[This book contains 162 pages.  Documents 67-91 plus an introduction
were combined to produce 1 large printable document.  I used MS Word
and formated the text with Courier 12pt font.  I also arranged the text
so it would be readable on any computer.  Released to the internet
system on 3/7/93 by dmw@sioux.ee.ufl.edu]

FREE I GOT

     What one person did to make his life less frustrating, with less
tension and a whole lot more fun.

     There may be some ideas here that will give you some hope that our
world will survive. It points out some things an individual can do to
help.

ANOTHER BOOK by Ernest Mann

     I WAS ROBOT (Utopia Now Possible).

Published by Little Free Press, 1990.

ISBN 0-9620301-0-4, is a 319 page paperback book.  It contains the best
of Little Free Press newsletters over the first 20 years.  It tells how
he retired at age 42 in 1969. With 24 hours of free time each day he
learned some amazing things about the System and how to change it.  It
gives examples on how he learned to live cheaper and better.  Also
available on computer disks with reprinting permissible.

About the Author:

     The author was in business in Minneapolis for 20 years. He gained
enough knowledge in Economics from Business College and from practice
to retire at the age of 42 in 1969.
     Since then he has had the time and space to observe economics from
a different perspective and has had 21 years to travel to many
countries; read, observe, discuss, think, evaluate and form his own
conclusions about the economic situation, politics, religion, life and
individual freedom.
     Now his belief systems are far different than they were when he
was busily engaged in trying to keep his bills paid.
------------------------
FREE I GOT
by Ernest Mann

Little Free Press

The character in this book is the same one who was in I WAS ROBOT and
any resemblance to anyone else, living or dead, is a real strain on the
imagination.

Copyright, 1993, Ernest Mann

Except:  Permission is hereby granted by the above author, to anyone
and everyone, free of charge, to reprint and/or reproduce this book in
part or in whole, by any method, if this copyright notice and exception
is included.

Little Free Press
1011 6th Avenue NE apt 21
Little Falls, MN 56345  USA

ISBN: 0-9620301-1-2

To all people who prefer to be their own master.

                    CONTENTS

67   FOOT LOOSE:
     Lived in a van. Parked in woods. Drove to Miami. Engine trouble.
What to do? Diary of trip to La Paz, Mexico.

68   DIGGING:
     Finding usable treasures in rubbish boxes. Comments on Regan. Free
Skills Pool. Surplus money is independence. Learning freedom. No phone
for 10 years. Ownership. No free lunch. 98.6% made less than $50,000 in
1980. Listening to music or living? Started a rooming house. Prospects
of a publisher for my first book. Advertisement for a mate.

69   CREATING MY OWN UTOPIA:
     Taking my own Freedom. Trailer in woods. Trip to Miami. Happiness.
What is fun? Pivot point in life. How I'm becoming a free person. New
meaning of Utopia?

70   MATING PROBLEMS:
     Many profit from divorce. A divorce conspiracy? 13 reasons why
there is profit in causing trouble. A letter from Dave Hyde. Another
trip to Miami. Back in Minneapolis paying rent. Problems publishing my
first book.

71   AN INDIVIDUAL'S FREEDOM:
     Teach it or do it? Wild and free. The System -- a Game. A better
Game. Bucky Fuller's World Game. What to do. Absorb the mass media? 95%
of super-market is unnecessary for me. Laugh at latest scams of
politicians. Music a mood conditioner. Drop-out in 1969. Holes in our
hull. World is now set-up for an easy "Evolution." Solo organizations.
People kept ignorant.

72   WHERE TO FOCUS:
     Getting people to talk about the Priceless Economic System(PES).
Sharing Utopian ideas. Greenhouse Effect -- adjust to these changes or
stop them?

73   PRICELESS ECONOMIC SYSTEM:
     Reveals the primary "cause" of our major problems. A solution.
Unnecessary jobs eleminated. Why greed? What to do.

74   UNDERSELL:
     Start a business with all volunteers. Undersell all competitors.
14 ways to entice volunteers. Catch 22. What to do? 14 things I want. 5
things I like. How I achieved it. 4 ways to get funds. Buying causes
pollution.

75   WHAT, WHY, HOW, WHO, WHERE & WHEN:
     13 what, why and hows. Changed some of my beliefs. How to live on
less and gain more free time. You don't have to join or pay to become
free.

76   WHAT TO DO TODAY:
     12 things I should do. 8 things I want to do. 13 things I like to
do. 5 freedoms. 7 things that make me feel happy. Our planet is a space-
ship. A hermit? Space program could accelerate in PES. Back in the
country.

77   HOLES:
     People are drilling holes in our space-ship's hull. Money is not
evil. Value. Pure givers. Why people give. Sold everything in 1969.
Toured the U.S. My biggest expense. Forethought. No profit in war or
waste in PES. The natural meaning of the "Law of Supply and Demand."
How to start the PES. Quit relying on the "Experts." Sneaky trick. An
insight into pain. Some short, I WAS ROBOT, reviews.

78   WAR:
     Who profits most? No man an island? Selfish is good. 4 things I
ask myself. S.O.S. Inventors with unlimited resources in the PES.
Tesla. Vague computer books. Computer-teachers. Home schooling. Profit-
way or the people-way? Notes from readers. I WAS ROBOT, book review by
Ed Stamm. My response. Work only one day per week. No need for
government. Some already giving all or part of their work free of
charge. No need to struggle.

79   MIKE FREEDOM:
     A video now out on Mike, who used to work with me. Cheap land in
northern Minnesota. Cheap trailers. Another "woman wanted" ad.
Winterize trailer. Slave labor gang. Self-liberated. I also enslave me.
Burn-out. I rationalize. Utopia. Community? Readers write. Some zine
reviews.

80   NEW INSIGHT:
     Are daydreams and thoughts effected by media? On keeping busy.
Money is independence. How to make some money. Why. Your heart's
desire. A positive dependency in PES. My independent survival system.
Will there be Progress in the PES? Still looking for a mate. Cheap
cabin blueprints info. Some zine reviews. "Kings of the Jungle" booklet
info.

