Search the Community

Recommended to me by @Dylan Lawrence Moore, I found Rich Dad, Poor Dad (not sure if the comma is part of the actual title since I don't think it is but I put it there anyway) as an audiobook on YouTube. And by GOD ABOVE was it the most productive and empowering red pill I've ever swallowed! Not only did it "reveal" (I put quotes because if you've been following Stefpai some of the stuff should already be known to you--however if you're a fresh face to the real world then it's as good as any a first step!) a lot of truths and facts about society, money, and etc. but it fundamentally encapsulates the core distinctions between the Rich, the Poor, and the Middle Class. The audiobook for the book proper is only 3 hours long--I won't attempt to boil it down to a couple paragraphs because every line is worth listening to and frankly I'd do a disservice if I tried. You can find a way to break down 3 hours into diggestable bits as needed and you'll be well-rewarded for it. As a "spoiler" though I'll point out what Robert Kiyosaki claims (and I think rationally and reasonably) to be the primary distinction between the Rich and the Middle Class/Poor: Financial Literacy. Financial Literacy is essentially knowing what wealth is, knowing how to separate assets from liabilities and the wisdom to tell the difference before sealing the deal. Public School education isn't much and College Education is becoming increasingly worthless (worse than worthless actually; about a few hundred thousand dollars of bad debt + anywhere from 2-10 years of your life, potentially!) and I have to say this book as an introduction to financial literacy was worth far more than anything I've ever learned from the government schools. Even more than my ability to read and do basic math, I'd dare say. I don't care how old you are or how busy you are: you will be helped by this book and the younger and fresher you are the more empowered you'll be in the long run by this information. Don't be the Poor Dad and embody the Poor Dad's ways of thinking and being; become the Rich Dad and invest in yourself. And this free audiobook is definitely an infinitely profitable return on investment!

Last fall, I invested in a blockchain startup. Now, I have a goal of creating a paid position in the company within a few months. There looks to be some very big investment just around the corner, and they are launching an extremely exciting product within a couple of months. I do not have any concrete skills that are directly relevant and that can be easily monetized in the company - yet. Therefore, my intention is to learn by showing up. Basically being at the office pretty much every day and absorb. I have money for spending for a few months to come, so I can afford to be there without getting paid for a little while. Plus, of course, my equity may do a job giving me an "income" as well. So, wealth will most likely increase anyway, but I of course need some income to pay bills etc. While showing up is usually a great way to learn stuff in general (and I have good experience of this), I think I may need a strategy for exactly how I should be showing up in this context. Does anybody here have experience immersing yourself in a new business? What is my best strategy here, be as curious as I can? Ask questions as often as possible? Help brew coffee as often as possible? Be as critical (constructively, of course) as possible? Etc etc Advice would be much appreciated

Hi guys, I have just started a Twitter channel: @ApricotTheory whose goal is going to be ... well, I'll just copy and paste the description: "... The purpose of this channel is to let you know what the political leanings of corporations are so you can make better spending decisions. #GoodFruit #BadFruit ..." Do you know of others who are doing something similar to what I have in mind here ^ ? Please let me know if you do. At any rate, if you think this is a good idea, help out and use those same hashtags whenever something comes to your attention in the news about a corporation. Danke

Hello, I am hoping to find an ambitious person to discuss the possibility of starting a company in the future based on an app idea that I have been mulling over. I have the idea, would be willing to invest in the idea, and also have management skills running a business for several years. This would be a part-time project to begin with, but I do want someone who would be committed if the project is started, and want our goal to be thinking big about revenue as well as changing the world for the better. I do not know how to program. My ideal partner is someone who could A) First confirm the idea is feasible; B) Be willing to enter into a cooperative relationship after discussions and thinking things through properly about how to approach the project and how to divide company interests based on our investment of either money or time or both; C) Be willing to invest time and effort in helping to design and build the product, in particular being able to program. Please leave a message here or shoot me a PM if interested and we can Skype : ) Chris

So for a bit of time I have been following probably something that will come as a bit of a surprise to this community, maybe because this particular person calls himself a guru and a mystic. Maybe it's my own projection, but I'm still nonetheless going to throw this out here since my passion has been sparked. So here is the video that relates to the title of this thread: https://youtu.be/UGroxC5xJaA The argument is that "for the first time we as people have the necessary capability, resource and technology to address every human problem on the planet." How does that stand against the welfare state, and because it is talked about in the idea that businesses should take this up as their vision, would that at least qualify this argument for being in the realm of win-win negotiations? How does it stand against the idea of the limited resources of the planet? The argument to me also has a moral component, altruistic in nature, that ultimately if the capability is there to solve these human problem by the able, it should also mean that the able need to be a part of this movement, to a disproportionate degree than those that do not have the capability. Maybe I'm getting it wrong. The scope of the argument, is for now, just limited to our planet. I'd like to see how this stands to the rigors of this forum, of reason and evidence. So if you prefer, do throw some fire thisaway.

Hello, I'm not totally sure if it is right to post this here, but I teach Icelandic online and have been doing so for 2 years now. If you are interested in lessons, feel free to send me a message. Also, if you have any comment or criticism, let me know. I am a native Icelandic speaker. I have an excellent handle of both English and Icelandic. If you want to get a better handle of the Icelandic language, I‘m here to help you. Whether you‘re new to learning – or if you want to take your existing skills further, let me be your guide. It can be both difficult and frustrating, learning Icelandic all on your own. The task may seem daunting at first, and you may have been putting it off for fear that the language is simply too difficult to master My lessons are geared towards solving your problems. The focus is on practical use of the Icelandic language. Examples used apply to real-life situations. I aim to simplify the learning process and tailor it to your specific preferences. If you have any questions, don‘t hesitate to drop me a line. If you feel like you‘ve been putting off the task of learning Icelandic for too long, there‘s no time like the present. All it takes is one little step. I invite you to discover the language of Iceland with me. best regards, Your Personal Icelandic Teacher

