal that doesn't truly exist.

Sure! There is no way I can truly escape the masses of laws, regulations, rules and covenants that are required to maintain some degree of civility. And, I know lots of people are going to tell me that this is a very different world than it was when Moses came down from Mt. Sinai with the Ten Commandments. I don't have to go there. Heck! It's even a different and far more complex world than it was when I was growing up in the 40's, 50's and 60's. I've lived through all or part of the administrations of 13 presidents. I've seen massive changes in just the leadership styles over these 13 people. I have to comply with the laws of the land, as they exist, if I want to live here, however, only to the degree that they directly impact me and I can minimalize their impact.

Escaping the Rut

Most people in this country and most other developed, so-called, free societies and free countries (the U.S. is not the only one), have chosen to live complicated, costly and oppressive lifestyles. People, no matter what culture or society they are fortunate or unfortunate enough to be born into, begin the conditioning process from the very earliest age they become educable and trainable. The vast majority of all populations will fall in line in the rut and live lives of quiet desperation. They'll accept it because they've been conditioned to. But, I did say "most," not all.

The reality is, and thankfully so, that there is very small percentage that refuses to buy the "package." There are those who learn how to express themselves in a variety of ways. Unfortunately, some of those are antisocial and a topic for another discussion. But, others become inventors, artists, musicians, composers, entrepreneurs, adventurers and other forms of expression that don't fit into the pre-conditioned rut. These are the individuals who find ways to break the mold, the rut of quiet desperation. Some become financially very successful. Others become a variety of different kinds of role models, some better than others. Some become those we admire for their non-conformity and individualism.

They often live alternative lifestyles and forego the trappings of "proper" society. They may choose to live out of backpacks, in travel trailers, vans, motorhomes, on boats, in tree houses, in underground houses, on mountain tops in isolated rural parts of the country, in free form lofts in big cities and as well as many other alternative lifestyles. Some make large sums of money and expend it on their unique lifestyle. Others make large sums of money and find ways to put that money to work helping others realize their dreams. Still others don't place any importance on financial means and generate only what is required to provide them with their simple needs to live free and comfortable by their own definition. They don't care, either. Living free means you can't allow anything external that you have no control over to control or influence your life.

I feel sorry for Paula Dean and what the CPO is doing to her. Maybe I'm wrong. I don't think she deserved what happened to her. But, I can't do anything about it, so I can't allow it to distract me. I'm completely disillusioned by our U.S. government (and all the other levels of government in our country), but I can't do anything about them either. My vote is useless in the real scheme of things because I'm one of that tiny percentage of people who refuse to fall in line and walk down that rut. So, my vote will never have any weight because no one in any political or government office truly represents me or cares about me. They simply want whatever they can get from me to further their objectives.  Actually, they don't even represent the people in the ruts that elect them, but those people are indoctrinated and conditioned to believe they do. So, they'll keep electing people to office who only care about their own interests and not those of the conditioned masses.

I Can't Care!

I feel sorry for those in our military and their loved ones who are killed, maimed or come back as zombies having had their minds irreparably messed with by war. But, I can't do anything about that. Once upon a time, I was one of them, under the duress of the old "draft" conscription system. I was fortunate to leave the military better than I entered, but that took effort on my part. The military had other plans for me., I also can't I do anything about the Benghazi scandal, the IRS scandal, the Edward Snowdon/NSA scandal or any of the myriad other government scandals and boondoggles.

I don't care. I can't care. They are issues that I can have no impact on. That's one of the reasons I don't pass around the emails I receive on all these issues that I can't do anything about. Why should I waste my priceless time on something that I'll have no impact on? A life is too valuable to waste like that. Besides, I've already wasted too much of it thinking I could actually make a difference in things that were far beyond my control.

Now, this doesn't mean I don't care about everything. Actually, I do care. I care about my friends. I care about family. I care about helping other individuals who know there is something better for them outside the pre-conditioned rut they are stuck in. I care about reaching out and giving anyone an opportunity, a shot at an alternate lifestyle, one of living free. But, I've reached a time where whatever I choose to care about has to be something I feel I'll actually be able to see some kind of positive results and that supports my choice to live free.

So, how about you? I appreciate your time to read this blog. I'm hoping you're reading it because it gives you reason to take pause and think. Where are you on the rut spectrum? Are you in it plodding along, back to front with the rest of the masses? Are you climbing out? Are you on the edge looking in at the people still in the rut? You can't care about those who have chosen to just continue owning their pre-conditioning and indoctrination. You can't care about those who choose to just keep plodding along, not sure what real freedom and true happiness are really about. They have bought into the false dream and myth. They are happy with their government mandated and rationed soma, the drug that provides an induced feeling of happiness and bliss as described in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. But, you can care about that one hand that reaches out to you every now and then, hoping that someone will give them a hand out of the rut and their soma induced stupor.

Living free is, in itself, a profound statement about the nature of our lives and our world.   

Photo-of-the-Week #113 - Inside the Wall Drug Store, Wall, South Dakota, September, 2010

If you've never been, it's worth the stop. If you've been, then you have experienced one of the fun places off I-90 in Wall, South Dakota. The Wall Drug Store is an institution in South Dakota. It was established as a regular pharmacy known as the Wall Drug Store in 1931. Wall is just a small western town in the high plains and like most small stores of the time was family owned and operated.

As the story goes, Ted Hustead, a pharmacist, bought the original drug store in the 231-person town of Wall. As one can imagine, making a living with a drug store in an isolated town "in the middle of nowhere" with a population of only 231 was a challenge. Hustead's wife, Dorothy, suggested that they advertise free ice water for travelers going to the recently opened Mr. Rushmore in the Black Hills, about 60 miles to the west. So, Ted Hustead made up small roadside signs and he drove east and west on the two lane Rt. 16A (there was no I-90 in those days) putting signs advertising "Free Ice Water" and leading to the store. By the time he got back to the store there were people lined up and Dorothy was having a hard time keeping up with the demand. That was in 1936.

Since that time Wall Drug Store has evolved into a tourist shopping mall including a cafe that serves western style vittles, gift shops, exhibits, a museum, a chapel and other attractions among other things. And, yes, they still give away "free ice water." On a busy summer day the Wall Drug Store will hand out as many as 20,000 glasses of ice water today. They also have regular customers including military personnel from Ellsworth Air Force Base, doctors, priests, truck drivers and other travelers. Wall Drug Store is another story of the great American Spirit, some-out-of-the-box, creative thinking and pure grit and determination. Ted and Dorothy Husteads' legacy lives on through their son, Bill.

This photo is of the main "concourse," as I'll call it, when you enter the main door. Is it a tourist trap, you betcha. Is it worth it, you betcha. Don't miss it if you get a chance to visit Wall, South Dakota, the still tiny town in the middle of nowhere off I-90. 

So Much From So Little

One of the concepts I enjoyed exploring over my lifetime and still do, for that matter, is finding ways to do a lot with a little. The idea might be to do a lot of whatever you may be doing in the least amount of space. Or, it might be creating a lot of output from the least amount of production equipment and facilities. It might be how to operate a very efficient, profitable business with the least number of people. And, of course, the ultimate would be to operate a very efficient, high output, profitable business in the smallest amount of space, with the least amount of equipment and facilities and the least number of people.

