I've come to the conclusion that any philosophy that claims infinity can be something physical, is wrong. That eliminates many.
Disclaimer: You're philosophy may vary :)

You're right on both counts!

One says,
“For nothing is inherently unstable; something must always arise from it.”

Another says,
“Nothing is inherently stable or distinct from anything else.”

E, I downloded a sample. It immediately starts out eith an environmental premise of scarcity. This looks to be a rah -rah book based on some cool tech but failed premises

Strangely, I've found that much of the trouble comes from how each individual chooses to answer the foundational questions of philosophy.

Such as:
Which is primary? ( existence or consciousness)
Can existence exist even if you have no consciousness?
Can your consciousness exist even if there is no existence?

It seems that how people answer these questions determines how they answer, "what is freedom?"

Juli, my conviction is that moral living is the goal of
the good religions, however they contrive them, and
even Muslims try to approach this, though many
are aberrant, it appears.

our founders, their wives and families, gave us a
strong moral code along with serious integrity, as
a heritage. however constructed, ours must match
in order that we may sustain the nation which
they created. whatta challenge!

We Can Do It. -- j

I refer you to The Society Project, which answers your questions and even has a set of amendments that will restore a government OF the people not the one ABOVE the people that we have now.

http://www.TheSocietyProject.org

The best answer I found was contained in the book, Abundance, by Peter DDiamandis and Steve Koetler.

It provides great room for optimism.

You have actually asked two questions, BJ: How do I change the world to be closer to my ideals? and How do I surround myself with a group of like-minded individuals?

The answer to the second question is, "Create a microcosm." I agree with RonC in much of what he said, and his idea of starting a business is a good one (I did this - 20 years ago). One of the prerequisites to this is to define 'what' qualities are important to you. Both in business and in my (35 year) hobby, what was important to me (and achievable) was intelligence, integrity and imagination. I found a hobby group of people with those qualities; I helped hire people for our company with those qualities. However, if you look at the list of traits, you will see that many liberals qualify - and indeed, most of my friends are liberals. I can talk with them about anything...except politics and economy. A small subset of those friends are Randists/Libertarians/Objectivists; with whom I can discuss politics. So I have been participating in two such microcosms. This is now a third.

Let me make it clear that I would be more than willing to bias my personal group more heavily in favor of RLO...but such people are hens teeth. I am thus content to surround myself with people who are high quality in other respects, They know what my political beliefs are (and it is amazing the degree to which RLO and Tea Party have been demonized) - and they find it more difficult to reject my type of ideology because they know me personally. Hopefully, I am influencing them.

The second question is the one to which I can 'see' and answer, and do something about it. The first question, which is what we have been mostly discussing on the AS list, is less reachable. 'Creating/participating in benign microcosms' is my feather-weight on the scale of Truth. Perhaps this will influence the larger question, over time. Enough feathers weigh as heavy a ton as lead does.

Jan
(And I always preferred Invictus to Desiderata, Herb.)

I have seen historian David Barton review the history of education. I can tell you with a lifetime of experience I could not pass an 8th grade exam from the 19th century. Education is a big word. Historically schools prepared people for a productive life. In his youth George Washington surveyed new tracks of land as the country expanded. What 14 or 15 year old would we trust that task to today?

As poorly as I would be at the 19th century 8th grade test, my 60s high school education seems like a Doctorate when I see college students that don't know any history, civics, social studies, etc. How many branches of government, how many Senators, how many representatives and why. Whether intentional or not, it needs a solution.

In my Father's era businesses trained people for the skills they needed. He progressed from loading boxcars to running machinery to setting up presses for other to run, and finally to building fine finished stainless steel cabinetry; and they trained him for all of that. Today, businesses complain of no skilled workers and still they try to hire workers "ready to go". What can we learn of education from our most productive past?

