How to Be Free: Harry Browne's Freedom Principles

I've gotten this via a newsletter I subscribe to. Thought it might be interesting to share. It's about true, pure & unadulterated freedom, not the so-called freedom that we claim to enjoy in this civilization. (need I put more emphasis?).

It's based on one of Harry Browne book How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World: A Handbook for Personal Liberty , which is rare and expensive:

www.mindpowernews.com...

Here's an excerpt of the link above:

Freedom consists of a lack of desire to control others.

In 1973 author Harry Browne in the midst of a long career as an iconoclast wrote a book that was the most iconoclastic thing he ever wrote.

Most of Harry's books were Investment Books, and while far from dry, they did not prepare the reader for the excitement and revelation of his Freedom book. The book, How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World, was more than the sum of its parts. It was philosophy, without the baggage that the word philosophy engenders.

It provided the reader with clearly defined guide-lines explaining how to attain freedom, and clear explanations of how we often sabotage of own efforts to be free, and suggestions of how we can defuse that sabotage within ourselves.

I read How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World in 1973, and it changed my life radically and for the better. It showed me what freedom was and how to attain it. The book was instrumental in my creating this website, because I realized that I would never be free in the United States, but that I could find freedom in various nations by knowing the difference between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law.

It then goes on to describe the traps that keep people from being free; here are a few of them:

Identity Trap #1: The belief that you should be someone other than yourself. You need to be true to yourself. Find out who you are; be yourself; do things your own way.

Intellectual Trap: The belief that your emotions should conform to an intellectually preconceived standard. Emotions are best regarded as signals that tell you how you're doing.

Morality Trap: The belief that you must obey a moral code created by someone else. In order to become more competent (and free) you need to strengthen your understanding of the cognitive links between your actions and the consequences you produce. Morality is basically a set of very general rules concerning what to do and what not to do, generally involving large consequences. Blindly using someone else's moral code, tends to reduce your competence, because it prevents the forming of proper cognitive links between actions and consequences. To be free you need to create your own moral code.

Government Trap #1: The belief that governments perform socially useful functions that deserve your support.

Government Trap #2: The belief that you have a duty to obey laws.

Government Trap #3: The belief that the government can be counted upon to carry out a social reform you favor.

Government Trap #4: The fear that the government is so powerful that it can prevent you from being free.

Obviously, the vast majority of people believe that the noises and scribbles of government people constitute "the law." There are also hordes of bureaucrats, police, and judges who regard "the law" as sacrosanct. If they suspect you disrespect their "law," they tend to feel very threatened and may become extremely vindictive. There are times when your freedom depends on your ability to convince them that you respect the noises and scribbles they call "the law."

Despair Trap: The belief that other people can prevent you from being free. You are always free to move on and start a new life.

The rest are in the link below:

www.mindpowernews.com...

Related links:

Amazon link: How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World: A Handbook for Personal Liberty (Hardcover)

www.escapeartist.com...





[edit on 6-5-2010 by TheBandit795]

At the end of the article there is a quote:

"You are the sovereign authority for your life. You are the ruler who makes the decisions regarding how you will act, what information you will accept. You do it anyway -- but if you recognize that you do it, you can gain much greater control over your future.

But whether or not you accept it, you are sovereign. You rule one life -- and you rule it totally.

You decide which information you will accept or reject. You decide what your next action will be. You decide what moral code you'll live by.
To be free, you have only to make the decision to be free. Freedom is waiting for you -- anytime you're ready for it."

Identity Trap #1: The belief that you should be someone other than yourself. You need to be true to yourself. Find out who you are; be yourself; do things your own way.

This is the #1 most important rule. Be happy with what you are doing with your life. I figured this out years ago. I was working 60-70 hours a week and i had enough of it. I stopped the job i was working and started to think about what i really want to do with my life. I didn't work for a few months until i found a job i knew i would really enjoy. That lead me into working at a small zoo and i found that i absolutely indeed love animals. I love watching them, i love taking care of them, i just love being around them. I knew then that i have to be around animals and to be truly happy i need to work somehow with them.

Sadly, i got injured on the job and the boss hated me because we were the two only males and he was just like an Alpha male. I didn't let that effect me though until i got injured and couldn't return to work so he had to find another person to take my job. I was desperate for work after that so i moved in with my father, worked my back up love job, which is developing web sites and loved life.

After my mother died, who was a dog walker, my life crumbled and i really knew i had to do something that would make me happy.

You can't go through your life being miserable and working a horrid job will make you go insane. After a bit of time to recover after the loss of my mother and grandmother i decided to invest money into Photography equipment and i started photographing animals at zoos. With zero photography experience i spent countless hours photographing animals and i became good. I started uploading my photos to flickr a little over a year ago and not too long ago i was contacted by National Geographic Kids magazine and they will be using one of my photos in their magazine. I never thought this would happen but i just did what i wanted to do.

I agree on the importance of that rule. It's a clash that so many people have had with their parents, their community (especially if it's a small one) etc...

I'm happy for you that you've broken out of that

Sounds like an interesting book! I can't help wondering if there is any mention of the 'Law of Attraction' in there somewhere. From the quotes you've given there seem to be similarities! But then I don't know that much about either

reply to post by March of the Fire Ants


OT, sorry, but March, is your avatar taken from art work from Thom Yorke's solo album?