Apparently, that's what the United States and some of the other industrialized nations around the world are discovering . . . you can do a lot with a little. Well, I guess that applies to private, profit making businesses because it behooves them to be as cost effective and efficient as possible to realize the greatest return on investment as possible. Some, perhaps many, non-profit organizations don't necessarily operate on these principles. In some cases, of course, they don't have the resources to occupy too much space, employ too many people and operate with a maximum amount of internal bureaucracy as possible to accomplish their mission. They have no choice, but to be as cost effective and efficient as possible. But, the organizations that do have the resources will seldom operate as efficiently and cost effectively as they could.

The government, most governments at any level, operates on the principle of too much "fat" because they can and because it's not their money. The money isn't earned nor do they produce anything to generate revenue. They simply find as many ways as possible to remove as much money from their constituents' pockets as they possibly can and then they'll squeeze a little more. Unfortunately, most of the public will complain a bit, some may even be a bit more verbal, but the old "you can't fight city hall" syndrome seems to apply in virtually all situations involving government. Then apathy quickly sets in and the system goes on as it always has.

The Phenomenon Created By Crisis

Currently we are witnessing a very interesting phenomenon. Due to the actions of the government and a number of greedy (for want of a better word), financial types and the corruption and lack of ethics and scruples of a relatively small number of people, businesses have pulled back. When they did so, it required them to cut operating costs and the fastest and most efficient way to cut the fat in operating costs is to layoff workers. Once the workers are out of work and no longer receiving income, the workers stop purchasing. This, of course, means that the businesses cut back their output since there isn't enough demand. But, here's the really interesting thing. The businesses still have to operate to stay in business. So, they begin making adjustments that they could have and, probably, should have made years before.

Here is the result of this phenomenon. Businesses are now able to operate more cost effectively, more efficiently and more profitably in less space, with less, but more efficient equipment and facilities and less workers to turn out more and better products (or services) then they could before the financial crisis that began around 2007. So, instead of having an unemployment rate in the 4 or 5% range, it's running in the 8% range, nearly double the figure that's considered "normal." Meanwhile all the "Talking Heads" in the government and media continue to cajole the business sector to hire all these out of work employees. But, why should the businesses do this? They are putting out more product, making record profits, sitting on more cash then ever before and the stock market is now at the highest level it's ever been according to the Dow Jones Indices. And, one additional consequence of this is that the businesses can adjust their output to follow market demands much faster and with little disruption then ever before.

One example of this is a paper mill not far from my base camp in West Virginia. The mill is on the other side of the Potomac River in Maryland. Twenty-five or thirty years ago this paper mill employed approximately 2,200 to 2,400 people. It operated five lines of paper calendaring, cutting and trimming equipment. Today, that same paper mill employs approximately 800 people, operates two lines of equipment and produces at least twice as much output as it did 25 or 30 years ago. Are they going to hire more people? Absolutely not! Actually, they just downsized their workforce again eliminating another 40 to 50 people and their output is still where it was before the layoff.

Two Sides Of The Commentary

The sad part of this commentary is that it's going to be very difficult to reduce that unemployment rate. Eight percent may be the new normal.  And, of course this is really not an accurate statistic when you add in the people who have been dropped from the unemployment statistics. It's not that they're now employed. They simply gave up looking for non-existent jobs. If you also consider those who are under-employed and are working one or more menial part-time jobs to attempt to earn enough to get by on, the statistic changes dramatically. You are looking at a figure that is in the 18% to 22% range according to recent estimates by economists. Actually, in some areas, the new, young, starter job, prospective workers have unemployment rates of 25% to 35% and possibly more.

The positive part of this commentary is that investors are realizing a consistent growth in their portfolios, 401k's and IRA's. Unfortunately, most of the folks who are part of the unemployment statistics don't have any money to invest.

The "Why" Of This So Much For So Little Phenomenon

This phenomenon is the result of the converging of several factors. It's really not rocket science, either. The two main factors are the financial crisis that forced the business sector to regroup and refine or reinvent their operating models and the continual improvement in technology in every facet of business.

It's simple; less people are required to produce more output. Once upon a time the phone companies employed very large numbers of telephone operators. Today there are only a few. Large companies had large secretarial pools. Today they are called administrative assistants and there are very few. Manufacturing plants (like the paper mill I cited) had large numbers of workers operating all kinds of machines and doing all kinds of processes. Today, computers and robots have replaced the masses of these workers. And so will the future continue down this path.

My Motivation For This Post

So, what brought this thought to mind? Actually, a few things were the motivation for this post. One is the current state of the stock market. Another is the constant droning from the federal government "Talking Heads" including the "Talking Head In-Chief" about creating jobs. It's almost reached the point of being laughable if it wasn't so sad. You can read the newspapers (whatever those were) or listen to the mass media and get all the rhetoric on this subject. And a third thing that stimulated me was an email I sent to someone who was inquiring about certain aspects of my "living free" lifestyle. And to be more specific, the discussion got around to "smart phones." This intelligent woman, in my age range, said that she just couldn't get her mind wrapped around the idea of getting a smart phone.

I accepted that thought as a challenge. So, I decided to make a list of the functions this one small, lightweight, inexpensive (especially in light of all that it does for me) piece of technology does for me. I'm sure there are many who are using it for much more than I am, but here is the list of how one small piece of pocket-sized technology has made my life better, more efficient, cost effective and productive.

My smart phone is my:

-personal phone

-business phone (with the addition of a Free Google Voice phone number)

-pocket camera - darn good quality - actually more resolution than my 

     current standalone SLR

-pocket video camcorder - pretty amazing and a thousand times better than 

     the first video camera I bought in 1977 that cost me about $1,600

-weather forecaster - instantly and up-to-date including Doppler radar and 

     15 day forecasts for planning

-pocket calculator

-calendar

-appointment book

-Little Black Book (contacts, names, addresses, phone number and email 

     addresses - home and office)

-flashlight

-library (with my free Kindle reader and the other free ebook reader 

     app installed)

-Solitaire and Words With Friends games - for when I'm bored or 

     waiting for something

-Web browser when I need instant information

-email reader and sender - though I prefer my computer, I still do about 

     50% of my work on the phone

-wireless Internet modem and router (up to 5 devices can connect at 

     the same time)

-GPS including maps and voice directions

-Google maps to chart a course, check mileage or calculate travel time

-alarm clock

-timer (and egg timer) that I use frequently

-stopwatch - when I'm walking or checking the timing on a piece I'm recording

-To Do (tasks) list

-credit card processing terminal with my Square-up account and card scanner

-Dwolla account (another way to send/receive money without using a credit card

-USAA account monitor - I can do all my USAA banking/monitor my IRA 

     & my car insurance

-USBank app allowing me to monitor my business account & deposit checks 

     electronically

-photo gallery of any photos I want to load on and have to show others

-video player for videos I want to load & watch - including connecting to an 

     HD, flat screen TV 

-music player with music I load onto it (my personal iPod)

-Netflix movie player

-Skype phone I use to talk to people all over the U.S. and the world

-text messaging device

-Facebook page monitoring

-Google + monitoring

-Twitter monitoring

-LinkedIn monitoring

-Couchsurfing.org app travel network

-fm radio and podcast device

-news feeds

Holy cow! That's over three dozen uses from this one device that cost me $5.00 on a special promotion at Costco. It has replaced many devices and hundreds and probably well over a thousand dollars of additional expense to buy, maintain and store all this stuff somewhere. And, here's the best part, I have all of it with me all of the time. I don't have to go searching for where I last stored it. Or worse, yet, need something when I'm not "home" and don't have whatever it is to utilize when I need it.

