economic means to freedom

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Economic Means To Freedom Article Series:Part IIf a critical mass of people were to focus on building freedom, corrupt political systems will eventually lose their powerand influence.Part IAThe most powerful way to build freedom is for you as an individual to start building your own freedom. And the mosteffective course of action for you might be to start escaping from the "job"/"employment" trap.Part IB (Basic Money Skills)In order to escape from the "job"/"employment" trap, you may need to acquire a range of basic money skills. Withoutthese skills, you may be doomed to many years of 9-5 wage slavery. With these skills, financial freedom may be inyour near future...Part IIThe bogus power of terrocrats depends on the support from their victims. In practicing the Economic Means toFreedom, we find practical ways to legally, elegantly, and safely withdraw our support.Part IIIIn practicing the Economic Means to Freedom, we don't attempt to change, oppose, reform, or overthrow any politicalor economic systems. We simply create our own voluntary alternatives in the free-enterprise sector.

Part IV25 anarcho-capitalist things you can do now!Part V

A proposal for a complementary money system to be developed, launched, and implemented as a matter of urgency.Part VIExit tax systems to the extent you can do so legally -- with an acceptable level of risk.Terrocrats are neitheromniscient nor omnipotent.Part VIIThe importance of financial freedom and independence and some practical steps to achieve an economic status suchthat you don't have to work for money. By financial freedom and independence I mean having organized your life andaffairs so you don't have to work for money. If you're interested in such financial freedom, then this article may be wellworth reading.Part VIIIThe most important factor determining your level of freedom is how much money you have, how much you earn, andyour ability to keep your money safe from the marauding hands of politicians, bureaucrats, and their armed police. Ifyou live your life as an economic "subject" or "slave" of others, they will drain away both your wealth and youropportunities.Part IXThere are enormous potential freedom resources in the world.Think in terms of upgrading the utilization of theseresources.Part XThe purpose of this article is to argue that from the perspective of the freedom activist there is no significantdifference between the private sector and the public sector.The implication of this is that to the extent that freedomactivists work or do business in the private sector, they support "the enemy."


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Part XIThe purpose of this article is to provide information on e-gold and other alternative currencies and to answercommonly asked questions.

"Thanks for the illuminating alternative currency FAQs. As usual, F. Mann talks and explains on the level that isexpected of a sovereign individual. He also has equally high expectations of the decision making capacity of readers.Continue to wake us up." -- BH

Part XIIThe purpose of this article is to provide information on debit and credit cards that can be used to convert e-gold andother alternative currencies into national fiat currencies for purchases and ATM withdrawals.Part XIIIThe purpose of this article is to alert readers to the massive changes that could come about as a result of the rapidgrowth of gold-backed alternative currencies, and what individuals and businesses could do to take advantage ofthese changes.


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Economic Means To Freedom - Part I

by Frederick Mann10/4/97

IntroductionThe Economic Means to Freedom is one among many strategies that any individual could follow toexpand freedom. Nothing in this article should be regarded as a suggestion that other freedom strategiesshould be changed or abandoned.

I do, however, encourage those looking for better, more workable, and more profitable strategies, toconsider the Economic Means to Freedom.

Three important factors make the Economic Means to Freedom attractive:

1. The actions you take are under your control and the outcome of your actions -- the results youproduce -- for the most part depend on your own actions.

2. The results can be quick, so you don't have to wait for years and years before enjoying the benefitsthat result from your actions.

3. Your actions can become profitable fairly quickly. This may enable you to spend more time onprofitable freedom-expanding actions. It may even enable you to devote all your working time topromoting freedom in profitable ways.

This is the first of a series of articles on the Economic Means to Freedom. Click here for additionalarticles.

Disclaimer:This article constitutes the dissemination of information in accordance with the right to free

speech. Nothing in this article is to be interpreted as legal, accounting, tax, currency, banking, orinvestment advice. Anyone seeking such advice should consult a properly qualified and accreditedprofessional.All readers of this article are emphatically advised to obey all laws on Earth and in theUniverse to the letter.

Principles of the Economic Means to FreedomProbably, about 20 important principles of the Economic Means to Freedom can be identified. Thisarticle covers a few. Other principles will be described in the rest of this series.

This article is mostly theory. Future articles will cover some of the specific steps you may be able to taketo embark upon practicing the Economic Means to Freedom. This article does suggest a few steps tostart with -- such as finding out more about the free-enterprise institutions mentioned below (by utilizingthem you may be able to implement some aspects of the Economic Means to Freedom), and subscribing

to the Advanced Freedom Solutions Mailing List -- click here to subscribe.

The Opportunity GapAs a professional consultant I've worked with computers for many years. I've also done some thinkingabout why Microsoft has been so successful. Why did it overtake IBM in terms of market valuation someyears ago?

Microsoft basically sells software programs to make computers more efficient and effective and easier touse. We could call Microsoft's programs "computer success programs." At the time Microsoft was


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created its potential could have been measured by the difference between how successful computerswere at that time compared to how successful they could become. There was a gap between what wasand what could be. This gap represents potential. By utilizing this gap of potential, Microsoft co-founderBill Gates and some of his associates became billionaires and top the list of the richest people in theworld.

The "gap of potential" can also be called an "opportunity gap." In human affairs there is also a gapbetween what is and what could be. We suffer from "human failure programs" or "HFPs" (like coercivepolitical systems!) that tend to keep many of us stuck at a low level -- if we allow them to! The gapbetween what is and what could or should be represents potential -- the opportunity gap. In humanaffairs generally, this potential is considerably greater than the potential that enabled Bill Gates tobecome the richest man in the world.

So, the first thing to appreciate is that there is this huge potential of the opportunity gap. Provide peoplewith the means to bridge the opportunity gap, i.e., shift from where they are to where they should orcould be, is the essence of the Economic Means to Freedom.

Of course, with a computer it's easy to delete an old program and install a new one. With humans it'smuch more difficult. We tend to love and identify with our programs (some obsolete), even if they no

longer work very well.

Notice that it's largely because of the terrocrats (terrocrat = coercive political agent or terroristbureaucrat) that we have the opportunity to take advantage of such an enormous opportunity gap.Through coercive control of "education" and other means, they load people with human failure programs(HFPs) -- such as "obedience to authority." In the absence of coercive political systems, there would befar less holding people down, and the opportunity gap would be considerably smaller!

Also notice that as terrocrats become more onerous and oppressive with their "laws and regulations,""taxes," property seizures, etc., the more they tend to expand the opportunity gap!

Example of Economic Means to Freedom

As an outstanding example of someone practicing the Economic Means to Freedom, a businessmanbought a subset of the materials now available at BuildFreedom.com in 1993. At the time his companyhad assets of $286,000. Now, four years later his company's assets are worth about $40,000,000!Through various stages of growth and metamorphoses and a reverse takeover/merger, this company isnow listed on Nasdaq. When all the reverse takeover/ merger transactions are completed, I guesstimateabout 90% of the company's shares will be owned by freedom lovers. (The name of the company isavailable upon request. This is emphatically not advice for or against investing in this company.)

Note: All the information referred to above is available to you free of charge for personal use from ourwebsite: BuildFreedom.com. (We are supported by the business opportunities we promote whichenables us to provide all our information free of charge.)

Three Economic Sectors

The second important thing to realize is that we can usefully distinguish three economic sectors: (1)public; (2) private; (3) free enterprise. The "public" sector is the terrocrat sector. The "private" sectorconsists mostly of people who kowtow to the terrocrats and/or are in cahoots with them in various ways.They pay "taxes" to support the terrocrats, they obey their "regulations," and they often beg for specialfavors like "tariff protection." The free-enterprise sector is also called "the underground economy," "blackeconomy," or "unrecorded economy."

By "free enterprise" I mean an economic system characterized by (1) property ownership; and (2)voluntary exchange. In a free-enterprise system there are no "taxes" and no coercive terrocrat


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"regulations"; no one initiates force, fraud, or the threat of force to overwhelm the will of another; peopleare free to do whatever they like, provided they don't violate the rights of others -- basically the right toown property and to engage in voluntary exchange. Free enterprise is a "human success program" or"HSP." Coercion can be an HSP for those administering the coercion and some who benefit from thecoercion, but is an HFP or human failure program for everyone else.

The greatest potential for providing people with the means to elevate themselves (in all respects) is inthe free- enterprise sector, because this is where we enjoy the greatest freedom. One perspective offreedom is that it represents the range of positive options available to you. If you can find ways tooperate with reasonable safety in the free-enterprise sector, you enjoy competitive advantages: no orfew "taxes," no or few "regulations." (For most people it's not yet feasible to completely escape from theterrocrat and private sectors -- e.g., when I put gas in my car, I pay some taxes.)

The Internet makes it easier to shift assets, earnings, and economic activities into the free-enterprisesector. Of course, the Internet itself constitutes an enormous expansion of the free-enterprise sector.

