The Voluntary Life

Jake's guide to the most helpful books on entrepreneurship, including why each book is recommend and what you can expect from it. As mentioned in the episode, if you want to get a free copy of Jake's book "Negotiate For Mutual Profit", sign up to the TVL mailing list here. Show Notes: Becoming an Entrepreneur: How to Find Freedom and Fulfillment as a Business Owner by Jake Desyllas The Lean Startup by Eric Ries The Founder's Dilemmas by Noam Wasserman The Art of the Start by Guy Kawasaki Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber The Goal by Eliyahu M. by Goldratt Critical Chain by Eliyahu M. by Goldratt The Personal MBA by Josh Kaufmann Getting to Yes by Fischer and Ury Negotiate For Mutual Profit by Jake Desyllas (free when you sign up to TVL email list) How to Master the Art of Selling by Tom Hopkins Drive by Dan Pink Discipline Without Punishment by Dick Grote Gifts Differing: Understanding Personality Type by Isabel Briggs Myers Built to Sell by John Warrillow Finish Big by Bo Burlingham Anything You Want by Derek Sivers Losing My Virginity by Richard Branson How To Get Rich By Felix Dennis

I choose to parent without violence or aggression. This means I eschew various actions that a lot of parents still consider acceptable- actions such as spanking, hitting, yelling, psychotropic drugs, circumcision, and so on. In this episode, I explain my own reasons for choosing to practice peaceful parenting. Show Notes: What Is Peaceful Parenting? Parent Effectiveness Training by Thomas Gordon The Milgram Experiment TVL Series Your Own Moral Compass Part 1 (E151), Part 2 (E152), and Part 3 (E153)

Jake's guide to the best books on pursuing financial independence. Some of the books are must-reads, whereas others are suggested for specific purposes or additional information only. No country-specific books are included, so the list is relevant regardless of where you live. Listen to the episode to find out why I recommend each book and what you can expect from them. Show Notes: Job Free by Jake Desyllas Financial Independence Series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4 The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley Stop Acting Rich by Thomas Stanley Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicky Rubin Fail Safe Investing by Harry Browne (TVL Review) Why the Best-Laid Investment Plans Usually Go Wrong by Harry Browne The Permanent Portfolio by Craig Rowland and J.M. Lawson A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton Malkiel (TVL Review) The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John Bogle Guide to Investing In Gold and Silver by Michael Maloney Where Are the Customers' Yachts? by Fred Schwed The 4% Rule and Safe Withdrawal Rates In Retirement by Todd Tressider The Global Expatriate's Guide to Investing by Andrew Hallam What Has Government Done to Our Money by Murray Rothbard

A discussion of a very thought-provoking article by the late Harry Browne, called "A Gift for My Daughter". The episode includes a recording of Harry reading his own words. Harry's ideas had a huge influence on me, but I don't agree with him about everything. This article is particularly interesting because it explains an important truth, and yet I think it also demonstrates one of Harry's most significant blindspots. Show Notes: A Gift for My Daughter by Harry Browne TVL Episode On How I Found Freedom In An Unfree World How I Found Freedom In An Unfree World by Harry Browne Fail Safe Investing by Harry Browne Job Free by Jake Desyllas Episode 265: A Review Of Escape From Childhood By John Holt

In this episode I am joined by my wife Hannah Braime to discuss William B. Irvine's book, A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy. This book argues that the philosophy of stoicism is relevant to modern life and can be used to help you live well, according to your own values. We recorded the episode for the Psychology Book Club. I am sharing it here because the themes are highly relevant to The Voluntary Life. Show Notes: A Guide To The Good Life by William B. Irvine Psychology Book Club Hannah Braime

A listener asks: "How do you cope with family and friend pressure to buy bigger and better and to have an expensive wedding and kids, which leaves you with no ability to save and get ahead in life?" What do you think? Listen to the episode to hear my response.

