Freeconomy Blog
Fri
26 Jun
Who is the extremist?
I often get the term 'extremist' thrown in my direction for living the way I do. Especially from my friends who have leanings towards Buddhism. 'Take the middle path' I am told. This I can understand - living without money, I imagine, must seem extreme to most. But what exactly is 'extremism'?
Sat
20 Jun
A week in the moneyless life
People often suggest to me that this blog should be a daily account of my year without money; for example, that I got up, picked some tea, had a crap in the ground and all that.
Wed
17 Jun
I think I need help
Given the title of this blog, you are probably saying to yourself - "well I could have told you that about eighteen months ago" right now. But no, contrary to popular advice, I am not looking to lay myself bare on the psychiatrists couch. I'm just asking for some help with this website.
Sat
13 Jun
An allergic reaction to pharmaceutical companies
I live in a lovely grassy field. Which is great - I love the space, the fresh air, the lack of cars, being in amongst the wildlife and I'm really grateful for being able to watch the sunset. I have one slight problem however - I am allergic to grass pollen. It's like someone allergic to dog hair going to live in a pound.
Sat
06 Jun
Two cups of tea
From most people's viewpoint there are many ways to 'make' a cup of tea; black or white, with or without sugar, weak or strong, to an infinite number of degrees. If you consider the whole process of 'making tea', however, it mostly falls into two categories.
Mon
01 Jun
Freeconomy 2.0 is just days away...
Unbeknown to you all, beneath the calm, peaceful facade that this website may have seemed to portray, things have been pretty hectic since March. It has been eighteen months since this community was born, and whilst it has been successful beyond my wildest visions at this stage of its early development, we're the first to say that we've made many mistakes along the way, and we have you to thank you for pointing them out to us.
Sat
30 May
I just don't really care...
I was talking the other day with someone I'd just met over some dinner, and they asked me why I lived without money, only ate organic, local vegan food and didn't use fossil fuels and so on.
So I spoke about the philosophy behind what I do and the reasons I live this way – the environmental destruction, the suffering to human and non-human animals, the agendas behind the wars we wage, the social and cultural effects of our purchases on the people we can't see – I think the poor guy regretted asking.
Fri
22 May
12 ways to make the world an even better place...
Every now and again someone does something extraordinarily remarkable to make the world an even better place. Like Rosa Parks refusing to get up off her seat. Or Gandhi refusing to eat until both Muslims and Hindus stopped taking an eye for an eye. Like any one of Martin Luther King Jr.'s speeches, knowing assassination was always lurking around the corner. Or that little guy in Tiananmen Square, who stiffened the backs of the world when he refused to move out of the way for the military tanks.
Sun
17 May
Am I a thief?
Murder, violence and theft – three acts generally accepted by modern society as unacceptable behaviour, proven by the amounts of legislation we've devised to 'punish' those who commit them. How many of us have ever questioned what these three terms really mean though? So much of what constitutes our moral infrastructure, within which we consciously and subconsciously make both mundane and important decisions, comes from the melting pot of the cultures we live in, our religions, the media, our peers and other authoritative figures. It is these bodies, amongst others, which define the parameters to what words such as murder, violence and theft mean to the masses of the human population.
Sun
03 May
The real reason I've stopped going to Tesco...
I have a confession to make to you all; one that, I am sorry, may shock some of you. I am no longer a fan of Tesco. For a number of years I loved them - the money I saved by going there kept me in no end of Ralph Lauren polo-shirts and Calvin Klein pants, without which I am sure I'd still be unkissed to this day.