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Culture is the hierarchical system of values of a people. Depending on culture, we call certain people heroes, others fanatics, just because they died for something they believed in. For most of history, we have always known that while human life is precious, it is not the most valuable thing in the universe. People have always given up their lives or that of others in favour of other values. Socrates gave his life for truth, the 300 gave theirs for Greece, martyrs die for their sky daddy, the marine in the jungles of Vietnam died for... something, the alcoholic dies for his gluttony... etc On a personal note, I do not trust anyone who would not give his dear life for some sort of ideal. I have more respect, more trust, and more admiration for the Jihadi who very well may blow me up tomorrow, than for the aerage pathetic, lazy, fat, chips-eating, low-testosterone, selfish western kid who takes it out in the comment section on the Jihadi for being a "fanatic". What is the value most worth your life?

I've been pondering this thought for a while; Is the West worth defending? The West of today, I can say without any doubt, is not worth defending, not worth dying for. Islam, to anyone who isn't a member of the cult, is very much a real life and death threat. I'm not saying they're the same; the West isn't likely to lynch me (yet) while Islam most certainly would. What I am saying, (and asking), is that with the West's gynocentric democracies, LGBT nonsense, increasingly Socialistic and Fascistic governments, and decreasingly White or identitarian cultures, is doomed to die eventually. I simply cannot see how the West will ever return to Nationalism and Capitalism, or progress towards Anarcho-Capitalism. All I see is a wheel spinning that will eventually lead to a repeat of history (whether it be South Africa, Brazil, the USSR, or NatSoc Germany--they're all seemingly inevitable disasters). With the White Woman being the greatest enabler of this travesty and the White Man becoming increasingly inert and flaccid, I simply lost the empathy to care for this "civilization". My thoughts (not a plan, really) are to simply tend my own garden and find a way to bunker down and stay away from the major hot spots where disaster is likely to occur. Call it cowardice, call it treachery. I don't care. In the 18 years I've been alive I have never cared for the non-existent values of this carcass and am convinced that the values history and some right-wing (and pseudo-right wing) claim existed either never existed beyond a small class of talented individuals or only existed in society for a brief period in time. But what I want to know is this; what does the FDR community think and am I right to think and act in such a way? EDIT: I posted in the Self-Knowledge section because I know this isn't an intellectual matter but a very personal one. While I think I have logical factors into my thought process I am also sure my own personal experiences and emotions have driven them. Therefore I'm focused more on the personal side of it rather than the intellectual side.

One of Stefan's latest videos "An Important Message About Gord Downie of Tragically Hip" summons a point he made numerous times before. The one I am talking about is the "nameless aunt" that he refers in the video. He then advises us "do not be that aunt". This brings me to his advice on how to avoid a life unlived...or how to find passion and motivation in life...his exercise in imagination for this is to imagine yourself on the deathbed and think about your life in retrospective and all of the things that you could have regretted not doing. I have also heard Mike, on several occasion bring this "what would you like to be written on your tombstone" as his primary tool for taking the hard, anxiety provoking steps towards getting out of his former way of life. I resonate with this feeling at some level but to me...there is something incomplete about it. Someone couple of hours, minutes or seconds away from death is kind of the same regardless of how he lived his life, that is...someone moments away from nonexistence. Sure, that man could either be a horrendous person, someone who had a passive and avoidant life or a man that left a legacy behind, it makes a huge difference for those behind him but from his perspective in that very last moments...he could have been anyone else, how could it longer matter now anyways? I am trying to empathize with someone who on that death bed has lots of regrets and unfulfilled wishes...why would it matter to him now? I have always imagined death as not only passing into nonexistence...rather passing into not ever existence since from a death's person perspective it would have been no difference for him whether he ever existed or not. I do not really know why I made this thread...I just felt like sharing this with you.

I had to decide whether to go to a funeral recently of someone (a relative) I thought horrid. I gave the decision very careful thought and I decided not to go and I am glad I made that decision. In the culture I live in, this is a decision not without cost, but the rubber has to meet the road at some point. This podcast might help others with a similar decision to make. https://player.fm/episodes?q=molyneux,%20grieving