Why do people spend so much of their disposable income on consumption and save so little towards their own financial independence? This episode presents four competing theories that try to answer this question: Theory 1: People are brainwashed into consumerism by advertising. Theory 2: Spending escalates as people try to keep up with their peer groups. Theory 3: Central bank policies have undermined saving. Theory 4: Spending is the path of least resistance, so you won't save unless you have sufficient motivation. Which (if any) of these theories have merit? Is there a better explanation? Let me know what you think! Show Notes: Job Free by Jake Desyllas

Many people who write about financial independence emphasise the benefits of self-sufficiency and DIY as part of their lifestyle. Will it help your journey to financial independence to try to be self-sufficient? Does it make financial sense to do your own repairs and renovations? This episode provides a different perspective. Show Notes: Job Free by Jake Desyllas TVL Episode 225: Comparative Advantage Is Mind-blowing I, Pencil by Leonard Read How to Make a $1500 Sandwich in Only 6 Months

John Holt was a leading figure in the school reform movement, who became increasingly interested in how children learn outside of school—what he called "unschooling." He wrote many influential books about alternatives to schooling and he helped start the modern homeschooling movement. His book Escape From Childhood provides a thought-provoking critique of how most adults treat children, and a vision of how we could treat children with dignity, giving them greater freedom. Show Notes: Escape From Childhood by John Holt TVL Discussion of Instead of Education by John Holt Previous TVL Episodes on Unschooling

In his book Stop Acting Rich, author Thomas Stanley explained a way to calculate your relative net worth, taking into account both your age and your income. He used this calculation to create a wealth index, which you can use to judge whether you are on the path to FI, or whether you are burning more of your income than you should. In the episode I explain how the wealth index is calculated and provide commentary on how to use it. There is also a free website that does the calculation for you. Show Notes: The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley Stop Acting Rich By Thomas Stanley TVL Episode 80: Financial Freedom Milestones Website To Check Your Wealth Index by Hugh Chou TVL Episode 242: Financial Pros And Cons Of Home Ownership

An historical overview of rational ethics, focussing on the revolution in moral philosophy that happened during the Enlightenment. Although there was amazing progress during the Enlightenment, the contradictions of enlightenment thinkers eventually led them to lose their way on ethics and abandon a rational approach to morality. Understanding this background is helpful if you want to use rational thinking to make sense of ethics for yourself. Show Notes: TVL Episode 151 Your Own Moral Compass Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 TED talk by Michael Huemer: The Progress of Liberalism Episode 227 Review Of The Better Angels Of Our Nature By Steven Pinker All Previous Episodes in the Thinking Rationally Series

Many ideas that have been debunked long ago nonetheless remain very popular. This episode highlights three popular irrational biases about economics, taken from Brian Caplan's book The Myth Of The Rational Voter. The biases covered are the pessimism bias, the anti-market bias, and the anti-foreign bias. Show Notes: All Previous Episodes in the Thinking Rationally Series The Myth Of The Rational Voter by Bryan Caplan Episode 90 Rational Optimism Versus Doom Porn The Rational Optimist by Matt Ridley Episode 227 Review Of The Better Angels Of Our Nature By Steven Pinker The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined by Steven Pinker Entrepreneurship Part 4: Profit Is Sanity Episode 176 The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality by Ludwig Von Mises Part 1 (and Part 2) Episode 225 Comparative Advantage Is Mind-blowing

Politics brings out the worst in people. As the economist Joseph Schumpeter put it, "The typical citizen drops down to a lower level of mental performance as soon as he enters the political field. He argues and analyzes in a way which he would readily recognize as infantile within the sphere of his real interests. He becomes a primitive again." This episode is about the problem of political irrationality. Why are political beliefs so irrational? How does this affect your life? Listen to the episode to find out more! Show Notes: All Previous Episodes in the Thinking Rationally Series The Myth Of The Rational Voter by Bryan Caplan George Carlin On Politics Michael Heumer on The Irrationality Of Politics

A review of Peter Breggin's book, Guilt Shame And Anxiety: Understanding And Overcoming Negative Emotions, originally published on another podcast hosted by Jake and Hannah, The Psychology Book Club Podcast. Peter Breggin's book is very relevant to many topics covered on The Voluntary Life. In the episode, Hannah and Jake discuss the challenging ideas presented in the book and how they can help you achieve greater psychological freedom. Show Notes Psychology Book Club Podcast Guilt Shame and Anxiety by Peter Breggin TVL 247 Thinking Rationally Part 5: Reason And Emotions

An interview with Jake by Fumnanya, host of The Limit Breaker podcast. The interview covers interesting questions on the topic of breaking limits in business and life, including Jake's influences, founding and selling a business, the path to a job free life, and much more. Show Notes: The Limit Breaker Podcast Becoming An Entrepreneur by Jake Desyllas Job Free by Jake Desyllas Jake Desyllas Writing Website Getting Things Done by David Allen Getting To Yes by Fischer and Ury How I Found Freedom In An Unfree World by Harry Browne OmniFocus

