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Economic Means to Freedom - Part VII

by Frederick Mann, 01/21/02

Introduction
This article deals with the importance of financial freedom and independence and some practical steps to achieve an economic status such that you don't have to work for money. By financial freedom and independence I mean having organized your life and affairs so you don't have to work for money. If you're interested in such financial freedom, then this article may be worth reading.

The Importance of Financial Freedom
Imagine that every month you earn $5,000, $10,000, or more, without having to do a great deal of work. Suppose you've created or developed several sources of such earnings (multiple income streams), so that if one or two of them dries up, you still earn more than enough from the others to survive comfortably.

Suppose your main interest in life is to work at something like promoting freedom, spreading extropian ideas, playing golf, traveling to exotic places, lying on the beach, concentrating on your personal development, reading 50 great books, building a rocket ship to go to Mars, etc. However, you have to work eight hours a day, five days a week at some "job" ("just over broke") in order to survive. Your situation could even be such that your earnings are insufficient to pay the bills and your wife or husband also has to work at some "job."

It's almost as if (by accident or design) the "economic system" is such that most people can't escape from the "wage-slave trap" of earning just enough to survive for most of their productive lives, i.e., for a period of 30, 40, even 50 years.

One of the major reasons why so many people struggle to financially keep their heads above water is that we have, all over the world, dishonest money and banking systems and cartels. The systems are such that those who sit on top can effectively steal out of the pockets and savings of everyone at the bottom of the systems. They steal through inflation and other means that are almost completely invisible to most victims. The result is that vast numbers of people, for all practical purposes, are economic slaves.

So, if you're in the wage-slave trap, how do you escape to achieve financial freedom? I'll return to this question later.

Meanwhile, suppose: (1) You live in a part of the world where everyone enjoys a great deal of freedom but you have to work long hours and have hardly enough money to pay for food; or (2) Your environment contains extreme restraints on freedom but you have so much money that you don't have to work, you've escaped from the local tax system, you can buy practically anything you want, and you can travel pretty well wherever and whenever you want.

Under which scenario are you better off?

Now suppose you're someone who believes in educating people, promoting freedom, and changing the system, and: (1) You have to work long hours to earn your living and you don't have much spare cash; or (2) You have so much money and "automatic income streams" that you have to spend very little time on working for a living.

Under which scenario can you be more effective at educating people, promoting freedom, and changing the system?

Upon reflection, it should become evident that having money and organizing your affairs so you don't have to work for money tends to increase your freedom and provide you more time to do whatever you like.

What If Many Thousands Achieved Financial Freedom?
At my disposal I have a number of ways and methods to put cash in my pocket to pay the bills. One of them is to transfer money from my e-gold to my FreeCash account and from there to my ATM card. Then I go to an ATM machine and withdraw cash.

Imagine that there are many thousands of freedom-oriented people around the world who have achieved financial freedom and independence and are helping others to do the same -- so that our numbers are exploding. What impact might we eventually have on the world?

Evaluating Business Opportunities
In evaluating prospective business opportunities to get involved in, I apply a number of criteria:

  1. Are the principals honorable and trustworthy? Although we can never be totally sure about this -- and the honesty of some is limited by a threshold (when the money amounts expand beyond the threshold, honesty flees out the back door).
  2. Does the business provide useful and worthwhile products and/or services?
  3. Is the business well-organized and do they have competent personnel and systems?
  4. How potentially profitable is the compensation plan for Agents? I've been involved with dozens of companies and have examined many hundreds more. If you're good at marketing (or willing and able to acquire marketing skills), you can greatly reduce your risk and increase your earnings.
  5. How easy is it to market the business? Some businesses are easier to market than others. In general, if people can make money without having to recruit or sell, the business is much easier to market.
  6. Do they have a satisfactory support system for Agents?
  7. Do they have any kind of successful track record?
  8. Is it a real free-enterprise business? By "real free-enterprise" I mean "operating as far as possible outside the pretended 'jurisdiction' of coercive, predatory political agencies." Most of the businesses I get involved with take proper steps to avoid and escape the tentacles of "Big Brother."
  9. Can they competently handle attacks? If they are based particularly in the US or the UK, they may not be in a position to withstand "Big Brother" attacks.
  10. Does the company provide good earnings growth potential to participants?

What to Do Next

  1. Study BigBooster
  2. Subscribe to the Financial Independence List and ask questions.
  3. Test the water by getting your feet wet. But be careful. It's a risky game. Don't get in over your head. There may be a great deal for you to learn.

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