The education provided by the educators is the problem. The system sucks.

the key word is EDUCATION! we live in a country where the level of education has deteriorated so horribly that our freedoms are disappearing quite rapidly. I read here how many of you have the idea that this situation can be stopped and turned around, but without an educated population the deterioration will only continue. I personally do not see the level of education improving for one second. to know how poorly educated the population is go to a gathering place of 30 to 40 year olds and listen to their conversations. Talk to high school aged people and ask questions about the history of the country or the world and they have blank faces. These young people want and want and want but have no interest in achieving whatever it will take to acquire what they want on their own. The "best course" is EDUCATION! And as I said I do not see it getting better, so enjoy the freedom you currently have.

Welcome home copcfrmr.

I lean towards loving the Judeo-Christian philosophies knowing that they bring hope and goodness for all people to strive for. Whether or not there actually is truth to there being a Supreme Being, I and no one else knows for sure. For evidence, however, I look at the history of the people coming here to form this nation and their belief and reasoning. Could this nation ever have been formed at all if there actually was no God? If there is no God, what is keeping man from ruling us all?

What a very hopeful and motivational comment!

You are asking one of the basic, albeit hardest to answer philosophical questions. To date, the human race has a rather poor track record. Civilizations rise and fall at an alarmingly rapid rate, always degenerating into barbarism. Since barbarism isn't self-sustaining, eventually some form of relative freedom appears only to degenerate after reaching a certain pinnacle. The last cycle as far as we can tell, came the closest to freedom, but looks as if it is now on the downside of the curve. It's possible that an enclave of rational people can survive and keep what technical and philosophical progress that has been attained intact. That may well be the task of the people of the Gulch and certain others. The only advice I can give you from the perspective of a fairly long life is to keep your personal integrity, keep achieving, not for others but for yourself, and most of all, keep your sense of humor -- you'll need it. If you have the opportunity to help others, do so, so long as it does not impede your forward progress.

If you are in the Gulch, you've probably read many of the books that will bolster your life. Please let me suggest a poem that I find inspirational without getting all mushed up. It's called "The Desiderata" by Max Ermann. You can find it on line.

It's my opinion that the complacency of thought and action of which you speak is a result of our comfort zone. Americans are victims of our own success. For the most part, we've become lazy and have forgotten how our lifestyle was won. Unfortunately, this means we will have to be jolted out of our comfort zone.

You can't change people. You can plant an idea and hope it finds a fertile mind in which to grow, but that's about it. Surround yourself with thinkers and achievers. Being here in the Gulch is a big step in the right direction.

Ultimately, this is the best time ever to make a move toward your goal. I have found, and history bears this out, when the world is in despair and all are looking down there is little competition for the person with a plan to do something big.

You could start a business and employ those you wish to surround yourself with. Your idea lifts them, they as a group lift you. Over time, they learn and the cream rises as some of them become "of the mind".

In the last depression many businesses were started that have become household names. Coco Channel and Max Factor made it big selling hope to people that needed it. John Galbreath bought properties for pennies on the dollar. In doing so he recycled houses thrown away by the system and provided rental units for those needing housing. Sound Familiar? When the country went back to work he later sold them and carried the mortgages himself, starting another business; Galbreath Mortgage.

If we all go on strike, no doubt Atlas Shrugs. One of the hallmarks of producers, IMHO, is there emotional need to accomplish something. Most of us need to do that everyday, it's part of our life. Even in AS, in the gulch they found their new place in that world and began accomplishing their self assigned tasks.

Back to the prime question, How does one best create the world in which they want to live...? My answer would be, one idea at a time, with little or no competition to divert needed resources away from your goal. You may have to find other producers for financing or capital needs, but these days virtually no one else is trying anything new.

S

I'm no mystic either. This is the only existence I know of. I'm not interested in the contradictory or illogical. God is the topic that cuts off so much discourse that could be guided by thought. I liked Amselm's Pros Logium for an ontalogical argument, bu that's where it stopped for me. My goals are for how and with whom I spend my time on this rock. Like I opened with in my post... I remain optimistic. Thank you for your perspective.