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Brandon Aragon and Shane Radliff talk about Vonuism and Self liberation. SPONSORED BY PRESEARCH! Get paid to search privately and uncensored! https://presearch.org/signup?rid=1962130 Get Protonmail https://pr.tn/ref/57EDWQGKJGF0 You can also support us here https://cointr.ee/agoristnexus Check out Shane's work at https://vonupodcast.com/ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/agoristnexus/support
To all those ready for a better world… To all those who choose freedom… Join Shane Radliff on the journey to the second realm! You want some real world examples and motivation? You got it! Shane has been working for years as a freedom voluntaryist working towards the future that most people just talk about. From books and information to feed the mind to the pigs and goats that Shane is learning to feed, there are many avenues and tactics towards the actual change we want to see in the world. Learn about VONU and Liberty Under Attack Publications!  https://vonupodcast.com/free-vonu-book/ https://libertyunderattack.com/product/pre-order-vonu-a-strategy-for-self-liberation-by-shane-radliff-2nd-edition/ Digital: https://libertyunderattack.com/product-category/digital/page/3/ https://vonupodcast.com/ Liberty Under Attack https://libertyunderattack.com/Download.
Anyone who listens to this show is unlikely to taken by surprise by what's happening economically. Brandon Smith has a very timely warning about the escalation seen in recent events that suggests mounting economic danger. The move towards digital currency is picking up speed. Brad Polumbo explains why a digital dollar is a really bad idea. Using food as a weapon of control is nothing new. In fact, as Shane Radliff points out, it can also be used as an ultimate weapon of mind control. The world is already a complicated and conflicting place. We don't need more Karens. Lenore Skenazy relates the story of a Karen who called the police on a little girl for selling cookies in the neighborhood. There sure seems to be a lot of unhappy faces every direction you turn. Annie Holmquist has some very solid advice on forgetting self and finding happiness. Sponsors: HSL Ammo Monticello College Life Saving Food Garage Door Pros
Anyone who listens to this show is unlikely to taken by surprise by what's happening economically. Brandon Smith has a very timely warning about the escalation seen in recent events that suggests mounting economic danger. The move towards digital currency is picking up speed. Brad Polumbo explains why a digital dollar is a really bad idea. Using food as a weapon of control is nothing new. In fact, as Shane Radliff points out, it can also be used as an ultimate weapon of mind control. The world is already a complicated and conflicting place. We don't need more Karens. Lenore Skenazy relates the story of a Karen who called the police on a little girl for selling cookies in the neighborhood. There sure seems to be a lot of unhappy faces every direction you turn. Annie Holmquist has some very solid advice on forgetting self and finding happiness. Sponsors: HSL Ammo Monticello College Life Saving Food Garage Door Pros --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/loving-liberty/support
"Learn how to make yourself invulnerable to the coercion of the State and the servile society with this updated guide on the liberating freedom strategy of vonu." An audiobook by friend-of-the-show Shane of The Vonu Podcast. Learn more at https://vonupodcast.com/vonu-a-strategy-for-self-liberation-by-shane-radliff-freeaudiobook/, and read the foreward by Derrick Broze.
"Learn how to make yourself invulnerable to the coercion of the State and the servile society with this updated guide on the liberating freedom strategy of vonu." An audiobook by friend-of-the-show Shane of The Vonu Podcast. Learn more at https://vonupodcast.com/vonu-a-strategy-for-self-liberation-by-shane-radliff-freeaudiobook/, and read the foreward by Derrick Broze.
Thanks to the efforts of Fenix Aurora and Matt Workman, the audiobook for Vonu: A Strategy for Self-Liberation is now ready and out! [DOWNLOAD BOOK FOR FREE!] Learn how to make yourself invulnerable to the coercion of the State and the servile society with this updated guide on the liberating… The post Vonu: A Strategy For Self-Liberation by Shane Radliff (#FREEAUDIOBOOK) appeared first on The Vonu Podcast.