Hello, folks! Today, I'm making a firm decision to dedicate the entire month of March to re-assessing the direction I wish to take my life, defining what I want in my relationships, and re-assessing my belief system from the ground up to address areas where I am inconsistent. The idea to embark on this project came about as a result of some key realizations I've come to in journaling extensively over the past several days. -- Firstly, I've realized that I am trying to seek love in finding a new partner without first truly loving myself through and through. I wanted to be loved first (and give love later), but neither can be truly sustained according to traditional wisdom without first establishing self-love. I'm a fundamentally good person, but I've made mistakes long in my past which cause a deep sense of self-doubt and reluctance in accepting that I am worthy of a virtue-based romantic relationship.. It was mind-blowing to realize this, but I think it's a crucial first step in the solving of any problem to first identify that it exists. I am perhaps most eager to tackle this issue in therapy and whatever means you're aware of which are useful for establishing genuine self-love and respect would be greatly appreciated. Secondly, I've realized that I've put the cart before the horse regarding my online business, creating loads of valuable content at an unprecedented pace without first realizing that I am a complete beginner without a sound grasp of the fundamentals of what it takes to run a successful online business. I've been operating based upon past experience, intuition, and what little knowledge I've picked up from conversations, books, and podcasts. Some things I'll be pondering deeply are: which social media platforms are most relevant to my niche, how to conduct myself on social media, learning the fundamentals of blogging and article creation, the fundamentals of running a successful eCommerce store, and so on. I've steamed ahead at full speed prior to studying the proper ways to accomplish my goals; this means I will likely have to unlearn many bad habits and fix many problems I've created for myself. Third, I've realized that I'm completely taking the philosophical arguments of Stefan Molyneux at face value without healthy skepticism and research into alternative explanations or rebuttals. (surely I'm not alone... right?) I've gained a sense of intellectual comfort in "knowing" that the Non-Agression Principle is valid, that UPB is valid, that there's such a thing as Property Rights, and that there's no God. Regardless of the validity or truth in the conclusions I have in my mind, I've become aware that I've arrived at them through a critical methodological error: I outsourced my own thinking to the thinking of another man. I've never fully read the source materials from the original proponents of these concepts and critically analyzed them. Instead, I listened to someone who "did the job for me", and accepted his explanations as truth. This is clearly not a healthy way to arrive at any conclusion; I've decided I'm going to have the intellectual integrity to do my own reading and arrive at my own conclusions. -- Frankly, it's not fun to realize all of this in the span of less than a week. I've put about half of my eggs into the basket of my business, and need to be successful in that venture in order to sustain myself. However, I can't seem to focus much at all on business with the shift in consciousness I've experienced due to these key realizations. I liken this to a mild existential crisis, and I'm ready to face the challenges ahead of me no matter the cost. I feel sincerely that my life is accelerating and that I must rise to the challenge; it's exciting and intimidating at the same time! I have found that the community here is full of good-willed, intelligent, and experienced individuals with a willingness to offer valuable perspective to help others. Perhaps some of you have experienced something similar, and can offer some advice on what helped you through the struggle of an existential crisis where your gravest errors in thought and plan were made apparent to you. Maybe you know a couple of good books on the subject of introductory metaphysics and epistemology, and you'd like to share those. Heck, even if you've got an interesting article to share that you think could help myself or others, please share it! No matter what advice, perspective, or resources you offer, I'll sincerely appreciate them! I'm looking forward greatly to engaging you all in conversation .

Joy (2015). Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Bradley Cooper. I saw this movie recently. It is good. There are fantastic philosophical topics raised but not addressed. If you have someone in your life with whom you discuss (or would like to introduce to) RTR, peaceful parenting, ethics, feminism, or capitalism watch it together. Joy provides a firm context for conversation, but because it is a fictional setting it provides a safe context for talking about principles. The editing is a great melange of styles with the story context the only guide. The person I saw the film with didn't notice this, you might not either. For me it doesn't detract it adds greatly. I won't go into it more. The story is about Joy and her family. Joy is inventive and brilliant, brave, and highly productive woman in her mid thirties. She is surrounded by what initially appear to be eccentric extended family members all living under one roof in the late 1980's Pennsylvania. The film focus is on the invention, manufacture, marketing, and security of a labor saving device invented by Joy. It is very loosely based on the life of Joy Mangano. Despite a few misplaced and confused metaphors the movie is quite good and well worth your time and money. Beyond this paragraph I will be writing about a few specifics of the movie. Spoilers. The opening is all about establishing Joy and the extended family she permits around her. It opens with a scene from a fictional soap opera, a thematic element that will be used throughout Act 1 and 2. Danica says to Clarinda, "When someone sees a weakness in me I turn that weakness into a strength." This one minute scene is a summary of the entire movie. Clarinda is an analogue for Joy, Danica for Jackie, Ridge as her ex-husband Tony, Bartholomew for the yet unrevealed villain, yet who resembles Joy's father (more on that later). Throughout this movie the gun is used as a blunt obviation for assertiveness and determination. I really wish they'd deleted all the firearm scenes due to superfluity. Also not needed is the young Joy stating "this is my special power, that I don't need a prince" while the camera stays on an origami bird. This, despite clearly stating seconds before that her value was based on "the things that she make". Since this theme only returns in the final minutes of the movie and only by inference (the origami bird is again shown in context) it is a forgivable nod to Feminists. That Joy's family is dysfunctional is clear. What isn't is for how long. Joy is the candle, whose light is concealed by the bushel of her family oppressive needs. Or as put forth in the exposition of the gift of the cicada book by Jackie to Joy's daughter: a cicada nymph who has been living underground for 17 years and is about to emerge in noisy cacophony. Joy becomes irrationally upset and angry because of the book. Again unstated is for how long Jackie had been trying to rekindle the spark of Joy's drive. How many conversations met by equivocations, gifts not understood. It is possible Jackie had almost given up on Joy and was working to enrich the daughter instead. Jackie is a philosophical preparer, an assistant. She isn't a primary. She lacks the ability, but recognizes, appreciates, and craves the ability of others. Unlike the members of Joy's family she desperately wants Joy to succeed. It is unknown why Joy and Tony divorced after perhaps a decade of marriage. Likely the reason is Joy not consciously understanding the stressors she accepted by not living a lifestyle consistent with her philosophy. And Tony is rather one dimensional, but that dimension is virtue. Joy's mother and father are... evil. Her mother hobbles Joy with psychological powerlessness and projection of her fantasy and non-acknowledgement of reality. Her father is a serial monogamist who secretly hates Joy. Triggered by the cicada book Joy emerges. Her noise is to inconvenience her family by asserting her values and needs. She makes prototype drawings of her invention. Her family can't or claim not to understand. The invention doesn't exist in the crude drawings it exists in the mind - and they haven't any. Instead of being able to procure investment from her family on the basis of the virtue of the idea she has to resort to a distasteful guilt trip. That being the language understood should say a lot. Her family doesn't understand virtue but does understand manipulation. From this moment she is in a fight to produce her product. At first it seems that her family is nominally helping her. In reality they are using it as a leash. Her fathers girlfriend, and her mostly nonsense four questions. But in the practical things all they do is hinder her and isolate her from those who are share her philosophical values. In the guise of helping her they just continue doing what they have been doing for the last two decades of her life. But now, she is indebted to them in money not just by way of an unjust morality of family loyalty. They want her to try - and fail. Her failure indicating the death of her virtue and her productiveness forever bridled to the reins of familial control. Her efforts and persistence alarm them and when she is devastated by the death of her beloved grandmother they pounce. In immediate and purposeful countermanding her they treat with Joy's business enemies and try to forge a deal that would both kill the business but also Joy's spirit. In the end, Joy wins. But does she? She never pays her treacherous family in the coin they deserve, instead letting them maintain as dead weight, hangers on, jealous of her productiveness and acuity, seeking ever her downfall. Thematically the movie treats them as the tempering required to forge the strength in Joy. But this is actually never the case. Their actions in fact annealed her consistently, making obvious things obscure. This ultimately is what saves them: she is weakened just enough that they may parasitically feed off her, secure that she will never cast them off. Thanks for reading.