Free-Enterprise InstitutionsThe third principle of the Economic Means to Freedom is the creation of free-enterprise institutions inareas like secure communication, currencies, banking, barter, investment, raising capital (free-enterprise

share exchanges), etc. These institutions will make it easier to shift assets, earnings, and economicactivities into the free-enterprise sector. Some examples:

Anthony L. Hargis & Co., 17220 Newhope St. #201, Fountain Valley, California [92708]; Tel. (714) 957-1375. Banking -- gold and dollar accounts; free-enterprise share exchange.

Natural Coin Exchange, 33838 SE Kelso Road, #2, PO Box 569, Boring, Oregon 97009; Tel. (503) 668-4941. Banking -- gold, silver, and dollar accounts.

Gold & Silver Reserve, Inc (E-gold). Accounts in gold, silver, platinum, and palladium.

Much more information on monetary and banking freedom can be found in an article called 'The Future

of Money' http://www.free-market.net/features/spotlight/9709.html at the Free-Market.Net website. I inviteeveryone interested in furthering the Economic Means to Freedom to help create and/or expand theseand similar free-enterprise institutions.

A major consideration is that if you're stuck in the "official" systems and they collapse, you may be insuch a hopeless situation that your very physical survival becomes a problem. Should such a collapseoccur, you'll be much better off if you've been using alternative systems for some time, and you've got atleast some of your assets in them.

Benefits of the Economic Means to FreedomIf you're an ardent freedom lover, and you live "in the system," obeying terrocrats and supporting themby paying "taxes," then you're living contrary to your philosophy -- some would even say you're being atraitor to your own philosophy. I have no intention here to make anyone wrong. I admit to paying certain

"taxes" because I calculate that to be the least evil. In this regard I choose to be a traitor to my ownphilosophy.

We can think of a scale, spectrum, or continuum. At one extreme is being totally "in the system"; at theother extreme is being totally "outside the system." Each individual can calculate where on the scale heor she derives maximum benefit. And, of course, your life and affairs can be compartmentalized socertain assets and activities are "in the system" and others are "outside the system."

Practicing the Economic Means to Freedom enables you to focus on doing things you can control. In


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Economic Means To Freedom - Part Ia

by Frederick Mann10/6/98

The Strange "Job" Concept

IntroductionMost people take it for granted that in order to earn the wherewithal to survive, to get ahead in the world,to become accepted and successful in the eyes of family and friends, you have to work, do somethinguseful, produce products and services of value to others, and so forth.

There are of course alternatives. You could become a "professional welfare recipient." Or you couldbecome a professional criminal... or a bureaucrat... or even a politician!

There are two basic ways to obtain the wherewithal to survive. The first is to produce it. The second is to"steal" it. Why work like a slave to produce or provide useful products and services if you can simply"steal" what you need?

Well, you don't "steal" because others might not like it. They might retaliate. They might "steal" back fromyou. They might even lock you up in jail.

An important phenomenon enters the picture here. Many people produce more than they need tosurvive. Probably for a variety of reasons. During good seasons you produce extra to set somethingaside you can live off during lean years. You feel more secure and successful if you've accumulatedsome capital. You may even want to start your own business. Maybe you want to retire one day and liveoff your savings.

So many people produce surpluses.

Some people produce large surpluses. For example, because the sun shines, plants use energy fromthe sun and minerals from the soil to grow, and various human methods can be used to increaseproduction, one farmer can effectively produce enough food to feed 100 people.

The fact that some produce surpluses creates the opportunity for others to "steal" part of the productionof producers in ways that enable everyone to survive.

"Stealing" can occur along a scale, spectrum, or continuum, ranging from most crude to most subtle. Atthe one extreme, you hold someone up at gunpoint or you knock him unconscious or even kill him andtake what you want from him. Less crude is to enter someone's home or farm at night or when they'reabsent and to surreptitiously take what you want.

You can also use all kinds of trickery and deception to defraud your victims. This is what the con artistdoes.

Or, together with others, you can form a "government" and force people to pay "taxes."

You can be a large property owner and "rent" part of your property to others. They have to work in orderto pay you "rent" and you live off the "rent."


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Or you can own a factory or other business (you own the means of production) and provide others with"jobs" to work for you. You effectively take part of their production as your "profit." You live off the "profit"and they have to work for a living.

Somewhere along this spectrum, it ceases to be "stealing" and becomes "legitimate enterprise."

To the sneak thief and con artist, it may be "legitimate" as long as you don't perpetrate physical violenceagainst the victim's person.

To the bureaucrat, politician, and their believers and supporters, it's "legitimate" if the violence is onlyused as a last resort by someone else -- the "policeman" -- out of sight, out of mind?

To some people "property is theft" -- the practice of owning property is a form of "stealing." "Capitalists"who own the means of production are "thieves exploiting the workers."

I'll leave it to the reader to decide where to draw the line between "stealing" and "legitimacy."

The purpose of this article is to examine the "job" concept. There's a specific skill involved in analyzing

the "job" concept. I call it "Martian analysis."

The Strange "Job" Concept["Language creates spooks that get into our heads and hypnotize us." -- Robert Anton Wilson,Introduction to The Tree of Lies (by Christopher S. Hyatt. Ph.D.)]

Suppose a Martian came to Earth to study our economic systems. He soon finds out that on parts ofEarth there are millions of people who don't work, because the Earthlings say they have a so-called"unemployment" problem."

To the Martian this is almost incomprehensibly strange. "Why don't the millions of not-working peoplework at satisfying the needs and wants of the billions with unmet needs and wants?" he asks.

An Earthling explains, "Well, they can't work because they don't have jobs; nobody wants to employthem."

Now the Martian is really flabbergasted, "I've been all over the Universe and studied over a hundredhumanoid civilizations. And in all these other civilizations, all that people need in order to work is a brain,one or more eyes, and one or more hands. What else can you possibly need in order to work?"

Earthling: "We must have a job in order to work; someone must employ us; can't you understandsomething this simple?"

Martian: "No. What kind of a thing is this so-called "job?" Can you show me a "job?" Can youdemonstrate to me how it enables someone to work?"

Earthling: "No, you don't understand. A job isn't a thing... it's a... it's a..."

Martian: "Is it perhaps an illusion? I've come across many illusions in the Universe, but this one seems tobe one of the strangest of all!"

"And what about this "employment" thing you talk about? What's that?"


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Earthling: "Well, you see, in order to work you have to get someone to employ you."

Martian: "This sounds strange. What does someone do to you when he "employ's" you."

Earthling: "He gives you work to do."

Martian: "I don't understand. Everywhere in the Universe I've visited, "work" isn't a thing that can begiven; it's an activity, what you do."

Earthling: "It's not that simple. An employer gives you things like a desk, a chair, a computer, andwhatever tools you need to do your job."

Martian: "In every part of the Universe I've been, all that people really need in order to work is a brain,one or more eyes, and one or more hands. Surely, people can either make the equipment, tools, orwhatever they need to work more efficiently, or they can acquire them through exchange."

Earthling: "But what if everyone in a region is impoverished and there are no wealthy capitalist pigemployers to provide tools and equipment?"

Martian: "If you go back far enough in history, you'll get to a time when all humans were poor. How waswealth created in the first place?"

"I'll give you a clue. Your Sun shines. Every day it showers vastly more energy on you than you canpossibly use. You enjoy a huge surplus of energy. You can use some of that energy to grow things andmuch more besides."

"In the rest of the Universe, the first principle of economics is that Energy plus Brain produces Wealth --provided you produce more than you consume. Because of the huge free surplus energy you get fromyour Sun every day, anyone and everyone (at least those with functioning brains, eyes, and hands) canproduce a surplus and become wealthy."

Earthling: "My mind is spinning! I'll have to think about all this."

Moral: The language you use can have a profound effect on how you perceive the world, how you thinkabout it, and how you act in relation to it.

The "Job"/"Employment" IllusionThe words "job" and "employment" and the illusions they engender may have debilitating effects onthose who blindly accept them. Here we have an important "Human Failure Program" that plays a majorrole in keeping people poor and stuck in what they call their "jobs." (Nevertheless, because mucheconomic activity is organized on the basis of so-called "jobs," some of us may have to play the "job"game -- at least temporarily -- to survive and, hopefully, get back on our economic feet.)

The "job"/"employment" illusion has far-reaching implications. Because many people believe they need"jobs" to work gainfully, and "jobs are scarce," their only alternatives seems to be "governmenthandouts" and crime. Jeremy Bentham wrote, "Out of one foolish word may start a thousand daggers."(Bentham's Theory of Fictions by C.K. Ogden.)

From the perspective of the wealthy "employer," it's wonderful that people think they need "jobs" in orderto work and they have to come to someone like me to "employ" them. It gives me power over them. Itmakes me strong and them weak. The more powerful I am, and the weaker they are, the less I have to


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pay them, and the more I profit!

This isn't a criticism of profit as such. There are many "employers" who do their best to play the businessgame such that their "employees" enjoy the best benefits possible while keeping the business viable,particularly considering the restrictions and restraints imposed by terrocrats.

Terrocrats (terrorist bureaucrats or coercive political agents) also use the "job"/"employment" illusionextensively to increase their power. In general, they succeed in dominating people by dictating inthousands of ways with a plethora of "laws and regulations" many aspects of "jobs" and "employment."