This is the future for all of us. It's this kind of technology and thinking that has so dramatically changed our work/business culture and created this environment of efficiency, cost effectiveness and productivity. If we want to keep up with the world and if we want to live free, we must adapt to and adopt the changes that are going to happen with or without us. My smart phone has created a massive amount of freedom for me. If you're not currently into smart phone technology for yourself, I strongly recommend you do a little research, shop around and make the commitment. It will make your life better. I might go as far as to say it could very well be life changing.

     

The Challenge from Down Under

So, my Auckland, New Zealand, brother (actually, one of those people who is like the brother I never had), Brian Morris, has sent me a challenge. Do, I accept his challenge? Brian, who is five years my senior, later this week, has a correspondence school he operates internationally from Auckland. For the last year or so, he's been working at transitioning out of the school business and developing an ebook publishing business.

Oh yeah. The challenge, you ask? Brian has also been teaching some workshops in ebook writing and publishing and his assignment to his class is to publish a new ebook for distribution through the Amazon Kindle publishing program by January 31, 2013. He, of course, as the instructor, is setting the pace by publishing his next ebook by that same date. Brian has been on my case for months and months about me getting some ebooks published. So, he has challenged me to write and deliver an ebook to him to launch on Amazon by that same January 31st deadline. Of course, due to the time difference and the international dateline, I'd have to meet that challenge by January 30th.

So, do I accept the challenge? What are the pros and cons? Certainly writing is not an issue for me. Actually, the number of words he requires as a minimum isn't actually much more than some of my longest blog posts. Most of those are written in less than a day. Research? Heck, with the Internet, any topic I select has a wealth of information at my fingertips, literally. Actually, I could probably scan back through my more than 200 posts and find one on a topic that I could easily expand into a small ebook. Of course, I could certainly do a book on my 12 Steps for Living Free, but I have that earmarked for a larger book I'll be publishing myself. Getting this first book done through Brian's challenge will get me off "start" and hopefully result in getting the aforementioned 12 Steps book completed and launched as well as a few others. Time is not a serious problem. Certainly I have the time to undertake the challenge, but time management is a bigger issue for me.

I honestly can't think of any cons or downsides to accepting the challenge. So, what's holding me back? Personal inertia! That's it. Nothing more or nothing less. Getting off stop and putting the pedal to the metal.

Accordingly, I believe I'm going to accept the "Challenge from Down Under." The first step is selecting a topic and coming up with a good "grabber" title. Twenty-one years ago I was in New Zealand conducting a series of seminars on "Making Money at Home" organized by my buddy, Brian. But, the world has changed a lot since that time.

Cell phones were still expensive, heavy and limited in the functions they provided. Computers were still large and laptops, notebooks, net books, ultra books and tablets were a thing of the future. There was no Internet open to the public, yet, and the World Wide Web, email and texting didn't exist for the vast majority of the world. Accordingly there was no Amazon, Ebay, PayPal, Facebook, Google, Skype and Square-up, to mention only a few, and desktop publishing was still in its infancy. The terms on-line, ecommerce, ebooks, podcasting, iTunes, uploading, downloading and others hadn't been coined, yet. It was a very different world exactly 22 years ago this month when I went to New Zealand to conduct those seminars.

I was a one person business back then. I operated from my home. My desk overlooked the lake I lived on. I was the CEO, Chairman of the Board, producer and the janitor. For all practical intents and purposes, Brian operated his business on very similar terms about a half a world away. Our leashes (freedom to leave our offices/homes) were pretty short back then and limited to remotely accessible electronic voicemail if your phone company offered it, a magnetic tape based answering machine that could be accessed remotely by touch-tones if voicemail wasn't available and a phone company issued phone calling card that allowed you to make long-distance phone calls from almost any phone or payphone in airports, hotels, etc. The two final items were a very large brief case carrying all your heavy, paper-based, necessary files, letterhead, envelopes, stamps and good typewriter skills adaptable to whatever typewriter might be available. Essentially, one-person, home-based businesses just didn't allow for a lot of freedom.

I did something in January 1991 that I had never done before. I left my office on January 2nd and out of the 31 days of that January, I was gone, approximately 25 days out of the month returning for only one short period to dump my bags, run some wash, repack and head back to San Francisco on another project for about four or five days. This was unheard of for me up until this point in time. The impact on me was the development of an an appetite for more. Yes! A lot of things didn't get done at the office/home that January. Yes! I was busy and stressed catching up when I got back. But, I began looking for ways to make this freedom more realistic and practical.

It took several years. I got my first very expensive, bulky and primitive cell phone in the spring of 1992. I upgraded my computer to a Windows based system, retiring my trusty but limited Radio Shack "Trash 80" (TRS-80). I began getting involved in the emerging Internet in 1994 and began using email as a major form of business communication. As the cell phone services and the phone technology continued to evolve, I upgraded to gain more and more freedom. In 1999 I acquired my first notebook computer and realized even more freedom.

While my businesses still utilized wired business phones, a fax machine, file cabinets full of paper and an array of "tower" computers, networked together and all on the Internet, my main personal business computer was now a notebook. In 2008 I bought a net book computer, smaller and lighter, but capable of doing virtually everything I needed to do on the road. I bought my first smart phone in 2007, providing even more capability and freedom. I began moving my working files to small, portable hard drives in 2011, so I have every file I might ever need with me anywhere in the world and they take up little space and don't add any significant weight.

My latest generation smart phone currently allows me to do almost anything I can do with my computer including access the Internet and even connect my computer to the Internet through my phone. I'm also in the process of moving certain files to the "cloud" and adapting to cloud based application programs like word processing, spreadsheets and similar.

Twenty-two years ago I couldn't have dreamed how technology would "unleash" me to wander the globe as I can today. I take care of business while sitting inside or in my car at all kinds of locations. Some of them include: McDonald's, Burger King, Denny's, Starbucks, other coffee shops, my all time favorite - Panera Bread Cafes, many on the road travel centers, airports, interstate highway rest areas, clients' offices, friends' homes, public libraries and many other places that are easily accessible to anyone traveling. Heck, this past summer I was even checking email and sending emails from 30,000 feet in a big silver tube hurtling through the sky.

Many of us take this all for granted. Many of us have figured out that technology has truly "unleashed" us and opened opportunities we never would have dreamt of before. But, I dare say, for each of us who have embraced this technology and put it to work for ourself, there are five, ten, maybe even hundreds or thousands who don't have a clue. I think it's time for me to update my "Making Money at Home" topic and make it "Making Money from Anywhere Using Technology."

So, there's my challenge. I'll let you know how it all pans out and when you can find the book on Amazon's Kindle site.   

Are You Fragile or Antifragile?