81   FOREST CLEARCUTTING:
     How to stop it. 4 legged garbage collectors. Loggers and forest
rangers -- the new forest caretakers. Gift society. Another ordeal to
Florida. Save the world or save ones self? Survivors lifestyle? Tampa
traffic. Van troubles. New gas heater for trailer. Quiet and peaceful
here. My 3,300 mile Odyssey. Answer to letter from Frank Lee Sedd,
Mpls., MN. Who gets the gold in the PES. Golden Rule. Who would work?
Work a duty or privilege? Will Elite rule? I WAS ROBOT, book review by
Lynn Olson.

82   HOW TO STOP WAR:
     A theatrical extravaganza.  Realize the cause of this war.  What
individuals can do to make them quit.  A "Crash Project."  How I
simplify my lifestyle.

83   POSTERS (mini size)
     BOYCOTT THE B.C.'S: A sample sticker sheet one can make with six
up.

84   Desert Storm Scam:
     Impeach Bush? Propaganda. How to build Utopia. Mortgage =
Indentured Slavery? Is the End, the Means? Book review by Neal Keating.
Subliminals.

85   BOYCOTT FOR AMNESTY:
     Amnesty for demonstrators and deserters. $1,000,000,000 bio-
computers. What it can do. Media mind games. Who creates public
opinion? Explore your mind. Earning money. Surplus money + no debts =
independence.

86   PRICELESS ECONOMIC SYSTEM:
     Points out 4 major problems with the Profit/Wage System.  Dwells
mostly on PES and explains in some detail how it will work.

87   CHANNELLED BY MONEY:
     Ways poor people can help change the System.  Ways to save money.
What's happening in my life.  Car living.

88   INDIVIDUAL FREEDOM:
     Rewards. An Incite into vegetarianism from Oliver Twist. Cause of
sore throats. Bumper stickers. Another trip to Miami. Cheap rental.

89   CONFESSION:
     Emotions. Adventure in warehouse. Happiness. Menochew. Be selfish.
Zine reviews.

90   CONFORMITY IS SURVIVAL:
     School of fish. My heater score. Boycott preparation. Computer
crash. Dental trip to Mexico. Buy American? Reviews. Escape. Multiple
progression of numbers. Good space.

FORWARD

     I wrote, published and distributed the Little Free Press
newsletter from 1969 until March 3, 1992 when I terminated it.  There
were subscribers from nearly every state in the U.S. and requests from
people in many other countries.
     The main theme was the Priceless Economic System (PES), a system
where there would be no Profit in starting a war, in polluting our
environment, in causing people to starve or in stealing, i.e., a system
where everyone would have much more individual Freedom.  It also
pointed out how I was learning to live cheaper and better and how I was
taking my Freedom and how the whole world's population could all switch-
over to this nearly Utopian system, simultaneously within a year, if
more people would help with this work.
     The work is simply to help spread the idea that there is a
workable Utopian system and that individuals can start living part of
it right now while they are helping to promote it.  No struggling,
demonstrating or fighting is needed.  No begging for money.  Just being
an example having fun in life with little tension and anxiety, i.e.,
being someone who understands Freedom and is taking Freedom right now.
     Creating this near-Utopia is a challenge for each person who
undertakes it.  It gives exercise to ones creativity in both designing
ones own Freedom and in figuring out ways to show it to others.  There
is a by-product of this activity; one learns more about ones self. I
seem to feel the happiest when I'm busy working creatively on a project
that I think is important.
     This is going about the business of saving our world in a positive
way, by taking the offensive and being a builder of better ways instead
of wasting our energy attempting to make corrections in a system that
has never worked for the average person.  It has always worked for the
super-rich.
     Since I stopped writing the LFP newsletter I have been trying to
figure out better ways to promote the PES.
     These back issues of the Little Free Press are as current as
todays paper!  They deal with your own individual freedom.  That is
always current!