For many of us seeking greater freedom, one of the first practical steps we need to take might be toescape from the "job"/"employment" trap. To find out how you may be able to do this, subscribe to theFinancial Independence List. http://www.bigbooster.com/business_opportunities/fi_list.html


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Economic Means To Freedom - Part Ib

Basic Money Skills

By Frederick Mann

IntroductionThere are thousandsofself-improvement, success, and money-making books. Many oftheauthorshave attempted to put together some "integrated formulation" from their ownexperiences and from all the other sources available to them. Unfortunately, most of them -- ifnot all ofthem without exception -- are somewhat incomplete and sometimes evenhopelessly misguided in some respects. I hope my attempt at formulating some moneyskillswill become more complete than most. Ifyou knowor think ofany money skills Ishould add to my list, please e-mail Frederick Mann.

Robert G. Allen (also best-selling author ofNothing Down, Creating Wealth, and Challenge)

writes in Multiple Streams of Income: How to Generate a Lifetime of Unlimited Wealth:

"Prosperous people practice seven financial secrets. I call them "secrets" not because veryfewofus are aware ofthem, but because very fewofususe them.The secrets are, inreality, skills... essential money skills that all wealthy people practice. I believe that ifyoulearn these skills, wealth can flow into your life ... multiple streamsof increasing prosperity.Wouldn't that be nice? Money to buy whatever youwant ...houses, cars, travel, freedom.Surplus toshare with the people you care most about. Security. Peace ofmind.That'swhatthese skillswill bring you."

Allen also devotes a chapter to network marketing (or MLM = multilevel marketing), whichhe calls "the ultimate money machine."

During 1995 and 1996 I wrote my Millionaire Reports. In 1999, after reading Robert T.Kiyosaki'sRich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor &Middle Class Don't, I realized that there were many "gaps" or important areas not coveredin the Millionaire Reports.This article is an attempt tofill some of the gaps.The article isparticularly oriented toward my favorite money-making programs, which can be found onmy Risk Meter.

Basic Money SkillsMoney Skill #0: Overcoming the denial ofpersonal disadvantageMoney Skill #1: Thinking and speaking about money in enriching waysMoney Skill #2: Improve your thinking

Money Skill #2A: NumeracyMoney Skill #3: Understand moneyMoney Skill #3A: Understand valueMoney Skill #4: Understand life energyMoney Skill #5: Understand work and itshistoryMoney Skill #6: Don't work for money; have money work for youMoney Skill #7: Work to learnMoney Skill #8: Ask for and receive assistanceMoney Skill #9: Give yourselfpermission tosucceed


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Money Skill #10: Understand money-making programsMoney Skill #10A: Generate multiple income streamsMoney Skill #11: Utilize opportunitiesMoney Skill #11A: Use e-gold and other payment systemsMoney Skill #12: Create automatic money machinesMoney Skill #12A: MLM -- the ultimate money machine

Money Skill #13: Apply the small-step progression principleMoney Skill #14: Generate residual incomeMoney Skill #15: Overcome the "unreality imperative"Money Skill #16: Eliminate self-defeating behaviorMoney Skill #17: Understand psychological reversal and psychological alignmentMoney Skill #18: Understand and eliminate identificationMoney Skill #19: Understand and reduce bicameral thinkingMoney Skill #20: Learn the traitsofsuccessful peopleMoney Skill #21: Learn J. Paul Getty'swealthsecretsMoney Skill #22: Learn toset appropriate goalsMoney Skill #23: Apply appropriate formulasMoney Skill #24: Risk and money managementMoney Skill #25: Diversification

Money Skill #26: Zero-risk money-makingMoney Skill #27: Improve your disciplineMoney Skill #28: Learn how to cut your lossesMoney Skill #29: Understand fear and greedMoney Skill #29A: Understand human motivationMoney Skill #30: Signal detectionMoney Skill #31: Avoid traps and scamsMoney Skill #32: Rational buyingMoney Skill #33: Rational selling (taking profits)Money Skill #34: FlexibilityMoney Skill #35: ControlMoney skill #36: Recognize, acquire, and develop assets

Money Skill #37: Generate positive cashflowMoney Skill #38: LeverageMoney Skill #39: Eliminate debtMoney Skill #40: MarketingMoney Skill #41: Create credibility and trustMoney Skill #42: Improve your attitudeMoney Skill #43: Time is money; spend it wellMoney Skill #44: Gambling rulesMoney Skill #45: Persistence and determinationMoney Skill #46: Overcoming helplessnessMoney Skill #47: Valuable and/or useful products and servicesMoney Skill #48: Massive action

Money Skill #0: Overcoming the denial of personal disadvantageThis may be the most important money skill ofall. It is also a most important life skill. It's acentral aspect ofthe most powerful success principle ever discovered. Ifyou cannot masterthisskill, you may not make much progressswith any ofthe others. Ifyou do master thisskill, then all the other money skillswill be easier to master. See #TL04C: The UltimateSuccess Secret.


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A reader wrote me, "...How can anyone be expected tounderstand a phrase like,"Overcoming the denial ofpersonal disadvantage?"" What may seem obviousonce you'verecognized it, may seem incomprehensible tosomeone else. Some people have "personaldisadvantages." Some of them deny to themselves that they have these disadvantages. Inorder tohandle thissituation, they need toovercome the the denial oftheir personaldisadvantages.

Money Skill #1: Thinking and speaking about money in enriching waysIn Rich Dad, Poor DadKiyosaki compareshis "twofathers": his biological father whowas ateacher and his mentor whowas a businessman.The teacher washis "poor dad" and thebusinessman washis "rich dad." His poor dad said, "The love ofmoney is the root ofallevil." His rich dad said, "The lack ofmoney is the root ofall evil."

The quote belowfrom Rich Dad, Poor Dadis extremely important. It powerfully illustrateswhat I call "Slavespeak" -- the phenomenon ofcertain wordshaving hypnotic, stupefying,and debilitating effectson their users. See The Anatomy ofSlavespeak.

"Because I had two influential fathers, I learned from bothof them. I had to think about

each dad's advice, and in doing so, I gained valuable insight into the power and effect ofone's thoughtson one's life. For example, one dad had a habit ofsaying, "I can't afford it."The other dad forbade those words to be used.He insisted I say, "How can I afford it?" Oneis a statement, and the other is a question. One lets youoff the hook, the other forces youto think. My soon-to-be-rich dad would explain that by automatically saying the words "Ican't afford it," your brain stopsworking. By asking the question "How can I afford it?" yourbrain is put towork.He did not mean buy everything youwanted.He wasfanatical aboutexercising your mind, the most powerful computer in the world. "My brain getsstrongerevery day because I exercise it.The stronger it gets, the more money I can make." Hebelieved that automatically saying "I can't afford it" was a sign ofmental laziness."

According to Suze Orman in The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom, "The road tofinancialfreedom begins not in a bank or even in a financial planner'soffice like mine, but in yourhead. It beginswith thoughts."

Another book that may assist you in how you think about money isWhy Am I AlwaysBroke? How to Be Sane about Moneyby Albert Ellis & Patricia A.Hunter --see Albert EllisInstitute.

Many people live their lives at the effect ofunconscious "scripts" consisting ofall kindsof"do's" and "don't's." About 15 years ago, I read Scripts People Live: Transactional Analysisof Life Scripts by Claude M. Steiner.Thishelped me considerably toovercome somepersonal scripts. When I was about 17 yearsold I told my father (whohad much in commonwith Kiyosaki's "poor dad") that I could go into business.He proclaimed emphatically, "Youwill never succeed in business." After reading Steiner'sScripts People Live I realized that I

had accepted my father's "curse" as a script whichhad prevented me from being assuccessful as I could have been.

There are certain common "money myths" that are held asscriptsor curses by many --seeMillionaire Report #2. "Economic correctness" basically consistsofmoney myths.The"economic correctness" article includes reference towhat I call "label-think." Here's anotherexample from the Perpetual Tourist List: "Nobody had said that one can't make money fromrunning scams. It doesn't change the fact that MLMs, etc. appear to be scams and it may beunwise tofall for them. Perhaps less-than-moral to try to do them, aswell." The essence of


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label-think is that you don't examine something thoroughly. After a superficial glance youcategorize it into a "hold-all box" with a label such as "MLM." Your MLM box (label) mayinclude everything you deem after a superficial glance to be "multi-level marketing,""pyramid scheme," "chain letter," "Ponzi scheme," etc. And, just because you've put thelabel "MLM" on something, therefore it "appears to be a scam" -- irrespective ofthe realnature ofthe thing.This is thinking similar tohaving the label "Jew" which equals

"dishonest money grabber." Whenever yousee anyone towhom, for whatever reason, youattach the label "Jew," then, irrespective ofthe real nature ofthe person, irrespective ofhisor her actions, he or she is automatically a "dishonest money grabber" -- just becauseyou've labeled the person a "Jew." See alsoMoney Skill #18. Label-think often includesfixed ideas-- the opposite offlexible thought --Money Skill #34.Robert G. Allen hassomeinteresting things tosay about MLM in Money Skill #12A.

