The Voluntary Life

This episode discusses ways in which you can overcome the limitations of the country in which you happen to have been born and, as much as possible, live with the whole of planet earth as your homeland. The topics covered include: Travelling and seeing the world, to help you make conscious choices about where you want to spend your lifeTaking the opportunity to live abroad for extended periods of time so that you can experience life in different parts of the worldLearning another language and giving yourself different tools to think withInternationalising some of your assets, as geo-political diversification in case of catastrophic events such as a war.If you have the opportunity, taking advantage of the chance to obtain dual nationality to further extend your flexibility in terms of where you can work or live.  Podcast Episode

This episode is about the most advanced democracy on earth. It is about the most effective system we have for letting everyone have their say, working together to change society in a non-violent way.... Oh and it's probably not what you think. Show Notes Ludwig Von Mises' "The Anti-capitalistic Mentality" Churchill's quote on democracy Karl Popper's views on democracy can be found in The Open Society and Its Enemies Podcast Episode

This episode is about where you choose to live and the impact that this choice can have on your level of freedom. Many people who have written about personal and political liberty have suggested a link between where you choose to live and how free you are. In the podcast we explore 3 different ideas about this choice: The ideas in "Walden" by Henry David Thoreau: finding freedom by living self-sufficiently alone in a rural settingThe idea of 'Galts Gulch' in "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand: finding freedom by living in a small community of like-minded people (again in a rural setting with an emphasis on self-sufficiency)The idea that 'City Air Makes You Free' (expressed by writers such as Jane Jacobs): finding freedom in the division of labour and diversity that cities provide.Arguably, the benefits of self-sufficiency have been overestimated in books like Walden and Atlas Shrugged, whereas the benefits of interdependence in cities have been under-appreciated by previous writers on liberty. It is suggested that Galt's Gulch wouldn't actually work in real life because it would lack the division of labour of a big city that is necessary to support the kind of advanced and specialised roles of it's inhabitants. In contrast, living in a city can provide many opportunities for greater work and personal freedom because of the benefits of the division of labour in cities. Show Notes Origin of the phrase City Air Makes You Free The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs Previous episode of The Voluntary Life about Walden by Henry David Thoreau Previous episode of The Voluntary Life about Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand Podcast Episode

This episode is a review of the book "The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich" by Tim Ferriss. It is a skype conversation with a group of friends. The ideas that we discuss include: taking mini-retirements and getting out of a one-track career mentalityextended travellingtesting new entrepreneurial ideas with sales pages on the web before startingoutsourcing tasks to a virtual assistantTim Ferriss' personality and how it influences the style and content of the book Podcast Episode

This episode is about how you as an individual can help alleviate poverty in a non-political, principled way. It's an economic view of how you can reduce poverty through economic development and the wealth that it generates. Jake presents ideas of the economist Ludwig Von Mises about how you can create economic progress and development, focussing on three key activities: creating technical innovation, which helps to make everything cheaper for everyone within the economybeing an entrepreneur, which creates new value and wealth in the economybeing a saver and investor, which provides resources for the future economic development (either of your own business or that of others) The podcast discusses how each of these activities help reduce your own poverty and that of the world as a whole. Show Notes Ludwig Von Mises The Anti-capitalistic Mentality Stephan Kinsella Against Intellectual Property Podcast Episode

This episode is an interview with Kristov, an application security specialist, about what kind of measures individuals can take to ensure a level of security and privacy for their computers and their online life. In the interview, we cover security and privacy for a range of topics including: email useweb browsingmalware and virusespassword managersdata storage use of torrentsVOIP and chatapplication security for entrepreneursPodcast episode

The second part of the interview from the Becoming Who You Are Podcast. We talk about a whole range of topics including: The fear of criticism that can come up when putting creative work out thereThe challenges of being yourself at workThe future of The Voluntary Life podcastThe difference between abstract business planning and being conscious of what's really happening in your business nowThe balance between having dreams and staying in touch with realityGetting support from the people in your lifeDoing what you love Podcast Episode