Ernest Mann
January 13, 1993

Little Free Press #67

FOOT LOOSE

     Let me tell you a little bit about what it's like to be foot loose
and fancy free, with 24 hours a day of free time and a little extra
cash in your pocket.
     I decided some months ago to live where I didn't need to pay rent.
I was paying $235 per month for a furnished efficiency in a poor area.
I found a person to take over my apartment so I didn't have to give a
30 day notice to move.  I then moved into my 1979 Dodge middle-length
van and parked it behind a friends store in his parking lot.  I used
restaurant and University rest rooms and showered once in a great while
at my friend's apartment.
     I cooked my main meal on my one burner propane Primus stove at
noon time in my van.  I had built a queen sized bed across the rear of
the van that rested on the rear wheel fenders because that is the size
of an old water stained Futon mattress that some friends laid on me in
Tucson in 1985.  I have just enough room under the bed to put several
boxes to store much of my gear.
     I got bored with this life and drove up to Cushing and parked in
my old woods spot and used an old (motorless) school bus for my
kitchen.  This was very peaceful and relaxing.  It was nice to sit
outdoors with a dying camp fire and look at the sky full of stars.
     It was starting to get cold so I figured it was time to head for
Florida.  I drove down through the bottom part of Michigan on my way
and passed the old farm house I grew up in.  I could hardly recognize
it.  It had been remodeled.  My high school had been toren down.  The
crop land looked very ragged and unkept (unused).  I would not care to
live there again.
     My first night on the road I found a KOA camp area just outside of
Chicago.  They charged me about $10 to just park my van and use their
toilet.  My first and last KOA.  From then on I stayed on the freeways
and stopped late at night at Highway Rest Areas and slept without
interruptions.  Most of them had very clean toilet facilities and
water.  I never buy bottled water.  Tap water seems to keep me healthy.
Of course that doesn't put me in the "in" group.
     I started early and drove late, nothing else to do.  By the time I
got to the by-pass around Atlanta, Georgia, I had started smoking
cigarettes and playing the radio to stay awake, besides stopping for
coffee and gas often.  It happened to be a rush hour and the cars were
doing about 70 mph and they were bumper to bumper (well maybe a car
length apart).  It seemed like a 100 miles around that city.  It was
hectic!  I was never so close to freaking out in my life.  I had to
begin stomping my foot to the music and slapping my leg to hold my wits
together.
     Some people must drive that twice a day, 5 days a week.  No wonder
so many people flip out and are in treatment.
     I was so caught-up in driving that it didn't occur to me to take
an exit ramp, park and take a nap 'til the rush hour was over.  Somehow
when I get behind the wheel it is hard to stop unless I really have to.
Why is this?
     Well, I made it.  Smoked most of my cigarettes.  But I made it!  I
determined not to take that by-pass again at rush hour.  I guess I'm
spoiled because I have never had a job that required me to do much rush-
hour driving.  On my return I went directly through Atlanta on a
freeway (not in a rush hour) and that was not so bad.
     When I got into northern Florida my radiator started to boil so I
turned my heater on and that cooled the water down.  But it was a
little too warm in the van so I opened all the windows.  So I was too
warm in Florida except at night.  It was really hot in Miami.  I think
this was early November.  I found a shady place to park my dark brown
van in Coconut Grove at the Dinner Key Marina.  I talked to an old
street acquaintance, a sort of beach comber.  He gave me the low-down
on how to live in my van rent fee.  He was living in his car.  I think
I could have done it too.
     I also found a roadside park about 30 miles west of Miami along a
cannel where a few people were squatting already.  I bought some gas at
a truck stop near there and they said it was ok to park behind their
place for the night.
     Florida City, the last town before the keys start, had a trailer
park that one could park in for about $100 per month.  I almost went
for that.
     Well, I figured I may as well drive the 130 miles more to Key
West.  It might be a better place to spend the winter.  I had been
reading an Ernest Hemingway book and he used to hang out in Key West so
why not I?
     I got out there and the old town sure was dolled up since I was
there 20 years ago.  Now its Old Town is several blocks long and is
elbow to elbow with fancy dressed tourist.  Disgusting!  I drove on out
and found a trailer park and gladly paid the $14 to park, toilet and
shower.  I was very tired of driving by then.  There seemed to be no
cheap way to live in Key West.
     I sat around in the sun and looked at the sea and decided it was
too hot yet in Florida for me.  I would go home to Minneapolis and buy
2 extra pairs of long warm underwear and stay there for the winter.  So
I started my long trip home next morning.
     Everything went fine until I got into southern Illinois and there
my radiator started to boil and send steam up.  I stopped and it looked
like steam was coming from my water pump so I thought it had burned out
a bearing.  I was on a freeway a long way from a town.  I tried
hitching a ride but no one would stop.  Behind me a bridge went over
the freeway with a little country road.  I couldn't see any houses but
a woman walked across it and waved at me.  I ran back there and she
said I could use her phone.  She even gave me a cup of coffee and the
name of her mechanic and a tow truck.
     It cost me $30 for the tow and it turned out that I had just blown
a little 3" long engine by-pass hose.  With new antifreeze and the
labor it was only about $28.  I figured I got off easy.
     About 10 miles down the road it started steaming again.  What now?
Now it looked like the connection for the thermostat was leaking.  I
put about a gallon of water in and headed for the closest town.
Stopped at an auto parts store and bought a new thermostat and gasket.
I put this on myself and went on down the road.  Again it started
steaming.  Stopped and added more water and limped into the next
closest town to their auto parts store.  This time I saw the real
trouble.  The three inch hose the mechanic installed was too large in
diameter so the hose clamp couldn't prevent leakage under pressure.
This parts man looked it up in his manual and gave me the proper hose.
I noticed it was leaking around the thermostat fitting too, so I bought
another gasket and some gasket cement.
     That was the end of my car trouble.  It was all a big hassle, but
I actually felt good about it when it was finally fixed, because I had
been able to make the final corrections myself.
     I should back way up here and explain some of the frustration I
went through with my freedom of trying to decide if I should go to
Florida, rent an apartment in Minneapolis, repair my sailboat in the
Bahamas, fly to Mexico to get my teeth fixed, buy a house trailer and
park it in the Cushing woods or what I should do.  I could have done
any of the above.  It finally felt good after I chose Miami and got
under way.  Freedom has its cost.  One must make decisions and when you
have so many options it is sometimes difficult to decide which would be
the best one to choose.  I may yet learn a method that is not quite so
painful, to get through these major decisions points in my life.
     When I got back to Minnesota I went right up to Cushing.  I guess
that was when my drinking water froze in my van.  So I decided even if
I bought the two pair of underwear I still didn't want to stay in the
woods for the winter.  I thought I might find a place in the Arizona
desert that I might park for free for the winter.  So I took off for
Tucson.  On the drive down I stopped in Boulder, Colorado, for a few
days and visited a friend.  I liked Boulder and half thought of finding
a place to park there for the winter until I was told it snows there.
     I had been urged to try Taos and Sante Fe, New Mexico.  I just
drove through very slowly and could see they were not my kind of towns.
     In Tucson I stopped at some friends and had a nice chat.  They let
me use their bath and park in their back yard.  I drove around the town
the next morning and it just didn't feel like home.  The winter of 1985
I spent a couple of months there and liked it.  But this time I headed
up for northern California to visit some friends, in the Mendocino
area.  After about four or five days, I decided again that Minneapolis
was where I wanted to be so I drove home.  I was lucky and got back
ahead of the snow storms, though they had 6 or 8 inches of snow in the
woods near Cushing, so I headed for Minneapolis to my parking lot spot.
I had driven 10,800 miles in three weeks.
     Then the indecision began all over again.  What should I do now?
     When I returned from Miami my book manuscript had been returned
from Signet Books saying they don't read unsolicited manuscripts.  So I
sent it off to Bantam books.  That finally came back, rejected again
when I returned from California.
     Then I sent just a query letter to a publisher/distributor in
Washington state.  Still haven't heard from him.  Then I composed a two
paged letter to 34 of the 49 US billionaires.  I could only find 34 of
their addresses.  As you might suspect, I received no replies.  Then I
composed a letter and sent it to 21 of the world's largest advertising
agencies, soliciting their expertise.  As you might guess again, not
one offered to help change the system.
     I also tried writing letters to 24 women about my age who had ads
in the local singles classifieds.  I got only two answers.  One sounded
like she was sorry that I wasn't looking for a religious woman because
she confessed that she was one.  The other one didn't seem to mind.
She and I went on a drive to Cushing. She is a very nice person, but
too straight for me, I think.
     It was getting colder and colder in Minneapolis.  I had a very old
sleeping bag around a newer one (I found in a dumpster years ago) and a
polly blanket and a wool navy blanket on top of a closed cell 3/4 inch
foam pad on top of my Futon.  I was starting to get cold even with wool
socks, wool pants, wool sweater, vest and wool suit coat and wool
stocking cap.  So I bought a better sleeping bag and put that one on
the inside.  Then I was cozy until it got down to 0o Fahrenheit.  Then
I purchased an electric 1,500 watt heater with a fan and a safety
switch that rang a bell and turned the heater off if it fell over.  My
friend allowed me to plug it into his outlet behind his store in his
parking lot.  Now I was cozy as a bug in a rug.  I even took off some
of my wool.
     Living in my van was an interesting adventure.  I could have
survived nicely all winter.  I was getting a pleasant routine down that
I could live with and no doubt perfect even more as I discovered more
places to hang-out where I didn't have to spend money.  The public
library was one good place.  The University had some good places too,
where I wasn't hassled.  I started to dress more like the older
students or teachers and even carried a brief case.
     But now that I knew I could do it, I didn't need to.  I would go
on to something else.
     So what to do now?  I decided to try to get a cheap ticket to
Cancun, Mexico, then I would bus to Merida and get my teeth fixed and
spend the winter there.  I like the Yucatan and the Caribbean shore.
     There were no charter flights to Cancun until Jan 24.  But there
was a charter in one day to Mazatlan, Mexico, for $169, round trip for
a one week stay.  I had my travel agent call to book my ticket and she
found she could get me a seat for $99 round trip.  I guess on the last
days before a charter departure they want to fill all the empty seats.
Hurrah!  She did it.  It was 2:00  p.m. on Monday.  I was to leave on
Tuesday.  I drove my van the 120 miles to the Cushing woods to my
neighbors.  I hastily packed a small back pack for warm weather and my
neighbor drove me the 20 miles to town where I could catch a Greyhound
bus for Minneapolis.  I arrived about 11:00 p.m. and caught a bus for
my friend's apartment and slept there and got all my loose ends tied up
the next morning in time for my 3:00 o'clock departure on December 20,
1988, bound for Mazatlan, Mexico.
     I figured I'd get my teeth fixed in Mazatlan or the city of La Paz
in Baja California, which a friend told me good stories about.  I had
had extensive dental work done in Merida about 8 years ago and it then
only cost me about 10% of what it would have in the US.  I had figured
I would stay all winter and forfeit my return ticket and maybe bus home
or luck out again on a cheap fare.