Some very important waysofthinking about money can be found in the book Your Money orYour Life: Transforming YourRelationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independenceby Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin --see The NewRoad Map Foundation.There's a greatdeal ofvalue here you'll find nowhere else.

Money Skill #2:Improve your thinking"For an idea which, at first, does not seem absurd, there is nohope." -- Albert Einstein

Thinking can be described as a processwhereby in our brainswe create maps,representations, models, or simulationsof the "world out there." The more accurate ourmaps, etc., the more effective our thinkings tend to be and the more likely we are toachieve the resultswe desire.Thinking can also be described as recognizing and definingidentities, similarities, differences, relationships, and patterns. Discovering causalconnections (or recognizing those othershave discovered) is an important aspect ofthinking.This is closely related to discovering the origins, predecessors, or causesof things.Critical thinking, particularly the ability to question everything, is crucial to effectivethinking. It helps a great deal ifyou can spot errors in the thinking ofothers (relativelyeasy) and in your own thinking (much more difficult!).

Prediction is a most important aspect of thinking, particularly related to money. Youoftenneed to make decisions about what to do and what not to do in order to make money, tonot lose money, or to cut your losses.These decisions are based on probabilitiesoffutureprices going up or down, projectsor programsworking or not working, products achievingmarket acceptance or not, being able tosell something or not, etc.

Learning from your own experience -- and, even more important, from the experience ofothers-- is another important aspect of thinking.

Yet another important aspect ofthinking is to recognize that something you're doing isn'tworking and isn't likely towork, therefore youshould dosomething different. You could also

recognize that something isn't working very well (or aswell as it could or should) and needsto be improved. You can apply the scientific method to come up with better formulasforwhat to do (see alsoMoney Skill #23) asfollows: (a) State the problem (You may need tomake some observations and ask some questions in order to do this.) (b) Research theproblem (What will it take tosolve the problem? What do I know and what do I need tofindout?) (c) Form a hypothesis (Or a formula you can apply tosolve the problem.The simplestsolution isoften the best.) (d) Test the hypothesis (Apply the formula experimentally toseeif it works.) (e) Draw conclusionsfrom the results (Howwell did the formula work? Do I


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need to do more experiments? Return to (a) or (b), ifnecessary. See The Scientific Method.See alsoMoney Skill #23.

A good way to continue improving your thinking iswith the "Brain Freebie" course >>>fromSchool ofThinking. See alsoImproving Your Informationand Thinking Skills, Creativity &Problem Solving.

Tofurther improve your thinking, you need to think about how you think. You becomeaware ofhowothers typically think and how you typically thought in the past.This is called"metathinking" --see Metathinking Explained.

Earl Nightingale pointsout that your mind is like a garden, which may be cultivated orallowed to run wild, but whether cultivated or neglected it must and will produce results.Good thoughts bear good fruits, bad thoughts bear bad fruits. You can lift your thoughtshigh.To lift your thoughts, you may need to renew your mind. And once you renew yourmind, youwill soar like an eagle.The sky is the limit. Energetic thoughts bringachievements. Choose your thoughts carefully toshape your character, life, and the resultsyou produce.

Anxiety, fear, worry, and self indulgence tend toweaken and demoralize your body anddamage your nervoussystem. Your body tends toobey your mind. So negative thoughtscan ruin your body. Joseph Murphy pointsout you are the captain navigating a ship. Youshould give right orders to your subconscious mind. Uplift your thoughts to improve yourdestiny!

Money Skill #2A: Numeracy"People would rather commit suicide than learn arithmetic." -- Bertrand Russell.

"There are three kindsofpeople; those who can count and those who can't." --Robert G.Allen

Numeracy is to numbers as literacy is towords.Tosucceed with money, it helps tounderstand numbers, to be able to deal with them and manipulate them, touse them tobetter understand certain important aspectsofthe world we live in, touse them to assessrisk, and touse them to better predict the future.

Ifyouhaven't mastered addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, decimals,percentages, etc., I suggest youstart withMaths Matters! and Maths.

For an overviewofnumeracy, see Numeracy and Adult Numeracy Down Under.

Understanding and appreciating PROBABILITIES isone ofthe most important skills, not only

for succeeding with money, but in life generally. Says John Allen Paulos in his bookInnumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences:

"And ifyou don't have some feeling for probabilities, automobile accidents might seem arelatively minor problem of local travel, whereas being killed by terrorists might seem to bea major risk when going overseas. Asoften observed, however, the 45,000 people killedannually on American roads are approximately equal in number to all American dead in theVietnam War. On the other hand, the seventeen Americans killed by terrorists in 1985 wereamong the 28 million ofuswho traveled abroad that year -- that'sone chance in 1.6 million


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ofbecoming a victim. Compare that with these annual rates in the United States: onechance in 68,000 ofchoking to death; one chance in 75,000 ofdying in a bicycle crash; onechance in 20,000 ofdrowning; and one chance in only 5,300 ofdying in a car crash."

Many money decisions--whichstock to buy, which money program to join, how muchmoney to commit to the stock or program, etc.-- can be good or bad, depending on your

ability to estimate risk and probabilities. According to Peter L. Bernstein, in his classicAgainst the Gods: The Remarkable Story ofRisk:

"The revolutionary idea that defines the boundary between modern times and the past isthe mastery ofrisk: the notion that the future is more than a whim of the gods and thatmen and women are not passive before nature. Until human beings discovered a way acrossthat boundary, the future was a mirror ofthe past or the murky domain oforacles andsoothsayerswhoheld a monopoly ofanticipated events.

This book tells the story ofa group ofthinkerswhose remarkable vision revealed how to putthe future at the service ofthe present. By showing the world how tounderstand risk,measure it, and weigh its consequences, they converted risk-taking intoone ofthe prime

catalysts that drives modern Western society. Like Prometheus, they defied the gods andprobed the darkness in searchof the light that converted the future from an enemy into anopportunity.The transformation in attitudes toward risk management unleashed by theirachievementshas channeled the human passion for games and wagering into economicgrowth, improved quality of life, and technological progress."

See also: Arithmetic & Numeracy, Mathematics & Statistics, Statistics, and Money Skill #24.

Money Skill #3: Understand moneyMoney can be understood in termsofwhat many consider to be its main functions:(a) Medium ofexchange;(b) Unit ofvalue/money as information;

(c) Store and transmitter ofvalue.

Without money, ifpeople want to exchange goods and services, they barter. "In exchangefor filling my car's gas tank I'll work for youfor an hour." In most cases thissimply wouldn'twork because party A doesn't want what party B has tooffer in exchange. With the use ofmoney as an intermediary (or go-between), a wider variety oftransactions becomepossible, increasing the chances that more people will satisfy their needs.

Tofacilitate exchangesofgoods and services, it helps ifwe have a sense of the worthorvalue of things. I might value my time at $15 an hour. In that case, ifsomeone offers topay me $15 an hour or more, I would consider working for him or her. Ifoffered less, Iwould probably decline the offer. Similarly, I might value a loafofbread at $1. Money as aunit or measure ofvalue helpsus to make better economic decisions. In the absence ofmoney it would be much more difficult to make sensible economic and financial decisions.How things are currently priced by most people provides indispensable information forguiding economic and financial decisions.

The store-of-value function ofmoney makes an important dimension to economic andfinancial life much easier. It enablesus to produce a surplus in the present, tosave thesurplus, and to "move" it to different placesor into the future. Money makes it easy totransfer value from place to place or present tofuture.


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In Your Money orYour Life, Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin provide four perspectivesofmoney:(a) The street-level perspective (practical, physical realm);(b) The neighborhood perspective (emotional/psychological realm);(c) The citywide perspective (cultural realm);(d) The jet plane perspective (personal responsibility and transformation).

The street-level perspective (practical, physical realm) includes the physical aspectsofnotes and coins and all our financial transactions: allowances, jobs/paid employment,banking our checks, balancing our checking account, credit cards, insurance, buying ahouse, investing, assets and liabilities, etc.

The neighborhood perspective (emotional/psychological realm) includes beliefs and mythsabout money: what youhave to do to get money, money assecurity, money as power,money associal acceptance, money as evil, etc. "Economic correctness" is at this level. Sois money as a problem for couples tofight over and as a cause to break up theirrelationship. You can also get murdered for your money.

The three main functionsofmoney I've described above can be assigned to the citywideperspective (cultural realm). So can "economic bogeymen" such as GNP (gross nationalproduct), CPI (consumer price index -- a measure of inflation), cost of living, recession,depression, economic expansion, bull and bear markets, etc. Ideas about using gold (andother precious metals) as money belong to this level. So does complementary currencies--see Complementary Money System.

The jet plane perspective (personal responsibility and transformation) involves letting gowhatever you think you know about money. At this level money becomessomething wetrade some ofour life energy for.

See also "Unconstitutional Money" and The EconomicRape of America.

Money Skill #3A: Understand value"I conceive that the great part of the miseriesofmankind are brought upon them by falseestimates they have made ofthe value ofthings." -- Benjamin Franklin

There are two main "theoriesofvalue":(a) Labor theory ofvalue -- the classical theory that the value ofany good derivesfrom thevalue of the labor used to produce it. Karl Marx and many socialists and communists adhereto this theory. (b) Subjective theory ofvalue --something isworthwhatever people arewilling to pay for it. Austrian economists and many capitalists adhere to this theory. Value(like beauty) is in the eye ofthe beholder.