It's Sunday, a time when I contemplate my miniscule place in the universe. It's also a time when I surf the various news feeds. I seek tidbits of enlightening wisdom. Okay, so that's a paradox when it comes to scanning the news media. But, in fact, if I'm fortunate and don't sit on any one channel too long, I almost always uncover some hidden treasure. Normally, I have total disdain for channel surfers, but I must admit that the remote control is the only way I make my discoveries. I typically move between the Fox News Channel, CNN, CNN's Headline News, MSNBC and CNBC. When the broadcast network programs are on (usually weekend mornings before the overload of sports that I totally opt out of) I include those in the mix.

I'm bored to death by all the typical political banter over Benghazi, Ambassador Rice's possible nomination as Secretary of State and the fiscal cliff. Then add the ongoing wailings of those unfortunate souls of natural disasters, currently, super storm Sandy and probably, upcoming, those flooded out and without power on the west coast by their barrage of storms. Somehow all of them believe it is everyone else's responsibility to restore their lifestyles. Add to these the way over extended war in Afghanistan, the Middle East crises (never just one) and the European economic crisis. And don't get me started on the celebrity stories. Well, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. It's pure information overload and always bad news and gloom and doom.

Please, don't make the assumption that I don't care. The reality is that I CAN'T care. It's too much burden to bear, especially since I can't change it, fix it or make it all go away. What I can do is to do my very best to not become a burden on anyone else, on society or on the world. I have no interest in becoming a martyr or a ward of society. I've paid my dues and continue to do my best to remain a productive member of the universe taking up the smallest footprint possible and providing a positive impact on anyone I come in contact with.

The Little Treasures

So, those little treasures I find are bits of information I can hopefully put to work in a positive way for myself and anyone I'm in contact with. The story that has gone viral about the young NYC police officer who bought a pair of boots with his own money for a homeless man who was barefoot. That's a treasure and makes me think about things I can do to help others. The story told by the young Marine sergeant about how the Toys for Tots program began 65 years ago and to date has provided over 500,000,000 toys to needy children at Christmas (yes, I proudly say Christmas - not Holiday Celebration). But, today's most intellectually inspiring treasure was an interview with Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of a new book titled Antifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder.

So, why did this interview impact and inspire me? It inspired me because, in essence, he affirmed many of my belief systems about the world, society and my own country, the United States. In part, he indicates how the U.S. as a country and society has transitioned from being antifragile when it was in it's formative and fledgling years to being a fragile society with only a few pockets of antifragility left. He uses this antifragile concept to illustrate why the U.S. and other countries, societies, corporations and individuals are destined to lose or fail and not recover.

Gloom and Doom!

Okay, so here's my personal gloom and doom prediction. I know this is an unpopular position and I'm likely to be flamed by many who take the time to read this, but it's what I believe and unless you can prove my supposition to be wrong, unequivocally, I'm sticking with my story. You can believe what you want. Like the people who were told to evacuate from the path of the recent storms, who said nothing like this has ever happened before, so I'm staying here. Some of them may have changed their belief systems after the storms. It's too bad they had to learn the hard way that sometimes your belief systems can not only be challenged, but proven wrong.

I believe that we're going to have an ongoing employment crisis, not only in the U.S. but in the world. I believe that we are the authors of this problem. I believe those who listen to the government talking heads are being sold snake oil. Those who tell everyone that they can stimulate and create new jobs, know in their heart of hearts they are effusing a huge line of baloney. However, the truth and the facts are that the efforts of those in government are in maintaining a complacent populace and retaining their seats of power. In other words, they maintain their positions of power and control by telling the populace exactly what they want hear, not the real facts and what they need to hear.

Okay, I know I'm in for it now. I guess I'm anti-American for making such a statement. But, I'm also antifragile. Antifragile according to Taleb means I'm prepared for a volatile set of circumstances. I'm willing to take risks and deal with failures, get up, brush myself off and try again. This is the attitude and the position that people had when this country was founded. There were no government bail-outs for those companies "too big to fail." There was no government stimulus. There were no safety nets like Medicaid, Welfare, SSI or even military disability. And guess what? As a society, we not only survived, but in, probably the shortest time in all recorded history, we became the wealthiest, most successful and powerful nation in the world. It was because, as a people, we did what we had to. Life was volatile. There were no guarantees. People failed. People died. People learned from the failures and deaths and became stronger.

The Big Transition

Again, at risk of being flamed, we have transitioned. We were a nation of pioneers, innovators, inventors, risk takers, hard workers and doers. Today, we've become a nation of whiners, security seekers, entitlement welfare recipients, complainers, blamers, finger pointers and so on.

What happened? It's really very simple. The easier we made it for everyone the less incentive there was. The more expectation of a guaranteed and secure life everyone should have, the greedier and more materialistic everyone became. And, of course, now it's popular to point the finger at the "rich" people and the big corporations as the cause of it all. And, to be perfectly honest, some of the rich people and their greed and the huge mega corporations do hold some responsibility for this mess we're in, but far from all the responsibility.

Unions - A Dying Breed

Another news story today was about a union attempting to unionize the McDonald's fast food chain. They want the employees to make a living wage of nearly double what they are currently paid. Here's the problem with that. First, the work that most McDonald's employees do isn't worth more then the amount they are currently paid. Second, McDonalds jobs are not designed as long term careers, so the majority of the employees will never gain any of the benefits of what the union will promise, but, as seems to be the case, never actually deliver. Third, the prices of McDonalds products will have to increase substantially to pay the employees, thus putting the price of McDonald's food out of the range of more of the buying public sending customers to competitors. That will ultimately make McDonalds less profitable and requiring them to increase the cost of their franchises and franchise fees making them less desirable as a business opportunity resulting in less McDonalds stores. Then the union will attempt to unionize the competitors who will fight back with a vengeance so as not to suffer the same fate.

And, here's the kicker. The union will have a healthy slice deducted from every McDonalds employee's paycheck for which, in the long run, the employees will gain little or no benefit since these jobs are basically transitional. Who wins? The union. Who loses? The employees, McDonald's and the consumers. The unions, while once a very necessary entity to bring some realistic balance to the workplace have also transitioned to a top down, fragile entity that makes their members more dependent on the union and the government. I know! I've been there.

Remember the auto industry? The unions ran the union wages and benefits up for jobs that weren't worth the pay and benefits and the employees became complacent, so the price of cars rose and the quality suffered. The foreign manufacturers took a huge bite out of the market, built their own plants in the U.S. with non-union labor and today there are only about 390,000 union auto workers compared to 1.5 million workers in 1979. So, the population of the U.S. increased from slightly more than 225 million to about 312 million today or an increase of just under 40% while the union membership declined by nearly 75% during the same period. This is one indicator of why my original supposition will hold true. Private sector unions now represent only about 7% of the workforce down from an all time high of 35% of the workforce. That's an 80% decrease from the 1950s peak.

Some Real Facts!

Here are some facts. Population is increasing exponentially. In 1928 the world population was two billion people. Eighty-four years later the world population is around seven billion. That's an increase of 350%. In 1928 the U.S. population was 120.5 million. Today it's approximately 312 million. That's an increase of 260%. There are simply too many people. Read my most popular post, Too Many People, if you haven't already.

Add this to the list of facts. Radio was in its infancy. Television did not exist. The Internet hadn't been conceived of. Telephone communication was primitive and expensive. Computers didn't exist. Automated robots didn't exist, let alone replace humans in manufacturing. The list of technologies that have literally replaced human labor is almost endless since 1928. The many social and entitlement programs that have weakened individual resolve didn't exist. Most work was done by hand.

