How to be Free

Post by **clv101** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 12:50 am

How to be Free by Tom Hodgkinson, read by Rupert Wickham.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/radio4_a ... bookof_fri

This 18 minute Radio 4 Book of Week programme is fantastic, all about money and "freedom".

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 9:02 am

Here Tom Hodgkinson's 'Idler' website:
http://www.idler.co.uk/

And the book:
http://www.DODGY TAX AVOIDERS.co.uk/How-Be-Free-Tom ... 18-2635847

RevdTess · Post by **RevdTess** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 10:09 am

Quite the vernon tag-team you have going there.

I listened to the book reading - what a wonderful start to my day! I am a huge fan of this perspective, this world view. It makes perfect sense to me. It's one of those things I can totally enthuse about - it doesnt have any irritating straggly pieces of philosophy that I'll have to rationalise away. I think it is at the heart of the battle for humanity's soul, the conflict that underlies all other conflicts, the dichotomy that cannot be merged or transcended. I dare not even name the parts as the labels will, forsooth, overlap and defeat the point.

The great boon of peak oil is that it points the way home.

Mean Mr Mustard · Post by **Mean Mr Mustard** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 2:02 pm

Thanks for that - I enjoyed the radio excerpt too. First time I've tried listening to the radio on a computer.

Books I have in a similar vein are 'Status Anxiety' by Allan De Boutton (sp?) and 'Authentic Happiness' by Martin Seligman.

The essential argument in both books being that bohemian, creative, non-materialistic community living is what we need to be happier. Not patio heaters and one upmanship at corporate barbeques.

Mustard

XENG · Post by **XENG** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 3:31 pm

Very interesting, thank you.

I've sent the link to my mum, hopefully it will explain why i prefer idleness to working for "the man".
I think the overall message was that if you are rich you are no longer a slave to other people but become a slave to money itself.

Post by **clv101** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 3:57 pm

Tess wrote:I listened to the book reading - what a wonderful start to my day! I am a huge fan of this perspective, this world view. It makes perfect sense to me. It's one of those things I can totally enthuse about...

Yeah, same here - hence why I actually got out of bed to post this late last night!

Bozzio · Post by **Bozzio** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 5:28 pm

I'm one of those lucky people who can work when I like and often do. Being a self-employed plumber, I have periods when my time is commited to working for my customers and I may work for several full weeks flat out but I also have the option of not booking in any work if I choose to do so. At the moment I am project managing the build of an extension to my house, as well as helping to build it, and the pleasure of working on my own project is immense, regardless of the increase in my mortgage. Having said that, I love my job and I am also one of those people who does look forward to Monday morning and getting stuck in. I enjoy not knowing what is around the corner which often brings much stress but will always lead to great satisfaction and a feeling of worth. But, because I like my situation, and my wife is in a similar position, working just three days a week, I/we are not looking forward to having to change it because of peak oil. I'd rather not have to grow veg, bake bread and chop wood; activities which I find incredibly boring. Sorry, but I do. I just wish peak oil would go away. I can't help feel that when peak oil does start to affect us big time, we will all suddenly realise just how free we really are today. So what that we all have to work, it beats watching your children suffer because you don't have enough food and the house is freezing cold!

snow hope · Post by **snow hope** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 11:00 pm

I agree - I don't want PO to occur and I find it hard to understand anybody looking forward to PO and its ramifications....

ianryder · Post by **ianryder** » Sat Jan 06, 2007 11:13 pm

snow hope wrote:I agree - I don't want PO to occur and I find it hard to understand anybody looking forward to PO and its ramifications....

Yes, if you're inclined that way have a look at the death of a nation thread - might alter your thinking a bit:
http://www.powerswitch.org.uk/forum/vie ... php?t=3501

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 11:27 pm

Idler meets the Credit Crunch...genius!

some idle git wrote:1 Car: the average British family spends more than £5,000 a year on a car. What about walking, cycling, trains, buses or cabs? You could save cash by spending £4,000 a year on cabs. That’s more than £70 a week.
...
4 Central heating: take it all out; put in wood-burning stoves downstairs and wear jumpers upstairs...

JohnB · Post by **JohnB** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 12:01 am

1 Car: the average British family spends more than £5,000 a year on a car. What about walking, cycling, trains, buses or cabs? You could save cash by spending £4,000 a year on cabs. That’s more than £70 a week.

6 Big house: expensive to buy, expensive to heat, time-consuming to clean and they make others feel inferior. Modest dwellings are easier and cheaper - and more polite.

My "car" is also my "modest house". And I can move whenever I want without dealing with estate agents

And I could do this with it too:

10 Live in a field: buy a field and live in a caravan. Your worries will go and your garden can be used for playing, growing vegetables and keeping pigs.

DominicJ · Post by **DominicJ** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 10:52 am

My car is cheaper than public transport, quicker too, and useful for all those trips the public transport bureu deems unworthy, like visiting friends or the gym.

JohnB · Post by **JohnB** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 11:03 am

DominicJ wrote:My car is cheaper than public transport, quicker too, and useful for all those trips the public transport bureu deems unworthy, like visiting friends or the gym.

Can't you walk or cycle to visit friends, where public transport isn't available? Then you would get exercise without going to the gym, and you wouldn't need to spend so much time at work earning the money to pay for your car and gym membership

DominicJ · Post by **DominicJ** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 11:37 am

I could, but it costs me 50p in fuel to drive to my girlfriends, and takes less than 20 minutes.
It would be two buses at a cost of £3.80, or a 5 miles bikeride up and down some hills, either of which would take close to an hour.

I'd rather spend an hour at work than an hour cycling outside.

My cars a beat up old suzuki swift, I wouldnt buy a nice car unless I was insanely rich.

PS_RalphW · Post by **PS_RalphW** » Mon Mar 16, 2009 12:19 pm

DominicJ wrote:I could, but it costs me 50p in fuel to drive to my girlfriends, and takes less than 20 minutes.
It would be two buses at a cost of £3.80, or a 5 miles bikeride up and down some hills, either of which would take close to an hour.

I'd rather spend an hour at work than an hour cycling outside.

My cars a beat up old suzuki swift, I wouldnt buy a nice car unless I was insanely rich.

It takes me 25 minutes to cycle 4 miles to work, admittedly on the flat. It would be faster, but lots of cars get in my way...

I'm 46 and overweight. I ride a fairly ordinary 4 speed town bike. This is the only exercise I get these days.

Your girlfriend might appreciate the slimmer and more athletic version of DominicJ after a few months of cycling