Today we'll discuss the possibility of departure from the First Realm of society (we'll explain) in pursuit of a peaceful and voluntary Second Realm. The latter is composed of temporary autonomous zones (TAZ) and permanent autonomous zones (PAZ). Joe is one of the organizers of The Midwest Peace and Liberty Fest. [An example of a TAZ]Shane is the host of the Vonu Podcast and the creator of The Free Republic of P.A.Z.NIA. [A n example of a PAZ] The conversation is largely based on a piece that Shane wrote, called TVP Intermission #50: [P.A.Z.NIA] Liberated Areas Among The Tyrannical Wasteland.OUR NEXT VIRTUAL SUMMIT IS NOW ON SEPTEMBER 11+12!Visit MindsetandMastery.com to learn more about this exciting new presentation, the topics, and bonuses JOIN THE UN-IVERSITY!You are granted access to our Un-iversity private community (and all of its clubs!) when you purchase the downloadable version of The Ideas Into Action Summit. Visit sspuniversity.com/ideasintoaction to learn more about the presenters, topics, and bonus materials . Use the coupon code myspace.OR...BRAND NEW!Get Access to Our Discord Community, Our Full List of Clubs, and Invitations to Our Weekly Discussion Groups - Un-iversity Community Membership (Monthly)Please Support School SucksWe do cool things! Thanks to your support.School Sucks is one of the longest running liberty-minded podcasts on the web, and the only one completely devoted to the issue of education (versus public school and college). Your support keeps the show going and growing, which keeps us at the top of the options for education podcasts and leads to new people discovering our work.Support Us On PATREON Help incentivize our production! Pledge $1 per content item and access dozens of Patron only audios and videos.Join the A/V Club If you're looking for more School Sucks content, the A/V Club option grants you access to a bonus content section with 400+ hours of exclusive audio and video. Crypto Addresses:DASH; XcZfPP6GZGVo9VKViNBVJZja5JVxZDB229ETHEREUM; 0x3c5504CE3401C028832173506fa30BD4db4b7D35LITECOIN; LKNp24f5wwvZ2QzeDbvxXgBxyVwi1yXnu2BITCOIN; 1KhwY836cfSGCK5aaGFv8Q7PHMgghFJn1UBITCOIN CASH 1AmqLVxjw3Lp9KT5ckfvsqfN2Hn3B1hCWSZCASH; t1by1ZGJ63LoLSjXy27ooJtipf4wMr7qbu4
How to become invulnerable to coercion from the statist structure. Reviving a long lost freedom strategy, Vonuism The Free Republic of P.A.Z.nia, the Self-Liberator's Paradise VonuFest 2 Direct Action Financial Independence Monetize what you love doing 1st YouTube video in 2014 No Other Option What Else Matters More Than Freedom Liberty at a profit Peaceful Non Coercive Society How To Not Be A Sheep Adventures In Illinois Higher Education 2nd Realm, 1st Realm Pockets Of Freedom Non Aggression IRC chats Autonomous Zones Security Culture Farming, Animal Husbandry P.A.Z.nia Chickens Self-Health, Herbs Learning for health Doors to Freedom Shane's work Freedom is possible Natural Law Hermetics Liberty Under Attack: Liberty Under Attack Vonu: Podcast: Vonu Podcast Book: Vonu: A Strategy For Self Liberation Direct Action Series: Direct Action Podcasts Second Realm: Second Realm Episode Download.
In this episode Brandon and Dag talk with Shane Radliff about Vonu, Rayo, Paznia, Liberty Under Attack Publications and Self Liberation. Check Out Shane's outlets here. The Vonu Podcast https://vonupodcast.com/ Liberty Under Attack Publications: https://libertyunderattack.com/ This episode is sponsored by the Presearch search engine, earn crypto for searching, keyword stake and forget the usual google spies. https://presearch.org/signup?rid=1962130 As well as our other sponsor Dvault (DVT) cryptocurrency https://www.devault.cc/ Exchanges: SouthXChange: https://www.southxchange.com/Market/Book/DVT/BTC Graviex: https://graviex.net/markets/dvtbtc BlockDX https://blockdx.com/ Not financial advice. ———————————————————————— Join us on Keybase https://keybase.io/team/agorist_nexus Support us by donating here You can also donate here https://cointr.ee/agoristnexus Or support us by creating a local.bitcoin.com account here Presearch Decentralized Crypto Search Engine get paid to search https://presearch.org/signup?rid=1962130 You can also donate BCH through the Agorist Nexus SLP token very easily on the BCH blockchain. Click this website link copy and paste the SLP token ID and enter how much BCH you'd like to donate. Hit Last confirmed block (default). Hit the Green button below that says Build TX. It will load and give you a QR code/address SLP Dividend calculator website https://tools.bitcoin.com/slp-dividend-calculator/ Agorist Nexus Token ID cf0ef524d1cbaa666667107397d3ebf83e26087120de34e6d7b52b250ed67fc2 Download Wendy McElroy's new book for free The Satoshi Revolution here https://news.bitcoin.com/the-satoshi-revolution-by-wendy-mcelroy/
Shane Radliff is the author of Vonu: A Strategy for Self-Liberation, the leading expert on Vonu, hosts The Vonu Podcast, owns and operates LibertyUnderAttack.com, and is an all around awesome guy.Check out Shane's stuff here:www.libertyunderattack.comwww.vonupodcast.comhttps://10hoursofbitcoin.com/ [not Shane's, but recommended]Voter registration cancellation as mentioned in the episode:Oh, right!www.tinyurl.com/CancelVoterEverything Enemy of The State's Dank Pod-Stash:www.thedankpodstash.comPatreonwww.patreon.com/thedankpodstashBitBackerhttps://bitbacker.io/user/thedankpodstashFacebookhttps://www.facebook.com/TheDankPodStashInstagram and Twitter: @TheDankPodStashYouTubehttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCocrXMhWKfyfaMuk20LvBbgMerch:https://dankpodstash.threadless.com/RSS Feedhttps://feeds.buzzsprout.com/207907.rssiTuneshttps://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/enemy-of-the-states-dank-pod-stash/id1441268179?mt=2Stitcherhttps://www.stitcher.com/podcast/enemy-of-the-states-dank-podstashGooglePlayhttps://play.google.com/music/m/If3b43odowngqivmc26wieknxqe?t=Enemy_of_the_States_Dank_Pod-StashSpotifyhttps://open.spotify.com/show/25Kmo1f90mvKTOFr0Rd3miTuneInhttp://tun.in/pi9lV
Who is Bill Cooper? How did he help? How did he hinder? What's his relationship to Alex Jones? Why was he killed in the Fall of 2001? Today we'll be answering four of those questions to your satisfaction. Shane Radliff is the creator of Liberty Under Attack Publications and the host of the Vonu Podcast. I first encountered Shane's work in 2016 and I was immediately impressed with his focus on practical self-liberation strategies; he had assembled a comprehensive list of empowering pursuits (with instruction) under the umbrella of his Direct Action series. But Shane's journey, like mine, did not start in the most empowering of places. He says he wound up in a "conspiratorial rabbit hole" which eventually even included a brief adventure into so-called sovereign citizenship. Shane's primary guide through this period: Bill Cooper. I knew little about Bill; starting in 2004 I had instead followed Alex Jones, after encountering him through Coast To Coast AM and the 9/11 Truth movement. Alex Jones and Bill Cooper, despite sharing a similar worldview featuring similar dire warnings, were not allies. Shane and I contrast our early experiences trying to gain a better of what was happening in the world, with our different guides, at different times (Shane is 14 years younger than I am), and in different media environments. Ultimately we'll share stories about how we adopted healthier and more constructive frames of mind, without having to abandon our awareness of the treacheries of this world. Recorded on Sunday June 23rd at the Midwest Peace and Liberty Fest. Want to stay in the loop on our upcoming Virtual Summit Series? Visit THE UN-IVERSITY Use "SCHOOLSUCKS" for your invite code! Please Support School Sucks We do cool things! Thanks to your support. School Sucks is one of the longest running liberty-minded podcasts on the web, and the only one completely devoted to the issue of education (versus public school and college). Your support keeps