The Voluntary Life

This episode is an interview with Marc de Mesel, who was previously on the show talking about investing in Europe. Marc runs a blog on investing in Europe in dutch and also an investing blog in english. In this episode, Marc talks about the hidden tax that is inflation. We discuss the difference between official inflation figures and the real loss of purchasing power that ordinary people experience. We also talk about ways in which an individual investor or saver can cope with inflation, including the advantages and limitations of precious metals as an inflation hedge. The discussion is opinion only and should not be considered any kind of financial advice. For more information about the concept of the permanent portfolio mentioned in the discussion, see Harry Browne's book "Fail-Safe Investing". You can also hear more about the Permanent Portfolio concept in this previous episode.

This is a repost of the latest Becoming Who You Are Podcast, where I was interviewed by the lovely host of BWYA, my partner Hannah. In Part 1 we talk about how The Voluntary Life began and about feeling free to be yourself in your friendships.

This is a short spontaneous speech by Jake taken from the Porc Therapy appearance in the previous show (see episode 66). It is about alternatives to political activism for getting more freedom in your life. I hope you enjoy it!

This is a repost of an episode of Porc Therapy hosted by Stephanie Murphy that Hannah and I appeared on. "My friends Jake from The Voluntary Life and Hannah from Becoming Who You Are join me today for this fun podcast-only show where our discussion centers around living free – now! We begin with a PorcFest 2012 wrap up, then talk about connecting over shared values, immigration issues, the Free State Project, civil disobedience and political activism (and our disagreements with both), Jake's amazing impassioned speech on living free!, intentional communities, permanent tourism and heading south to find freedom, living on a boat, someone who made his own island out of soda bottles, division of labor/going "off the grid," and Leonid Rogozov's famous self-appendectomy."

This episode is a review of "The Virtue of Selfishness" by Ayn Rand. It is a group discussion and the guests include Stephanie Murphy from Porc Therapy and other friends. Here are some of the things we cover in the discussion:

• The book's gutsy title and the controversy surrounding it.
• The pros and cons of Ayn Rand's morality and her own moralising.
• Aspects of the book we found unconvincing, such as her dismissal of voluntaryism and her idea that no conflict of interest is possible between rational people.
• Rand's convincing takedown of ethical lifeboat scenarios.
• The fact that Ayn Rand is ignored in universities.
• The impact that some of Ayn Rand's contradictions (on intellectual property and on non-aggression) have had on the objectivist movement's development, especially it's pro-war stance on foreign policy.
• Her deconstruction of other moral theories that were around during her time.
• Plus, we have a lot of fun talking about her strange views on tapdancing and morality!

This episode is a continuation of the discussion I had with Brett Veinotte about how entrepreneurship is not taught at school and why. It was recorded live for the School Sucks Podcast at Porcfest. We talk about why it is that teachers are usually the last people who you would expect to learn entrepreneurship from and what you can do to learn it yourself. Sorry about the audio quality, it is a little choppy but still listenable.

This episode is part of a discussion that I had with Brett Veinotte from School Sucks Podcast at Porcfest. Brett and I talked about how entrepreneurship is totally alien to compulsory schooling. School prepares you for a life of working for someone else, whereas goals like working for yourself, growing a business and obtaining financial freedom are never discussed. We discuss things that you can do to overcome the conformity that school sets you up for, such as starting a business as young as possible (even whilst at school) and working to become financially independent of your parents as soon as possible.

This episode is an interview that Jake did on the Porc Therapy Podcast, recorded live at Porcfest 2012. In the interview, Jake talks about some of the things you can do to live more freely whatever society or economy you find yourself in, such as investing in friendships and living abroad.

This episode is an interview that Jake did on the Free Talk Live radio show. Jake talks about entrepreneurship as the best way to achieve more freedom in your life and to make the world a better place.

Matt and Molly have been unschooling their two children for a year. In this episode, they talk about their family's experiences during their first year of living as if school didn't exist.