This episode is an interview with Marc de Mesel, who was previously on the show talking about investing in Europe. Marc runs a blog on investing in Europe in dutch and also an investing blog in english. In this episode, Marc talks about the hidden tax that is inflation. We discuss the difference between official inflation figures and the real loss of purchasing power that ordinary people experience. We also talk about ways in which an individual investor or saver can cope with inflation, including the advantages and limitations of precious metals as an inflation hedge. The discussion is opinion only and should not be considered any kind of financial advice. For more information about the concept of the permanent portfolio mentioned in the discussion, see Harry Browne's book "Fail-Safe Investing". You can also hear more about the Permanent Portfolio concept in this previous episode. Podcast Episode

This is a repost of the latest Becoming Who You Are Podcast, where I was interviewed by the lovely host of BWYA, my partner Hannah.  In Part 1 we talk about how The Voluntary Life began and about feeling free to be yourself in your friendships. Podcast Episode

This is a short spontaneous speech by Jake taken from the Porc Therapy appearance in last week's show (see episode 66). It is about alternatives to political activism for getting more freedom in your life. I hope you enjoy it! Podcast Episode

This is a repost of an episode of Porc Therapy hosted by Stephanie Murphy that Hannah and I appeared on. "My friends Jake from The Voluntary Life and Hannah from Becoming Who You Are join me today for this fun podcast-only show where our discussion centers around living free – now! We begin with a PorcFest 2012 wrap up, then talk about connecting over shared values, immigration issues, the Free State Project, civil disobedience and political activism (and our disagreements with both), Jake’s amazing impassioned speech on living free!, intentional communities, permanent tourism and heading south to find freedom, living on a boat, someone who made his own island out of soda bottles, division of labor/going “off the grid,” and Leonid Rogozov’s famous self-appendectomy." Podcast Episode

This episode is a review of "The Virtue of Selfishness" by Ayn Rand. It is a group discussion and the guests include Stephanie Murphy from Porc Therapy, freelance writer Greg Minton, George the expat auditor (from episodes 58 and 59) and other friends. Here are some of the things we cover in the discussion: The book's gutsy title and the controversy surrounding it.The pros and cons of Ayn Rand's morality and her own moralising.Aspects of the book we found unconvincing, such as her dismissal of voluntaryism and her idea that no conflict of interest is possible between rational people. Rand's convincing takedown of ethical lifeboat scenarios.The fact that Ayn Rand is ignored in universities.The impact that some of Ayn Rand's contradictions (on intellectual property and on non-aggression) have had on the objectivist movement's development, especially it's pro-war stance on foreign policy.Her deconstruction of other moral theories that were around during her time.Plus, we have a lot of fun talking about her strange views on tapdancing and morality! Podcast Episode

This episode is a continuation of the discussion I had with Brett Veinotte about how entrepreneurship is not taught at school and why. It was recorded live for the  School Sucks Podcast at Porcfest. We talk about why it is that teachers are usually the last people who you would expect to learn entrepreneurship from and what you can do to learn it yourself. Sorry about the audio quality, it is a little choppy but still listenable. Podcast Episode

This episode is part of a discussion that I had with Brett Veinotte from School Sucks Podcast at Porcfest. Brett and I talked about how entrepreneurship is totally alien to compulsory schooling. School prepares you for a life of working for someone else, whereas goals like working for yourself, growing a business and obtaining financial freedom are never discussed. We discuss things that you can do to overcome the conformity that school sets you up for, such as starting a business as young as possible (even whilst at school) and working to become financially independent of your parents as soon as possible. Here is a video of the full presentation, which you can also hear on Brett's podcast for the full discussion. Podcast Episode

This episode is an interview that Jake did on the Porc Therapy Podcast, recorded live at Porcfest 2012. In the interview, Jake talks about some of the things you can do to live more freely whatever society or economy you find yourself in, such as investing in friendships and living abroad. Podcast Episode