Gaddafi's Murder [10/25/11] "The world is a much better place now Gaddafi is dead."

This is, perhaps, the most common sentiment heard and seen expressed since the death of Muammar Gaddafi, a sentiment born of spite and ignorance. There was a time when Americans would never celebrate the death and suffering of others, no matter how deserving they thought the sufferers were, but those were days of civility and decency, days when people did not believe just any lies their government told them.

Libya [10/25/11] I knew it was comming when I read the propaganda spouted by none other than U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton, who said "The world will not 'sit idly by,' amid fears that Gadafi will commit 'unspeakable atrocities' against his people."

That is all it takes these days to justify killing endless numbers of people and destroying other country's property and wealth, just the fear someone might commit "unspeakable atrocities." Of course the way to prevent future possible attrocities is to use one's superior military might to begin committing unspeakable atrocities right away.

Ayn Rand, Not A Physicalist [10/21/11] Perhaps the most common mistaken assertion about Ayn Rand by those who call themselves "Objectivists" are those that imply that Rand was a strict "materialist" or "physicalist." By physicalist I mean anyone who believes the physical attributes of existence are all there are, and that everything can ultimately be understood in terms of the physical.

She was especially not a physicalist regarding the nature of consciousness, especially human consciousness. Her views directly contradict those physicalist views sometimes expressed as, "the brain is the mind," or, as Steven Pinker put it, "the mind is what the brain does."

Regi Says - 63 [10/21/11]

I'm back, at least partially. My being away this time was not voluntary, and not particularly enjoyable. But I'm mostly healed from having my heart's plumbing reworked, and will begin, slowly, to do some work here.

I should say I am grateful to all those who know the situation for their kind thoughts and good wishes. Most did not know, which is how I wanted it.

Open Letter To Chuck Frey's Rebuttal [10/21/11] On June 11 (2011), I received an email from Chuck Frey with a "rebuttal" of my critique of the De Bono brothers. This "open letter" is my response to that "rebuttal."

Regi Says - 62 [6/23/11] Alan Caruba commented to me, that I might find his article, "Why the End is Always Near, but Never Arrives," published today in the Autonomist, "amusing." I did enjoy the article, but wrote Alan the following, which I think is important enough to reproduce here.

There Is No Political Solution Reginald Firehammer [6/21/11] All of politics is based on the belief that there is some method or system by which societies can be engineered, which ultimately means, that people can be controlled or manipulated to be what someone believes they ought to be, either by direct coercive force, the threat of such force, or by changing people's minds by means of persuasion, education, or propaganda. The independent individualist regards any attempt to manipulate societies, or the individuals within a society, as immoral.

Regi Says - 61 [6/13/11]

Regi is back, at least part-time, because my other projects are still unfinished. They are well underway, and I can probably break away enough to keep both the Independent Individualist and Free Individual running.

Free Society, The Unrealizable Ideal A society in which every individual is free to live their life as they choose without the interference of any other individual or individuals would be a wonderful thing. Such a society is impossible so long as most individuals neither want to be free, nor choose to be. If you are waiting for such a society to exist before being free, you will never be free, nor do you deserve to be free. If you are not a statist, you do not expect society to provide you anything, not your food, not your housing, not your education, not your health care or anything else. Why do you expect society to provide you your freedom?

Regi Says - 60 [4/20/11]

In fact, I'll be back in about 30 days. The Independent Individualist and Free Individual will always be here, but for about a month, there will be no new articles or material posted.

Regi Says - 59 [4/15/11]

If this isn't hateful prejudicial descrimination, I'd like to know what is. Maine legalizing switchblades for one-armed people. Well guess what, I can have a switch blade in Main, because I have one arm--the other one is actually leg. Makes as much sense as this law.

But the Main lawmakers can't help being morons, it's how they evolved. See evolution explains everything, it even explains the stupid irrational altruism that makes them pass laws favoring limb-deprived people. Wonder what people without lips get.

Regi Says - 58 [4/14/11]

At the beginning of a recently recovered article, Freedom Now, I said:

"Most people really do not want freedom. Most people want security. They want guarantees, assurances that nothing will ever go wrong, that they will never be hurt or disappointed, that everything will always be what they like and what they are used to and they will always be happy."