BECOME A PART OF OUR MASTERMIND! Two entrepreneurs and FDR listeners are SEEKING highly motivated and intelligent individuals to COLLABORATE with on matters of business and personal development. Interested? Keep reading! What is a MasterMind Group? I prefer to answer the question by painting a story: Imagine a man who’s accumulated 5 years of entrepreneurial experience in the field of marketing personal services online and in print with an IQ of 123. He reads roughly 2 books a month and listens to perhaps 15 hours of podcasts in a month pertaining to his line of work, as he is already successful but always strives to improve. He wants to drive more traffic to a personal website marketing his services, but finds the task to be somewhat daunting as he’s not particularly tech-savvy. Enters another woman who’s spent the past 9 months monetizing her blog about personal finance after being inspired by taking an online course on that practice with an IQ of 125. She’s absorbed in her work, and listens to 30 hours of audio and video content pertaining to her field on a monthly basis. She’s successfully optimized her site to the #2 spot on Google and #1 on Yahoo for search terms in her niche. She decides she’s going to use her success story to launch an SEO consulting practice herself, but has little business marketing experience and nobody in her life to seek advice from. Lastly arrives a 20 year business veteran and CEO of a multi-million dollar company selling fertilizer to industrial farmers. He’s got an IQ of 134 and a personal library of literature which proved instrumental to his success sitting on ivory-mahogany shelves which represents but a fraction of his knowledge in business. He’s discovered Freedomain radio and is questioning the root causes for his desires for money in therapy now. He’s thinking of selling the company and shifting his energy into founding a charitable non-profit, and wants to craft the website himself. Each of them share the same core values, and each of them are driven, intelligent, and capable of achieving their individual goals with great time, energy, and difficulty. However, imagine a being with a mind so powerful, that it were the equivalent to an entrepreneurial MasterMind - an expert in every aspect of starting a business, marketing it successfully, hiring the right employees, optimizing its web presence to drive maximum traffic and sales, scaling it, and sustaining it for years; a mind with almost three decades of equivalent experience, with an equivalent IQ of 160 (about that of Einstein) with a genuine desire to help others succeed and ever-increasing knowledge bank. How much easier would it be to solve their individual problems if they could consult such a mind for free every week? How much would one typically have to pay to seek counsel from such a mind? What benefits and victories could come to each of his or her practices with such a powerful ally at their side? ✦✦✦ My friends, a MasterMind is a collaborative infusing of various degrees of intellect and experience, focused on solving problems, overcoming obstacles, and providing feedback on the business practices and goals of individual participants. The diverse group operates in harmony with one another’s chief aims in life, and holds good will towards their friends’ success. Good will is maintained by individual participants adherence to the same core values combined with an enjoyable personality. The sharing of core values in the FDR community is widespread. We value intellectual integrity, emotional honesty, personal freedom, the non-aggression principal, and consistency. By sharing our struggles with trustworthy individuals of high character and intellect, and gaining their insights into our situation, we will ensure our success in our business endeavors. The MasterMind group offers the support needed to thrive, the external feedback needed to overcome unperceived obstacles, the motivation needed to persist in the face of adversity, and the quality friendships needed to live happily. ✦✦✦ I will now go over the practical means by which a MasterMind group operates: Relevant terms and definitions: "Hot Seat" [Recommended Duration of 5-15 minutes]: Individuals who're in the hot seat are expected to either outline the definite plans of action which they wish to receive feedback on, or relay the problems or new ideas regarding their current business which are most pressing currently for them. In order to accelerate the rate of helpful feedback to the hot seat member, he or she should COME PREPARED with SPECIFIC QUESTIONS pertaining to his or he problems. An example of a "hot seat" scenario is as follows: Reflects upon previous week's goal progression and business successes (2 mins) Outlines goals and plans of action in order to achieve them (5 minutes) Relays targeted problems, knowledge deficits, or obstacles in the way and asks specific questions to the Mastermind (7 minutes) "Brainstorming" [Recommended Duration of at least 20-40 minutes]: Brainstorming is not simply asking a particular individual for his or her thoughts. It is a collaborative effort in which the collective genius of the entire group is put to the task of thinking up solutions for the problems and obstacles presented by the member in the hot seat. Examples of helpful activities during the brainstorming session include: Relaying relevant past experience in conquering a similar problem Asking questions surrounding the portions of the business plan which appear faulty Pointing out of any inconsistencies, pitfalls or over-simplifications in planning, and ideas for improved execution Recommendation of free or inexpensive services conducive to business growth Expressing encouragement and positivity or moral support Overview: Sessions are conducted via video call on Skype. The member in the Hot Seat is pre-selected from the prior meeting. The Hot Seat session proceeds unabridged, unless members seek clarification or further explanation. Then, group Brainstorming proceeds, whereby crucial feedback and support is given. The entire process can take from 30 minutes to 60 minutes, or longer if the group is really “flowing” well and doesn’t wish to stop. A weekly schedule will be made according to individual participants’ daily availability, and sessions will last as long as all participants agree to. ✦✦✦ I am partnering with another young entrepreneur, AlecS, in order to facilitate the growth of our MasterMind group from 2 to 5 members. (3 MEMBERS NEEDED). We’re seeking an outside perspective on our own business ventures from intelligent, wise, experienced thinkers. In return, we intend to provide value to peers of our same degree of entrepreneurial experience by offering peer support, encouragement, critique, and questioning. For those of greater experience then ourselves, we will graciously accept your feedback as passionate, curious, and motivated young pupils who’ll act upon knowledge provided. In addition, you will gain insight into your own business from an outside perspective regarding its flaws and unseen opportunities from the younger generations! No matter what your experience level, the MasterMind will serve you well as a tight-knit community of motivated, intelligent individuals who share the same core values. We will hold you accountable to your goals because we want you to succeed just as much as ourselves! ✦✦✦ What sort of qualities are we looking for in people to join? We want to meet people who’re happy! People who’re honest and operate with integrity, not the sort who drive fake traffic to steal ad revenue or pass off snake oil products to sucker the ignorant. People who’re optimistic about their position and view on life, not people who’ll complain and drag others down. People who’re motivated to work to succeed and do good in the world, not aiming for a quick fix to their problems by off-loading responsibility unto others. People who’re passionate about their work or the prospects of starting anew, not those drudging through life to make ends meet. People who’re curious to learn more about themselves and others with their differing views on the world. Read the underlined words again! If you’re reminded of yourself when reading the paragraph above, then please reach out to either myself or Alec. We’ll be posting example replies for applications to enter the group below. You can be creative and dynamic in your responses, but we ask that you incorporate answers to the following questions: Who are you? What are your core values or principals which you abide by? What motivates you in life? What is your entrepreneurial or business experience? What specific skillsets have you obtained in your particular industry? How has FDR impacted your thoughts on entrepreneurship? ✦✦✦ I’m genuinely curious to hear your stories, because I know many of you are fantastically interesting people with marvelous stories to share. I have made so many friends from the heart of this online community, and in many ways you, the reader, are a source of inspiration for me. Please, do not hesitate to reach out via private message; if you prefer you can introduce yourself to us via Skype on a video call. I do hope however, that some will feel encouraged to reflect upon their own strong suits and exhibit the courage to post here as well. I hope to hear from you very soon. May your businesses and happiness prosper alike, Nick

