Harry Browne's REAL Message to Humanity

[MediumTex]

I think that in the midst of all the PP talk, it is easy to lose sight of the fact that the PP was really only a subset of Harry Browne's larger contribution to the field of human knowledge.

I have spent as much time as anyone with Harry Browne's overall body of work, and the theme that emerges from all of it is that one should seek to enjoy life with as much freedom and independence as possible.  Any obstacles to that enjoyment should be considered areas ripe for creative solutions that have the potential to improve humanity's overall lot.  (Note that enjoying life in many cases means providing great service to others, so I don't think that there is any tension between enjoying life and being a useful member of society.  To me, one will often enjoy life the most when he is in the process of providing the most useful ideas, services and products to others.)

When looking at the problem of how to enjoy life, the necessities of food, water, shelter, etc. are obviously first in line, but I think that Harry Browne realized that in the developed world the obstacles to the enjoyment of life were often of a more abstract nature, and manifested themselves in the form of what he framed as impediments to personal freedom.  These ideas and solutions to the related problems were discussed in "How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World."  

In general, I think that Harry Browne looked at freedom as a precondition to a human being experiencing life to its fullest.  As he inspected the matter of freedom, however, I think that he began to realize that a given person's lack of freedom has many facets, among them political, economic, spiritual, psychological, physical, emotional, sociological, and cultural factors.  While "How I Found Freedom..." focused on political, emotional and psychological freedom, one can read his later works on investing as an exploration of the theme of economic freedom.

What I mean by "ecomomic freedom" is not just having a safe, reliable and profitable way of investing your money, but also having a strategy that can truly allow you to forget about your investments without placing them in danger.  

Thus, the real value of the PP may not just be in how well it works, but rather in the freedom it provides from having to constantly worry about your investments.  I think that a REAL appreciation of the PP comes when an investor is able to deploy it with his own assets and then truly walk away and allow himself to be absorbed in other more meaningful aspects of life without being preoccupied or distracted by his investments.  (This is one that I am still working on.)

Truly forgetting about your investments is a hard thing to do, but I sense that the real PP package is the PP allocation, combined with an easy and calm mind that is able to more fully enjoy other aspects of life as a result of the peace of mind provided by the PP.

If I had to make one recommendation to new PP investors, it would be to first practice watching the PP to make sure that you understand how and why it works.  Once you have satisfied yourself that it does indeed work as advertised, however, you should then practice not watching it, and try to condition yourself not to feel the need to check in on it too often.  In my view, this is the way to obtain the maximum benefits (both financial and emotional) that the PP has to offer.

[Wonk]

Great insight MT.  I'll say that as a marketer and entrepreneur, my most fulfilling moments in professional endeavors have been adding value to people's lives--customers first, then employees.  It just so happens that when you do that, you get paid handsomely.  I think it's great to shed light on Harry's philosophical pursuits because they tend to be sophisticated without being overly complex.  I found great nuggets of wisdom in "The Secret to Selling Anything."

He also had an affinity for fine music and a deep love for his wife Pamela--in addition to being an investor, philosopher and writer.  Splitting attention would be difficult if he were always focused on his investments.  I've found it's an achilles heel of sorts for me, as I am always interested in learning more about how the system "works" and the history of it all.  I tend to focus too much on investments, so it's always good to have a reminder that--yes--there are more important things in life than our portfolios.

Harry Browne passed at a relatively young age.  He wasn't able to take any of his money with him so it should be a reminder to us all where our priorities should be.

[MeDebtFree]

Excellent post, MT!  Thank you.

[Lone Wolf]

Outstanding post.  I can't add much beyond saying that I noticed the same themes but never put them into words (particularly not words this elegant or succinct.)  Both the Permanent Portfolio and "Freedom in an Unfree World" demonstrate that you can gain both profit and peace of mind in the world as it is, a world that is so often chaotic and uncertain.

I must further confess that I was only able to get about halfway through "Freedom in an Unfree World" before I was too rattled to continue.  Perhaps I can only handle so much 200 proof reality in one stretch.  I don't mean to make it sound like the book is "The Necronomicon" or something... I think that the part that discusses when it might be appropriate to separate oneself from family and children was just something I had not properly fortified myself to read about.