12-20-88 Mazatlan, Mexico 6:45 p.m.

So here I am in Mexico.   I sure lucked out on the $99 ticket and here
I am sitting in a hotel.  I had a good fish supper with a beer and
coffee for 9,000 pesos and a 1,900 tip.  The peso is now 2,240 pesos
for one US dollar.  So supper was $5.18 and the hotel about $8.00.  I
choose hotels in which only Mexicans stay.  They are much cheaper than
the tourist hotels.  But the food was too expensive.
     I should try to find a place when I get to La Paz that, I can cook
my own dinner and just have coffee and desert out.
     It was 78o here this afternoon.  It is a little cool this evening.
I'll sleep with a blanket.  I must get one from the clerk.
     I feel a little lethargic.  I missed my ferry boat this afternoon
for La Paz, but everything else slid-in together, like on a greased
slide, to get my ticket, get ready, run my van to Cushing, get back to
Mpls., sleep at my friend's and finish all the odds and ends in time to
catch my plane.  So I can't complain about missing the ferry.  I'll
catch it tomorrow and won't have to hurry.
     I feel a little better now after writing.  It is something to do.
I didn't bring a book.  I'll try not to spend my time reading on this
trip.  Instead I'll observe, talk to people, think and write and loaf.
And go to bed early tonight.  I'm tired.  Flying is hard on one I
think, so I won't expect too much of myself.
     Traveling alone takes lots of extra energy too, I think because
one must be ever alert to make all the right decisions.  But it
certainly is not as tiring as driving and worrying about traffic and
the car.
     Tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. I will find out what time the two ferries
arrive in La Paz (there was only one ferry a day this year) and decide
which one to take.  I think I'll take a cabin.

7:39 p.m.

I'm really sleepy.  It is really 8:39 for me.  I don't have to sleep in
my van tonight.  I'm glad.  I have a clean room with a toilet and
shower.  What more could I ask for?

12-21-88        7:26 p.m.

I waited in line this morning for about 3 hours to get a ticket to La
Paz.  I met a fella from Wisconsin and we talked during the wait.  Then
I met a fella from Los Angeles and he said he waited yesterday and
didn't get a ticket and the office closed at 1:00 p.m.  So I gave up.
Bob from Wisc. gave me a ride in his Nisson car (he gets 30 or 40 miles
to the gallon, he said) to the tourist office and they gave me a travel
agent's address.  I went to see them and got a ticket for La Paz
without waiting in line for the next day.  They charged a fee of about
80% so it cost me all together about $18 for Cabina Class (26,000 pesos
or $11.81) which is one bunk in a two person cabin equipped with toilet
and shower for the ferry to La Paz.  It is an overnight trip.  One can
go much cheaper if you want to go Salon Class and sleep in a lounge
chair all night and many did for 6,000 pesos or $2.72.  Tourista Class
which I think was a cabin with several bunks is 12,000 pesos or $5.45.
     I took the same hotel tonight, next to the
 ferry dock.  I think I'm feeling a little bit better about being here
in Mexico.  I guess I can't expect to feel at home here and settled in
until I get to La Paz and find the right place to live.  I think I
should find a place that I can cook in.  Restaurant are too costly,
even the poor people's in the market place.  I'll try to get one with a
stove and refrigerator.  Then I think I can feel more settled.
     If I don't like La Paz I think I can make it back here in time for
the return flight to Minneapolis.  So I have some options.  I have
plenty of other options too, if I want to list them.  I don't have to
do what seems logical, just do what feels best!
     I think I need this winter time to spend doing nothing.  Then I
may get some inspiration, i.e., solutions to the world problem.  And I
can have my teeth extracted and false teeth made at my leisure.
     I bought a straw hat, plastic shopping bag, Spanish-English
dictionary, two tee shirts, socks and shoe strings at the market today.
That was fun.  Walked a lot and rode cabs too.  They have little open
air jeeps made into fancy little cabs with roofs but no sides or doors.
They are quite cheap but the city buses are only 300 pesos or 13 cents.
     Tomorrow I had better find out if they provide blankets on the
ferry and if they serve food. (They do.)  I think I'll exchange some
dollars for pesos too, although they seem just as happy to take
dollars.
     I think talking to myself here on paper helps me to feel better
about being here.  Also if I remind myself that it would cost me over a
thousand dollars to get my teeth fixed at home it will help me to see
the added advantage in remaining in Mexico for the winter.