Hi everyone. I didn't want to leave my previous post floating in the virtual landscape. A quick recap; The post was my search for romance (anyway I feel a tad embarrassed so...) I have indeed considered the messages and arguments of RTR but still..umm...let's move on. Anyway! I am thinking of starting a French tuition business. I'll be honest (it's a virtue of course ) and say that I am nowhere near getting out into the high streets, shopping centres and green fields of La Grande Bretagne! But it's my aim at the moment. I will get to it women, men and les chats Anyone have any business tips and advice? Thanks.

I am interested in transitioning to the preparedness industry for work. That is where my heart and mind are. If you know of someone in the industry with a business to sell or who wants a partner let me know. Thanks for thinking about it. Dan

Hello! I hope you are all well. I am interested in having conversations with people to find out what their core skills are, and if they have any ideas for business opportunities. I would like to introduce myself, share a few of my own ideas, and what my plans are. I would also like to determine what you are capable of, how you feel about starting a business or being involved in one, and If you have any ideas that you would like to pursue, how I may help in your pursuits. In summary I have four goals: 1) to have a network of people who I can call upon based on their skills. 2) to determine if I may be of assistance to individuals who already do have a set plan. 3) to share and refine business ideas/opportunities that may lead to a business. 4) Get to know people that I may work with. I would like to have this conversation on a 1 on 1 basis over Skype or Google chat, and below I will give more information about myself for you to determine if you do wish to have a conversation. I have publicly available information about who I am and what I do, so please check out my LinkedIn profile, and my CV. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/volkan-tas/71/370/798 CV: https://www.dropbox.com/s/kkm2b2gnnpve069/CV4.pdf?dl=0 I have prototyped digital hardware, firmware, PC software, and web applications. At this point I have the confidence in myself to learn what I need to know to fulfill all functional requirements for a project. I am comfortable/capable investing the next year of my life to focus towards a business, which unifies a technical solution, and has the potential for financial return. Right now my immediate needs are: 1) A business mentor 2) People who have the capacity to start a business outside of the USA 3) People with a strong physics background 4) Mechanical Engineers 5) Individuals who are artistically inclined. I would still like to hear from you even if your skills are not on this list! If you are interested please private message me your Skype ID or your email to Google chat with. I will add you on Skype/g chat, and we will determine a schedule to have our conversation. Then we will simply talk and exchange of our ideas/thoughts. If you require more information please let me know here. I will do my best to answer it. If we can generate something valuable, great! Otherwise we will at least have given each other something to think about. If you are reading this even a year after its post date, and are interested, still PM me!

I love the art of comedy, but I feel most people aren't interested in going to comedy clubs. An inkling tells me this is because most clubs need to change; may it be food, prices, structure, whatever. I'd appreciate you to take time out of your day to help me understand this issue more deeply. If you have any suggestions feel free to post them!

Search ResultsYour search for the term business upb returned 127 results but i could not find one feed with both, strange and a little unsettling? so is there a reason for this or is this old news? or is the term business the wrong term to use?

First off, hi! It's my first time posting, looking forward to talking to y'all. I really would appreciate your feedback on this sort of thing, especially if you’ve been in a similar position.Second off, some background.Last year was my freshman year at Colorado State University studying environmental engineering. I hated it (and the school in general) for a variety of reasons. Right now I'm taking the semester off (we're allowed to take a single semester off at my university with no penalty/paperwork) and I've been living at home with my parents. Next semester I have to make the decision to either1.) Go back to CSU2.) Apply to and transfer to a different collegeor 3.) Drop outMy mom really wants me to go to college. She feels like I might go down an undesirable life path if I don’t go to college. I would try to convince her that I’ll be able to be successful without college, but I’m not 100% sure myself if I would like to go to college or not. The main reason I would want to go to college is just to get a degree as a backup in case my entrepreneurial endeavors don’t work out. I probably would get a degree in some sort of engineering, either electrical or mechanical.I know with fair certainty that I want to be an entrepreneur as my profession. The option that I’ve been considering most is transferring to a university that’s closer to home and working on my business as I get my degree.Would doing full time university with entrepreneurship on the side be a waste of time and money or a helpful backup in case things don’t work out?More relevant information: I’m fortunate enough to have a college fund from my grandparents and so student debt will likely not be a problem. Also I’ve already invented and made a semi-functioning prototype of a product that I think has a lot of potential to make moneyThanks for the help

EDIT: Thanks to everybody that has expressed interest for another conversation. I intend to host another conversation in very late August after I close on a townhouse that has a good internet connection. My current connection is awful and I wouldn't be much of a good host trying to do this on a crappy internet connection. I'll up date this post when I have a date in mind. I was speaking to another FDR listener today, and we've both noticed that many folks within the FDR community have a strong entrepreneurial spirit within them. I know some that currently run their own business, are beginning a freelance start-up, or are thinking about starting their own business or going freelance. I'd like to gather that power and drive to create into a monthly google hang-out. A place where ideas can be exchanged, feedback given, bad habits challenged, experiences shared, associations made, or even to promote your business. Perhaps we can devote some time to 2-min Elevator pitches and ask for feedback if we feel so inclined. I'd like to address two questions for the fist meeting: 1.) Why did you become an entrepreneur? 2.) What fears did you have about starting your own business? Tentatively scheduled next Monday July 21st at 7pm US mountain time ( -7 UTC). I'll host and create a g+ circle that will include anybody that is interested. If you own your own business or are thinking about it, speak up!

