We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. From the very serious to the extremely frivolous... lets see what is on the mind of the Samizdata people.
Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]
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Samizdata quote for the day “If you’re determined to be altruistic about it, the only way you can be of any good to others is for you to be self-sufficient. The biggest burdens in a crisis are those who were so concerned about the welfare of everyone else that they never provided for themselves.”
Harry Browne, How You Can Profit From the Coming Devaluation, pp. 199-200, Arlington House Publishers, Westport, Connecticut. I also recommend this classic by Browne.
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Who Are We? The Samizdata people are a bunch of sinister and heavily armed globalist illuminati who seek to infect the entire world with the values of personal liberty and several property. Amongst our many crimes is a sense of humour and the intermittent use of British spelling.
We are also a varied group made up of social individualists, classical liberals, whigs, libertarians, extropians, futurists, ‘Porcupines’, Karl Popper fetishists, recovering neo-conservatives, crazed Ayn Rand worshipers, over-caffeinated Virginia Postrel devotees, witty Frédéric Bastiat wannabes, cypherpunks, minarchists, kritarchists and wild-eyed anarcho-capitalists from Britain, North America, Australia and Europe.
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To Hell with Harry Browne. He’s a huckster, probably a thief, and definitely an important part of why the Libertarian Party of the US is a joke.
I read “How I found Freedom…….” shortly after it was first published and still keep it handy. Both the book and Browne are often damned or held to ridicule; mostly by folk who have been put off by another “How to” title, always by folk who haven’t read the book but have listened to the enthusiasm of those who have, & occasionally by those who may have actually finished reading the book & trash it because it doesn’t tell them anything new or wrongly imagine that they are being “talked down to”. Eric probably falls into the last category. The book really does NOT tell one anything new. What it does do is remind the reader that he has stupidly forgotten some very basic life principles. I would hesitate to say that the book is well written but for those of us who sometimes wonder why so many simple, or taken-for-granted things go wrong, this excellent book is required reading.
I agree with permanent expat. Eric, do you have any hard evidence to back up your points against Browne, which are libellous?
I don’t get it. The two statements in the quote above have little to do with each other. The second sentence I’d basically agree with from experience. The first sentence doesn’t make sense to me. But this chap seems to be implying that one can’t both look after oneself and also act altruistically, which is bunk.
I notice that this post comes under ‘Philosophical’, usually a sign that someone is talking the same old rubbish but using longer words, bits of Latin, and inserting ‘necessary or sufficient’ at least once per chapter.
J, sorry, but the only bunk around is in your comment. What Browne is saying, which is pretty clear, is that that if you want to help other people, you need to be fit and able to do so in the first place. An obvious poiont unless you happen to be a socialist, in my experience. The rest of your post is just abusive. Did you get out of bed the wrong side this morning?
So who is selling their copy fo £110 and up then?
Gravid……..I,too,was surprized to see the £110 tag. I bought a number of”Freedom” (paperbacks) for peanuts many years ago.
I said that I didn’t think that Browne’s books were well written and, apart from his being an opera buff, I doubt that he would describe himself as an intellectual.
But he’s a clear & logical thinker who raise hackles, mostly, among those who are sure they already know it all & consider themselves as successful. You can be absolutely sure that if you aren’t happy you are definitely not successful………..that’s what it’s all about. Some of the ranting I read above tells me there are some personally discontented people out there.
Vis a vis US governance, Browne is as opposed to foreign policy adventurism as to domestic oppression, and sees the connection.
The Founding Fathers would have relished his writings. Lincoln, TR, Wilson and FDR would not. GWB would not be able to understand them.
You don’t know what’s wrong with Browne? Read.
http://www.libertysoft.com/liberty/party.html
Jim Nelson: I have an abysmal knowledge of American politics & am, therefore, in no position to discuss them. I did read the “Liberty” article you kindly quoted together with the accompanying timeline & it surely, if true, makes dismal reading. To suggest that the hoohah sounds typical of most parties’ political infighting is not to condone it, again if true. I also went to see what Browne had to say at http://www.harrybrowne.org/2000/controversy.htm. There I read that which was to be expected and I keep an open mind accordingly. All this doesn’t detract from the fact that the two books, “Freedom” & “Devaluation” are a valuable & informative read