12-22-88          2:14 p.m.

One and 3/4 hours more before I'm supposed to board the ferry "Aztech"
for La Paz.  Had a really long walk from the ferry boat hotel to the
north beach where they have the parachute rides.  They tow it behind a
speeding motor boat on the end of a long rope.  It was interesting to
see the people take-off and land.  They look safe enough but I didn't
have the urge to try it.  Had a good breakfast for $1.50 in a tourist
hotel restaurant that had a big banner advertising it.  Their coffee
was good.  It was real brewed coffee.  Most Mexican coffee is Nescafe,
ugh!  The $1.50 was a leader to get people in.  But their food was good
and so was the service and the waiters spoke pretty good English.
Later I had a hamburger and coffee there for 8,500 pesos ($3.86), very
high.  Food in this restaurant costs too much.  But then it was a
tourist restaurant.  If I looked around I think I could find a local
cafe much cheaper.

2:29 p.m.

When I get home in the spring, I think I should try to buy an old store
building I saw on my journey this fall.  Then move into it and invite
my readers to join-in a sort of co-operative with one share each, one
share only, per person.  One share, one vote.  We could somehow share
in the ownership of the property and fix it up and start a "chicken
dinner only" restaurant to bring people in and to create income.  We
would all live there and share the work and profits equally.  Each
working at what they like doing.  Attempt to underprice our competitors
and give better service, quanity and quality.  Attempt to get someone
out there who has printing presses.  Start a publishing business too.
Also, try to get a ham radio operator.  Maybe buy a farm nearby and
raise our own food by the Japanese farmer's method (in "One Straw
Revolution").  A lawyer to help with the tax free non-profit corp.
papers and a fool proof corporate charter that couldn't be taken-over,
and yet one person couldn't rule.  We'll need a plumber, bricklayer and
roofer.
     We'll need a way to expel laggards and discontents.  For people
who wish to leave, we could buy back their share at market price.  Or
if we are short of money, we could pay them back in installments.  So
that no one would be trapped.   And no one should have to give their
money to the cooperative.  But they could loan it, if they wished.
     I'll need to contact all my readers to see if they would be
interested in brainstorming this project.

3:08 p.m.

(Time is passing.  Only 52 minutes before I should go to the loading
ramp.)  We will need an electrician too.  It would be nice to have
people of all ages.  We could use a mechanic.

5:58 p.m.

We are at sea now and moving across the Gulf of California toward the
long peninsula of Baja California and the city of La Paz.  This
peninsula is almost half as long as mainland Mexico.  I am sitting in
the 1st class lounge drinking a rum and coke (3,500 pesos or $1.59,
really not bad for first class on a ferry boat), in the bow of the ship
and watching the  swells ahead, red skies on the horizon.  (Red skies
at night, a sailors delight.  Red skies in the morning, sailors take
warning.)  Looks like a full moon.  Siting here not fighting the sails
and rudder, with no worries is very nice.  I like this style of travel.
I think I will not sail around the world in a sail boat.  Too much
work, I have no need to prove I can.  I must remember that
transportation is just a means to get from point to point.  I had
figured sailing was cheaper.  But walking is cheaper yet.  Sailing my
own boat costs plenty of money besides the total occupation of my mind.
I can fly, bus, train or steam ship cheaper in the long run.  I must
never forget that a sail boat is like a "hole in the water, into which
one constantly pours money."
     My time and mind is too valuable to use (waste) on operating and
maintaining my method of transportation.
     If I wish to travel more I will find a way to make the money.  I
must not be too stingy with my living conditions.  I will try to find
what feels like a comfortable place in La Paz so that I'll be happy
with my stay.
     If I can make happy arrangements for my stay, I may wish to return
here every winter.  If I do the store front trip, I can still return
here each winter and would then have people to take care of things
while I'm gone.  Might even be able to communicate by short wave and
computer.  Might even bring a computer with me next winter.
     My Mexican room mate seems like a nice chap.  He speaks no English
so our communication is very limited, it was a bit awkward at first but
I managed to communicate a little.  He looks like a professional person
of about 35.  They didn't give us keys so our stateroom is unlocked
when we are out, but they must have good security in first class.  I am
not going to worry.  I didn't bring anything of value.
     There were two Mexican fellows in their early thirties who wanted
to practice their English on me while they were drinking and waiting
for boarding.  They went to the Solon Class so I got away from them by
staying in the first class area.
     I think I brought along only "one" extra sock.  I must have forgot
my telescope too.  But that is just as well.  I won't have to worry
about someone stealing it.
     We have good weather.  The ship is so smooth, one hardly knows one
is at sea.  This is a large ship.  Cars, campers and semi-trucks are
loaded on one deck.
     I have just finished my pack of "Delicados" cigarettes.  They have
no filters and are a bit harsh.  They were cheap, about a quarter.  The
"Fiesta" brand has filters and are milder but they cost 1,000 pesos
(45c).

6:44 p.m.

The 1st class bar area is almost empty.  And the dining area has only 6
tables with dinners.  The area is about 1/5 occupied.  Plenty of
privacy.  I don't think they could have sold all their 1st class
cabins.
     The Solon Class has a noisy bar and cafeteria.  They were serving
chicken for 6,000 pesos ($2.72).  They also had cake and coffee.  I
decided I would try 1st class.  I'm glad I did.  It is quiet and
peaceful here.  There is recorded music but it is not offensive.
     I might like the exhilaration of sailing occasionally.  I may be
able to sail once in a while with Rod or someone else.

7:15 p.m.

I just moved into the dining area and paid off my waiter for my 3 rum &
cokes.  Now to see what the prices are on food.  This should be
interesting.
     I just read the menu.  No surprise.  I ordered the best.  Mexican
beef, etc. for 12,000 pesos ($5.45).  I can afford that!  The dining
area is about 1/3 full now.  I suppose later is when the Mexican people
eat their dinner.  I bet it will fill up at 9:00.  (It closed at 9:00)
     The drinks are starting to take effect.  I bet I will sleep well
tonight.
     We will arrive at around 8:00 a.m. tomorrow in La Paz.  That
should give me plenty of time to find a hotel or whatever.

