alt.self-reliance semi-offficial FAQ

[Dan Goodman]

This is the semi-official alt.self-reliance FAQ. There may be other
FAQs which differ from this one; but this one is written by the
newsgroup's founder.

What self-reliance means to me: Thinking for yourself. Acting for
yourself. Being in charge of your own emotions, so far as possible.
Taking care of yourself, as far as possible. Being prepared for
emergencies (not necessarily the more drastic ones discussed in
misc.survivalism.)

There's no contradiction between self-reliance and membership in
organized religious, political, etc. groups. But if you let the
leader or the group consensus determine the way you think, act, or
speak, that conflicts with self-reliance.

A self-reliant person can take a drink now and then. But when someone
HAS to drink, the alcohol is running that person's life. The same
with someone who MUST have sex, or experience withdrawal symptoms.

Some questions:

1) Let me tell you all about ___'s wonderful philosophy!

Tell us _your_ thoughts. If you want to present Ayn Rand, Buckminster
Fuller, Lysander Spooner, or William Blake as an example of someone
who was self-reliant, fine. (As long as you don't mind replies giving
a different view.) If you want to review or recommend Atlas Shrugged
or whatever as a useful guide TO THINKING FOR OURSELVES, okay. If you
want to explain why we should all obey Objectivism or Neo-Tech, please
do it somewhere else.

2) Ads: A notice such as "I'm selling a book which proves Ayn Rand
got all her ideas from Theosophy" is okay. A line in your signature
block referring people to your website is fine. Most ads are not.

3) Political propaganda: If it's a quoted article, and you're posting
it to a whole lot of other groups, it doesn't belong in
alt.self-reliance. If you claim the ideas/beliefs as your own (not
quoting authority to back them up), and the posting is to this
newsgroup only or only a few others, it's sort of okay. But be
prepared for very impolite replies.

Literature

The heavy stuff:

Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essay on Self-Reliance

John Stuart Mill, Essay on Liberty (I don't approve of exceptions he
makes: that individual liberty isn't suitable for backward peoples,
for example. But he lived in a backward time.)

Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience

Lighter stuff:

Harry Browne, How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World. (Browne's
praise for the American automobile industry has become unintentionally
funny. But much of what he says makes sense.)

Jack Chalker, explanatory matter in collection Dance Band on the
Titanic.

William James, The Varieties of Religious Experience

Alexander Key, Escape to Witch Mountain (the book, not the Disney
version)
The Forgotten Door

George Orwell -- many of his essays.

--
Dan Goodman
dsg...@visi.com
http://www.visi.com/~dsgood/index.html
Whatever you wish for me, may you have twice as much.