When you buy something with the purpose ofmaking money, it's because you expect orhope its price will increase. (When yousell something short with the purpose ofmakingmoney, it's because you expect or hope its price will decrease.) Pricesoften depend on howlarge numbersofpeople (the market) value things. Some price changes reflect changes invaluation by large numbersofpeople (the market).

Supply and demand affects prices. Droughts can result in rising pricesofcertaincommodities. Competition often results in lower prices as in the computer industry.Monopoly-like economic power can result in increased prices.


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The value ofa money-making program to me is based on how much money I make with it.See Risk Meter.

Money Skill #4: Understand life energyYour life energy is that which animates your body. You and only you control your lifeenergy.Thishas profound implicationswhich are further explored in How to Discover Your

Freedom. Life energy enables you to perform purposeful and productive activities.

Whatever life energy you've expended in the past is gone -- except for the money and othervalues, including knowledge, that you've saved and accumulated and are available forpresent and future use.The life energy available to you is a function of: (a) What you'vesaved and accumulated in the past in forms that can be carried forward; (b) The time youhave available during the rest ofyour life on earth; (c) The "quality" of this time.

Under (a) you could include family connections, friendships, knowledge, skills, reputation,money, and any other assets that can be carried forward for future use.To think ofyourtime left on earth (b) as limited is to think like a "deathist" whosays, "Nothing is as certainas death and taxes." (See Health Freedom & Life Extension and Fiscal Freedom.The

"quality" of the time (c) youhave available is basically a function ofyour physical andmental health plus your knowledge and skills.

The limited viewof life energy expressed by Dominguez and Robin is grossly mistaken andimpoverishing. Life energy isunlimited.There are no bounds to the extent towhich you canincrease your life energy by improving your knowledge, skills, and health, and by extendingyour life.Their notion that "money = life energy" is also inaccurate. It's more accurate tosay that you can save and accumulate some ofyour life energy as money and in otherforms and transport it into the future.

Money Skill #5: Understand work and its history"I don't like work -- no man does-- but I like what is in work -- the chance tofind yourself.

Your own reality --for yourself, not for others--what noother man can ever know." --Joseph Conrad

"The return from your work must be the satisfaction which that work brings you and theworld's need of that work. With this, life isheaven, or as near heaven as you can get.Without this--withwork you despise, which bores you, and which the world does not need-- this life ishell." -- W.E.B. Ddu Bois

It'sworth it many timesover to buy Your Money orYour Life by Dominguez and Robin justfor what they say about "work" in Chapter 7.They quote >>>from Working by StudsTerkel:

"This book, being about work, is, by itsvery nature, about violence -- to the spirit aswell asto the body. It is about ulcers aswell as accidents, about shouting matches aswell asfistfights, about nervous breakdowns aswell as kicking the dog around. It is, above all (orbeneath all), about daily humiliations.Tosurvive the day is triumph enoughfor the walkingwounded among the great many ofus... It is about a search, too, for daily meaning aswellas daily bread, for recognition aswell as cash, for astonishment rather than torpor; in short,for a sort of life rather than a Monday through Friday sort ofdying."


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Most importantly, Dominguez and Robin indicate that for most ofhuman history (andprehistory) people have had towork only two to three hours a day tosurvive.To me itseems that, given all the machines and technology available in our "modern" world to do allkindsofwork, it shouldn't be necessary for anyone towork more than about one hour a dayto be able tosurvive comfortably!

Most people seem to think that work iswhat we dofor a living and that in order towork youmust have a "job." Dominguez and Robin indicate that the way most people define work ispart ofthe problem. You can start deconstructing your idea ofwork by reading The Strange"Job" Concept. Dominguez and Robin quote from Benjamin Kline Hunnicutt'sWork WithoutEnd:

"Since the Depression, few Americanshave thought ofwork reduction as a natural,continuous, and positive result ofeconomic growth and increased productivity. Instead,additional leisure has been seen as a drain on the economy, a liability on wages, and theabandonment ofeconomic progress."

Confusing "be" and "do" is also part of the problem, according to Dominguez and Robin.

"What do youwant to be when you growup?" You're supposed to answer that withwhatyouwant to do. So most people think and talk in termsof, "I'm a doctor, a nurse, apoliceman, etc." It would be more accurate to think in termsof, "I'm a human being whosometimes does medical work, etc." Dominguez and Robin suggest we redefine "work" as"any productive or purposeful activity, with paid employment being just one activity amongmany..." They emphasize that "breaking the link between work and money" opensusup tomany other options.

The reasonswhy so many work for 40 hours a week or more to be able to pay the bills,rather than 5-7 hours, will be covered in Advanced Money Skills. See also: (a) What ILearned When I Quit My Job: Part One by D.J. Swanson; (b) Creating Livable Alternatives toWage Slavery: "Re-thinking the work ethic"; (c) The Abolition ofWork by Bob Black.

Money Skill #6: Don't work for money; have money work for you"Money is the seed ofmoney, and the first guinea issometimes more difficult to acquirethan the second million." -- Jean JacquesRousseau

The first lesson Kiyosaki emphasizes in Rich Dad, Poor Dadis that rich people don't work formoney; they have their money work for them. Personally, I'm satisfied when my moneyearns a 10% return per monthfor me. Ifmy money isn't providing this kind of return, Istart looking elsewhere. For examplesofhow you too can achieve this kind of return, seeRisk Meter.

Fortunately, you don't even need tohave money in order to make money work for you.There are millionsofpeople in the world with "surplus" money that's not being put toverygood use. You can organize your money-making activitiesso that some ofthis OPM (otherpeople's money) worksfor you. For a general approach to achieve this, see Zero-RiskMoney-Making.

See also Make Money Work for You in Millionaire Report #7.

Money Skill #7: Work to learnMany people are in a situation such that the only practical way for them to be able to pay


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the bills at the end of the month is towork at some "job" ("just over broke!"). Many ofthese people work at essentially "dead-end jobs." I once worked for a publishing company.After about 10 daysofworking there it was clear to me that working there wasof limitedbenefit to me...unless I could learn a great deal which I could apply elsewhere to makemoney for myself. It sohappened that this company sold their products through direct-mailmarketing. So I decided that it would be worth my while towork for the company if I could

learn about marketing, particularly writing advertising copy that sells. I worked for thecompany for nearly two years, learning all I could. After I left them I wrote two books, TheEconomicRape of America: WhatYou Can Do About Itand Wake Up America! The Dynamicsof Human Power. I published them myselfand started selling them. Later I alsowrote mostof the Build Freedom Reports. Selling these books and reports eventually became a thrivingbusiness. Muchofthe successstemmed from what I had learned while working at thepublishing company.

The moral ofthe story is that ifyour situation issuch that youhave towork for money, thenbe sure to put yourself in a position that enables you to learn what will later enable you tomake much more money.

Money Skill #8: Ask for and receive assistanceWhen a friend asked W.C. Fieldsfor a loan, he replied: "I'll see what my lawyer says, and ifhe says yes, then I'll get another lawyer."

It's astounding to me how many people approach me with questions that indicate they needtoupgrade their livesfinancially. I usually suggest that they join the Prosperity CaseStudies by telling uson the Upgrade Your Life Listwhat their current situation is and whatkind ofassistance they think they need. In the vast majority ofcases I never hear fromthem again.The irony is that probably over 90% ofhumans could benefit greatly byupgrading their livesfinancially. It could be that all they want are simple answerson aplatter and they shy away from the intensive and extensive work they might have to doonimproving their thinking about money, work, and related issues. Quite a few people haveasked me to loan them money for various money-making ventures. I'm not interested ingiving (or lending) people fish; I want them to learn how to catchfishfor themselves."Psychological reversal" may play a role in some people's inability to receive assistance --see Money Skill #17.

Money Skill #9: Give yourself permission to succeedMany people suffer from "success anorexia" -- they literally starve themselvesofsuccess.See The Success Clinic. See also psychological reversal --Money Skill #17.

Money Skill #10: Understand money-making programs"My formula for success? Rise early, work late, strike oil." -- J. Paul Getty

See What Criteria Do You Use to Select Your Programs and Understanding Money-MakingPrograms.

Money Skill #10A: Generate multiple income streamsMultiple Streams of Income: How to Generate a Lifetime of Unlimited Wealth by Robert G.Allen is a great book on the topic. See alsoRisk Meter

Money Skill #11: Utilize opportunities"You miss 100% ofthe shots you never take." -- Wayne Gretzky


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"The greatest lossesofall are those from missed opportunities." --Robert T. Kiyosaki

"The secret ofsuccess in life for a man is to be ready for hisopportunity when it comes." --Benjamin Disraeli

We live in a world with billionsofhumans. Is there even one among uswho is completely

satisfied with all aspectsofhisor her life? Not very likely! Everyone wantssomethingdifferent, more, or better! Everyone hasunsatisfied needs and/or wants.This effectivelytranslates intounlimited opportunitiesfor those can come up withways tosatisfy needsand/or wants. And some of them are money-making opportunities.