7:58 p.m.

Well, it wasn't bad.  But, because I ate everything before my beef, the
beef was cold.  But it was tender enough for my one molar up and one
molar down to handle.  It tasted like fish.  After I put salt and
pepper on, it didn't.  I bet they fried it after fish on the grill.  I
don't feel my drinks any more.  I think I will stroll the deck a bit
and then go to bed.  This writing makes me feel at ease.  I wish I had
done more of it on my previous trips since 1969.  I probably would have
enjoyed them much more and they would have lasted longer.  As it was,
until only a few years ago, I was only able to stay away from
Minneapolis for 3 weeks or less.  I stayed away, for two months once on
my boat in the Bahamas, and in '85 I stayed in Tucson and Mexico for
three months.  But this year may be different.

12-23-88    La Paz     5:02 p.m.

Arrived about 9:30 a.m..  Was a good trip over.  Woke up often but felt
rested.  Was a 1/2 hour bus ride from the ferry landing to La Paz.
Cost 800 pesos.  Found the Tourist Office and got cheap hotel names.
Rented one for 14,000 pesoes.  But they were supposed to have some for
only 7,800 pesos.  They were almost full.  I got a room with two double
beds so maybe that is more.  Maybe tomorrow they will have a single.
It's a clean room with toilet, sink & shower.  Old.
     Had good coffee con letche and pastry when I found the Market.  I
bought socks and a tablet.  Friendly people there.  It is fun to shop
there.  I feel much better now.  In the "tourist row" scene, I made
myself depressed.

6:52 p.m.

Had a very long walk.  Found where the sail boats are anchored.  Many
many.  Went wrong direction to find the church and central plaza.
Found a restaurant near the hostel.  The market is only a block away.

9:07 p.m.

Am quite tired tonight so I'll turn in now.  I think it is important
for me to remember to keep up my protein intake so that I don't feel
depressed.  I always feel better after a tasty meal.

12-24-88    4:56 p.m.

This vacationing is very hard work.  I'm all tired out.  I finally
found two book stores.  They must have a high import duty on US books.
One store had a few but the $4.95 books were about $8.00.  Too much and
I didn't recognize any of the authors.  I found Ruth's friend and told
him to tell Ruth's boy friend to call her.  He told me of apartments
all furnished and with kitchen for $100 per month.  He also said
extracting and false teeth would be between $500 and $1,000 US dollars.
I think I'll just get a repair job in Minneapolis.
I went to a travel agent and bought a cabin ticket on the ferry to
Mazatlan for tomorrow.  I had arrived at the ferry office here in La
Paz at 7:30 a.m. and there was already a very very long line.  I waited
in the cabin line which was very short 'til 9:00 a.m. and they told me
it was sold out.  That's when I went to the agent.  Perhaps it is this
Xmas holiday that is jamming things up.?
     A young man from Australia went out to the ferry dock and got a
ticket quite soon, I learned later.
     I counted 60 sail boats anchored here and there were at least
another 40 farther down behind the restaurant that I had baked oysters
in.
     I'm going to shop for a data base when I get home and get a good
one for my computer.
     And maybe sign up for the YMCA swimming.  And bring my birth
certificate to the social security office.  And see if I can rent the
1st Ave. apt.  Maybe I should apply for a senior citizen high rise
apartment?
     Stop in St. Cloud and see if there is any more tax forfeited land
for sale when I get home.
     Instead of reading in my spare time, I should attempt to write a
very non-threatening paper on the PES.  With no fear mongering.  Just a
simple description of the Priceless Economic System.  Not condemning
the present system--but perhaps pointing out how the present system
"rewards" the people who do the destructive acts to people and to the
environment.
     It will be a book on Economics, pure and simple.  A text book.  It
will not attempt to sell the PES or even tell how to start it.  I'll
get a text book on economics from the library and try to copy its
format to some extent.
     This is beginning to sound like a lot of work and is making me
tired already.  Or maybe I'm getting hungry, it is 5:45 already.  Those
oysters were really very small and not much protein.  I think I'll go
for supper.

8:08 p.m.

I feel much better now.  My engine was low on fuel.  I had about 3 oz.
of Tequila first, could feel it a little, then the soup came.  A
delicious thick broth, then the fish fillet.  I couldn't finish the
third fillet.  It was slightly greasy so I decided not to hog it down.
I ate at "Los Amego's" that Ruth's friend runs.  He gave me a card
(Xmas I think) to give to her.
     I sat by the sea for a while and strolled and whistled back to the
hostel.
     I always have great plans when I return from a vacation but when I
get home, I nearly always do something entirely different.  I wonder if
it will be the same this time.  In any event it gives me something
creative to do now -- planning.
     I wonder if any more women wrote?
     I wonder if the publisher wrote?
     I wonder if there are any requests for the LFP?
     I wonder if 1st Avenue is rented?
     I think I will continue trying to get my book published, while I'm
starting my economics text book.  I'll try to get a hold of a friend
who is a ham radio operator to see if he would like to live in a
community.  I'll also try to find those two letters from people who
wanted to do a cable TV interview with me.

9:22 p.m.

It is just another evening to me, but I could see the last minute Xmas
shoppers hurrying to get their shopping done, i.e., spend the rest of
their savings.  And the kids are probably excited as it is Xmas eve.
It surely is nice not to go through that any more.  I don't need to get
drunk either, no hang-over in the morning and a good nights sleep (I
hope) if it doesn't get noisy here.  It is quiet right now.
     The oysters had lots of garlic.  I can still taste it once in a
while.
     It has been nice and warm (shirt sleeve weather) and sun shinny
here all the time so far.  Except at night.  I have not touched my foot
into the ocean yet and probably won't, even though I brought my trunks
along.
     I see I've written 20 pages so far.  Now I'll hit the sack.

12-25-88    7:31 p.m.