Hi guys, My first post here My 6yo old daughter asks about what happens when people die in a sense what is going to happen to HER. The discussion started perhaps 1 year ago when we talked about how long people leave, how a person grows up and becomes adult, then old and then person dies. She related this to herself and asked how long will she live and me and my wife explained that it will be a very long time for the parent to become old and for her it will be VERY VERY long time. But still she asked what will happen when she will die. As heartbreaking it is I tried to explain that it will be like going to sleep without dreams and never wake up. The dialog was as follows (we are foreign, so translated to English as closely to original as possible": HER: "What I am going to see?" ME: "Nothing, it is like a sleep with no dreams" HER: "Will it be dark, will there be no dreams?" ME: "Nothing at all" HER: "But it will be boring. How long it will be?" We spent some time discussing this and it seems hard to explain that she will not be feeling anything when dead. Then she asked what will become of the body. Seems like the fact of the burial was shocking, she asked "why to bury the body, is it because it will be a nuisance for others?". At this point our other daughter (4yo) said "I don't want to die and I don't want to be buried in the ground" It is tough. We parents are both with PhD in science and look at death from this point of view. Once synapses in a brain cease, there will be nothing at all. My wife seeing how it upsets our oldest daughter started to say that we don't know exactly what happens after death and some people think that there will be a place where after death people become angels with wings, but seeing the reaction in my daughter's face of happiness totally broke my heart and we discussed that it is definitely NOT true. So this topic comes back occasionally I try to explain matter-of-factly with no much fuss. It seems like the only thing that calms her down is that she will live for very very long time. What do you guys do in similar situations? Madeira

This is the first time a close family member has died for me. I grew up going over to my aunts house and I visited her often as an adult as well. Since listening to Steph I view family very differently now then I did before and I cant seem to bring any emotion out of me about this. I feel pretty empty about all this and I dont know why. I was treated well by her and she was always giving me advice (biblical mostly). She was the kindest old lady you would ever meet but I stopped seeing her recently. Apparently my mother and her had a falling out around January about finances. I didn't know that my mom was paying for her home and other expenses because she couldn't afford it. My aunt ran up a bunch of credit cards and had to refinance the house to pay off the debt and my mom was on the hook for that. I advised my mother to stop allowing my aunt to guilt her into feeling like she owed her for basically being the primary care giver for her growing up. My grandmother is just a terrible person in general so my aunt basically took care of my mom. After my mom stopped talking to my aunt I stopped as well. I didnt want to be involved in that drama and I felt like I would have to avoid the topic of what happened between them which I've never had to do before. I was always able to say anything to her. I feel like I should feel something about her death and I dont feel like the events that transpired are enough to completely erase any emotion I would have about her death. I dont know this is people dying thing is really new to me maybe it just hasn't hit me yet but I really feel like it will never hit. Have any of you experienced a lack of emotion like this around death?

My dad died a week before my 8th birthday, after 2 weeks in the hospital. I'm 30 now. I've been doing a lot of introspection recently and I'm feeling a lot of pain about his death. One of the layers to this is, motivated by Stef's podcasts and all the books I have found through them, I have been telling the truth to myself about my mother's treatment of me and have distanced myself from her. She was abusive and she has shown me she is not interested in being honest with herself. Part of what is difficult for me to wrap my head around is that I don't really know my dad. I have shed the 4th Commandment that I must love my parents, but the memories I have of my dad are through the lens of an idolizing 7 year old daughter. I don't have the opportunity to find out what kind of person he is or have a relationship with him, and I feel sad and confused thinking about that. I remember the big bear hugs he used to give me when he was tucking me in at night. I remember his detailed and direct explanations. I know that even though he was raised religious and my mom was Christian, he was atheist. I know the shows he watched on TV. I don't remember him ever punishing me, and his mother (my grandma) told me that to her frustration, he always explained things to me at great length instead of disciplining me. Although, I do remember times where my mom was punishing me and getting angry with me while he stood by. And, he continued a relationship with his mother despite her un-empathetic treatment and rough discipline (though she claims she never spanked him). When I finally stopped using religion as self-medication about a year ago after finding FDR, the grief became raw again. He's NOT in a better place, I WON'T ever see him again, this WASN'T for a reason to make me stronger, etc. I'd like to achieve is complete honesty with myself, and part of that is admitting that it was really fucking painful, and it still is. I can't imagine any of my childhood friends living a healthy life if they lost their father. I remember the first time I calculated my ACE (Adverse Childhood Experiences) score, I got zero (= no adverse childhood experiences). Death of a parent was not on the test, and I was blocking out the abuse of my mother and her boyfriend out at the time. That is not the reality, though. I had a very traumatic and painful childhood. I've listened to/read a lot about the effects of child abuse, but I want to gain a better understanding of the effects of losing my father. It's tough to even find one book that isn't filled with religion, mysticism or idolization of parents. Does anyone have any recommended reading from an FDR type perspective? Thanks for reading, and any thoughts on how I can gain self-knowledge towards this and heal the trauma would be appreciated.