Hello, I'm looking for a fashion designer or anyone with interest or knowledge of fashion. Just contact me and I will tell you more. Thanks

Hi everyone. I am asking anyone for their advice / opinion, and seeing as you all, on some level, support this kind of thing, I would love to get all your thoughts. First of all, what I am trying to do is start my own business, juicing raw, local organic vegetables and fruits and the farmers market. Of course, looking more into running a food business (or any business) , the many government regulations are a complete obstacle serving very little to no purpose. Anyways, a rant also serves no purpose, especially as I feel drawn to run this business anyways. Having worked at many markets, I see there is no stand that offers this, and think it could be a wonderful way to serve people, support local farmers, and make some money as people wake up to living and eating healthy. Anyways, I have come up with a few names for my business which is what I am mainly asking anyone to share their thoughts on the name I could use which is attractive, what is appealing to you (and you think would be to others), etc. Any advice, time and thoughts are welcome and greatly appreciated. Here is my long list, put down to the ones I think are the best. -Rise & Shine -Sweet Inspiration -Triumph -Swift -Harmony -Harmonize -Integrated -Unified -Balance -Poise -Stability -Blend -Blends of Harmony -Its Environmental -Nurturing Health -Sprouting Change -Sprouting Immunity - Local Haven - Rawganic -Revitalize - Revive the System - Kickin Blues -Juicing Change I really appreciate all your time in reading this and trying to help and appreciate everyone possibly being interested in organics and trying to serve a more sustainable, efficient and positive future. For anyone who is interested, I am planning to start by setting up and paying commission to a different vendor, at their stand, while attracting customers to them as well. Starting with buying very little produce, and always purchasing more during the market. If anyone has any background in graphic design or anything, I am really doing this and would be more than happy to pay someone to help me make a logo, sign, or any that if my business really does thrive. I would love any criticism, thoughts, feedback, etc. especially before I go out and spend money on an expensive juicer. Thanks again. Jake

I want to make a game to release on Steam, Desktop, or Android. Games are a passion of mine and always have been. All of my co-workers enjoy cruising on their six figure salaries putting in 8 hours a day and have no interest in pursuing side projects. I am mostly self taught and believe that even someone with no experience can learn to be proficient very quickly when paired with an experienced developer. If you want to join me in iterating through ideas, concepts, game mechanics, and the like I can share what I know about programming. We can both learn how to make a great game and make some money in the process. This would be a 50/50 partnership. Although having some skills already would be a plus, they are not required. Any experience with Photoshop/Illustrator, graphic design, writing stories/comics, or anything else creative are also great skills to bring to the table but are not necessary. If you are short on cash, I can teach you quickly how to make a few bucks freelancing while we work on the game project. I need someone who is willing to go all in and be dedicated to making a great game. I am currently a senior programming analyst for a large company with experience in C++, Java, PHP, Javascript, MySQL, and too many libraries/frameworks to mention here. I've developed enterprise web applications as well as automated systems for large and small businesses. My other work experience includes: *Becoming a commercial loan officer at the age of 19 where I was responsible for an $80k/year marketing budget, established a co-operative marketing campaign with a small commercial bank which had more than $1 billion in assets, published several investment articles, guest speaker at an investment conference for the author of Commercial Investing for Dummies, and arranged more than $20 million of financing for commercial property. I trained junior loan officers whom I am still friends with today. *Started with no experience as a network technician and became a system supervisor and then the training manager within 1 year where I covered all systems across Oregon/Washington. I created a new training manual, developed the best practices, and brought the training time of new technicians from 3 months down to 1 month before they were considered competent to begin installations. Other ideas I've had include quadcopter security system, and embeddable hosted fully styled web site widgets. I'm not married to any particular idea yet, just looking for some good people to team up with.

Hello ladies and gents, I've been mulling over a business idea now for some time involving a global network of shared Wi-Fi routers. The software is I think fairly simple to do, and almost everyone (at least in the developed world) has the hardware they would need in their houses already. I am looking for a partner who has good coding skills, mostly website related. I think Android and iOS apps here are vital too. I've only ever done some minor coding here and there and my skills are not up to scratch. I don't want to go into too much specific detail about the idea here, but if anyone is at all interested, send me a message and I can tell you more about the idea and we can discuss its feasibility. It's not without some challenges but the incentive mechanisms for everyone involved are I think very sound, and if a sizable subscriber base is established I think it's very viable. So if you're interested, drop me a line! edit: and I hope this is the right sub-forum to post this in, but if not feel free to move the thread

Watched the call-in show about intelligent people being around un-intelligent people. I thought that Stefan did an excellent job describing the problem that goes with being an intelligent person around people who are less intelligent, however I thought there was something missing. I find myself in a similar situation, I know that I have a higher intelligence than most of my clients (which is the general public) except I am a business owner and I rely heavily on my ability to be confident in what I'm providing, and more importantly how I communicate that to my clients. The trouble I find, is that I have a very difficult time relating to people in a way that's meaningful to them. I know what I would want to hear when buying my services, but I have the hardest damn time figuring out the best way to communicate it to my clients. I guess what I found lacking in Stef's answer in the call in show is, What in the world do we do about the problem? I'm trying to figure out more practical solutions to the problem. Like in my case, do I just give up trying to educate my clients and leave it to an advertising/marketing company or are there techniques I can use to, in a sense, bring myself to their level and communicate more effectively?

What are the arguments for privatisation and deregulation in depth? Privatisation: So the argument against goes: "Health care, water and *insert utilitiy/'essential service* are there to help people not make a profit! A state monopoly can provide a service at cost and a business will provide it at a higher cost (cost + profit). Business will shaft the consumer and more importantly the poor" What are the practical arguments for privatisation? We tend to here things along the lines of: "governments have a horrible decision making progress and this makes them inefficient and always lagging behind business. Competition drives down prices and increases efficiency!" Then it just goes back and forth about X was privatized in Y country and now they're better off but X was also privatized in Z country and the state had to intervene. I guess what I'm asking is what is the logic behind the above, that makes a cost + profit business' better then a "cost only" state mandated monopoly on an essential service? We have the initial argument and evidence/counter evidence but what is the logic that explains it? Deregulation: What makes deregulating something cheaper? How does it allow for more business and more employment? Obviously people have less licensing and paperwork to worry about but what is the actual cost of regulation VS a self regulating market? Is it that business currently pays lawyers/accountants/auditors? Is it the cost of complying with government agencies that check products? (in that case is the only argument that a competitive market for agencies to check products/services cheaper/more efficient) Is it all about barriers erected for small business or the self employed? What barriers exactly? Just licensing?