Even without finishing it, the book profoundly changed the way I looked at the world.  That's striking when you consider that I disagreed with a lot of the specifics that I read.  (But I think that if you read that book and agree with 100% of it you might be kind of missing the point.)  Edit: I definitely will finish the book, though.  It really is excellent, so long as one applies their critical thinking and understands that this book does "shake the rafters" so to speak.

[D]

Didn't he get into gold speculation and got rich speculating after writing that book? 

I thought he started doing PP to preserve what he got through speculation...

But good post!

[MediumTex]

Didn't he get into gold speculation and got rich speculating after writing that book? 

I thought he started doing PP to preserve what he got through speculation...

But good post!

Harry Browne was talking about gold as an investment in his courses in the 1960s (and "How I Found Freedom..." came out in 1973).  I think that as the delusional quality of LBJ's worldview became apparent to observers like HB gold became an obvious play on the increasingly foolish policies of the U.S. government.  His thesis worked out as he predicted, though I think he realized that such moves are normally once in a lifetime opportunities (i.e., you only go off the gold standard once).

It is true that he talked about the PP as a safe place for his gains from gold investing and investment consulting in the 1970s, though I think that the utility of the PP obviously stands on its own.

Viewed from a larger perspective, the PP is consistent with HB's overall strategy of creating accessible pathways to personal freedom in the world as it is (rather than lamenting the lack of a utopian world in which to live a free life).  It's the coherence across all of HB's thinking (and its implications for living a more satisfying life) that is what I was getting at in the OP.

[Hobbery]

I must further confess that I was only able to get about halfway through "Freedom in an Unfree World" before I was too rattled to continue.  Perhaps I can only handle so much 200 proof reality in one stretch.  

Man, Lone Wolfe.  I certainly do hope you finish the book.  The last third of the book is THE BEST.  That's where he really does nothing but push you toward yourself...  I thought it was amazing.

I also can't stress enough, how good his Rule Your World CD's are.  There's endless content there.  It takes forever to get through those CDs.  And it very much expounds on "How I Found Freedom".  Well worth every penny...

[MediumTex]

I also can't stress enough, how good his Rule Your World CD's are.  There's endless content there.  It takes forever to get through those CDs.  And it very much expounds on "How I Found Freedom".  Well worth every penny...

OH MAN!!!!!!!!

I have finally found someone else who has listened to this course!

I bought it almost three years ago and it has been such a pleasure listening to it over and over and over.

In talking about this course here and at the BH forum I have often felt like I was talking to myself.  I'm so happy to hear that there is at least one other person out there who listened to it and thought it was amazing.

The depth and subtlety of HB's insights, along with the seeds for the PP concept, can be heard in these lectures (20 hours worth!).

It's probably the best $99 I have ever spent.

[MadMoneyMachine]

I have finally found someone else who has listened to this course!

You can add me to the list of those who have listened to Rule Your World. And read "Freedom..."
I'm not sure which of his ideas I latched onto first, the PP or libertarianism, but they both work for me.

I admit to being a harry-browne-o-phile. I own almost all of his books. (e.g. Don't have the Swiss Banks one.)
Ah, and I haven't read "The Secret to Selling Anything"... yet.

I read RYW several months ago. Hard to believe that such good sense could come out of the 60s.
I'm going to add it back onto my reading list again. Thanks for the prompt.

[craigr]

I have to get cracking on listening to mine.

[Drewskers]

I read "How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World" back in 2003. I'd already dealt with and overcome several of the freedom traps HB talks about a few years earlier, when I decided to leave an unsatisfying profession, and left a bad relationship. HB's book really rounded things out though, and gave me a better understanding of some of the reasons I felt it necessary to make those changes.

Somehow, sadly, it took me another 7 years to discover the PP...

BTW, a great investment opportunity for the VP would have been to stock up on copies of "How I Found Freedom" - check it out on Amazon, new copies are going for upwards of $220, used copies start at $64!

[Hobbery]

I love this.  You guys are awesome...

So sometime in my late 20's, I became obsessed with being rational...  so finding Harry Browne almost made my head explode...!!!  He's still my all time hero.

What I wouldn't do to have actually sat through one of his seminars... 

And in the 60's, Harry had a connection with a bizarre fellow named Andrew Galambos who also taught a "freedom" course.  There is no recorded or written account of his courses (mostly because he was a bit of a lunatic) and now they're just erased from history. It's like there was a whole "west coast freedom movement" that happened in the 60's.  Like a murky lost chapter in Libertarian history... 