I'm on the ferry in a stateroom, so far, without a cabin mate.  However
I'm on the wrong ferry boat.  I did not discover I was given the wrong
ticket 'til it was too late.  I'm bound for Topolobampo and Los Mochis.
I should get there about 7:00 a.m. tomorrow.  Then I'll have to take a
bus about 300 miles south to Mazatlan.  "Should" get there in early
afternoon.  If I can catch a bus early, I'll still be able to catch my
charter flight back to Mpls., if all goes well.
     I was over charged about $5.00 plus the extra agency fee for this
ride.  It should all work out anyway.  It tested my patience.  I won
because I did not get angry and raise a scene, and I feel fine.  If I
would have got angry, I would be all upset emotionally.  I guess I'm
learning to be a good traveler.
     It smells a little from the head (toilet) because the door has a
hole in it about 6" in diameter.  If I can get some tape, I can patch
it shut.  That, I hope, won't be hard to come by.
     The carpeting is wet near the shower so maybe that was leaking
too.
     It doesn't smell bad in the head and it's ok now in the cabin, so
maybe someone just used their toilet somewhere up the line of the air
circulation system.
     There is a window facing the bow in this cabin #9.  I had #3
before and that was without a window.  This cabin is farther forward I
think, so it may have a little more up and down motion.  So what!  I
like it!

8:07 p.m.

We have left the dock and I didn't get a roommate.  Looks like I've got
it all to myself.  And now I'm in the dinning room with a Tequila with
salt and lime and some water if I need it.
     I do like this 1st class style.  I suppose I may have to make some
more money so that I can go 1st class from now on.  Why not?  I deserve
it with the important work I'm doing.

Mazatlan   12-26-88   8:24 p.m.

I made it to Mazatlan in time.  I had my return ticket to Mpls.
confirmed by the local tourist office because I don't speak enough
Spanish to talk on the phone very well.  So I should be set to return
tomorrow to Mpls.  I took the "Hotel Economical" next to the bus
terminal.  It is nicer than the last time I was here 3 years ago.  Only
12,000 pesos, about $5.45
     Took a long long walk that ended up by the beach.  And walked home
after a leisurely eaten supper at the nice $1.50 breakfast restaurant.
     I'm getting much better understanding the prices they quote me.
Quite tired tonight.  I didn't sleep so well last night on the ferry
even though it was a very smooth crossing, because of the three tequila
drinks I had last night while talking to the German tourist Maria.  We
discussed the Priceless Economic System.  She took my address and gave
me the address of a German paper that she thought would be interested.
     I think I'll hit the hay at 9:00 tonight.  I think I'll leave my
cigarettes in Mexico or at the air port and quit smoking cold-turkey.
I don't smoke at home.  It's too expensive and I eventually can't stand
the taste of the tabacco.  Fortunately, for me I have never been hooked
on them or I suppose it would be very hard to quit.

12-27-88 Minneapolis 10:00 p.m.

Just arrived in Mpls. and went to the rest room and put on all the wool
that I had and my jacket.  Went right out to catch a city bus and
remembered I needed exact change.  I was spoiled in Mexico.  They made
change on their buses.  Lucked out with someone in the airport who
could change a five and managed to catch the city bus to Mpls.  Got
down town by about 11:30  p.m. and I just missed my transfer bus which
must have been the last one for the night, because I waited 'til about
12:00 before I gave up and looked for a cab to take me to my friend's
home.
     The cabbie grumbled because he would rather have a bar patron, he
said they pay more, I gave him my friend's address but forgot to say
"south".  He started taking me north.  We got about 5 blocks out of my
way and I thought he was new in town (which he was), then I remembered
I should have told him south.  The meter already said $4.95.  I told
him he should have asked me which, "N or S?"  But he claimed he didn't
know there was a south.  So by the time I got to my friend's it cost me
$14.50, but he was a good cabbie and gave me $2.00 back.  I got my
friend out of bed and he put me up for the night.
     Next morning I took the bus to Little Falls.  My Cushing neighbor
met me and gave me a ride home.  I got my van and my mail.  No, the
publisher in WA. hadn't answered yet and neither had any more women.
But there were several requests for LFP's and a couple of plugs for LFP
in some publications that had arrived.
     Drove back to Mpls. on the 28th.  Parked in my old spot during the
night.  During most days I found street parking without meters so that
I wasn't using my friends parking space during his business hours.
     I called my old landlord on 1st Avenue to see if they had any
vacancies.  They had one.  But it was their 6 room and bath apartment
for $500 heated.  I took it with the intention of finding room mates to
cut the rent a little.  First I'll try my mailing list to see if any
LFP readers would like to share space.  If not then I'll check
elsewhere.  It would be really nice to live with some people who were
interested in helping with the LFP work.  I think we could accomplish
much more.  But we shall see.
     So I'm living here at 2714 1st Avenue S., in Mpls again.  I lucked
out again and got my same phone number.
     Now I'm in the process of sending 11 query letters to writer's
Agents in NY to see if that will get my book published.  Oh, yes!  I
signed up for my Social Security pension.  I'll be 62 on Jan 30th, so
I'll soon start getting some of the money back that I paid in for 22
years.  I'm rather anxious to see how much it will be.  A year ago they
told me it would be $305 per month.  It won't be too long before I'll
need to make another decision -- go back to work for money or live a
cheaper lifestyle.  I can manage either way but I don't have to decide
quite yet.
     If you are still reading this, all I got to say is, you sure are a
persistent cuss, or you may just have figured the good stuff is got to
start pretty soon.  I'm sorry if I dissapointed you, cause that's all
there is this time folks.