Here's the story I've been a FDR watcher/listener/reader for a long time now although I don't post here much. This doesn't really pertain to typical FDR content, but this is the only place I feel comfortable airing this out because I feel like I have, at least, something in common with you all and I value your feedback. At this point I just need some fresh perspective besides mine because this problem just makes my head spin and spin and I never seem to get anywhere. After I finished professional school 4 years ago I moved myself and my family overseas (from the US to Australia). We took our 2 kids away from their grandparents for the sake of an opportunity that was, at first, very good for us. The first two years the company I work for had to sponsor me for my immigration work visa (as an employee). All was well. I was learning business from the best, making decent money, starting to pay down my monster student loan in the states....things were good. This is where the good stops. I had a very specific plan of progress when I came here, and that plan has been absolutely trounced. The general summary of what happened is that, after my first two years, my company sponsored me on a new type of VISA which gave me permanent residency. In the past, permanent residency meant that you could become an independent contractor for the company and thus get a sizeable increase in pay and the ability to write off far more than you could as an employee as well as freely direct your own retirement account. However, my company had a meeting with a lawyer and found out that being a contractor wasn't as easy as they thought it was as a permanent resident, but assured me with certainty that I could still be classified as a contractor IF I applied for a specific type of VISA. The thing is that once I applied for this VISA my company forgot that this conversation ever happened. I am now stuck as an employee because my company misled me (either maliciously or ignorantly) and they refuse to take any responsibility or compensate me in any way. The reason it's such a big deal is because one of the conditions on the VISA I am on is that I am REQUIRED to stay with the company for two years as an employee before I can become a contractor or leave the company and start my own. So, because of this mistake, I'm basically a slave to this company. If I quit or get fired for any reason during this two year period, I stand to lose my permanent residency visa and thus my ability to work in the country. This would essentially bankrupt my family and destroy my career. Since I got this visa the company has changed a great deal (new owners) and the company is just shit to work for. I don't know what to do any more. The real problem here is my head space. I'm paid on performance (I get a percentage of office collections) and my head space is, for lack of a better word, fucked. My family is so beautiful and understanding, but inside I'm consistently teetering on the threshold of depression. I have no joy at work, and my clients can sense it. I've got no enthusiasm or optimism about anything any more. The whole experience has just drained me of positivity. I feel like 60% of every dollar I collect goes to the people who manipulated me, so I just don't try. It's not good for my finances or my head, but I can't seem to get out of this rut. I've gotten to the point where I actually feel bad for people I work with who didn't know me before all of this went down. All they know is this gruff guy who doesn't want to be there. I used to be a different person and I'm afraid he's just not there. Guys, I just don't know how to recover. I've got just over a year left of this indentured servitude, my performance is dropping rapidly, and I'm really scared I won't be able to support my family soon...yet there doesn't seem to be anything I can do or think that brings me out of this mess emotionally. I need something to focus on or some perspective to get me thinking differently and I was hoping you guys could help.

