The Voluntary Life

This episode explores the topic of psychological barriers to personal and political freedom. It is a discussion of the ideas in Eric Fromm's book "The Fear of Freedom" (also published under the title "Escape from Freedom").

An interview with Judd Weiss, entrepreneur and author of the Hustlebear.com blog. Judd has been an entrepreneur since he was 14. He became a millionaire by the age of 24 and has launched successful businesses in diverse industries including selling watches online, commercial real estate brokerage and parking. Judd talks about some of the principles behind successful entrepreneurship. Topics include: How accepting that you start out both ignorant and incompetent can help you succeed Why success normally comes just after the point when most people quit Why you don't have to be interested in the product you are selling What a young startup entrepreneur can use to differentiate themselves from much older and better connected competitors The impact that pursuing entrepreneurial success can have on your personal relationships

Financial Freedom is an achievable goal. But what exactly is it and how does making financial freedom your goal differ from more traditional financial goals? A common approach to personal finance goes something like this: MAINSTREAM ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT PERSONAL FINANCE the goal of personal finance strategies is material wealth and comfort; the method is getting a secure job; the measure of how well you are doing is your salary; debt should be used, with caution, to obtain consumption items (mortgage for a house, loans for a new car etc.); provision for the future should be made through a pension. A approach aimed at financial freedom is completely different in every way: ASSUMPTIONS WITH FINANCIAL FREEDOM AS YOUR AIM the goal of personal finance strategies is financial freedom (the level of wealth is optional); the method is entrepreneurship; the measure of how well you are doing is how long before you have to work again, where passive income - expenses > 0 debt should not be used for consumption items, but might optionally be used with caution to further entrepreneurship and value generation; provision for the future is made through creating passive income streams. Thoughts on how to adopt financial freedom as your goal are provided in the podcast. The views expressed are only my opinion about this subject and I am not any kind of financial advisor.

You can still have a lot of freedom if you are working for somebody else. Here are some suggestions of what you can do to transform your job and liberate yourself. The youtube documentary about a Brazilian company that is mentioned in the episode is called "The Caring Capitalist".

This episode is a discussion with startup entrepreneurs including the founders of  choreplan.com and knowitapp.com. We talk about the ideas in two great books on entrepreneurship: The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki and Reworkby Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson.

A podcast for those considering starting a business. The episode starts with a look at the value of entrepreneurship as a path to obtaining freedom in your own life and some background to my own experience with entrepreneurship. Two key questions are addressed: how do you choose which project to pursue as a new entrepreneurial venture? Also, how do you overcome the fear of getting started?

Part 3 in a series on about the potential for voluntary, free market solutions to urban planning problems. In this episode we discuss the potential for more voluntary kinds of urban communities, urbanisation in the developing world and the future of cities. The discussion is based around ideas presented in the book The Voluntary City: Choice, Community, and Civil Society edited by David T Beito, Peter Gordon and Alexander Tabarrok. Special guests in this episode are Peter Gordon (co-editor of The Voluntary City) and Adam, Stephen and Emily, who are the authors of the blog Market Urbanism.

Part 2 of a series about the potential for voluntary, free market solutions to urban planning problems. In this episode we discuss the potential for voluntary land use planning. The discussion is based around ideas presented in the book The Voluntary City: Choice, Community, and Civil Society edited by David T Beito, Peter Gordon and Alexander Tabarrok. Special guests in this episode are Peter Gordon (co-editor of The Voluntary City) and Adam, Stephen and Emily, who are the authors of the blog Market Urbanism.

This is the first of a series about the potential for voluntary, free market solutions to urban planning problems. This discussion is based around the topics covered in the book The Voluntary City: Choice, Community, and Civil Society edited by David T Beito, Peter Gordon and Alexander Tabarrok. Special guests in this episode are Peter Gordon (co-editor of The Voluntary City) and Adam, Stephen and Emily, who are the authors of the blog Market Urbanism. In the discussion we make reference to Jane Jacobs, author of The Death and Life of Great American Cities and to Robert Moses, the urban planner who's destructive impact is discussed in the book The Power Broker.

A review of Robert Heinlein's libertarian science fiction novel, "The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress"