Freedom Without Permission

"Freedom Without Permission takes the idea of human liberty seriously, not just as a policy for a free society but a personal philosophy for free people. There is so much wisdom here. A careful reading will save you years of diversions and get you on the right track toward building a new way of life." -- Jeffrey Tucker Too many people seek permission when trying to advance their own lives. They want external actors to open gates for them without realizing that the gates don't exist. Permission isn't needed and those who think it is create their own barriers to advancing their lives and realizing personal achievement. People believe they must look to others for permission to live their lives. They elect politicians to change the world. They believe schools award education. They believe external validation is the way to a career. They externalize their personal hardships instead of recognizing how often they inflict the hardships onto themselves. They wait for an invitation to create value when the impetus lies in their own hands and minds. They develop dependencies and preconditions that keep them from entrepreneurship. These are all myths. You don't need to ask for permission. But how do you do create a life without permission? The point of this book is to break more than to build. We are not attempting to provide a full-fledged philosophy on life without permission. Instead, the goal is to deconstruct and then offer exercises and habits of thought that will enhance your freedom. The core idea is that you don't need anyone's permission to do the things you want to do in life, or learn what you want to learn or feel how you want to feel. An entire intellectual edifice has been constructed to convince you of the opposite, and most of us start out seeing only though its windows. We want to help you tear it down or at least break a few panes so you can see beyond it and begin to form your own ideas about what your life can be. We wish to shatter some paradigms so you can begin to build your own process of learning and living. We begin with lessons that can be learned from history regarding our own freedom. We then look at politics, then education and move into career and entrepreneurship, finally, we end with practices for personal freedom. We span the process of growing up and moving from learning to living, creating the process as you go. This process requires knowledge (starting with self-knowledge), skill, experience, confidence, and relationships, but it doesn't necessarily require schooling, grades, credentials, or submission to a system or plan created by anyone else. The resources you need are already within you. We peel back some myths and help you see freedom as your own, not something you need permission to enjoy.