Free-Man's Perspective

Western civilization – the most effective major civilization in human history – has lost its mechanisms of transmission. And that’s a big problem. Civilizations are simply collections of humans who share certain ideas, and if those ideas are no longer passed down, the civilization breaks, degrades and vanishes.

Western civilization had specific and important virtues, like cooperation, initiative, creativity, curiosity, co-dominance, open inquiry and justice. If we lose those, we stand in jeopardy, and our grandchildren stand in grave jeopardy. Continue reading “Transmitting Civilization Is Now Up To Us”

Sure enough, several days later an announcement was made that Stalin (or, properly, his scientists) would be included in the spacecraft project. And so I set up a meeting with Bush’s friend, at an Italian restaurant in lower Manhattan.

Bush remained at the apartment this time, planning his return to Salt Lake City, where he and Phoebe were minded to stay long-term. We sat, ordered, engaged in just a bit of small talk, and then I handed him my list: Continue reading “Return Engagements: Book Three (Part Twenty Eight)”

The statement I’ll be making today is simple… very simple. Nonetheless, I think it’s of tremendous importance. It’s the type of thing that, if kept sufficiently in mind, can revise your mental universe.

It’s the type of thing that makes me want to write, “Meditate on this at least once per day for several years.” This concept can not only revamp you, but could revamp humanity. 

So, here are those three words: Continue reading “Just Three Words”

From my quick trip to Detroit until leaving Salt Lake City, I hadn’t spent any time on my primary mission of making 1947 better than it had been the first time through. After all, I had made the world aware of their place in the galaxy… and a much better place than they had imagined. More than that, the idea had stuck. That, I was convinced, would upgrade mankind steadily. Continue reading “Return Engagements: Book Three (Part Twenty Seven)”

There are – and this is most unusual – tickets available for the annual hackers congress at Parallelní Polis in Prague. Normally they sell out well in advance, but because of all the disruptions over the past few years, this time that hasn’t happened.

This is an uncommon opportunity. If you’d like to see the leading edges of cryptography, liberty, money, art and philosophy, this is the place to do it.

The show runs three days, September 30^th through October 2^nd, in Prague’s Holešovice district. It is eminently worth your time.

Find the details here.

Last week we examined the “social contract” in some depth, to see if it passes as a legal concept. This week we’ll examine two follow-up issues: one that I didn’t mention and one that I mentioned, but didn’t delve into.

And for those who missed last week’s post, we started by noting that the social contract is the concept that describes the origin of society and the legitimacy of the authority of the state over the individual. It asserts that all of us have consented to surrender some of our rights to a ruling group, in exchange for the protection of our remaining rights. Continue reading “Follow-Up On The Social Contract”

Over the next few weeks, several of the apostles stopped in to my apartment for visits, but not long ones. Soon enough Thanksgiving came, compete with a lovely dinner at Vannevar and Phoebe’s house.

While I lived in the temple, I was free to come and go as I pleased, although I kept Mary informed as a courtesy to her. I had avoided newspapers most of this time, and even radio news. And I greatly enjoyed my walks around the city. It was nice blending into the crowd, and as I noted earlier, there’s real comfort in living with sincere, spiritual people. Continue reading “Return Engagements: Book Three (Part Twenty Six)”

The social contract is a description of “the origin of society and the legitimacy of the authority of the state over the individual.” The social contract asserts that all of us have consented to surrender some of our rights to a ruling group, in exchange for the protection of our remaining rights.

The question I’ll address today is whether this is a legitimate contract. Continue reading “Is The Social Contract Legit?”

By the time we arrived in Salt Lake City, Admiral Hillenkoetter was being replaced. He wasn’t a particularly bad man; rather, he was run-over by circumstances and didn’t have the guts to walk away from a bad decision. He was, like Bush, worn out and aging ahead of his years. Both of them should have turned down their post-war jobs, but at least Bush walked away from his. Continue reading “Return Engagements: Book Three (Part Twenty Five)”

It has been dawning upon the people of the West that central banking cartels have been draining away their wealth. That’s a significant movement forward, and not one I want to interrupt. And so I’ll ask you to use this information sparingly (presuming you agree with it); people can absorb only so much at once; beyond that they resent the teller. Continue reading “How Democracy Empowers Central Banking”