Voluntaryist/An-Cap College Student

[andybratton]

Hey Everyone!

I'm new to the community aspect of FDR, so I thought I'd throw my two cents out.

I've been leaning Libertarian for about 5years now and have made the transition from minarchist to Voluntaryist in thepast year or so, in no small part due to Stef's work. I've always beeninterested in finding truth, as in, "figuring out how and why things areas they are" and then finding ways to make my life better through that.This philosophical approach to life and its implications for morality havegiven me the best insight into that endeavor that I've ever come across. Overthe past two years I've sort of pulled myself out of a very deep emotional rutwith the help of these ideas, particularly the concept of self-worth andself-ownership. It's so amazing what the realization that "I ownmyself" can do for one's self-esteem and worldview. I don't see limitsanymore and the world is so amazingly full of possibilities that werepreviously unknown or inaccessible to me.

 I’m really interested in technology,which is one of the reasons I’m studying both physics and product design. Iwant to learn not just how to use science to make awesome stuff, but I want topractically apply it to the creation of products that benefit people and that Ican make a profit on. I want to create tangible things that I can be proud ofand contribute to the grandeur of humanity as a collection of individuals workingtogether voluntarily. I’d be really interested in talking to people who sharethis interest and/or have established entrepreneurial endeavors focusing ontechnology within the Libertarian/An-Cap/Voluntaryist community.

I also come from what might be called an “Academichonors” background. For most of my academic career I’ve been in acceleratedprograms and have also be extremely dissatisfied with the quality ofinstruction associated with them, despite their intention and reputation. It's no suprise, now, knowing what I do about the nature of the State and it's relationship to education. Even in college, where the learningenvironment is supposed to be both advanced and free (at least that’s how I wassold on it) I feel like school is getting in the way of my learning. I’mwondering if there’s an established group of college students within thiscommunity that are experiencing similar problems and would be interested in brainstormingsolutions or ways to overcome that challenge. If there’s not, I think I’d liketo start one or at least get in touch with some other students and discuss it.

[Existing Alternatives]

Welcome Andy!

Congratulations on crossing over! It is a great feeling to realize that you own yourself and no one else has any claim on you. I am also very happy to see that you want to build and create tangible things that will benefit humanity and your own bottom line.

As far as your educational experience is concerned, I am way passed that stage, but, having spent enough time in school, feel I can comment. College and even post-graduate education has nothing to do with advancement and freedom. Rather it serves two purposes for you: (1) provide technical knowledge, such as physics fundamentals, etc. and (2) certification, ie degree which will allow you employment in your chosen field. Beyond these two, you must learn, explore and grow on your own, oftentimes in direct contradiction to what you are being indoctrinated with in school.

Good luck and welcome!  

[Kevin Beal]

I'm happy to hear you are so motivated and enthusiastic. And sorry to hear about school

There seem to be a lot of technology junkies and entrepreneurial types in this community and on the boards which is cool. I am hoping to do something similar in the area of software development.

Welcome to the boards!

[andybratton]

Thanks for the input! I think I've pretty much master sorting through the crap and only absorbing what is philosophically consistent and/or useful. I think my biggest problem at this point is figuring out how to make time to do things of actual value, such as, experimenting with opensource electronics on my own time, when so much of my time is being taken up by class/homework that I get virtually nothing out of. I guess it's sort of a "do what you gotta do" type of thing, but I'm wondering if anybody in a similar situation has found a way to make it work.

[Existing Alternatives]

I think in this situation it is important to be very honest with yourself and clarify why you are doing certain things. In my experience with school, I was able to identify three purposes for any given class or classwork: (1) genuine interest in the subject / professor, (2) something that provides me with necessary knowledge / experience in my future field (i.e. open source electronics), (3) stuff I need to get the degree. 

Once you classify all your work in this manner, you should be able to allocate the absolute minimum effort to the last category, while freeing up time for the first two. Will a “C-” in English 101 keep you legit at school? Would it not require barely showing up in class? There goes an extra hour a week you would have spent worrying about that. Keep in mind that GPAs are only good to maintain scholarships or for entry into grad school. Other than that, they have very little bearing in the real world, unless you are applying for an entry-level job at Google.

“Time and money are never enough, but you can always find a little bit more”.

[Jake Danczyk]

Andy,

I've just officially joined the community here as well, and saw this post while checking out the forums.

I am also a college student, am also studying Physics with something else (Mechanical Eng. and a couple minors), and also am frustrated with school. About the middle of last semester, I realized that I was truly wasting time and should just be getting out into the 'real world' as fast as possible, not taking the extra year I needed to get some extra pieces of paper. Sadly by the time I realized this it was already too late, as the order of course progression & pre-requisites made it impossible to finish either ahead of my original schedule.

At this point, I view college as mostly earning a 'license/certificate of not being a total idiot'. I know future employment depends upon it, so I am just going to do it. However, my transition from statism to voluntarism has made a large amount of the potential employment in my fields very undesirable. So I find myself also extremely interested in entrepreneurship. Reading Atlas Shrugged gave me for the first time a sense of heroism and honor in the acts of production. 

Thanks for sharing, it is great to join this community and immediately find something I can relate to and learn from.

[andybratton]

Hey Jake.

I'm pretty much in the same position you are. I'm staying on 5 years (and maybe change) to double major and get my masters in Electrical Engineering. I have no doubt that I could learn everything I am learning and more if left to my own devices and if I were free to orchestrate my own education, but, tragically, this is not a practical senario. I'm doing my best to supplement my education with exploratory endeavors and to disregard the years of indocrination that have infultrated my worldview about the intrinisc value of grades and GPA. It's tough, but I think I'm winning.

 

Atlas Shrugged was my inspiration as well. It's incredible to have there a story (one of the only ones I know of) that presents heroism in production, not destruction (violence). Since reading it, I'm determined to me the kind of entreprenuer that publicly and unapplogetically esposes philosophy and voluntaryism while still making a lot of money. I've sort of had this thing in the back of my head that asks "What would the world be like if every CEO were a Libertarian?" I want to show the validty of it as a moral philosophy and worldview. I've probably got my work cut out for me, especially considering how hard it is to make money nowadays without being in bed with the Gov't or exploiting the hell out of workers (which really amounts to being in bed with the Gov't, anyway).

What are your future plans, if you don't mind my asking?