Entire industries have ceased to exist and many, including agriculture, formerly a large employer, have become so efficient they can function with only a very small percentage of the human resources formerly required. Women have entered the workforce in unprecedented numbers adding even more people where less are required to do the job. Even our military can function at a more awesome degree of destructive power with far fewer personnel. Our mortally wounded casualty count is unbelievably reduced, bringing back even more people to a workforce that no longer has a demand for all the human workers. The U.S. has nearly doubled the number of bachelor degree graduates in about 30 years, yet, somewhere between 63% and 74% of the current graduating classes can't find jobs.  And just as a comparison, India, with a population of approximately 1.1 billion people has more four year college graduates then the entire population of the U.S. and they are all looking for career opportunities.

So, we have more people and the population of both the U.S. and the world continue to increase exponentially. We have more technology then anyone could have ever imagined even 50 or 60 years ago. The technology is increasing at even a faster pace then the population and does work that once required humans and even more dramatically, it's doing work that never existed before. Currently, in any typical month there are less new jobs available than there are new additions to the workforce. And the jobs that are becoming available are not high paying jobs. So, just where are all these jobs going to come from that the government talking heads keep indicating they are going to create?

Gloom and Doom! Gloom and Doom! This is what Mr. Taleb conveys in his book, Antifragile. He points out the difference between a bottom up structure and a top down structure. The U.S. has transitioned from a bottom up structure where the individuals were the risk takers and, in essence "owned" and controlled the government as compared to the current status where the individual is risk averse, seeks security, expects the government to provide that security and, thus, it's now the government in control and the individual is, more or less "owned" (a more emphatic word then simply controlled) by the government.

Fragile or Antifragile?

Who are the antifragile people? They are the entrepreneurs, the innovators, the inventors, free spirits and risk-takers who create new ideas, technology, businesses and some personal wealth for themselves. They are much like those who were the foundation of this country. The only difference is that as a percentage of the total population, today they are only a tiny percentage. Additionally, the government and the top down structure in this country has made it more difficult by several magnitudes for these individuals to function. Yet, the occasional Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Michael Dell, Meg Whitman, Steven Spielberg and others in a few other industries and the Silicon Valley types still emerge. The giants like IBM, HP, the Big Three auto manufacturers and such have had to automate and cut back employment in order to continue to exist. IBM is no longer in the personal computer business because it couldn't remain competitive. Industries like typewriters, vinyl record pressing and others have joined the buggy whip industry. If they exist any longer, they have become nothing more then cottage industries.

So, are you Fragile or Antifragile? The fragile are those who still believe they are going to find that dream, high salary job (and a few - as in a small percentage of the total number seeking the same thing) will find that job. But, they are becoming fewer and farther between. The antifragile are those who can muster up the risk taking, take control of their own lives, buckle down, stop chasing unrealistic dreams, create their own opportunities and become the innovators, creators, inventors, free thinkers and entrepreneurs of the 21st Century. It is these antifragile people who will realize and achieve their realistic dreams, live a comfortable lifestyle, however they define it, and survive.

But, be assured, the government created jobs will be just that, government jobs, either by direct employment or by contract. Where will the money come from to support these government created jobs? Why, from the pockets of those fortunate enough to work in the private sector or from the antifragile entrepreneurs. Oh yeah! And let's not forget by the government continuing to borrow from other countries until their money runs out or the U.S. is too big a credit risk, just as has happened to other nations over the past several decades. A debt that will never be repaid.

I've stated my beliefs. If you comment, that means you care about this reality. If you don't, you obviously have your head in the sand or just don't care. If you flame me, that's fine. I'm sure you have some good points and I'd just ask that you include some facts to back up your position. But, I wouldn't trust anything that politicians or bureaucrats, at any level, say because we're in the situation we're in right now because of them and they are promising more of the same. 

Black Friday - A Perspective . . .

The turkey bones are picked clean, the leftovers are carefully stored in the refrigerator, the parades and football games are over and some of the travelers have departed from "grandmother's house" to return home . . . OR HAVE THEY? Yes! Another Thanksgiving, a uniquely American holiday has passed and the throngs are sated.

But today is "Black Friday," an unofficial holiday. This is the day that has come to be known for the unbridled avariciousness need to acquire as much stuff as possible at, supposedly, the lowest prices possible. This is the day when nearly 50% of the population of the United States will go on a shopping rampage creating some of the worst, if not THE worst traffic, gridlock, pedestrian congestion and store crowding of the entire year.

In The Beginning . . .

The term "Black Friday" actually began in Philadelphia with a negative meaning in a 1961 public relations newsletter describing both the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving as two days the police, other public safety agencies and retail store employees considered probably the two days of the year they dreaded the most. It was in 1966 that the term became more or less public, but was still limited to use in describing those two days in Philadelphia. As late as 1985, many large cities across the U.S. still weren't familiar with or using the term.

It was in a 1980's move by the retailers' "bean counters" to turn the negative connotations of Black Friday into a positive. The retail stores began using the term to mean it was the day when the retailers stopped chalking up losses in "red ink." In accounting records profits are indicated in "black ink" or being "in the black." So, Black Friday was now being touted as the day when retailers began turning a profit for the year.

In fact, like everything else in retail marketing, there is so much hype that it's difficult for the voracious shopper to know the difference (or even care, for that matter) between reality and fiction. For example, Black Friday has been touted as the busiest shopping day of the year, when in fact, from 1993 to 2001, as a representative example, it ranked between the fifth and tenth busiest shopping day. The Saturday before Christmas has pretty well held the title as the busiest shopping day. It wasn't until 2003 that Black Friday, with continually increased promotion, actually became the busiest shopping day (with the exception of 2004).

Free Enterprise

Now, to add a bit more perspective to this bit of prose, I am an entrepreneur and proud of it. So, I believe in and support the free enterprise system. But, like most things in this world, especially if man-made (with no slight meant toward the female of the species), there are flaws, pros, cons and good and bad aspects of the system. Without question, we are in the 21st Century and civilization has progressed for tens of thousands of years. We've progressed through the Stone and Bronze Ages and the Agricultural, Industrial and Information Revolutions. Currently, I would suggest we are in the Walmart Mentality Age progressing rapidly into the Cyber Age.

What all this means is that most people fulfill their basic need requirements much faster than at any time in history and reach the "want" stage of their lives much earlier. I don't necessarily view this as a negative or a positive. What I do see as a negative is that because of the evolutionary process of "stuff" and marketing, we have, in the U.S. created a population of voracious consumers. A simple need 60 years ago for a pair of Keds sneakers for gym class has evolved to a want and consumption of $150 Air Jordans just to be cool, gym class be damned.

We have just, finally, made it through the most expensive and incessant political election cycles in history. Thank God, those political ads have stopped running on radio, TV, the Internet and print media. But, now, turning on the TV is opening your mind to a constant, mind numbing barrage of vapid, intelligence insulting Black Friday commercials. Frankly, if I have a choice, I prefer to go into a Target store before a Walmart store and KMart is way down on my list. But, just on general principle, the Target commercials won't allow me to go near their stores during this holiday season. They are, so far, worse than obnoxious to my sensibilities.