Bandit, luckily my father is very supportive. That is a big factor in doing what you want to do. You need support from people that you love.

reply to post by BeastMaster2012


No it isn't, but it is a cover from a record. We're not exactly famous

Wow thats a really expensive book! Sounds like solid information though. If someone here cant afford it and would like to read through it give me a pm.

I think accepting reality is pretty free. Creating a vice to defy odds, controls how you act. Same with holding onto hope longer than you should, it controls how you dont act. Accepting reality (however it may be done) brakes down all constraints, you stop fighting and stop waiting. Like curious motion. Free.

A fantastic thread.

Its unbelievable how much we accept "freedom by degree" in western society, without wholly accepting the fact that almost anything is possible within our lives were we aware of it. Reality is thermostatic, not thermosetting. There are, almost, no limits to what can be achieved...had we the balls and trust in our own instincts and intuition.

Governments mean nothing, authority even less should we dwell beyond the expanse of its armed hand. You have four billion years of consciousness, development and growth inside of you. We breathe da vinci's molecules every day, and each a spark of raw genius gestating...awaiting expression.

Alright, I'm a little drunk...and growing far loftier than I normally would. But ah, if only this thread was a discussion on freedom itself, than somebody else's book...I might have something more to say.

Hello,

Here it is in E'Book format for ALOT cheaper >

www.trendsaction.com...

Be safe and be well,

Spiro

Thanks for posting this.

Another piece of the puzzle.

reply to post by TheBandit795


I love the government traps. Unfortunately most people don't have the mental framework to be able to change whatever beliefs they hold about the government so most people will never be truly free, although they will like to believe that they are.

reply to post by TheBandit795


i like the spirit of your means regarding freedom, so i agree on anything you say there, but just a point i think is important to add

first from the principle i know from myself, you cant mean acting positively towards something if it is not from its free source
so anything is never because of a reaction to something else, anything has always itself positive source

and so the source of freedom will, is the absolute positive result of nothing to become a life positive motion

that is why free mean positive living for sure, if you let go everything you hold you are not floating or anything like that, you are free living if you focus on yourself what is left, there is always something there meaning to move for itself realisations while it is much smaller from waht your head was thinking but it is much more true as intelligent result and clear

Wow, I REALLY hate to be that guy...

but I found a free version of the book. =) Bittorrent is the most evil, beautiful child of the internet.

Link (not sure about the exact legality though)

Good stuff - Grab it while you can ---

www.scribd.com...

To recogize the authorship of one's life and then accept responsibility for it is, after all, the pivot point of development that physical existance seems to provide. I use these guides as a way of thinking: government rules and regulations should only apply to interpersonal activity. Any attempt to regulate intrapersonal issues amounts to legislating morality. Legislative bodies aren't the best place to create such rules. How would it be if society in general acted in a manner which was designed to keep reflecting responsibility for personal choices and actions back upon the individual with all relavent information and support available for the individual's use.

Just a moment of reflection is all it takes to begin to realize the extent to which just the opposite is actually occuring. That is where society, as a group, happens to be. At present, freedom must be taken by a certain amount of force because the 'group' will not like a separation from the herd and will impose restrictions of every sort to avoid separation.

One problem ,

Morality Trap: The belief that you must obey a moral code created by someone else. In order to become more competent (and free) you need to strengthen your understanding of the cognitive links between your actions and the consequences you produce. Morality is basically a set of very general rules concerning what to do and what not to do, generally involving large consequences. Blindly using someone else's moral code, tends to reduce your competence, because it prevents the forming of proper cognitive links between actions and consequences. To be free you need to create your own moral code.

Should we enable thieves , murderers , pathological liers , psychopaths , pedophiles and sexual deviants to create their own moral codes and what then should be done when they "express" their morals? Punish them? Wouldn't that be hypocritical? The world is not a perfect world and moral codes may restrict a certain cross section of rebels , and there's nothing wrong with rebels , in the correct context they can be useful sometimes eg.Jesus , Siddhārtha Gautama AKA Buddha , but a world with positive moral codes like"make a habit of two things - to help, or at least, to do no harm-Hippocrates" is better than "Take what you want and do as you please." Total freedom practiced by savages is barbarism or dystopia , total freedom practiced by wise benevolent beings is paradise or utopia. As you can see it's a dualism of two different paradigms. The fact that we are headed for dystopia is not a good sign.

"because it prevents the forming of proper cognitive links between actions and consequences."

If it's just the individual who has to live with their actions and consequences go right ahead , but living in a world where others exist we must be responsible , sane and compassionate as much as we can , as they may end up suffering for our foolishness.

Very interesting. Luckly, I have followed these guides my entire life . It is nice to see that I am not alone.
I do fail in the Government Trap #4. I do believe that the Government has the ability to remove your freedom, but in addition to that , I believe that if the Government finds out that you believe you are free and act upon that belief you will be targeted by the government as an example to others.

Nice find This Harry Browne book looks like something that could upset the apple cart if very many people get the info and use it.