This episode is an interview of Jake on the Valiant Growth podcast about getting started with productivity systems. A lot of people want to start using productivity tools and systems, but feel overwhelmed by all the options, jargon, and complexity. This episode will give you clear pointers about how to start simple and achieve massive improvements to your productivity. Show Notes Valiant Growth Podcast Getting Things Done by David Allen The Power Of Less by Leo Babauta Other Productivity Episodes

One of my favourite productivity techniques is the Someday Maybe List— an idea from David Allen's book, Getting Things Done. Many people ignore this particular aspect of GTD, but I love it. This episode provides suggestions about how to get the most out of a kick-ass someday maybe list. Topics covered include: The Purpose of Someday Maybe List The benefits of managing your list in Evernote How tagging, sorting, images, and other Evernote features can make your Someday Maybe List more inspiring and useful. Show Notes: Evernote Getting Things Done by David Allen Episode 156: How To Unleash Your Creative Thinking Other Productivity Episodes

Youtube presenters Mike and Lauren are back to talk about travel with kids. We catch up about all the things that they have been up to since I last spoke to them back in Episode 164. Their adventures include having a baby in Costa Rica, buying an RV, transitioning to life on the road, and planning to buy a barge to live on in Europe! Show Notes: Episode 164— We Plan To Retire At 30: Interview with Mike and Lauren Mike and Lauren Website Mike And Lauren Youtube Channel Episode 254— Perpetual Travel With Kids Part 1: Interview With Go Curry Cracker

Jake was interviewed on World Wanderers Podcast about he sold a business, an apartment, and all of his stuff except one bag, to move to Panama. Jake shares what it has been like to live with less, and what the path to permanent travel has been like, including what has been done and what still needs to be done. He tells us what life has been like in Panama, and the pros and cons to life on the road. Show Notes: The World Wanderers Podcast Job Free by Jake Desyllas

A fun conversation with Jeremy and Winnie from Go Curry Cracker. Back in Episode 162, we talked about their path to financial independence through extreme saving, and their lifestyle of perpetual travel in early retirement. In this episode, they talk about their experience of perpetual travel as a family. Their son Julian makes makes a guest appearance too! Show Notes: Go Curry Cracker TVL 162 Spend Little, Save More, Travel the World: Interview with Go Curry Cracker

Leo Babauta's book, The Power Of Less, is about using habits to help you focus on what matters in life. In this review, I talk about some of the most helpful ideas in the book, especially the suggestions about establishing a productive morning routine to kickstart your day. I also talk about some of the limitations of the book, and make suggestions for other useful books on this topic. Show Notes: The Power Of Less by Leo Babauta Getting Things Done by David Allen The Power Of Habit by Charles Duhigg TVL Episode 178: Upgrading Habits All Previous Episodes On Productivity

Back in episode 217, my wife Hannah and I spoke about the beginning of our adventure moving to Panama. In this episode we talk about a lot of big changes that have happened since then! The episode provides an insight into our story, but it also touches on many themes important to The Voluntary Life. We discuss travel, minimalism, and adapting to big changes in life. Show Notes: TVL Episode 217: Panama Our Adventure Begins TVL Episode 77: Internationalising Yourself Becoming Who You Are

Entrepreneurship is not just about building a business, it is also about building yourself. I see entrepreneurship as an intensive personal development program. This episode is from a recent interview that I gave about this topic on the Valiant Growth podcast. Show Notes: Valiant Growth Podcast Becoming an Entrepreneur by Jake Desyllas Job Free by Jake Desyllas Drive by Dan Pink

This episode contains the introduction of the audiobook version of Jake Desyllas' latest book, Job Free. Whether you want to achieve financial independence and retire early, or simply never work for anyone else again, this book provides an essential guide to the different lifestyle-design strategies open to you. You can get hold of the audiobook on Amazon and Audible, and it will shortly be available on iTunes. If you prefer reading, you can also get a paperback or e-book version on Amazon. Show Notes: Job Free audiobook, paperback, and e-book on Amazon Job Free audiobook on Audible.com

If you are interested in minimalism or a travel-oriented lifestyle, moving to a digital-only book library is a great benefit. Even if you don't plan to travel, switching to e-books has a ton of other advantages over maintaining paper books. This episode is all about the tools and techniques for managing an e-book library, including: Making the transition from a physical to a digital library. Choosing a database application for managing e-books. Organising an e-book library with tags and other metadata. Having a system for keeping your own notes about books. Show Notes: TVL Episode 115 How To Go Paperless Part 1 TVL Episode 157 How To Go Paperless Part 2 Free e-books at the Mises Institute and Online Library of Liberty Calibre (Free e-book management App) Evernote