Because people need and/or want certain things they don't have (or don't have enoughof),certain things are considered "scarce." Ifpeople think something desirable is going tobecome more scarce, then more people want to buy it, and its price goesup.Thisphenomenon results in money-making opportunities.

Most people need and/or want more money. Ifyou can provide people withways to makemore money, some will be willing to reward you.This phenomenon also results in money-

making opportunities.

Most people don't want to lose money. Ifyou can provide people withways to protectthemselves against loss, some will be willing to reward you.This phenomenon also resultsin money-making opportunities--such as insurance.

Many people earn more than they spend, resulting in savings and surpluses. Some want toput there savings and surpluses towork to earn more money. Ifyou can help the, some willbe willing to reward you.This phenomenon also results in money-making opportunities.

Money-making opportunities are endless. See alsoThe Opportunity Gap Principle inMillionaire Report #7.

Marketing gurus Al Ries and Jack Trout have written an excellent book Horse Sense: TheKey to Success is to Find a Horse to Ride.The "horses" I'm riding tosuccess can be found atFreedom Business Opportunities.

Most "opportunities" offered to youover the Internet (or via junk mail) are unworkable orscams. "Whenever something sounds too good to be true, it is too good to be true!" In myexperience, out ofevery 1,000 - 10,000 things that "sound too good to be true," one isactually true. Great benefit can be derived from finding this "1 in 1,000 - 10,000" thing andutilizing it as an opportunity.

"If the opportunity looks like it might succeed for a few months, but will definitely fail in the

long term, walk away from it!" All kindsofproducts, projects, activities, programs, orbusinesseshave an "s-curve-type" life cycle --some longer than others. Great benefits canbe derived from something that you expect tohave a life-cycle of6 - 24 months before itbecomesobsolete for reasonssuch as being replaced by something better.

Do not let "economic correctness" "label-think" (Money Skill #1 and Money Skill #18)prevent youfrom utilizing an opportunity to make a great deal ofmoney. See alsoMoneySkill #12A.


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Money Skill #11A: Use e-gold and other payment systemsYou can open an e-gold account for free here. An account can be opened in the name ofanyentity (identification may or may not be required). "Out exchanges" (withdrawal in nationalcurrencies) can be made to any payee. Accounts and transactions provide for gold, silver,platinum, and palladium. I maximize the use and benefitsofthe service by participating insome "economically incorrect" programs that add many gramsofprecious metals to my

account practically every day. As a payment system for business, e-gold hassome majoradvantages: (a) Virtually instantaneous transactions; (b) Nowaiting for checks to clear; (c)Shopping-cart interface available; (d) Cheaper for a business than accepting credit cards;(e) Noverification necessary asfor credit cards; (f) No bounced checksor charge backs.Open your free account here.

The following payment systems are also available:(a) PayPal(b) X.com(c) payMe(d) eMoneyMail

Money Skill #12: Create automatic money machinesSee Liberty Money Machines.

Money Skill #12A: MLM -- the ultimate money machine"Network Marketing: The Ultimate Money Machine" isRobert G. Allen's title for ChapterSeven ofMultiple Streams of Income: How to Generate a Lifetime of Unlimited Wealth.(Allen is also the best-selling author ofNothing Down, Creating Wealth, and Challenge.)Says Allen:

"Let'sstart with network marketing (also known asmultilevel marketing, or MLM) ...being an intrapreneur ... an independent distributor for a company in the burgeoningnetwork marketing industry.Network marketing. Just saying the words conjuresup lots

ofemotionsfor most people. You either love it or youhate it. Sometimes both. But justwhat is it? ...word-of-mouth advertising.

...Collette phoned the next day and asked, "What do you think ofthe video?" Despite mystrong intuitive hunch, I replied, "Sorry, Collette, I just don't think I'm interested."

Toher credit, she didn't let my negativity stop her. She took my wife to lunch, and theydecided to go ahead without me. I wasso close-minded...

Now, several years later, a very, very large check is automatically deposited into my wife'sbank account every Friday, but it doesn't have my name on it. It's my wife's check. Mr.Skeptical here didn't want anything to dowith it! Soshe gets the check and occasionally

sharessome of it with me...

Blinded by False InformationWhy do you think I voted against my own intuition? Perhaps it was because I had heardsome negative things about network marketing ...and without checking thingsout formyself, I made some snap judgments that turned out to be completely wrong.

...Would you donate a fewhoursofyour flexible time eachweek ifyou knew you could beearning $2,000 to $3,000 a week in residual income in two to three years?


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Are You Crazy?When I explain howsimple this can be, some people look at me as though I'm crazy. So Igive them the financial-freedom test:"Do youhave multiple streamsof income flowing into your life?" (They usually answer no.)"Do you get paid multiple timesfor every hour youwork?" (Again no.)"Are your hourly earnings potentially unlimited?" (Still no.)

"Do your income streamsflow 24 hours a day withor without you?" (No.)"Do youown or control these streamsof income?" (No.)"Will your income streams continue toflow after you die?" (No.)"Can you give yourselfa raise any time youwant?" (No.)"Ifyour main income stream driesup, could yousurvive for a year without income?" (No.)

Then I say, "Because ofnetwork marketing, I can answer yes to eachofthe precedingquestions." I wonder whichofus is the crazy one?

This is my definition of crazy: Crazy, n. Work for peanuts at various jobs youhate for 50years.Then die poor.This is my definition of smart:Smart, n. Work hard for a muchshorter period oftime.Retire with multiple streamsof residual income...

If you can find just one or two customers in every 100 contacts, you can build afortune.

Collette, my ex-secretary, invited 44 people toher first meeting. Four people showed upand two people left early. But the twowho remained were excited and signed up. From thegenesisof those first two people, Collette today earns an income in excessof$1 millionper year."

(By having a website and attracting visitors to it, there's no need tohold meetingsor evenphone people.The website does practically all the selling.)

Money Skill #13: Apply the small-step progression principleSee Millionaire Report #1.

Money Skill #14: Generate residual income"Ben Franklin may have discovered electricity -- but it was the man who discovered themeter who made the money." -- Earl Warren

See Millionaire Report #1 and The Combined Power ofReal Free-Enterprise and ResidualIncome.

See also Chapter Three ofMultiple Streams of Income: How to Generate a Lifetime ofUnlimited Wealth by Robert G. Allen.

Money Skill #15: Overcome the "unreality imperative"The "Unreality Imperative" is a primary motivator (or driving force) for many people. JohnF. Schumaker haswritten twovery important books: Wings of Illusion and The Corruption ofReality. I've referred to the "Unreality Imperative" and alsowritten about "unreality" inCREATIVITY REPORT #1.

Overcoming "economic correctness" is really a subset ofovercoming the "unrealityimperative."


24/98

Psychological reversal --see Money Skill #17-- could also be regarded as an aspect ofthe"unreality imperative."

Money Skill #16: Eliminate self-defeating behaviorSee Millionaire Report #3.

Money Skill #17: Understand psychological reversal and psychological alignmentSee Millionaire Report #6.

Psychological reversal could be regarded as an aspect ofthe "unreality imperative" --seeMoney Skill #15.

See also "success anorexia" --Money Skill #9.

Money Skill #18: Understand and eliminate identificationSuppose one of the activities you regularly perform is teaching. So you think ofyourselfasa "teacher." You identify some ofwhat you dowith your identity (self).This is the confusionof "be" and "do" discussed earlier under Money Skill #5. Ifyou then "lose your job," you'relikely tosuffer an "identity crisis" -- at least, a big blow to your self-esteem.

In Chapter Four ofhissuperb book The Survivor Personality, Al Sieberthas the followingsection on what I call "label-think" and which I take the liberty to quote in full:

"THINKING OF PEOPLE AS NOUNS OR LABELS IMPAIRS THINKINGTounderstand the highly flexible nature of life's best survivors, it is important to examineanother barrier tounderstanding.The first barrier is the tendency to think in either/orterms rather than both/and about personality qualities.The second barrier is touse nounsor labelswhen describing people. We live in a world where it has been common to callpeople "pessimists," "optimists," "liberals," "extroverts," "alcoholics," "schizophrenics," and"co-dependents." Turning people intosuch nouns, however, is a child'sway ofthinking. It

limitsunderstanding. It strips away what isunique about an individual and restricts themind of the beholder to inaccurate generalizations.

A more effective way toview people, and one that allows better understanding, is toassume that every person is more complex, unpredictable, and unique than any label.Toassume a person is more complex than any theory opensup the possibility that a personcan be bothone way and the opposite.

An advantage ofdescribingwhat people feel, think, and do instead of labeling them with anoun, is that when a person changesfrom one situation to the next, we can be comfortablewithhisor her shift instead ofgetting upset when they don't stay consistent with the waywe have them categorized."

I recently received an email from someone whoshould remain anonymous:

> I read your Liberty Money Machines

> and I don't see haw it helps me to

> build a webpage... fellow SG victim.

Someone else sent me an email in whichhe called himself "SG survivor."