Hi, everyone, so I finally decided to participate in this great community and the greatest and most important philosophy discussion in the world, I hope that I find people here for a good exchange of ideas and value in all its forms possible, but first of course I'll let you all know who I am and my story up 'till here,first I'll give a general overview of who I am and what I do, and in the next parts I'll get into more details about myself and my personal history if anyone is interested General Bio: My name really is Rock (my father was a big fan of boxing fighter Rocky Marciano), I'm from Brazil (so sorry for any english mistakes) and I'm an ilustrator graduated in the State Arts College of here/ UFRGS ( wich means I've wasted 5 years of tax payer money for not much, because State college here is "free") I'm 28 years old I've worked in a brazilian animation movie production, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe-05WZSLl4 ) I've also made ilustrations for sketch cards for Marvel Comics, http://rocksilesbarcellos.deviantart.com/gallery/29249859 Lately I have been doing freelance work like illustrations for ads or other purposes, Im also a musician, and play in a rocknroll band, we do shows sometimes http://www.sintomaticos.com/ More recently I've started working in a company that helps public sector workers with laws and other things, they also give on line and regular classes to help with these things, I basically take care of any visual stuff they need,like ads, videos etc. I have been watching the freedomainradio show since about 2010 I think, my first one was the sunset of the State,but then I didn't got into the channel yet, I've subscribed after watching Stefan's debate with the zeitgeist guy he did in 2008, then I really got into it. And I must say it really made a tremendous diference in my life since then, only there I was first presented to free markets ideas, libertarianism, and of course the idea of a stateless society, but more importantly, after years watching the show I've finally got into self knowledge. I've started looking at myself, my life and my relations with my parents and therefore with others in general, and I've realized many, many things about it all, and that gave me what I hope to be a good guidance reference to make my decisions in life from now on my main source of income right now actually comes from my mother, unfortunately, I'm still living with her, and she's a retired accountant public sector worker with high paying retirement salary So basically, I’m in a moraly terrible situation, even though in theory I’m all for a stateless society and free markets and understand the fundamental immorality of the state, I am currently and have been most of my life almost completely dependent on it. But I'm looking forward to change that, the first step I took was to come out of my inercia that I had been and got any job that I was able to get after years not working, unfortunately it is still something related to the state as I mentioned before, coming here is another step I'm taking, I hope I can meet people and start something perhaps I hope promising and lucrative, I think now with bitcoin there's a bunch oportunities coming out thanks and I'm really glad to be here ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- My current situation and issues I’m 28 years old and I’m still living in my mom’s house, like I've mentioned before, it’s a long story on why that is (I’ll give details in the next segment) but after watching FDR, I started looking more seriously about my situation and why I am where I am,and the role my parents had on it. I’ll try to sum up here, my mom is now a retired high office public sector worker, she worked with accounting of the governments budget and spending, and now have a high paying retirement salary, and that’s basically why I have quite a comfortable life living with her, financially I mean... Very early in my life I got into kindergarten from when I was about 4 years old till when I was 6, my mom worked all day and my father too, I never felt I had a really deep relationship with either one of them, my mom always and to this day basically treat me not really like an individual but almost as if I was her own organ like a part of her own body, and I always felt not listen to in my preferences and about who I really was, she was always very affectionate and I liked that about her, but she always had this necessity of pushing her preferences on me and I hated that a lot, she always seemed to have the need to diminish my own personal taste and preferences(still do to this day), and also my own solutions to any problem that I would be trying to solve as a kid, and basically most of the times she would just solve it for me, she always was and is absurdly super protective, and that’s probably one of the main reasons I am now so dependenton her. A lot of times I would come up with a valid solution for some problem, either a purely logical one or maybe something like helping in the house kind of thing, but she basically didn’t paid attention or recognize, even when a lot of times I was right and she was wrong, she still wouldn’t recognize it, or even if she did, she would still wouldn’t give me credit, it was absolutely frustrating, so for me these kinds of things it was a real struggle, and no matter what happend I always felt like I lost either way, and the times I’d try to get angry and insist on my point she’d just ridicule me and even laugh. I think my mother is that way basically because her mother was harsh on her, but she blocaded that, and got very close to her father, who died of a heart attack in front of her when she was about 9 years old, she said she was very close to him and learned a lot by observing him deal with people, so when he died I think she sort of took his role for herself in some way, and that’s why she has a very strong will, and a very strong personality, and that’s why I think between my mom and my father, she was more dominant in the relation than my father, she was “the man of the house” morally, she had higher income than my father. My father was a chief of police department, and suffered from depression from early age, his mother was a very lousy mother, she would say in front of the kids that she hated having kids. My father was emotionally absent, he was very sensitive, but with a very closed type of personality, also he was quite aggressive, and screamed when I did something wrong, he screamed with my mom too a lot of times when they argued, he would do it sometimes to strangers too, like waiters or people like that. I resented him for these things I didn’t thought it was in any way necessary at all, so between both, I was closer to my mother. I didn’t played much with my father, we did a little bit when I was very little, but after that we got more distant, he taught me a bit of english though, and he knew a lot about history, and had a good baggage on general knowledge, I liked that about him, but still, our relationship was really poor as father and son. So I think, because of the dominant role my mom developed as a person and also in the relationship with my father, she simply was not able to be an adequate mother, she diminished me, and made me extremely dependent on her, and so I’ve always had and still have problems asserting myself and my own will in general. And the more I Iook at it today the more I get the sense that the real reason my mother married my father and had a son, was really for her pride, my father was a good looking man, but very closed emotionally, and neurotic, and very weak emotionally. With that poor background on emotional and social development at home, I had tremendous problems dealing with people in general from an early age, my mom negotiated with me to a certain extent even though she was somewhat negligeable on that too, she spanked me a few times with no regularity and stoped very early on, so I was quite a peaceful kid, actually I was too peaceful, (probably for being used to my mom solving things for me too much perhaps), wich annoyed other kids and they would hit and bite me and steal things from me and I didn’t defend myself, and I remember to this day one time I was crying and called for a caretaker there to help and the woman basically told me to go away. It took me almost a whole year for me to finally do something, I’ve finally reacted at one kid agressing me. From this early experience I promised myself I would never be like those kids, I would never lash out, or attack or humiliate anyone for no good reason, I resented them too much to let myself to become like them in anyway. My experiences later in school, weren’t so dramatic, but socially wasn’t so much better, I had quite a big trouble trying to interact with people and make friends, most of the time I would get a negative response and I couldn’t understand why, that basically killed my social life forever, I just became paranoid, and have problems with it to this day, even though now I’m finally took the commitment to try to solve it at last,before that I mainly tried to understand what happened, and FDR finally hit the nail for me, all now is coming together, and I hope I can come out of these old issues, and finally have a real life. I’ve finally talked to my mom about these things I’ve layed out here that always bothered me and I just never felt it would help to say anything, I felt it would be pointless, she even did listen now, and she actually is making an effort to do better, I’ve also talked to her about the notion of a stateless society and why governments are immoral and can’t work, and considering that she is a retired public sector worker she was quite open minded to the idea to some degree, but of course she’s definetely not planning to drop her retirement salary, and she also wants me to get a public sector job, to have a more secure life like she did. And so one of the reasons I also came here besides getting to know people and exchange ideas, it is to find ways to get out of this situation I'm in And the way I thought about how to do that is seting up my own project, aiming to get bitcoins, and so I'm interested in finding partnership for that. it basically would be a philosphy website, or perhaps an youtube channel, with arts and videos laying out a different perspective in all of the discussion about anarchy, and particularly the role of dealing with others in society and how does that relates to the state and why people felt the need to create it in the first place, I would like to explore that in an artistic narrative so people can really absorb the concept in different ways, if I can find someone interested here it would be awesome to join talents together and colaborate on something I’ll make some other post about this laying out the idea better in the appropriate section of the forum in the future More detailed personal history My mom came to Brazil from Bolivia in the 70's running away from a violent boyfriend, she made her life here as a high office public sector worker, as most people in higher classes in Brazil do to have a "safe life", my father was a chief of police, and was clinicaly deppressed, he told my mom once that he decided to kill himself when he was 18, but thought through and decided to live to see if maybe he could get better, he married my mom, she got pregnant but he didn't want to have children so he demanded her to make an abortion, so she aborted twice, in the third time she lied and carried out the pregnancy and so I was born in 3/8/1985, in 2005 my father after still living with depression decided to kill himself at last, which made my mom very desperate and got into a sort of state of denial, and very interestingly she also said she was "very angry with him", and she really did seemed more angry and frustrated than sad right after the fact, really Coming back to after I was born, my mom made written records of my development as a baby, in there it says that about the time I was already able to walk, when some stranger, or even a friend of hers tryed to come close to speak to me I would look down grab her legs and even through myself face to the floor to avoid it for some reason Growing up, I had problems socializing with people in general as long as I can remember, people around me seemed unnecessarily agressive and competitive for me, that really bothered me, because I couldn't understand what was the deal with that, also