This episode is about the role of rational thinking in life. Rational thinking is a discipline of self-mastery, similar to the discipline of achieving physical fitness. I tackle some misconceptions about rational thinking and answer these questions: What does cognitive science tell us about thinking rationally? What are the costs of thinking rationally, and what are the benefits? Show Notes: How To Think For Yourself Series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 Bill And Ted's Excellent Adventure They Live

If you want to think rationally, what role do your emotions play? Is there a conflict between thinking rationally and experiencing feelings? In this episode, I explain the history of ideas around reason and emotion, and provide an overview of how to think rationally about feelings. Although the Enlightenment was a revolution in thinking rationally, Enlightenment philosophers never resolved their contradictions about the relationship between reason and the emotions, leaving a legacy of confusion about this topic. Instead of slavishly following feelings or repressing and ignoring them, rational thinking gives you a deeper, richer emotional life. Rational thinking enables you to pay attention to your feelings and make use of their valuable information. Show Notes: Othello by William Shakespeare The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat by Oliver Sacks Episode 189— Envy: A Theory Of Social Behaviour by Helmut Schoek

So far, the Thinking Rationally series has generated more listener feedback than any previous episodes! In this episode, I respond to feedback on the topic of faith versus reason. Here are the questions covered: Can reason be accommodated within religious faith? Don't we all live by some kind of faith, anyway? Do I argue that we are "nothing more than matter in motion"? Did I present a fair history of Christianity? Show Notes: Episode 243— Thinking Rationally Part 1: Faith Versus Reason How To Think For Yourself Series: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 Job Free by Jake Desyllas How To Leave A Review on Amazon

Rational thinking transforms your life, by giving you autonomy and the freedom of the individual. Since it spread during the Enlightenment, rational thinking has also transformed society and created the modern world. Yet many influential philosophers explicitly rejected rational thinking, because they understood where it would lead and did not like what they saw. This episode is about anti-rational ideas. I cover how these ideas emerged as a reaction to the Enlightenment, and why such anti-rational ideas are so popular today among contemporary philosophers. Show Notes: Explaining Postmodernism by Stephen Hicks (free pdf and audiobook on author's website) Intellectuals by Paul Johnson

The biggest challenge of thinking rationally is not learning new techniques, it is overcoming irrational and anti-rational ways of thinking. In Part 1 of this series, I talked about how religious faith conflicts with your rational faculty. This episode is about a secular way of thinking that will derail your rationality. It is a way of thinking about society that seems to be very rational, but is in fact an abuse of reason. Listen to the episode to find out more! Show Notes: The Counter Revolution Of Science by Friedrich Hayek

Rational thinking is the engine behind all the great achievements of the modern world. It is the vital tool for making your own choices and for freeing yourself from prejudices and indoctrination. This series of episodes summarises all the best ideas that I've found about how to think rationally. Part 1 uses the example of the history of Christianity in Europe to explain the conflict between religion and rational thinking. Show Notes: The Closing Of The Western Mind by Charles Freeman If A Then B: How the World Discovered Logic by Michael Shenefelt and Heidi White

Home ownership is often touted as a financially savvy choice, but is it? This episode explores the financial pros and cons of buying your own home for those interested in financial independence. Show Notes: The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley I'm not a financial advisor and you will need to do your own research.

As part of adopting a minimalist lifestyle and becoming expats, we sold everything that would not fit into one suitcase each. The biggest part of our downsizing was selling our apartment and all the furniture in it. This episode is about the practical and psychological lessons from selling the flat, getting rid of all our stuff, and changing from being homeowners to travelling renters. Show Notes: Home Inventory App (mac) Episode 217— Panama: Our Adventure Begins Other Episodes on Minimalism Job Free by Jake Desyllas

Kevin Koskella from the Freedom Lovin podcast interviews Jake about the ideas in his book, Job Free, as well as life in Panama, entrepreneurship, and the permanent portfolio. Show Notes: Freedom Lovin Podcast Job Free by Jake Desyllas (now in paperback and kindle)

Preparing for a life of travel involved getting rid of anything that I could not take with me in one suitcase. One big source of clutter to address was clothes. My clothes took up a lot of space, yet I hardly ever wore many of them. As part of my extreme decluttering, I got rid of every item of clothing beyond a minimal set that would fit with my one-suitcase plan. The process included making an inventory, deciding what to keep or get rid of, and selling or giving away a huge amount of clothes. Whether you plan to travel or not, this episode will give you some food for thought about changing your approach to clothes. Show Notes: Previous Episodes on Minimalism Home Inventory App (Mac) Job Free by Jake Desyllas