25/98

"SG" refers toStockgeneration.

These self-applied labels indicate that the writers identified themselveswith SG and that SGbecame part oftheir identities. Sowhen their SG accountswere stripped to zeroor nearlyso, it was probably a major blow to their sense ofself. It'sunlikely that you can makerational financial decisionswhen you identify yourselfwith a stock, financial instrument, or

money-making program. Such identification is likely to also prevent youfrom diversifyingproperly --see Money Skill #25.

(When my personal SG account wasstripped from over $300,000 (in "cyber-profits") tozero, it wasonly a minor disappointment because I didn't identify with SG and had alreadybeen involved in numerousother successful programsfor several months.)

Identification can be subtle, for example:

> By the way, there are some new /excellent games coming on stream

> that DO offer us great odds again, so let's play those, and get going

> on learning their strategies. It's possible to win back all that was lost

in> SG by the end of the year!

Whatever anyone has lost in SG (or any other program) is gone forever. Whatever moneyanyone makes in any other program has nothing to dowith past SG losses.To regard newwinnings as "towin back all that was lost in SG" is a form of irrational identification. It's athinking pattern that is likely to cause irrational decisions. For example, in another programyou might be in a position where, considering only the program itself, your correct action istosell. But the position might also be that, ifyousell now, you'll "recover only halfofwhatyou lost in SG." So you irrationally try towait until you can "recover everything you lost inSG."

Money Skill #19: Understand and reduce bicameral thinkingSome time ago, a subscriber posted the following to the Financial Independence List:

> What really counts is cash-in-hand.

> Cyber profits don't buy groceries as witness SG, VBT, BIG, etc.

> Until the money is in my account I don't count it.

> The games have proved embarasing to me and my referrals.

> Produced nothing but confusion, frustration and anger.

> I had a lot of respect for you because of your freedom website

> but since the SG, VBT and BIG debacles I don't know what to think.

> Well actually I do know what to do.

> Back to moving more real product that produces real referral commissions

> that shows up like clock work ever month in my account. I do appreciate the

> lists and forums and I think your freedom website> is awesome.

See Model of the Bicameral Mindand Bicaeral Mind (Julian Jaynes).

Here's my response:


26/98

> What really counts is cash-in-hand.

Did you read what I wrote about taking out cash?

>> We use judgment to take out as much cash every month as we

>> think appropriate.

> Cyber profits don't buy groceries as witness SG, VBT, BIG, etc.

I've taken about $100,000 in cash from SG, $15,000 from VBT, and $50,000 from

BIG.

Have you read any of the materials on BigBooster.com related to understanding

money-making programs and how to deal with them?

Do you try to understand the programs you're in, and their current status, or

do you just try to play them blindly?

> Until the money is in my account I don't count it.

> The games have proved embarassing to me and my referrals.> Produced nothing but confusion, frustration and anger.

Maybe that's partly because you didn't use analytical thinking skills to

assess situations and what your actions should be, given current and

developing situations.

> I had a lot of respect for you because of your freedom website

> but since the SG, VBT and BIG debacles I don't know what to think.

I suspect you haven't really been thinking effectively enough and you need to

improve your thinking skills. One of the most ineffective and futile things

you can do is to blame someone else for actions you took because of a failureon your part to think and analyze sufficiently.

Among other things, I've over and over indicated to people on this list that

for best results they should focus on the programs rated high on the Risk

Meter. I started indicating SG weaknesses on this list about seven months

ago. I think one of the debacles here has been the failure on the part of

some players to properly think and analyze before they act.

Money Skill #20: Learn the traits of successful people"Can success change the human mechanism so completely between one dawn and another?Can it make one feel taller, more alive, handsomer, uncommonly gifted and indomitably

secure with the certainty that this is the way life will always be? It can and it does!" -- MossHart

See Millionaire Report #3.

Money Skill #21: Learn J. Paul Getty's wealth secrets"I'd rather have 1% ofthe effortsof100 people than 100% ofmy own efforts." -- J. PaulGetty


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See Millionaire Report #4.

Money Skill #22: Learn to set appropriate goals"Your direction is more important than your speed." --Richard L. Evans

Many studieson peak performance have indicated that most people, who can be described

as peak performers, are alsohabitual goal setters.They all have a burning desire to reachtheir goals. As "average" individuals (formerly underachievers!) begin toset goals, theirlevel of achievement tends to rise dramatically.Their subconscious mindsstarts to assistthem in realizing their goals.

I've heard ofa study at Yale University whichstarted in 1953.They asked graduatingseniors, "Have youset specific goalsfor your life, written them down and made plans toreach your goals?" The replies indicated that only 3% had done this.Twenty years later,they found that, together, the 3% whohad set goals, written them down, and had madeplans to realize their goalswere financially worth more than the other 97% put together!

The term "appropriate goals" is important. You don't want toset goals that are toohighor

too low. It may be worthwhile to review your goalsonce a monthor so.

It may not be appropriate toshare your goalswithfamily and friends.They may use yourgoals as an opportunity to put you down by telling you that you'll never succeed. Secretly,they may want you tofail, because they don't want to be shown up by your doing betterwith your life than they are doing.

Money Skill #23: Apply appropriate formulas"Life is the only game in which the object of the game is to learn the rules." -- AshleighBrilliant

"I can give you a six word formula for success: think things through-- then follow through."

-- Eddie Rickenbacker

A most important general money skill is the use offormulas. My Webster's defines "formula"as: "1b. a conventionalized statement intended to expresssome fundamental truthorprinciple especially as a basisfor negotiation or action; 2a(1): RECIPE; 2a(2):PRESCRIPTION; 3a: a general fact, rule, or principle expressed in symbols; 4a: a prescribedor set form or method..."

In CREATIVITY REPORT #1and CREATIVITY REPORT #2I provide a number offormulasfora range of "levelsofcreation."

You can continuously improve the formulas you apply in relation to money (and every other

aspect ofyour life). You can apply the scientific method to do this--see Money Skill #2.

Money Skill #24: Risk and money management"Behold the turtle.He makes progressonly when he stickshis neck out." -- James BryantConant

Before you buy a stock or put money into an MLM company or money-making program, youshould consider the risk. Generally, the risk is that you could lose some or all ofyourmoney. See Money Skill #2A.


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When I joined SG, after several hoursofanalysis, I decided to risk $6,000.That'show muchI waswilling to lose ifmy decision was a mistake. Assoon as convenient (after about threemonths), I took out $6,000 to get to the "can't-lose" position. I want the "risk-window" tobe asshort as possible. During the three-month risk-window my $6,000 capital was at risk.I could have lost all of it.

There are six general approaches to minimizing this kind ofrisk:(a) Utilize programswhere you don't have to commit any ofyour own money --Money Skill#26. (b) Suppose you're "playing" with $10,000 in "high-risk capital." The maximum youput into any one program is $1,000 --or maybe $2,000 ifyou're very confident about theprogram. (c) Diversification -- youspread your capital over 10 - 20 different programs--Money Skill #25. (d) You take out your original capital (maybe plus a modest profit) assoon as convenient.Thereafter you play with the "house's money." (In the case ofstocks,when your stock's price has doubled you could sell half to recover your original capital.) (e)With programs that pay referral fees you may be able to quickly earn more in referral feesthan your original capital. (f) You make an assessment ofthe maximum amount ofmoneyyou think you'll be able to take out ofa program per month.WQNShas a "buy back" indexon their price page.They alsohave a publicly viewable e-gold account which you can accessfrom their FAQ page. As a general rule ofthumb, youshould probably put no more moneyinto a program than the amount you expect to be able to take out per month, after 2 - 3months. (I put in $5,350 into WQNS, figuring that within two monthsor so I would be ableto take out around $5,000 per month.) WQNS alsohas their "latest news" on their website.There are forumsfor most programs. From all the available information, you can make anassessment ofthe maximum youshould risk on any one program.

A great deal can be learned about risk and money management >>>from professionalgamblers, particularly blackjack players--see BJ21.com: Winning at Casino Gambling. Forexample, a blackjack player with a bankroll of$10,000 might visit a casinowithone-tenth:$1,000. Ifhe loses that, reducing his bankroll to $9,000, on his next visit he risks $900. Onany casinovisit he risksone-tenthofhis bankroll. (His basic betting unit might be $10,dropping to $5 when the "count" is negative and going up to a $100 bet, depending on how

positive the "count" and what range ofbet size it takes to "alarm" casino personnel.)

"Gambler's ruin" is a very important concept. In a game like blackjack, even where theprofessional has a statistical advantage over the casinoofaround 1%, he can still lose allhis money, because ofwild fluctuations that include massive "losing streaks," ifhis bet sizeis too large for his bankroll. Similarly, in the stock market or with money-making programs,people can lose all their money if their individual "bets" are too large compared to theirbankrolls. See "Gambler'sRuin" Calculator for Video Poker. (Jeff Lotspiech's Video PokerPage is a good example ofhow professional gamblers manage to enjoy a statisticaladvantage over casinos.)