We almost didn't have Harry's course either.  His wife literally found the recordings in a box in their attack.  They were actually on reels...  I've never even seen a recording reel....

That's crazy, THEY'RE SO GOOD.

[smurff]

We just did a cross-country drive and listened to about 22 hours of Harry Browne's podcasts, all the way.  (No Lady Gaga, Matchbox 20, Nickelback, or Coldplay, except to reset the FM dial.)  It's great when you connect the iPod so it plays through the FM radio, and let one podcast play after the other finishes.  He has a soothing voice, but not so soothing that it puts you to sleep.  His friendly, matter-of-fact manner of speaking makes the PP seem to be as normal a style of investment portfolio as any other.  We got to listen again to a lot of the information we thought we knew already.  It was a good review, listening to Harry explain why the four asset classes are important, what specific financial products to invest in for each of the classes, and why it's important to keep money outside the country you live in.

Of course, when it's time to return home, we get to listen to another 22 hours of recordings on the way back (early January).

[Freedom_Found]

Great post, thanks. I was hesitant to spend $99 for a download, but I think now I will do it.

[BearBones]

Great post, MT.
If possible, can someone give a few sentence synopsis of the "Freedom in an Unfree World" book and/or the "Rule Your World" audio for those of us less erudite. I'm interested.

[stone]

BTW, a great investment opportunity for the VP would have been to stock up on copies of "How I Found Freedom" - check it out on Amazon, new copies are going for upwards of $220, used copies start at $64!

Isn't this it?

http://www.happierabroad.com/Freedom.pdf

[jackely]

I first discovered Harry Browne through his anti-war writings, some of the best I've found.

[AdamA]

Great post, MT.
If possible, can someone give a few sentence synopsis of the "Freedom in an Unfree World" book and/or the "Rule Your World" audio for those of us less erudite. I'm interested.

I haven't listened to the Rule Your World lectures, but read How I Found Freedom about a year ago, and it had a profound effect on me.  The book is essentially about learning to be true to yourself.  Very worth the time it takes to read, which isn't that much.

[MachineGhost]

The essence is we have limited time and labor and so dont waste your life on the indirect means to freedom, i.e. persuading others [politics].  And to spend your time on the direct meants to freedom, i.e. earning money [self-leadership].

Of course, I think reality is a little more nuanced than back in 1973, at least for those of us in the West.  Running away will only delay the inevitable, maybe not personally, but certainly for worldwide civilization.  Add if you plan on availing yourself of life extension technologies, it would behoove you not to be snarky about it.

It took me a long time to recognize that you must fight the war against anti-freedom forces on all fronts (granted, I didn't first believe until I first experienced something actually effective).  But I would never, ever personally put the super-majority of my emphasis/labor on the indirect means to freedom.  I believe selective charity (i.e. letting others fight the good fight with your money) is appropriate for those instances.

MG

Great post, MT.
If possible, can someone give a few sentence synopsis of the "Freedom in an Unfree World" book and/or the "Rule Your World" audio for those of us less erudite. I'm interested.

[MachineGhost]

Galambos' stuff has been encoded into the book series "Sic Itur Ad Astra" (This is the Way to the Stars) which is the creme de la creme for building a voluntary society.  The first plank is that private property is necessary for civilization and he defines that to be that you own your own mind.  Everything else follows on from there.

Harry Schultz, Harry Browne Andrew Galambos, and W.G. Hill, could be considered the intellectual leaders of the decentralized "build [direct] freedom" movement if one could be construed to exist.

MG

I love this.  You guys are awesome...

So sometime in my late 20's, I became obsessed with being rational...  so finding Harry Browne almost made my head explode...!!!  He's still my all time hero.

What I wouldn't do to have actually sat through one of his seminars... 

And in the 60's, Harry had a connection with a bizarre fellow named Andrew Galambos who also taught a "freedom" course.  There is no recorded or written account of his courses (mostly because he was a bit of a lunatic) and now they're just erased from history. It's like there was a whole "west coast freedom movement" that happened in the 60's.  Like a murky lost chapter in Libertarian history... 

We almost didn't have Harry's course either.  His wife literally found the recordings in a box in their attack.  They were actually on reels...  I've never even seen a recording reel....

That's crazy, THEY'RE SO GOOD.