Self-Improvement

Example is the school of mankind; it will learn at no other.
EDMUND BURKE

In order to change the world, you must change yourself.

This is a revolutionary idea. Instead of going around preaching at others, you decide to work on yourself. You make yourself a better person. You present the world with what Albert Jay Nock called "one improved unit."

I am indebted to Stephen Kinsella and Stefan Molyneux for enlightening me on this strategy. You can find links to their work in the notes.

The reason we live in an unfree society is because the vast majority of the population lives in ignorance. They don't know any better. They are simply stupid. They do as they are told because they don't know any better. You can try and remedy this through preaching and propaganda, but it will do no good. It would be like reading Shakespeare to people who don't know English.

I tend to be preachy, but I can also say that it doesn't amount to shit. I cannot recall ever telling someone what to do that ever amounted to anything. The only time that it did do any good is when they asked for my advice, and I gave it. Even then, not everyone heeds the advice. It is easier to tell. It is not so easy to show.

Being an example is the only strategy that works and is compatible with a philosophy of liberty. You don't get to force people to be free. You can't be a busybody telling other people not to be busybodies. This is like waging war for peace or fucking for abstinence. The method contradicts the message.

People are attracted to what works. When they see someone living in a superior way, they want what that person has. I know that I started winning all my arguments when I stopped eschewing philosophical rhetoric and started presenting facts. Theory doesn't stand a chance against a cold hard fact. Similarly, the way you live presents empirical evidence for your position.

Now, living like a libertarian doesn't require that you cease paying income tax or start smoking dope. Going to jail is not a good way to demonstrate a life of liberty. But what it does mean is refraining from force and calls for force. It means not using force or coercion to get what you want. For the businessman, this means not rent seeking. For the citizen, it means educating yourself on economics and learning. It means choosing not to live on welfare or collect an unemployment check.

The problem with this approach is that libertarianism is not much of a life philosophy. This is where the Objectivists and Ayn Rand were correct. Our politics must be part of some larger worldview and life philosophy. Unfortunately, Objectivism isn't it.

I call my own philosophy "secular individualism." Of course, I am still working on it. But it goes beyond being merely atheism and libertarianism in combination. It must also encompass ethics, aesthetics, and happiness. It needs to be a fuller worldview.

I think that by living a full and robust life that you will have the greatest impact on others. I think this is the reason so many libertarians don't make much impact. We are not showing a better way to live and to think. This is something for me to work on.

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NOTES

1. Nock and Leonard Read on “One Improved Unit” and the Power of Attraction

2. Living Free in an Unfree World: Stefan Molyneux at Libertopia 2010

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