My Way, Your Way or Society’s Way
It’s so nice to fit in and feel like I belong. If that’s so why am I so miserable most of the time? If only I could please him. It would make him so happy—and then I would be happy. Why does everyone pressure me to do the things they want me to do? And I always give in. I guess it would be selfish to do what I want to do. What would others think if I turned them down? I certainly don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. Hey, I showed some backbone and told my husband I wouldn’t be going to his parent’s house this Sunday. We do that every Sunday. Now I feel so uneasy. These feelings of guilt are almost unbearable.
The above appears to be the human condition—intolerable, but sadly unalterable.
Well I have some good news for you. It doesn’t have to be that way. You can experience personal liberty and freedom—and enjoy all the Libertarian Pleasures life has to offer. However, we must first perform some illusion-busting.
Society’s Way
From the time we are born we’re taught what the “significant” others in our life believe is true. Whether it is our parents, teachers, religious leaders, politicians, the mass media, etc. they mold us into what they believe we should be. Few can resist the person they become. Of course if a person is taught important principles of life it may help him succeed in his endeavors. Tragically, most of what have become the rules of society are nothing but illusions. Most are enslaved by their illusions—that eventually mutate into delusions.
A person must break free from what Carl Jung calls the beliefs of the “collective unconscious” if he hopes to experience a rewarding, successful life. He has to travel the path of personal enlightenment—see through illusion and discover what truth actually is. Otherwise he or she will be trapped by the faulty beliefs of society. And that means living by the values of others—adopting second-hand values.
A person of independent thought—the individualist—possesses a considerable advantage when dealing with the trials and tribulations of every day life. Along the way he discovers the laws of economics (praxeology), objectivist principles and the spiritual truths that result in him experiencing a successful, fulfilling life.
Your Way – The Tyranny of Others
In a society of unhampered capitalism, satisfying other people’s most urgent needs and desires can make a person quite wealthy. In our current system of extreme big government interventionism, some people satisfy their needs by extorting value from the productive members of society. They force you to do things their way.
The anti-life philosophy of altruism is the reason for this sorry state of affairs. Altruists, do-gooders and world-improvers appeal to the irrational selfishness of weak individuals and convince them that this is in their best interests. Of course there are also enough unscrupulous people who use the faulty tenets of altruism to plunder the very people they claim they are helping.
In personal relationships many people allow others to control them. They are afraid of the consequences of not appeasing the desires of others—so they suffer the tyranny of their spouse, mother, father, best friend, boss, etc. Their precious time is used up pleasing others’ irrational demands. I wonder if it ever occurs to them to question why someone else’s time is more valuable than theirs is. A person could ask this question “Must we always do it your way?”
Sometimes they try to resist to unwarranted intrusions of others. The first time they resist the demand on their time—they suffer debilitating pangs of guilt. They worry that the other person will think less of them—be angry with them—or even abandon them. They end up deciding that the second hand demands and desires of others are more important than their own needs and desires. Finally their self-esteem and self-worth sinks lower than the basement toilet.
Satisfying your desires and fantasies and the desires and fantasies of others by trading value for value is beneficial for all involved. Promiscuously giving values to others and receiving nothing but abuse in return is definitely not a happy, joyous way to live.
My Way
Frank Sinatra sings I did it “My Way.” And that is the way you must do it to experience all the joys, pleasures and ecstasies of life.
Doing it “My Way” doesn’t mean you indulge in the self-destruction of irrational selfishness. It definitely doesn’t mean you adopt the anti-life philosophy of altruism. It does mean that you are a rationally selfishness individual. You act in rational self-interest. You trade value for value. You do not live at the expense of others. You support the social system of unhampered capitalism. You are a libertarian whether you call yourself one or not. You live “The Libertarian Way.”
In my book “The Libertarian Way” I set forth the principles and methods of the rationally selfish individual. You discover the ways and means of discovering all the Libertarian Pleasures life has to offer. You become immune to all the chaos and despair that controls the lives of far too many people. You live a life of personal fulfillment and success.
Home  Articles
|
|