Regi Says - 57 [4/13/11]

What possible interest does a busy independent individualist have in the absurd rhetoric of the neocons in their perpetual propaganda to promote war? Well, none actually, but if one holds one's nose, some of it is ironically amusing, such as this absurd article, "Lose in Libya, lose the Middle East."

Anti-human Environmentalists [4/11/11] I like James Delingpole, but in his recent article, "'Climate Change': the new Eugenics," he makes the common mistake of addressing a non-essential issue which misses the all important principle that is actually being violated.

A Successful Operation Whether you are now on The Autonomist site, or the Independent Individualist site you will notice something has changed. The other site you are used to seeing is missing.

Regi Says - 56 [3/28/11]

Six years ago, the old version of The Autonomist WEB site was hacked and taken down. Since then I have been slowly recovering any material of value from that old site, most of which has been restored as Independent Individualist Permanent Ariticles.

Libya--The Humanitarian War [3/21/11] I knew it was coming when I read the propaganda spouted by none other than U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton, who said "The world will not 'sit idly by,' amid fears that Gadhafi will commit 'unspeakable atrocities' against his people."

The Winners of Harry Browne's Book [4/2/11] It hardly seems possible that the, "Win Harry Browne's Book," contest was announced three months ago, but it was, and since the contest only lasted three months, it is time to announce who won Harry Browne's book.

Regi Says - 55 [2/28/11]

Are You Getting Enough Vitamins?

We're all concerned with nutrition, of course, but this is not about any of those food fads that dominate the world of the gullible, like that Paleo nonsense I described in "Eat Like A Caveman."

Freedom and Gullibility [2/23/11] Why are so many freedom loving individualists so often gullible when it comes to scams promising some kind of "magic" short-cut to "self-esteem," "personal success," or "wealth." I do not have a complete answer, but part of it is because most individualist are self-confident and know they have the ability to achieve their dreams and are drawn to anything presented as an opportunity to achieve success and happiness.

Neocon's Love Darkness, Because Their Deeds Are Evil [2/21/11] Besides war, if I am "anti-" anything, I am anti-politics, but even that is only in terms of principles, not action. I have no interest in political activism or opposition to either politicians, or their actual policies, all of which I regard as evil.

Regi Says - 54 [2/14/11]

There have been some small changes Independent Individualist users will be interested in.

Regi Says - 53 [2/9/11]

If you have an interest in the goings-on at the Ayn Rand Institute and the latest Peikoff follies ...

Regi Says - 52 [2/3/11]

The first time I read the following lovely description of an October morning in Mark Twain's "A Double Barreled Detective Story," I was impressed.

The Egypt Gyp [2/2/11] The headlines are designed to whip up worry and fear, like this one:

The Egyptian Crisis Continues.

Does No One Want To Be Free? [1/27/11] As long as I've been on the Internet, which is as long as there has been an Internet, I've been struck by one thing that has bewildered me. While there are endless WEB sites, organization, associations, activist groups, institutes, societies, campaigns, policy centers, forums, foundations, and think-tanks all explaining and decrying the growing oppression of government at every level and proclaiming the necessity and virtues of individual freedom, except for a handful sites selling some "program" or "get rich" scheme, none of which will work, no one is telling people how they can be free now, in their own lifetime.

If You Spank Him, He Will Not Die [1/19/11] Raising children is the grueling process of turning totally uncivilized savages into self-responsible, self-reliant, mature, human beings. There seem to be two general views about the best means of raising children. The modern view is to allow children, as much as is possible, to "develop themselves," to discover their own interests and to pursue them. This method almost always produces "grown-ups" who are as uncivilized as they were as children, only bigger, and more cunning.

Individualism Is The Only Path to Freedom and Civilization [1/19/11] My recent article, "The Individualist's Challenge: The Only Path to Freedom," questions the efficacy of the methods of all organizations that claim to promote individual freedom, especially those that recognize the "state" or "government" as the chief enemy of individual freedom. There is one such site I did not include in that challenge.

Win Harry Browne's Book [1/12/11] If you really want freedom in this world in your lifetime, well Harry Browne wrote the book on it. How I Found Freedom In An Unfree World was published in 1973 and was an instant libertarian classic.

The Individualist's Challenge Continued [1/12/11]

There has been only one response to the original Individualist's Challenge, and that response said only, "It seemed a bit incoherent."