I thought everyone was so openly dishonest, I've developed quite a grudge about the process of socializing in general and anything that I associated with it and these early experiences, because to me it was pretty much tied with agression and intimidation, so I've became more of a loner and also quite a cynical person, sort of quiet and reserved kind of personality, in fact I think I can say I've became traumatized with my first years trying to socialize in any place at all, being kindengarten, school, or really anywhere, from my perspective and general feeling it felt like anything I would say or do would always get some form of negative response, either verbal abuse or just rejection, so because of that I've became very paranoid about being rejected, I developed a false self to go around and be accepted, also I've invented very strict rules that I’ve associated with my "success" in some situations. I remember when I was 5 years old I made myself a very strong promise to not ever act like those people were with me, to never lash out or be unnecessarily aggressive with people just because I felt like it without any reazonable justification, that became a formative stone in my personality, both for good and for bad. In my first years in schooI I just hated it so much, it was a expensive private school and children were agressive and competitive and seemed to want to humiliate me and put me down for no reason at all that I could figure, I've felt that from adults too, anywhere, anytime it seemed like that anything I would say atracted a negative response from other kids and even adults, while for me it was just reazonable questioning to others it seemed to be always inconvenient even if it was something that actually was relevant in the moment and even sometimes my point being proven to be correct or relevant people around me just didn't recognize it, that kind of thing also happend with relatives and also my own mother and father sometimes or any other adults so that pretty much made me grow to be very cynical and skeptical just about everything, and also made me extremely self conscious, paranoid and distant in social situations I can remember that only when I was about ten years old, when Ive changed into other less expensive private school that I've felt that I was able to successfully socialize, before that, I had only one or two real friends, but generally felt rejected or ignored, by either kids or adults. But when I was ten, having growing up watching a lot of TV and absorving a lot of stuff from there and also videogames, I was able to be funny, picking up from a lot of references,and also picked up knowledge for general conversations that before was pointless to try to engage, and that's how I socialized there, and for the first time I've felt I was able to make friends and also felt accepted, I was pretty happy, for a long time I've marked that year as the happiest of my life, I've became paranoid about not losing that, to not lose my status of "being accepted" and that's where problems started to grow for my personality development, for one year, I've felt everything was in place in a way I've never felt before, in the next year I began to worry to lose that, because I thought that at any moment my early ears could comeback somehow, or that if I got rejected there I would go back to my former situation as a friendless reject And so I've concentrated my energy in being funny, and began to get really worried if for some reason I'd made a bad joke that could get ridiculed, that was very important for me,so Ive became more and more someone that tryed to please others, and would get internal conflicts about breaking my own silly rules, deliberate things that I had marked as things I wouldn't do, like not talking in this or that situation, not to make a particular kind of joke, etc. My grades in school started to plumet, before that I did fine in grades. So because my grades were getting worse, my mom decided to put me in some other private school, going against my will, because I thought I wouldn't be able to adapt again, I was afraid of change. this new school I went to,reminded more of my early year's school, or at least I thought so. Starting classes there I found myself in a pretty big internal conflict, emotionally for me, being there was sort of like going back to my early stage entering school, so I grew this tremendous fear of being ridiculed, which made me take “safety” measures to not let that happened, I had the desire to make friends and to be the class clown, the funny guy like I was in my other school, but I just couldn’t deal with my fears, I couldn’t confront it, I’ve held the grudge and made myself not act in so many situations I knew I could do something funny or something relevant that would put me on the spot, I held back and kept myself out of attention as much as possible and avoided anything that I desired, I was 12 years old, and I was already interested in girls and all, I recognize that had to do with some social pressure too, because all the other did it quite easily it seemed but for me talking to girls was a pretty big issue, I’ve also experienced humiliation by them and things like that, and those early experiences made too traumatized to try again, I just thought it was impossible. I made a few friends there though, the outcast people you could say, we basically were more nerdy than the others, but I personally knew there was no necessity for a divide in class, but the divide happened anyway, but there was no fights or any direct conflict, but there was also no integration too. The whole situation was very stressive for me, I felt the desire to be a normal young person and make friends and get girls, but anything in that direction I just blocaded for fear of my early experiences, fear of getting to a point I no longer knew what to do or had a good frame of reference to guide myself on what to expect or how to act facing situations of conflict I’ve experienced before, I avoided situations I knew I actually could do something, always justifying myself something really bad could happened, even though I knew rationally not much could really happened, I had this strong desire and urge to understand what went wrong in the past, it really held me back, I wanted to understand it. I pretty much didn’t want to live, I wanted to understand, that of course was very stressive, because in the back of my head I got the sense that I was pretty much wasting my life, that I was throwing away my youth and all that romantic notion of those first early experiences with girls and all. All of that was when I was 12 years old, in that same year I’ve found in a medical exam that I had diabetes, I wasn’t obese or anything, and didn’t eat compulsively, I had a little bit of fat but nothing outside of normality. Strangely, when me and my family found about the diabetes, my mom seemed much more sad than me, she cried, I didn’t. So my years in school went on with that internal conflict, unresolved, I became a mixture of my two states I had been before: the rejected unpopular kid and the funny, popular one, neither of them fully in charge,I was the funny one with my circle of friends and some others, but completely shut for no real good reason in other situations, I think that represented in some way the situation I saw with adults and others that didn’t made sense for me. So I graduated in school and went to college, I got into Arts college because the only thing I could think of that I liked and knew how to do was drawing. So I went there carrying all these previous unresolved conflicts, but trying to present myself as a cool guy to be accepted even though I’d always remained skeptical about any true relationship with anyone, and also I would avoid anything I really desired, like excell in my artwork and stand out in the crowd, perhaps geting the girl I’d like to get, etc. But when I was 19, I just couldn’t bare anymore having not ever even touched a girl or anything, I was getting paranoid with the idea of maybe dying and not ever experiencing that, but I just couldn’t make myself to engage in talking to any girl in college, or anywhere at all, so I decided to lose my virginity with a prostitute. It was actually good, despite the whole situation being a bit sad After that, when I was 20, eventually at some party, with the help of my friends I was able to get a girl without paying. In that same year, also my father killed himself. In some other party in college I was able to get another girl, so in all 5 years of college I’ve managed to get at least one girl there, she was ok physically, sort of short and a bit overweight at the time, but she was a cool girl, and after sometime she started taking care of her looks and got really pretty,we went out just a few times and that was it. So I’ve graduated in college and pretty much didn’t know exactly what to do with my life, I was(and still am) living in my mothers house, I basically lived in a state of inercia, I didn’t have the drive to start or engage in anything meaningful, in fact, I kept myself avoiding anything in that sense, because I was hung in past issues, and I couldn’t move on, I’ve made courses in webdesigning, comics illustrations, got a few jobs like the one in animation studio and in a comic book studio, but sort of by luck and kindness of others, I still felt like I was in a state of failure to launch, but on purpose actually, since I wasn’t making any real effort to launch at all. So in the midst of all of my general state of confusion and lack of action in life in general, eventually I found out about the freedomain radio channel, and started following it. I’ve always liked to think critically and to rationalize about things, I also always liked science shows on tv, and science magazines, and so I was never afraid to face challenging ideas. After a few years watching and listening to the podcasts, I decided to do the right thing and started donating. Going back to the time after college, the next years I spent doing not much, a few free lance jobs and projects that didn’t went anywhere, did a webdesign course among other things, started playing in a rocknroll band. After all these things not developing into anything meaningfull, I decided to do something with my life. so having quite a lot of doubts I decided to start a grafic design college,and through there I got a job recently doing videos and folders in a company that offers assistance to public sector workers on dealing with the taxation of towns and helps writing laws. Lately also, I have been dating a girl at last, wich is very good. Watching FDR certainly had a big role in these improvements I’m making, so I’m really,really thankful for Stefan’s work, and I’m so sorry I can’t donate more, I’d like to, but unfortunately I really can’t for now. ---------------- thanks again for the attention and sorry for the long text

Hi fellow freedom lovers. Because I love freedom so much and staying here with these narcissistic vampires won't work any longer. A steady warm climate will help tremendously. I also found out I have lupus, so I'm looking to minimize my stress because of that. I'm just looking for a few helpful, magnificent, kind, wonderful, godlike, dudes or dudesses to kindly help a brother out with maybe a meal and a place to sleep for a night (driveways are okay). It's such a long trip. I hope you don't mind a homeless guy peddling his wares and services in your relative tax farm for a few days. I'm gonna be staying in Colorado for a few weeks because I have a friend up there, so I might squat nearby. Also, I'm going to be holding a yard sale starting in the Grundy County Illinois area. I have DVDs, CDs, Blu ray discs, PS3 games, 2 swords, a few knives and books (a few). I can make an itemized list if enough people are interested. I also have a 6 year old green parrotlet named Molly (approximate lifespan: 15 years) that needs a good home, so meeting in person is a must. She comes with a small cage, some food, a manual for taking care of parrotlets and toys. I'm going to miss her so much. If someone would want to take care of her until I have a house and I can come and get her, I will pay you (with interest) when I get her back. Love and respect, Aaron V. Update: I'm definitely taking the southern route which will take me through Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. And I'm going regardless of anyone helping me or not.