This Basic Money Skills article isoriented toward people starting with nothing or limited

capital ofa fewhundred to a few thousand dollars. Ifyou apply these money skills, the daywill come when your capital has grown to $100,000 or more. At some point you may wanttosplit your capital intoseparate bankrolls. You could have one bankroll for high-riskspeculation such as money-making programs, stock options, futures contracts, etc. Youcould have a second bankroll for medium-risk speculation such ashigh-techstocks. And youcould have a third bankroll for safe long-term investmentssuch as Swiss annuities,government bonds, etc. More on this in Advanced Money Skills.

The Risk Meter may assist youwith managing risk related to the programs it features.


29/98

Another important consideration in risk management is "potential downside" versus"potential upside." As I write this (4/29/2000), American Millennium Corp. is priced at$1.00. I could buy it with a stop-loss at maybe 74c. Allowing for "slippage," I risk about30% ofmy money. (Ofcourse, there could be circumstances that result in the pricedropping to 1c before a buyer can be found, or the stock could be delisted, in which case Ieffectively lose all my money.These are unlikely possibilities, but I don't ignore them.)

Now, if I put $10,000 into AMCI, with a $3,000 risk, and I think that AMCI has an upsidepotential of$20, it would be a good bet. On the downside, I could lose $3,000. On theupside, I could win $190,000!

In some money-making programs, particularly ifyou can build a substantial downline, youcan achieve a huge "upside vs. downside ratio." For example, ifyou pay $100 to join aprogram and you're in a position to recruit 20 people, earning you $1,000 (dependson thenature ofthe compensation plan), then you effectively have a 10/1 "upside vs. downsideratio." These are very good odds!

Money Skill #25: Diversification"Money is like manure. Youhave tospread it around or it smells." -- J. Paul Getty

Having "all your eggs in one basket" is a formula for certain ruin! Mathematiciansoften usecoin tossing to illustrate gambler's ruin. For example, youstart with a quarter. On the firstspin you lose; you're out of the game, ruin. Ifyoustart with ten quarters, spin a quarter ata time, and every time it'sheads you gain a quarter while every time it's tails you lose aquarter, it'll take much longer to lose all your money. In fact, given the 50/50 odds, youmay be able to play for many yearswithout losing all your money.

In order tohave a high probability ofwinning in the long run, you must make "bets" whereyouhave an overall statistical advantage. I put over $4,500 intoWHP because my analysisof the program indicated a high probability that I would be able to not only recover mycapital fairly quickly, but also take at least $5,000 a monthout of the game subsequently.But my analysis could have been mistaken and I could have lost my $4,500.However,because $4,500 is a fraction ofmy bankroll, losing it would only have been a minor setback.

In the case ofSG, I put in $6,000 and took out $100.000 during about a year. Supposethere are ten programs, eachwith the potential to return 10 times your capital in one year,and you risk $5,000 on eachfor a total of$50,000. Suppose that in 80% of the programsyou lose all your money -- $40,000 down the drain! Suppose that the twowinners give youback $50,000 each (achieving the 10-times potential) -- a total of$100,000 --overall,you've doubled your money!

Suppose that in half the programs you lose all your money -- $25,000 down the drain!Suppose that among the five winners, two give you back $50,000 each (achieving the 10-times potential) and three give you back $25,000 each (achieving halfofthe 10-times

potential) -- a total of$175,000 --overall, you've more than tripled your money!

(There are alsosome programs, where because of referral fees, you can take out vastlymore than you put in. A case in point isPILL-- Build Freedom put in $200 about five yearsago, and has taken out over $100,000! Build Freedom did spend money on promotion.Fortunately, over the Internet you can market without spending money! --see Money Skill#40.)


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Because, despite anyone's best analysis, the future is never completely predictable and anyprogram can fail for any number of reasons, it's absolutely vital to diversify!

Money Skill #26: Zero-risk money-makingFortunately, you don't even have to risk any ofyour money! --see Zero-Risk Money-Making.

Money Skill #27: Improve your discipline"I count him braver whoovercomeshis desires, than him who conquershis enemies, for thehardest victory is the victory over self." -- Aristotle

Discipline basically refers to doing what you know youshould do and not doing what youknow youshouldn't do. Aswith your diet (not tospeak ofpotential sexual delights!), thereare many temptations to deviate >>>from the formulas and goals you've set for yourself.Lack ofdiscipline can be a major reason for not achieving your goals.

To become more successful with money, you may need to develop your self-discipline,which beginswith your thinking: Money Skill #1 and Money Skill #2. Develop the habit of

observing your thoughts. Particularly ifyoufind yourself tempted to deviate >>>from yourchosen path, ask yourself: "What thoughts are trying toseduce or betray me?" Ifyoufindyourselfactually having deviated, ask: "What thoughts preceded and led to my failure ofdiscipline?" And don't put yourselfdown too muchfor having failed! Learn from your failuresto prepare yourselffor future success!

Improving your attitude --Money Skill #42-- could have a major effect on also improvingyour discipline. Fear and greed --Money Skill #29-- may interfere with discipline.

See alsoHow to Develop Discipline to Become a Successful Investor.

Money Skill #28: Learn how to cut your lossesSee Millionaire Report #5. Generally, ifyou're in a losing situation, the best strategy is tocut your losses and move on toother better opportunities. Beware of"throwing good moneyafter bad money." Some time ago, Stockgeneration became a "losing proposition." Severalsubscribers to the Financial Independence Listspent hours discussing what had happened,instead of just moving on to better opportunities. Essentially, they were "throwing goodtime after bad time." They would have been better offutilizing their time to explore betteropportunities elsewhere.There issome value in analyzing past failures and learning fromthem.However, towaste time on endlessly and pointlessly discussing past failures is to addto your loss.

When buying stocks, you can determine how much you're willing to risk and then set a"stop loss" accordingly. If the stock drops to that price, it'ssold automatically and you're

out with a limited loss. You could take a similar approachwithsome money-makingprograms. Ifpricesfall, yousell and get out with a limited loss.

Minimizing your losses is a most important part ofdiscipline --see alsoMoney Skill #24,Money Skill #25, and Money Skill #26.

Money Skill #29: Understand fear and greedSee Psychology & Behavioral Finance.


31/98

The following isfrom an article in BusinessTimes:

Fear and greed are an investor's greatest enemiesSome interesting studieshave been done in the US relating to the average return achievedby average investorsover extended periods. Both the Morningstar and Dalbar Incstudiesshow that where the market achieved an average return of12% a year, the average

investor achieved a lossof2% a year over the same period. In other words, you are notalone ifyou are making poor returnson your investments- most people are goingbackwards!

Why should this be the case?

Is it simply because the average investor experiences the two "investment emotions" almostall the time? Fear and greed lurk in the background of their decisions.Then along comes awell-meaning "Pied Piper" in the form ofan investment newsletter, a newspaper reporter, ora radio journalist with a specific theory ofwhat the market is about to do and the investor,"warped by lurking fear and greed", makes a radical decision.

From the information on capital flows it is clear that the average investor buyshigh andsells low.This can only be explained by greed (when everyone else seems to be makingmoney) and fear (when there is "blood on the streets").

Fear and greed may interfere with discipline --Money Skill #27. Iffear and greed cause youto do the opposite ofwhat youshould, then they're related to psychological reversal --Money Skill #17.

Money Skill #29A: Understand human motivationIn his ground-breaking article Why I'm a Libertarian, Mack Tanner writes:

"The naked fact ofhuman nature is that most of the time, we don't decide what we really

want through a logical processusing moral or utilitarian arguments.The more we wantsomething, the less logical we are about the reasonswhy we want it. People dowhat theywant to dofor a lot ofreasons that are determined by instinct, training, culture,environment, and heredity.The smarter ofour species may sometimesuse a rationalprocess in deciding how to act in order to get what they want, but they don't start with amoral principle or a question ofsocial utility in determining what it is they really want.

Ifwe engage in a rational process beyond answering the question of "what do I want andhow do I get it?", it is almost always a processofself-justification. We first define what it iswe want, then we look for the philosophical arguments that will justify our wanting what wewant.The young person whowantssex, but whohas been taught that sex outside ofmarriage is morally wrong, thinksup a justification that will allowhim to drop his previousbeliefs and take what a willing partner isoffering. Most often, the rationalization comes afterthe deed is done. Usually, we only bother indulging in such a rational processwhen we arechallenged by others and we don't want to admit the basic selfishness that drivesus.Thenwe think up the moral argumentsfor why our course ofaction is the right thing to do. Oncewe decide what we want, all the moral or utilitarian arguments in the world won't changeour mind, except possibly an argument based on a threat offorce."

Money issomething many people want at a deep level.They may identify money withsurvival; lack ofmoney, withstarvation and even death. It may be difficult for some to


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think rationally about money, to make rational decisions. IfMr.Tanner is right, the moreyouwant something the less likely you are to think rationally about it.

So there may be more than just fear and greed behind irrational money decisions. In orderto make rational money decisions, you may have to transcend aspectsof"instinct, training,culture, environment, and heredity." And the "training" may include brainwashing!

Money Skill #30: Signal detectionHave a look at the SG EarningsReportfor 3/6/99 where I wrote: "It also me

economic means to freedom

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