This is all part of the free enterprise system. Now, not to be a hypocrite, I, like everyone else, like a deal. But, I won't, like so many people will, fight traffic, go several blocks out of their way and make their way back to a gas station on the opposite side of a divided highway where the price is one or two cents less then the station on my side. If I put 20 gallons of gas in my van, that's a savings of 40 measly cents. I likely used 50 or 60 cents of gas just getting to the "cheaper" gas station.

Small Business Saturday

Thankfully, there appears to be a small, but significant shopping contingent who are supporting small, local retailers. When the "Big Box Houses" like Walmart, Target, Best Buy and others move into an area, it often signs the death knell for the small, local, often referred to as mom and pop, family owned businesses. One of the most obvious examples of this is the local, independent bookstore., now nearly extinct. A fun movie, but indicative of this cultural phenomena, is You've Got Mail starring Meg Ryan as the owner of a small, neighborhood bookstore in Manhattan driven out of business by the Mega Bookstore (similar too, but not named, Barnes & Noble).

So, to counter this Black Friday consumer feeding frenzy, the Saturday after Thanksgiving has been dubbed "Small Business Saturday" that was conceived and promoted by American Express for the 2010 shopping season. This year an estimated 100,000,000 or about one-third of the U.S. population will spend some of their holiday money at their local small businesses. While American Express is certainly a huge financial organization, it's gratifying that they are using some of their clout to assist and support those locally owned and operated small businesses.

As I said, as a lifetime entrepreneur and small business owner/operator and a supporter of the free enterprise system, I support the idea that we all need to help the economy by spending some of our hard earned money in retail purchases. What totally boggles my mind is the mindless abandon, mob mentality and feeding frenzy behavior demonstrated by people who, otherwise, wish to be considered intelligent, morale and responsible individuals.

The Primordial Soup

Of course, I have to accept that I am a pragmatic individual. Yes! again, not to be a hypocrite, I have certainly bought "stuff" during my lifetime that was frivolous, useless and, most certainly extraneous to my actual needs and even most of my reasonable and realistic wants. I don't know if it's something that's been added to the water supply or we are conditioned (we most certainly are) to want all kinds of stuff, whether child or adult, that we don't actually want or have to have, but - the frenzy causes us to need to buy it. I don't see this behavior as being all that different than people becoming sucked into extremely expensive sporting events or concerts and enduring ear damaging screaming and noise just to be among a mob of 75,000 or 100,000 other screaming people. No one can actually hear the musical artists performing and they really can't see the sporting event nearly as well as they can on a large screen TV in their family room. But, there is a primordial need to be part of this mass hysteria and to part with hard earned dollars, believing that this ritual will be appreciated by the recipient of the "perfect" gift (by the shopper's definition), when, in fact, it may not actually be even a close match.

But, as a believer in "living free" and living the lifestyle any way an individual chooses for him or her self, it is not within my pay grade to determine how people (or maybe this is another place where the term "sheeple" applies) allocate their time, energy, resources or finances. The amazing thing is that most of these people know that the day after Christmas Day EVERYTHING goes on sale for 50% to 75% off to clear the inventory so it can be replaced with all the stuff they're going to be bombarded with for Valentines Day, Spring Sales, graduations, June weddings, etc. And, amazingly, the sale prices will be just as good as on Black Friday.

It's no wonder that countries and societies around the world first want to emulate Americans because we can "have it all." But, then, when the hard realities set in that you can have it all if you can PAY for it all, those same people begin to look at Americans as spoiled children with little self-discipline. Is there any wonder that Greece, Spain, Ireland, Italy and other European nations are having problems coping with economic reality. Is it any wonder this can often result in violence, just as we've seen already during the past several years of Black Fridays. There are incidents that include the trampling death of a Walmart employee, a customer shot at another store, a woman using pepper spray to gain an advantage over shoppers at another store and the violent incidents seem to be escalating.

So, this is my perspective on Black Friday. I'm satisfied to be warm, comfortable, relaxed and far from the maddening mobs. I'm preparing to make myself a nice lunch of Thanksgiving leftovers. Sometime during the day I may look at the news and see how this day is going. I hope there are no incidents of violence and everyone gets all the "stuff" they fought and clawed to buy. I'm happy to be among the 50% of the population who are not participating in the craziness.  

More Living Free Revenue Generating Ideas

The last post about revenue generating focused mainly on things I do to generate revenue to support my living free lifestyle. Those ideas only represented a very small spectrum of the opportunities that are available. Since each of us has our own unique and individual definition of what living free is all about, there is no single revenue generating method that fits all. Additionally, there are a number of variables that each of us has to consider.

Allow me to list some of the variables we must each consider:

How do I define living free for my life?

How old am I?

What is my gender?

What talents was I born with?

What specialized training and education do I have?

What jobs have I had and what skills have I developed?

What hobbies and avocational interests do I have?

What do I love and enjoy doing?

Do I have some other form of income (Social Security, pension, trust fund, inheritance, etc.)

Where do I live?

Will I be in a fixed, permanent location or will I be a nomad of some kind?

Do I want to work with my hands, my mind, both?

Do I have any physical limitations - wheelchair bound, blind, deaf, require a cane or crutches?

Will you require and are you willing to obtain more education or special technical training?

Do you prefer to be self-employed, work for someone else or be a contractor?

You may have some other questions that are more personal to yourself and your own unique situation. Add them to the list and answer them. Each of these questions and your honest answers to them will help define and focus your interests and reveal the right opportunities for you. If you're like most people you've only worked in as few as one field to as many as several, but none of these may have been something that would have been you first (or second, third or more) choice that your passionate about and that you want or wanted to do for the rest of your life.

Of course, there are all kinds of individual circumstances that have held priorities in your decision to accept whatever you've done in the past and may currently be doing. If you can be honest with yourself, the chances are that most of your decisions were determined by economic pressures. To be more specific, you needed a revenue source to pay your rent or mortgage, car payments, put food on the table, clothes on your back, cover medical expenses, insurance and other necessities. If you had/have a family, those pressures are even more defined and restrictive.

But, if you're reading this blog, you have some definitive interest in changing your life in some significant manner. I believe the bottom line is that we all want to be personally free. I believe it's a basic human instinct and drive. Unfortunately, we live in a society and at a time in the continuum of human development where we have changed from free-ranging "hunter-gatherers" to very much, niche defined "hunter-gatherers."

We no longer have to take our bows and arrows, spears and sling shots out on the hunt to procure our meat. We simply go to the supermarket and pick it out of the meat case already slaughtered, cut up and packaged. The same holds true for our vegetables, fruits and berries. We don't have to go out to find and pick them or till the soil, plant and harvest them. That's all done for us. We each have some form of defined niche that we call a job (or a business) where we do something productive for the good of the collective and that allows us to generate revenue to acquire the necessities of life including food, clothing, shelter, transportation, etc.

There is certainly much positive to say about our modern society and the myriad methods of providing the large variety of meat, poultry, fish, vegetables, fruits and berries. It goes without saying that everything we once had to do individually to sustain our lives is now done by efficient, effective methods and industries. You fill one of those highly defined niches as your part of the collective. Of course, this has redefined the definition of personal freedom and what it means to live free.