the show going and growing, which keeps us at the top of the options for education podcasts and leads to new people discovering our work. Please help us continue to spread this important message further! Before you do anything, please bookmark and use this link for your Amazon shopping: Shop With Us One-Time Donation Options: Paypal/Venmo; Donate DASH Donate ETHEREUM Donate LITECOIN Donate BITCOIN Donate BITCOIN CASH Donate ZCASH Recurring Options: NEW! SubscribeStar Access our personal development bonus show, The Discomfort Zone, and lots of other irreverent and acerbic commentary you've never heard before. Support Us On PATREON Help incentivize our production! Pledge $1 per content item and access dozens of Patron only audios and videos. Join the A/V Club If you're looking for more School Sucks content, the A/V Club option grants you access to a bonus content section with 400+ hours of exclusive audio and video. If you are a regular consumer of our media, please consider making a monthly commitment by selecting the best option for you... A/V Club - Basic Access - $8.00/Month A/V Club - "Advanced" Access - $12.00/Month Sigma Sigma Pi - "Privileged" Access - $16.00/Month Crypto Addresses: DASH; XcZfPP6GZGVo9VKViNBVJZja5JVxZDB229 ETHEREUM; 0x3c5504CE3401C028832173506fa30BD4db4b7D35 LITECOIN; LKNp24f5wwvZ2QzeDbvxXgBxyVwi1yXnu2 BITCOIN; 1KhwY836cfSGCK5aaGFv8Q7PHMgghFJn1U BITCOIN CASH 1AmqLVxjw3Lp9KT5ckfvsqfN2Hn3B1hCWS ZCASH; t1by1ZGJ63LoLSjXy27ooJtipf4wMr7qbu4 Support Our Partners Digital Marketing Career Blueprint is the first addition to a School Sucks Project library of courses on high-income skills. If you're interested in learning more please help us out by following this link: Digital Marketing Career Blueprint We are also honored to partner with Richard Grove's Autonomy course and community. Learn more about AUTONOMY
A quick discussion about understanding the fears and motivations behind the development of the public schooling system in America. Shane Radliff and I discuss the radical school reform movement of the 1960s and how A Renegade History of the United States helped to add important nuance to my public school history narrative. We do cool things! Thanks to your support. School Sucks is one of the longest running liberty-minded podcasts on the web, and the only one completely devoted to the issue of education (versus public school and college). Your support keeps the show going and growing, which keeps us at the top of the options for education podcasts and leads to new people discovering our work. Please help us continue to spread this important message further! Thanks for visiting this page. Before you do anything, please bookmark and use this link for your Amazon shopping: Shop With Us One-Time Donation Options: Paypal/Venmo; Donate DASH Donate ETHEREUM Donate LITECOIN Donate BITCOIN Donate BITCOIN CASH Donate ZCASH Recurring Options: Support Us On PATREON Help incentivize our production! Pledge $1 per content item and access dozens of Patron only audios and videos. Join the A/V Club If you're looking for more School Sucks content, the A/V Club option grants you access to a bonus content section with 400+ hours of exclusive audio and video. If you are a regular consumer of our media, please consider making a monthly commitment by selecting the best option for you... A/V Club - Basic Access - $8.00/Month A/V Club - "Advanced" Access - $12.00/Month Sigma Sigma Pi - "Privileged" Access - $16.00/Month Crypto Addresses: DASH; XcZfPP6GZGVo9VKViNBVJZja5JVxZDB229 ETHEREUM; 0x3c5504CE3401C028832173506fa30BD4db4b7D35 LITECOIN; LKNp24f5wwvZ2QzeDbvxXgBxyVwi1yXnu2 BITCOIN; 1KhwY836cfSGCK5aaGFv8Q7PHMgghFJn1U BITCOIN CASH 1AmqLVxjw3Lp9KT5ckfvsqfN2Hn3B1hCWS ZCASH; t1by1ZGJ63LoLSjXy27ooJtipf4wMr7qbu4
Shane Radliff is a School Sucks listener and the creator of the popular website and podcast, Liberty Under Attack. In this joint production, we discuss the benefits, challenges and lessons of a location-independent lifestyle. Shane is preparing to live a more nomadic lifestyle, so we reflected on my extensive travels over the last year, including School Sucks Across America tour, Renegade University/SSP events and my recent relocation to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We talked about why I decided to pursue such a lifestyle, the importance of being with like-minded individuals in physical space and time, the role past decisions have on limiting freedom, the role of education in personal freedom, our past missteps when trying to discuss the philosophy of liberty with “opponents”, why Shane has decided to pursue van nomadism, and the freedom/growth a life of travel provides. Please Support School Sucks We do cool things! Thanks to your support. School Sucks is one of the longest running liberty-minded podcasts on the web, and the only one completely devoted to the issue of education (versus public school and college). Your support keeps the show going and growing, which keeps us at the top of the options for education podcasts and leads to new people discovering our work. Please help us continue to spread this important message further! Thanks for visiting this page. Before you do anything, please bookmark and use this link for your Amazon shopping: Shop With Us One-Time Donation Options: Paypal/Venmo; Donate DASH Donate ETHEREUM Donate LITECOIN Donate BITCOIN Donate BITCOIN CASH Donate ZCASH Recurring Options: Support Us On PATREON Help incentivize our production! Pledge $1 per content item and access dozens of Patron only audios and videos. Join the A/V Club If you're looking for more School Sucks content, the A/V Club option grants you access to a bonus content section with 400+ hours of exclusive audio and video. If you are a regular consumer of our media, please consider making a monthly commitment by selecting the best option for you... A/V Club - Basic Access - $8.00/Month A/V Club - "Advanced" Access - $12.00/Month Sigma Sigma Pi - "Privileged" Access - $16.00/Month Crypto Addresses: DASH; XcZfPP6GZGVo9VKViNBVJZja5JVxZDB229 ETHEREUM; 0x3c5504CE3401C028832173506fa30BD4db4b7D35 LITECOIN; LKNp24f5wwvZ2QzeDbvxXgBxyVwi1yXnu2 BITCOIN; 1KhwY836cfSGCK5aaGFv8Q7PHMgghFJn1U BITCOIN CASH 1AmqLVxjw3Lp9KT5ckfvsqfN2Hn3B1hCWS ZCASH; t1by1ZGJ63LoLSjXy27ooJtipf4wMr7qbu4
It’s amazing to live in an age where all knowledge is at our fingerprints! You don’t have to transcribe ancient texts at candlelight in a monastery or do questionable menial tasks for a guru anymore to gain access to some knowledge. I had a two-hour round trip commute to the university - I quit midway when I figured out I could learn more than what a whole day in higher education had to offer by simply reading a business book in the same time. That said though, self-study has its fair share of challenges. Some of the reasons we’re not all already Internet-fed renaissance man geniuses are as follows: It can get lonely… Reading books, listening to podcasts, taking online courses - neither of these is a particularly social endeavour. Other than the most extreme introvert, most of us can benefit a lot from the synergy of group learning. ...As well as hard to demonstrate While degrees are dime a dozen these days, they still prove that some level of effort was put into their achievement and that something similar can be expected in an employment situation. “Trust me, here’s a list of books that I’ve read” is not an easy sell (it did work for a few people, however). It lacks guidance For a beginner, staring any complex field of study in the eyes for the first time is a very scary experience. Where do you begin? What’s good material and what is rubbish? What a good level to aim towards? These are often questions that are hard to answer without the aid of someone already knowledgeable in the field. The speed of learning is unpredictable Take any course, and you have a very clear finish date. You’re going to go and show up x days of the week for y hours, and you’re going to go through z material - because you “have” to. I’ve been consciously focusing on my own productivity, routines, procedures, goal-setting, and motivation for 2 years now, and still, it feels like the stars must align just the right way sometimes for things to be finished in their planned time. It’s too easy to abandon There’s a lot of inertia when embarking on getting a degree or a specialization: once you’re on that raft, you’re probably going to float down all the way, detours or not. Quitting university is hell for a number of reasons. Quitting self-study often costs nothing and involves just you. Wake up, delete a folder, boot a game or Facebook and you’re out. From 21 to 23, I’ve picked up and dropped at least five different lines of study. Now that these flaws are spelled out, we can probably come up with a number of solutions for each individual problem. But how about fixing all of them in one go? The Study of Direct Action My friend Shane Radliff had an ambitious goal, and self-study just didn’t seem to cut it. He was aiming to create a comprehensive database of direct action - alternatives to politics, ways to create personal freedom without asking for permission, or being dependent on the choices of large groups of people.The problem? There are at least 25 different approaches, and many of them are not particularly well-documented. He couldn’t just sign up for the course, or buy the encyclopedia of actionable freedom. Collecting all of this information and studying it on his own would’ve put Shane on a long and unpredictable timeline. It would’ve been a lonely endeavour, hard to demonstrate (if that was ever needed), it lacked guidance, and it would’ve taken a great deal of willpower over a long time period - jeopardizing the project’s completion. In short, it would’ve had all of the five drawbacks of self-study. So how did Shane proceed? The Interview Learning System Instead of trying to figure out everything on his own, Shane chose to contact experts and ask them for an interview on their specific direct action strategy. In his place, I would probably have been concerned that nobody would answer - but it turns out that he had a response rate of 85%! (more on that in the accompanying podcast episode above the article) It seems that people like to talk about their field of expertise. :) And since Shane intended to create a public resource from the get go, he recorded and edited these interviews and released them weekly or bi-weekly on his podcast feed (you can find the whole series on the Liberty Under Attack website). I’m not going to sugarcoat this for you - this was quite a monumental task. From January 3rd to July 14th, 2016, a significant portion of Shane’s time (and those of his co hosts) was invested in releasing 27 episodes of the Direct Action Series. We were in a mastermind together at the time, and every week, for months on end, the goal he would set at the end of our talks would invariably revolve around recording or editing an episode of his series. My own experience is that it takes more than five hours to produce one hour of an interview, including research, scheduling, the interview itself, editing and releasing the content. At 44+ hours of length, we’re looking at a minimum of 220 hours of brain-intensive active work - very different from sitting in a lecture or just reading books. But the results are quite monumental too. Imagine reaching out and having an intelligent conversation with many of the people you most admire - well, Shane did that on a regular basis for months on end. And in my opinion, he reached out from a great position: not as a fan, but someone equal in his pursuits to that of his guests, creating great material that people can learn from in addition to making the world more aligned with his needs. Not to mention that he gained in-depth knowledge about personal strategies for freedom, practiced the skill of confidently reaching out to and interviewing busy people in general, and went on to adopt many of the strategies he learned in his personal life. As a shorthand, I’ve decided to call this the Interview Learning System. I’m very excited by its potential to be used as a general approach - I think that there’s no reason why similar results couldn’t be accomplished in any field. So if you can handle the work, and like interacting with cool people, here’s what to do. ILS Action Plan Choose a field of study, something that excites and engages you. You probably already know this. Decide on your format. If you’ve been thinking of launching a podcast, writing a blog, authoring a book, creating a video channel etc. this structure has many benefits for a new starter. Create an initial list of experts you’d like to talk to. Don’t worry about it quantity though - you will get recommendations from guests and your audience. The list can even become too abundant, as Shane has experienced it. Create an honest pitch. What will your content be about, what are you trying to accomplish, what is the format - in short, what can someone working with you expect? Feel free to be imperfect. Reach out and start scheduling interviews! Referrals and recommendations will be useful here, but even cold emailing can be very effective. Very few people turn down opportunities to be interviewed. (I recommend doing this before even touching steps 6 and 7. Start when you have an appointment already set - that should help you focus on the essentials and not get lost in technical and research details) Prepare the equipment that you need and a place where you can share your work. There’s no need to be fancy with this part. It can be intimidating to start using editing software, or setting up a blog but if you maintain a minimalist mindset of “What’s the least that does the job?” you’ll find that you can get in action in an afternoon. (My minimal podcast setup would involve a mailing list, a shortened link to the mailing list’s sign-up URL, and Google Drive for hosting the files) Research the author and write your interview questions as the appointment approaches. Feel free to be imperfect. Hold the interview. This can be over Skype with a mic or an email exchange or a walk in the park with a notepad. Ask for recommendations and referrals to other interesting people in the field. Edit and publish. If you are working with audio or video and this intimidates/bores you, skip the step entirely. Polish is not key to the ILS. Feel free to be imperfect. Repeat 7 to 9, and use new leads to keep lining up interviews until you are satisfied with what you’ve accomplished in this project. Good luck!
For episode 30 of the show, Jeremiah sat down with Shane Radliff of Liberty Under Attack to discuss proper bugout strategy and survival tactics. We also discuss a project he's involved with involving Seasteading.
In 1974, a man disappeared somewhere in the Siskiyou Mountains, never to be heard of again. He wasn’t a tourist lost in the forests - he’s been living in the region for years. He wasn’t a rookie camper overwhelmed by wilderness - he had written several articles on camping and survivalism, based on his own experience of practising these skills. So what happened to Tom Marshall? Letting Go Isn't Free A basic and well-known tenet of stoicism is to stop trying to act on (and worrying about) things that aren't really in your control, or that can't at least be significantly influenced by you. Some of this is obvious and easy: the weather, traffic, the economy, chance. A lot of it is much harder: what other people think of you, bad things happening in other places, the ideas of your friends, politics. I think everybody wants to worry less - it's a massive energy drain, and it really crushes quality of life. Following this thinking does indeed deliver a lot of tranquillity - the actual reward promised by the Stoics. But it sure seems like you have to sacrifice a lot in the process! Depending on what your core needs are, one or both of these concerns quickly arise even when just thinking about stoicism: What about my impact on the world? I don't want to curl up in my bed and die in Stoic tranquillity, oblivious to what I've left behind. How can I provide safety to myself and my family if I choose to spend less in time on the news, withdraw from politics, stop studying the economy, and stop worrying about what others think of me? How will I know if there's some larger problem, and how will I make sure I'm not harmed in the process? It was the first question that Shane Radliff set out to answer, but in the process, he discovered the solution to the second one. Become Invulnerable Shane was fed up with the political means - the Sisyphusian task of betting the fulfilment of your personal needs on the whims of millions of other people. He wanted to find ways of direct action instead: creating freedom in his own life, without the permission of others. It was in this search that he found an obscure, out of print book collecting the works of an obscure man from the late sixties. To say that this book has had an impact on him is an understatement - he has since not only seen to it that it is transcribed and narrated but has even created a whole standalone podcast about it. The book was Tom Marshall's work, the man who was to completely disappear in the Siskiyou Mountains in a few years, written under his better-known pen name: Rayo. Though a few decades apart, Shane and Rayo have pretty similar perspectives: both are concerned with personal freedom and autonomy and prefer private solutions to government action. Similar to Shane's Direct Action Series, Rayo's strategies were developed after disappointment with mass action - he tried to establish a libertarian island nation before moving on to van nomadism and later wilderness camping. As the few written accounts that exist about him show, he was a very safety-conscious man, and his quest to dissociate with most of a society he didn't like, he encountered the same problem that we did at the beginning of this article: How do you stay safe without being plugged in all the time? As an engineer, he wasn't interested in half-measures, so he developed a radical concept that turned the idea of safety on its head: invulnerability to coercion. He called his strategy Vonu (voluntary, not vulnerable). This approach is worth considering even if coercion (a favourite libertarian word) is not one's main concern - there are very few of us in personal development who aren't dissatisfied with some aspects of society and wouldn't like to be able to avoid that influence. Vonu Tactics A vonuan seeks to meet her need for safety not by changing what others do, but by becoming as resistant as possible herself. Rather than convince others to create social structures that would reduce crime (under which he included many government actions) Rayo decided to become immune to crime instead. He practised what he preached - which in his case meant living a very private life in the mountains with his "free mate". Most of his communication with the outside world was secretive, he had a van for mobility and lived in polyethene tents he designed, he stored a considerable amount of food - according to an account, he would even duck when aeroplanes flew above him to maintain his location a secret. Not only that, but he created a number of alternative strategies that may not have appealed to him directly, but were regardless valid means of achieving invulnerability to coercion: sailboating, financial independence, country shopping, intentional communities, free ports etc. Shane and I discussed these strategies in the podcast episode in more detail (which has a longer, more thorough version on his Vonu website). Safety AND Impact? How about impact - do you have to give up on the world if you stop worrying about it? Did Rayo stop trying in favour of complete isolationism? Not quite. He did have a typewriter with him, and up until 1974, when all correspondence stopped, he kept publishing newsletters and contributing articles, promoting