I am a Minarchist and I know some people here might hate me for it, but let me explain. This open letter is meant to be at least some point in history to be read by Stefan as I very much respect his opinion. Anyone else reading this please don't dislike the post if you think I am wrong, but rather state why by a reply. I am fully willing to change my views if someone can prove me wrong on this! Minarchism in my opinion is a safe way to a totally free society. At the moment the societies we live in have state regulations and public sector companies growing everywhere around it. Some things are at the moment dependent on the state, because the previous generations thought it would be a good idea to build an infrastructure that is based on the existence of the state. If we went immediately from the current society to the Libertarian model of society, we would risk a chaos. Many people are so used to be living in a state that it would be impossible for them to deal in such a situation. A peaceful transaction from Statism to Libertarianism can only be achieved by taking it slow. Starting from privatizing public sector, reducing government regulations and decreasing the size of the army. It will take many decades until we reach a point where we can safely shut down the government and begin a completely free society. An example of a government that is ready to be shut down would be a one that only provides basic legal system and the police. The only thing I am still wondering about is how can we transfer the legal system to the private sector? I mean there is a huge chance for it to become corrupt... But I believe it can all be figured out while we get there, the important thing right now is to get this started. I still believe that politics and voting are important because they are a way to change the world without causing panic or fear. Of course there are examples of peaceful revolutions but that is a huge risk to take. Also in Minarchism there is the option to stop and think again if everything goes to hell. So before you judge Minarchists, let me tell you this: We both have the same goal, we just want to be VERY careful while getting there. And all out revolution is a big risk and risks cost lives. This is my question to Stefan (if he ever reads this): I know that what you want is freedom, but there is a big risk. So what are you willing to bet on it? Your life, your friends lives, your relatives lives or even your daughters life? I do not mean to come out insulting this is just a question I SO DEEPLY want an answer to. I am yet to find a video on Stefan about this subject but if someone knows one then I would appreciate if you linked it to me. Again if you people think this question is insulting or too personal (I don't think it is but i have been wrong), then please tell me either via private message or via posting on the thread so I can take whatever actions are necessary. Thank you all for listening to me and I hope you do well. Markus FIN

In this officially first (and hopefully not last) Self-Archeology vidcast I share my thoughts on the concepts of death, existence, and mortality.

Over the past few years, I have formulated my philosophy of life, a 13-page document that may be found at either of the following links:https://docs.google.com/file/d/0Byh6JnTg3RMecHhxV0pYeklqV0U/edit?usp=sharinghttp://www.scribd.com/doc/183418623/My-Philosophy-of-LifeIn the first half of the document, I present and defend the following positions: atheism, afterlife skepticism, free will impossibilism, moral skepticism, existential skepticism and negative hedonism. The second half of the document is devoted to ways to achieve and maintain peace of mind.I have found the entire exercise to be very beneficial personally, and I hope that you will benefit from reading the document.I am posting my philosophy to solicit feedback so that it may be improved. I welcome any constructive criticism that you may have.Enjoy!

A new video where I talk about a segment from a TV show “True Detective,” about the purpose of religion, and about it's relation to insecurity and fear of mortality. http://dai.ly/x1d0iu7

There are maybe a couple of programs where Stefan talks about visiting dying relatives or going to their funerals and whether a relatives behavior has earned such loyalty. Can anyone point me to these programs please?

I feel that religions (particularly Christianity) play an important role in consoling people at the time of death of a loved one. They provide a sense of hope that “this isn’t the end, but merely a beginning of something better”. In absence of this, death becomes an abrupt end of the relationship. How does one cope? I recently lost my father. We were a fairly a-religious family, so there was no sermon or service of any kind at his funeral. Tears were shed, kind words were said about his life, nail it down and off to worms you go. The end. There is no comfort or comfort-ing. This being the first loss in my adult life, I was not quite prepared for what’s next. What is next? I almost wish for “he is with angels now” kind of bs.

Hello Freedomain Radio, I had put fish on the pan an hour ago. I was reading this FDR forum before and between cooking, hence I forgot the fish on the pan and the pieces burned from their bottom sides a bit. I turned the fish pieces around, thinking "Nah! Fish is always healthy." but then I thought about the cancer Stefan had obtained, so after just biting the best parts away, I threw the majority of my fish meal to the garbage bin. Fish isn't that cheap either. But I would rather be Prometheus in this regard and avoid cancer from the get-go, if I can. Does Stefan's cancer have an impact to your daily life? What are your thoughts on cancer overall? Share your thoughts, please.

Have you ever been told by a doctor that you have a chronic condition that will change your life from diagnosis going forth? it may affect your mobility, cognition, sight, etc, or other quality of your health and life negatively? Were you given a shorter life expectancy and/or increased physical burdens that made you consider how long you have? So much to do, never enough time. What about your kids? personal goals? Shoot me a message privately if you want a more intimate conversation about the topic. Many those who have had a loss need to know they are not alone. I would like to point out that personal loss of health, mentally and physically comes with age as our bodies wear out, are exposed to illnesses, injury etc., it is natural and it sucks to go through but so goes the arrow of life to death. As I remember, Stefan called it "the best cancer ever". Wow Stef, was he just trying to put a smiley on his face?! No, I know now that he felt it. It is that realism, that meaning to the meaningless, vivid-life, lucid dream one is in wear their life rushes through them and they feel a need for expression and a fulfillment of certain life goals, a need to self-improve. You take that look over your shoulder to scan the whole Maslow pyramid. Safety and security meme's for your family and wishes, memes to achieve self-actualization, and even if at all. Let me know what ya think.