This episode is about how I moved all my data into the cloud. This has been an essential part of adopting a digital nomad lifestyle but is also relevant for anyone who wants a more minimalist, clutter-free life. I digitised any data that could be, such as music, movies, photos, books, and documents. Once digital, I moved all my data into cloud storage of one kind or another. Then I got rid of all data clutter that was part of my stuff: CDs, DVDs, photos, spare computers, etc. Now all my data lives in the cloud. In the episode, I explain how I implemented a zero data system, and I outline some of the key issues to address. These include privacy (encryption), backup, redundancy, and sync vs archive. Show Notes: Article: Zero Data: Thoughts About Sync, Storage, and Backup TVL Episodes on minimalism Going Paperless Part 1 and Part 2 Cloud Music: iTunes Match, Apple Music, Spotify, Google Play Music Cloud Movies: Netflix, iTunes Cloud Storage: Dropbox, Google Drive, iCloud Cloud Books: Calibre E-Book Management Cloud Notes: Evernote Encryption: SpiderOak, Boxcryptor, FileVault Backup: Crashplan, Backblaze, Time Machine, SuperDuper

Brian Sovryn of the Sovryn Tech Podcast interviews Jake about his lifestyle of perpetual travel and minimalism, and the technology that makes it possible. Show Notes: Sovryn Tech Episode 165 Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300i Mobile Document Scanner Calibre E-Book Management Evernote VoiceDream AirBnB Uber Google Translate Keyboard Maestro Mac Power Users Podcast TripAdvisor Offline Guides TripIt Becoming An Entrepreneur by Jake Desyllas Job Free by Jake Desyllas

The Free State Project is a social experiment encouraging 20,000 people interested in "liberty in our lifetime" to move together to New Hampshire. The idea is to create an intentional community of like-minded people who are interested in personal and political liberty. By concentrating people with similar values in one place, the aim is to have a greater impact on the local culture and thereby generate more freedom. In this episode, I interview Stephanie Murphy and Brian Sovryn—two members of the Free State Project— about their experiences in New Hampshire as part of this community. Show Notes: The Free State Project Job Free paperback edition Stephanie Murphy Voice Sovryn Tech Podcast Porcfest Festival

Brett Veinotte from the School Sucks Podcast and Jake Desyllas from The Voluntary Life discuss the process of upgrading and maintaining positive habits. Topic covered include: Habits may seem trivial, but the are the most important part of a productivity system Two approaches to change: slow and steady vs. New Year's resolution Triggers for activating habits vs. friction against habits How do we do it? morning routine, 7 Weeks (Android app), Jake uses Way of Life (iOS) No matter what else is going on, do the simple things; even though these seemingly minor habits are the first thing that fall by the wayside when we're really busy Jake: "Habits dramatically reduce the amount of willpower and brainpower required to get things done. Once you have implemented a habit and can do it on autopilot, you conserve willpower and brainpower, helping you get more done." Willpower is a scarce resource; it degrades decision to decision Identifying resources beyond willpower Jake: "Habits are easiest to adopt when they are simple to understand, when you minimize any friction at the start of the action, when there are clear environmental triggers that tell your unconscious to start the habit, and when you have feedback (rewards) for completion." Show Notes: School Sucks Podcast Willpower by Roy Baumeister The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg Manage Your Day-to-Day by Jocelyn Glei Job Free by Jake Desyllas Al Switzler Ted Talk

This week's episode comes from Joshua Sheats, host of the Radical Personal Finance podcast: "Most of us in the Radical Personal Finance community are pursuing our own financial independence. And most of us want to get there as quickly as possible. But, most of us only have one idea of one way to get there. Did you know there are a bunch of different ways to go job-free and gain financial freedom? I'm excited to bring you my interview with Jake Desyllas, author of "Job Free: Four Ways to Quit the Rat Race and Achieve Financial Freedom on Your Terms."" Show Notes: Job Free by Jake Desyllas Radical Personal Finance Podcast

Part 2 of the discussion between Brett Veinotte and Jake Desyllas about using Horizons of Focus for productivity and purpose. In this episode, we conclude our discussion by talking about how to identify your vision for your future, and how to find purpose in life. Show Notes: Episode 232 The Next Level — Horizons of Focus Part 1 School Sucks Podcast The Voluntary Life Productivity Episodes