the Vonu way and comparing it with other libertarian strategies of the time. He also stayed in touch with a number of carefully selected people, whom he would educate in his tactics by organising Vonu weeks. Did he actually manage to have an impact? He wasn't particularly popular even in the libertarian circles at the time, and though I few people remembered him, most people haven't heard of him. That said, his works had a circulation at the time and he did manage to create a book that still exists today, five decades later. And now that Shane and his associates were inspired by him, he has a people once again discussing his ideas on the Internet and even has an entire podcast dedicated to exploring and building on his thoughts. That's no small achievement for a man who, based on the information available about him, wasn't all that interested in impact (when it came at the detriment of his safety). How many of us will have our work alive and well decades after our (presumed) death? As a side note, there were mistakes that probably limited Rayo's reach that we can learn from. In his books and articles, he often used terms that likely alienated not only people with different political views but libertarians alike - for instance, calling them "controlled schizophrenics". He didn't seem (to me) particularly interested in understanding other viewpoints or creating a bridge of understanding at least towards ideologically close perspectives. A Viable Alternative to the Non-Actionable Above everything else, what impresses me most about Rayo and the reason I've decided to interview Shane about him is that he had a strong focus on the actionable in an environment that was much more interested in philosophising. He went out, learned new skills and changed himself rather than waiting for others to give him freedom. I believe this is a powerful lesson whether you agree with Rayo's particular political outlook or not. As I've said in my previous article, my particular non-actionable addiction was politics and economics too. It may be something else in your case: anything that you pay attention to that fills you with anger and/or fear and which you can do very little about falls under this category. Can you stay safe without following the news? Yes, if rather than trying to dodge bullets or plead with the shooter, you instead focus on becoming as invulnerable and independent as possible. Do you have to become a hermit, sacrifice your impact on the world, on making it a better place? I don't think so - not only will your personal change inspire others, but you will be able to have a voice from a much safer position. Focus on the actionable.
This is an edited version of my recent appearance on Liberty Under Attack Radio, with Shane Radliff. In this conversation we address considerations for constructively communicating the problems with public schooling to its supporters and even its employees. This includes: -knowledge of the needs, beliefs, concerns of audience -confidence in your evidence and conviction in your arguments -clarity in definition, education vs schooling -regular access to the people -and they have to be willing to audit their beliefs From Liberty Under Attack: On this broadcast of Liberty Under Attack Radio, we hosted the 22nd edition of the direct action series. We covered three items off of The Freedom Umbrella of Direct Action; namely, strategic withdrawal, myth busting, and debunking fallacies. In the first three segments, we were joined by Brett Veinotte from the School Sucks Podcast to discuss government indoctrination, more commonly known as public schooling. We started our discussion by digging into the root problems of the institution and the sheer lunacy found within. In the second segment, we dug into Brett’s background, the Prussian model of schooling adopted by the United States, and more. In the third segment, Brett provided the basic criteria for communicating the dangers of public schooling to those we are close to that are still within the institution. A Quote to Juxtapose to the Concern About A Clinton Or Trump-Run Federal Department of Education "For what is meant by saying that a government ought to educate the people? Why should they be educated? What is the education for? Clearly, to fit the people for social life — to make them good citizens. And who is to say what are good citizens? The government: there is no other judge. And who is to say how these good citizens may be made? The government: there is no other judge. Hence the proposition is convertible into this — a government ought to mold children into good citizens…. It must first form for itself a definite conception of a pattern citizen; and, having done this, must elaborate such system of discipline as seems best calculated to produce citizens after that pattern. This system of discipline it is bound to enforce to the uttermost. For if it does otherwise, it allows men to become different from what in its judgment they should become, and therefore fails in that duty it is charged to fulfill." -Herbert Spencer, philosopher Look Closer: Education: Free and Compulsory, by Murray Rothbard -
Kyle Rearden returns with Shane Radliff to talk about a project they are working on, The Freedom Umbrella of Direct Action(FUDA). I’m very excited about the FUDA, I think direct action is extremely important, if we don’t bring liberty into … Continue reading →