Unless you live in a very isolated location with little or no contact or access to the advanced, contemporary society that has spread around the planet, your personal freedom is greatly diminished. One of the many expectations of modern society is that everyone will, in one manner or another, be a productive, contributing member of the society and that is how it should be and must be for everyone to survive and hopefully thrive. It requires that we have at least one means of generating revenue to function in the society to purchase the meat, vegetables, clothes, shelter and so on. We become very judgmental and view anyone who chooses not to be productive, as we have come to define it, as anti-social, a non-conformist and a thorn in the side of society.

The question is, at this point in time, if you're doing one or more things you've chosen to do in this niche defined society that you don't enjoy doing, why are you doing it? Would you not feel freer and happier if you were able to do something that you'd love doing? It would have to be something that you'd even consider doing for free, but are able to generate some revenue from it. Yes, there actually are millions of people around the world doing exactly that. There are, of course, other questions and considerations that may enter your picture, but life is all about choices anyway, so why not choose to be freer and happier.

Here is another list of opportunities (as opposed to calling them jobs) to consider:

Writer                                                         Teacher                                              

Trainer                                                        Dancer

Music Composer                                     Music Performer

Carver                                                          Sculptor

Painter (art)                                                Inventor                                              

Architect                                                     Construction Worker

Sales Person                                               Consultant                   

Speaker                                                       Voice Actor

Actor                                                            Theatrical Director

PowerPoint Specialist                             Graphic Designer

Web Designer                                            Book Designer          

Handy Man/Woman                             Home Care Giver

Nurse (Travel or Fixed Location)       Food Server             

Cook/Chef                                                  Interpreter

Travel Consultant                                    Tour Guide

Tutor                                                            Ebay/Amazon Marketplace Sales 

Tour Bus Driver                                       RV Ferry Driver                

Truck Driver                                              Taxi Driver

Child Care                                                  Pet Care                                        

Pet Groomer                                              Pet Photographer

Photographer                                            Nature Photographer                           

Industrial Photographer                        Videographer             

Documentary Maker                              Computer Technician

Mobile RV Repair Technician              Vehicle Detailer                                   

Oversize Load Pilot Car Driver            Conference Recording Tech

Paralegal                                                     Court Reporter

Nature Hike Leader                                Editor

Delivery Driver                                         Mechanic                                           

Inventory Taker                                       Shelf Stocker

Financial Planner/Consultant            Treasure Hunter/Salvage Diver

This is a diverse list of avocational opportunities, for sure. They are off the cuff. I put them on the list as I thought of them. Most all of them can be done at a fixed location for those individuals who don't have nomadic tendencies. However, most of these opportunities can be employed by nomadic travelers to find opportunities as you travel from place to place. Obviously, some require special training or education. Others require certain skill sets and some require specialized tools or equipment. Some may require special licenses.

This is only the first of a number of lists of ways to generate revenue. Some of these ideas may not be very appealing at first glance, but there are many facets to most of them. You may also look at them and say, "Hey, I'm a lawyer or a doctor or a college professor, do you know how much money I make and how much I'd have to give up to do any of these things?" Of course I do. As noted previously, I have both a bachelors and masters degree. Both degrees allow me to work in careers that are considered professional and could earn me a nice income.

Once again, the choice you have to make is whether you're happy and free being a lawyer, doctor, professor or whatever it may be that you're currently doing. If you are, then you don't need to read any more of my posts on revenue generating for a living free lifestyle. If you're not happy and you're reading these posts, then you're searching. I'm simply providing ideas.

I knew an attorney in New York. He was not happy providing legal services. He lived well and had most of the trappings of success, but he wasn't happy and he didn't feel free. One day a small greasy spoon style diner became available. He bought it, closed his law practice and became the short order cook in his own diner. He was happier and felt freer then he ever did as a lawyer. He had found his passion. And, no, he didn't make as much money nor did he have the status he had when he was a lawyer, but happiness trumped money and status for him.

In future posts I'll explore many of these and lot of other revenue generating ideas and opportunities. Here comes an old cliché, the mind is like a parachute, it only works when it's open.

Living and WORKING Free . . . Revenue Generating

By now, I hope you've noticed that I've added the word Working back into the title of this blog. While I still refer to the blog as Living Free, I felt that there are few of us who can actually live free without doing something that will generate some revenue to support our lifestyles, how ever we have designed them.

Recently I did a couple posts on a couple of my recent "revenue generating" road trips to illustrate one of the ways I generate some of my supplemental revenue. I also know that there are numerous part-time and full-time RVers, vandwellers and other nomads who tune in and read the Living Free blog. Most of the RVers and probably a good many of the vandwellers know what "workcamping" is and participate in that revenue generating activity. Many of the nomads are "location independent" folks who choose to travel the U.S. and the world as nomads and earn income to support their travels from whatever location they happen to be, whether for a short period or for a longer duration.

Some of us are, by some good fortune and usually involving some years of focused and concentrated efforts toward a decent paying career or one or more businesses, financially independent. Financially independent can be defined as having enough money set aside in some solid investments or savings that yield decent dividends to support a frugal nomadic lifestyle. It can also mean that someone has accumulated a sizeable fortune from the sale of a very successful business or, perhaps, a huge inheritance or very healthy trust fund. And, of course, there are those who may be retired and have their Social Security stipend every month and possibly supplemental income from a regular pension or 401K, IRA and annuity plans they faithfully funded for years.

The reality is, though, that most of us want and need to supplement our incomes to some degree. The exception is a very small percentage of folks who are truly financially independent and can enjoy their RVing, vandwelling or nomading with no concern or need for additional income. So, with that in mind, I'm going to begin creating a series of regular posts illustrating the numerous and probably countless ways that any of us can adopt and adapt to our lifestyles to generate whatever amount of additional revenue we feel we require to live our dreams and enjoy our living free lifestyles.

And, it's important to remember that most of us already have skills, talent and experience we can exploit to our own benefit. As a matter of fact, most of us have the ability to select two or three or maybe more ways to generate multiple streams of income, including some that may be passive or may involve bartering. I'll explore and discuss all the possibilities I can think of. Additionally, I know there are many of you who each have created some unique revenue generating ideas and techniques of your own. So, if you won't mind sharing them with others, please let me know what you're up to and allow me to interview you so I can share what is working with you.

A Bit of My Story

As a bit of an introduction, I'm going to list all the things I have skills, talents and experience in doing. I may be a bit of an anomaly. I have often said to friends and colleagues that having as much knowledge, skill, talent and experience as I have accumulated in so many areas can be a curse as much as it can be blessing. I began my revenue generating and entrepreneurial pursuits at age 12. Yes! Like many folks, I was a "Paper Boy" delivering my hometown evening newspaper (we didn't have a morning paper). I had one of the largest paper routes in the Herald News home delivery distribution system with about 110 customers. I delivered six days a week and had to do all my own door to door collections each week. We were all independent contractors and worked for ourselves. I learned a lot from my paper route at a young age about dependability, customer service and commitment. I also learned a lot about the value of money.

I will also say that I gained vitally important knowledge and skills from every small business and every part-time job that I've ever had. But, most assuredly, the foundation was laid during my junior and senior high school years and my college and graduate school years.

I am fortunate enough to have had the opportunity of earning both a bachelors and a masters degree before the age of 24. My bachelors degree is in Education, more specifically, Industrial Arts. There has never been a day of my life that I have regretted majoring in Industrial Arts. I was certified to teach Kindergarten through 12th grade in some 14 areas of industrial technology. While I've never taught in a public school environment, I've applieid all of that knowledge throughout my lifetime and I've been teaching, primarily adults, for that same period.

I earned my masters degree in television and radio. Again, while I have never officially held a job in a TV or radio station, the knowledge has served me well all my life and I've used it in more ways then I can describe. I do not have an MBA, or at least not one with a piece of paper sporting a gold seal from some accredited institution of higher education. However, I dare say, I had already earned an MBA in multiple areas of business through the school of "on the job training" and real world experience by the time I completed my masters degree in TV and radio.

My college and graduate school years were during the volatile Vietnam era. All U.S. male citizens were required to register with the Selective Service System (aka the "Draft Board) at 18 and carry our "Draft Card" with us at all times. Unlike today and for the past 40 years or so, that little card in our wallet was basically like a ticking time bomb back then for men between the ages of 18 and about 25. One of the major discussion topics of that era was draft deferral or how to obtain and maintain any draft status other then 1A. As long as I was a full-time student, I maintained a 2S student deferral. But, as soon as I completed graduate school at the end of the summer of 1968, I immediately reverted to "draft bait" or 1A status. Very few of us wanted to be drafted into the military during the time of a very unpopular war.

I did my best to avoid being drafted and going into the military and I managed to put off the inevitable until the late spring of 1969. But, alas, my number was up and I chose to enlist in the U.S. Air Force voluntarily. Prior to actually enlisting, I went to the trouble of finding the precise job/duty assignment and location where I wanted to serve my country. Most people didn't believe one could do this, but I did whatever I had to and locked in my own assignment before I signed the enlistment papers. Obviously, it was in a location where I could serve my country well, do a job that served the Air Force mission . . . AND served my future objectives well also. And, just to be clear, no, I didn't "know" people in high places. I made my own connections.

I spent most of the four years I was in the Air Force in Washington, DC working for the Secretary of the Air Force producing radio (primarily) and TV programs and materials, writing, voicing and producing recording sessions for the highest office in the Air Force. I received an award for Meritorious Service and added much to my personal knowledge and experience in my chosen fields of recording and broadcasting. I created industry contacts and networks. And, needless to say, like everything prior to my short Air Force career, I have used all of it for the rest of my life. Once again, I turned what could have been a negative experience and four years of lost time into a massive positive for myself. And, while I never saw combat, which was one of my objectives, I'm still proud to be a veteran and have served my country when called upon. I guess post people would describe it as a Win-Win situation.

The point is that whoever you are and no matter what level of education you have achieved, you were born with certain talents and basic abilities. Add to those a lifetime of gained knowledge and experience, regardless of how long your lifetime is to this point in time. You are a valuable commodity when you add a dash of ambition and self-motivation.

So, beginning at age 12 and progressing for a period of 55 years at this point in my life, I have accumulated a massive amount of saleable knowledge, abilities, skills and experience. Everyone of them saleable or barter-able. Everyone of them providing an unlimited assortment of revenue generating opportunities. Going back to the 7th Step of my 12 Steps for Living Free, Avocation, I don't choose to pursue revenue generating opportunities in many of the areas I have knowledge and experience. So, I have selectively chosen a number of areas that I enjoy, feel extremely competent in and accordingly, while not necessarily marketing myself in all of these chosen areas, keep my eyes and ears open for revenue generating opportunities. This approach also avoids becoming stereotyped and bored. Variety is still the spice of life.

My Personal List of Revenue Generating Skills

Here then is the list of fields in which I look for opportunities to generate revenue for myself.

Audio Production (my knowledge, experience and skills are extremely broad based in

            this field)

Video Production (my primary skills and experience are in training and industrial

            production)

Voice-Over services (blessed with a rich deep voice, a reasonable command of the

            language and well over 30 years of experience I can handle a broad variety

            of assignments)

Professional Audio Systems Design, Acquisition and Integration (I am not only an

            audio producer, but also an audio engineer with nearly 50 years of experience)

Professional Speaker (I have spoken around the U.S. and overseas and conducted

            everything from 45 minute keynote addresses to multi-day seminars and

            workshops for diverse audiences on a variety of topics)

Business Consulting (I'm particularly well-versed in small businesses and home-

            based, family businesses ranging from single employees to multiple

            employees)

Book Publishing (I can even add small magazine publishing to this category since

            I have over 12 years of trade book publishing experience, started a small local

            magazine and also created and marketed an audio magazine internationally)

Audio-Visual Technician (I have years of experience coordinating various facets of

            audio & visual presentations, equipment and staging for meetings from coast

            to coast)

Meeting Planning & Production (This is another skill I developed over the years of

            working with a number of meeting planners. There are so many skills involved

            in pulling all the elements together for a successful meeting with tens of

            speakers and hundreds of people attending the meeting. My interest is in

            looking for smaller meeting opportunities).

Writing (I've been writing all my life and have had articles published numerous times,

            but this blog, the series of books I'm working on and I've recently been

            contracted to write a blog for someone else, means I've entered the realm of

            paid writers - a new field for me)

As you can probably tell there is an overlap between just about all of these specialized fields. In addition, there are many facets to each of these fields. It's impossible to get into each of the many possibilities and opportunities each of these offers me here. Additionally, there are many other areas in which I have knowledge, skills and abilities. They are areas that I'm not as interested in pursuing as revenue generating possibilities. However, I have and will provide some of these other skills and abilities on a barter basis for various things or on a volunteer basis.

So, this is my list for generating revenue as a location independent, vandwelling, professional nomad. What does your list look like? Every single reader of this blog has talents, knowledge, skills and abilities that you can put to work for yourself and love what you do. That's my definition of an Avocation. Some of you, perhaps, most of you have full-time jobs or professional careers. A small percentage of you love what you're doing. Most of you are doing it because you are wage slaves and need the jobs or careers to support your current lifestyle and debt load. To put that another way, you are not living free or working free.

I could easily make a full-time living (and have) from everything I've listed (except writing, which is my venture into expanding my personal horizons). I neither want to or need to do any of these things full-time to enjoy my living free lifestyle. That's what working free is all about. I pick and choose the projects or assignments that motivate and challenge me. If something doesn't look like it will be fun, I can choose not to accept it. How about you?

Opportunities for You to Learn

Over the upcoming months I'm going to take each of these fields on my list, one by one, and dissect them. I'm going to show you where there may be new opportunities for you in some of my chosen fields and give you pointers on how you can get involved yourself. But, I'm not only going to discuss my own chosen fields. I'm also going to explore the myriad opportunities that that exist in many diverse fields of endeavor. I'll interview people who are generating revenue in these fields. I'll give you tips and pointers on how you can explore these areas for yourself and provide resources you can tap into.

Once again, I want to remind you that I've started this blog to help others, anyone interested, in finding their own way to live their own dream, living free lifestyle. That's my mission in life. I created the 12 Steps for Living Free as part of this blog and very soon it will be an ebook and then a print book. Those 12 steps are all right here in this blog. Just go back several months and you'll find each of them. Utilize them to help you define your own living free lifestyle and take the necessary steps to realize that lifestyle.

With the current and future economic and political conditions in the U.S. and the rest of the world, being trapped in the "system" will not guarantee you any lifestyle and your personal freedom will continue to erode. You own your life and you should own your personal freedom. More to come, get ready!