Brett Veinotte from School Sucks podcast interviews Jake Desyllas about using Horizons of Focus for productivity and purpose. In this episode (part 1) we introduce the concept of horizons of focus and talk about the best ways to identify actions, projects, goals, and areas or responsibility. Show Notes School Sucks Podcast The Voluntary Life Productivity Episodes Automated Mindmaps Using OmniFocus Horizons of Focus

Ashe from the Liberty Entrepreneurs podcast interviews Jake about starting a business, selling a business, and financial independence. They talk about Jake's background, becoming an entrepreneur, selling a company, and life afterwards. In this episode, you can hear about the people and books that influenced Jake, and some hacks and suggestions for anyone interested in starting a business. Show Notes: Liberty Entrepreneurs Podcast Becoming an Entrepreneur by Jake Desyllas How I Found Freedom In An Unfree World by Harry Browne The Ultimate Guide to Journaling by Hannah Braime Anything You Want by Derek Sivers Losing My Virginity by Richard Branson Getting to Yes by Fisher and Ury

I had an amazing experience getting feedback during the writing of my new book, Job Free: Four Ways to Quit the Rat Race and Achieve Financial Freedom on Your Terms. I had 165 beta readers during development. That's a lot of feedback! This episode is about the process of crowdsourcing feedback, using the example of my experience writing Job Free. I describe the workflows, tools and benefits of crowdsourcing feedback. I also tell you all about my new book, and explain how it can help you achieve real freedom in your own life. Show Notes: Job Free by Jake Desyllas Becoming an Entrepreneur by Jake Desyllas Presentation on Four Ways to Quit the Rat Race 99 Designs The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki

In this interview, Tuur and Becca talk about life as perpetual travellers, living on bitcoin. They describe how they got interested in bitcoin and how it has become an integral part of their international lifestyle. They also explain how they cope with the roller-coaster volatility of living from bitcoin. Tuur was one of the first investment newsletter writers to recommend bitcoin. He describes his own journey in the industry, and shares his thoughts about where bitcoin is headed. Show Notes: Previous TVL episodes about Bitcoin Tuur Demeester on Twitter Adamant Research Report "How To Position For The Next Rally In Bitcoin"

This episode shares some fascinating ideas about how to understand culture, identity and civilization. The historian Steve Davies argues that rather than being at the end of a long story of "western civilization", we are at the beginning of something radically new, unplanned and totally alien to the historical cultures of both the "West" and everywhere else before circa 1800. I've summarised these ideas in the podcast, but I also recommend that you watch the thought-provoking lecture by Steve Davies. Show Notes: Stephen Davies on Western Civilisation The Rational Optimist by Matt Ridley

This episode is a review of a fascinating book, The Better Angels Of Our Nature, by Steven Pinker. The following quote summarises the book's main argument: "Believe it or not—and I know that most people do not—violence has declined over long stretches of time, and today we may be living in the most peaceable era in our species' existence. The decline, to be sure, has not been smooth; it has not brought violence down to zero; and it is not guaranteed to continue. But it is an unmistakable development, visible on scales from millennia to years, from the waging of wars to the spanking of children." Steven Pinker Show Notes: The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined by Steven Pinker

This episode is about three concepts that I've found helpful for managing money. These concepts are about the big-picture when it comes to money, rather than the details. They express the mindset for achieving financial independence. Here is a summary of the ideas discussed: Be Your Own CFO: managing your own money as you would manage the finance of a business. Be Investment-Oriented, Not Consumption-Oriented Be A Passive Investor. Show Notes: How to Be the CFO of Your Own Life by Luke Landes How to Become CFO of Your Life by JD Roth E219 How To Do A Monthly Financial Review The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas Stanley E155: Review of A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton Malkiel Please note: I'm not a financial advisor and your money is your responsibility.

Comparative advantage is a simple idea from economics, but its implications are mind-blowing. It is a process that most people misunderstand, but it is at the root of everything that we create. Comparative advantage is intimately linked to what it means to be human. Show Notes: Economist article on comparative advantage Matt Ridley on comparative advantage

Benjamin Constant was a French classical liberal writer who lived through the French revolution and the reign of terror. Assessing what had gone wrong with the revolution, he came up with a distinction between two conflicting ideas of "liberty" that had influenced the people involved— an ancient concept of liberty and a modern one. His distinction is still useful today and can help make sense of the incompatible ways in which different people talk about freedom. Show Notes: The Liberty of Ancients Compared with that of Moderns by Benjamin Constant (1816)