     1-10-89   Ernest Mann

Little Free Press #68

DIGGING

I came home by way of the alley right after the first of January and
discovered my neighbor's rubbish carts piled with boxes of things which
looked useable. So I stopped and explored. Around the first of each
month one finds the best diggings. Anyway, after about 15 a minute
exploratory, I made two or three trips home with the following: four
pairs of clean and almost new jeans, (too small for me) three shirts, a
nightie and a real naughty nightie that I was too shy to bring home to
my Free Box, a table lamp without a shade, an electric toaster-oven,
three stocking hats, 2 women's halters, a maternity blouse, a closet
pole, some yard goods, a pretty pot holder and maybe a couple of other
things. There was at least a bushel basket full of stuff left that I
didn't think would move in my Free Box. The clothes looked clean, but
on general principal I took them to the laundromat. I was able to set
up a FREE BOX (FB) almost as soon as I moved in here. (Authors note:
1991. Many dumpsters now have locks, but a friend of mine told me he
has found a way to cure this. He said after he uses his bolt cutter on
their locks or chains a few times, they give up.)
     Two of my friends have already found things they wanted in my FB.
It is a good feeling to recycle to my friends. One of them came up with
a wool sweater for me last fall from their "extras." But I have yet to
see an actual Free Box at anyone else's home. They have a huge
wonderful FB outside the Corners of the Mouth, food collective in
Mendocino, CA. Most people don't seem to realize how valuable or how
much fun a FB is.
     I was sure that the toaster-oven would be shorted out and that I
might be able to fix it. But after some shaking out of crumbs, it
worked like new. The closet pole is already in use as a chinning bar. I
put it in a hallway on top of two door frames and hang from my hands
and lift my feet off the floor. This uses my own body weight to
straighten out my spine. I hear a vertebra or two snap back into place
and I feel soooo relaxed. Sitting at my computer for a few hours often
makes kinks in this old back of mine. This is a perfect therapy and
takes less than five minutes and the cost is right.
     The lamp I use every night, as there is no overhead light in the
living room, where at present, I've set up my office.
     I decided to be good to myself the other day and bought a couple
of large pizzas and put them in the freezer compartment. Once in a
while I slice off a piece and pop it into the toaster-oven and have a
treat. I seldom buy any processed food, so it is a mini trip to have a
pizza. They cost too much to suit me, for the very small amount of
protein they offer. But they taste good. So many people eat pizza that
I wonder if there isn't something addictive in them. Would it be one of
the spices, the catsup or what?
     Regan's Last Attempt
     How did you like Regan's last attempt to get WWIII started, when
he had his (certainly not our) air force shoot down two Iranian (or was
it Libyan) planes? Say, but won't the world bankers and industrialists
make money when they get that going? But, then again, maybe Bush will
get the Big Depression started first. After a few years of the "Big D"
the people may be hungry and jobless enough to "welcome" a big hot war.
That time may not be so far off either, judging from the prices I
encountered in the super markets today. Seems like prices just made
another jump up. Every once in a while I encounter a shock like that in
the stores where I shop. It makes me angry all over, and perhaps a
little fearful too. Will I still be able to make it on the fixed income
I've been on for the past 20 years? So far I have survived the
increases. But I sure am astounded when someone ahead of me in the
line, with not even a cartfull, pays $70 or often over a hundred just
for groceries. I usually pay up to $14 or so for mostly meat and a few
other stables. Almost no processed food. I can't believe how cheaply I
get by.
     I noticed a new "fear mongering" in the headlines the other day
about Iran secretly buying germ warfare stuff. But how could it be
secret if it is in the headlines. And who are they buying it from? I
suppose a third party who bought it from some big corporation, who got
it from our government's germ warfare department, who got it from our
universities, free of charge.
     This "leak", I imagine is supposed to make the public fearful of
Iran, so that Bush can harass them some more to make another Vietnam
type war seem justifiable or even get a Biggie going. I tell you --
these politicians are costing us a good deal more than the wages they
take. By the by, how do you feel about the raise in pay that they just
gave themselves?
     These destructive actions of politicians stimulate my motivation
to work even harder to get the Priceless Economic System so well known
that people will all begin to use it, if only in small ways at first in
their own immediate lives. Just to make copies of this chapter and
sharing them with others and starting ones own Free Box are starters.
Even those two little things are too scary for most people. Some people
think that their friends will laugh at them. Well, idiots do laugh a
lot at almost everything. But after they understand and see the value
in these acts, they may stop laughing and do the same.
     Free Skills Pool
     A very big step in the Priceless Economic System (PES) direction
will take energy, determination and stick-to-itiveness. That would be
to start a Free Skills Pool (FSP) among our friends or neighbors. With
a sharing of this sort, we will begin saving lots of money so that we
won't be as dependent on money and credit as most are.
     Surplus money is Independence. But it takes common sense to put a
little money aside each pay day to gain that independence. My old dad
used to say, "Any damned fool can make money, but it takes a mighty
smart person to save some." I think he was right. He never made very
much money but he always had some extra money on hand. He knew that,
"It takes money to make money." And because of that he was able to buy
an old duplex house once in a while at a bargain price. A big real
estate speculator friend of mine used to say, "You got'ta make your
profit when you buy your property." He would only buy if he could get a
steal. He became rich because he also knew how to save.
     What I'm attempting to say is, if we wish to beat the "system,"
the FB and the FSP would give us that little edge we need (unless we
are rich already). I was not able to have the time to sit down and
figure out the solution to the World problems until I created some
independence for myself. When I was busy with an almost "hand to mouth"
existence, I had not the time nor the energy to figure out how to make
my life better. Have you?
     It is one step at a time. First -- somehow, create some quiet
thinking space for yourself. Put your old "thinker" that sits upon your
neck, to work. Stop allowing the media (including the TV and
newspapers) to consume your time and lead your thoughts!!! It will not
teach you how to become FREE! It merely entraps you deeper, entertains
you and lulls you into believing you are not a slave, so why should you
even try to become FREE? But face it, "When you take pay, you must
obey!" Now if that ain't slavery, what in Hell is? You say you have the
freedom to choose your own master? Is that Freedom? But you don't even
have that. You can only take a job where they will hire you. Sometimes
a person has to, almost beg, to get even the shittiest of a job, and on
top of that, accept low wages. That even looks worse than slavery to
me. At least an old time slave worked against his/her will and would
escape if they saw the chance. But today people almost beg to get a
credit card, mortgage or loan. That used to be called indentured
slavery.
     A few of us have found ways to escape and are Free or nearly so.
We try to show the escape route. But to what good, when the slaves say,
"But we are not slaves. Why should we run away?" So we continue
learning our own Freedom and sharing our learning with as many as are
interested and with each other, to help us realize that we are not the
Crazy ones.
     If we can get these ideas into the hands of a few more "thinking"
people we may soon reach the "critical mass" stage of the PES
Evolution. When we have that certain number (and I don't know what that
number is) of "thinkers" working on promoting the PES -- it may, all of
a sudden, explode into every ones attention (I hope). The masses will
then say -- "Sure, I want it and I will work for free to have it, but I
didn't think anyone else would. I thought they would laugh at me and
make fun of me if I talked about it."
     2/5/89
     Anger !!!
     I just attempted to get some information from my long distance
carrier. They told me they couldn't help me because they got a bad
credit report from U.S. West. I have paid all my phone bills and ahead
of time. So reluctantly I called U.S. West and they couldn't talk to me
because their computer was down and estimated down until 3:00 p.m. and
it was 9:30 a.m. when I called. My what wondrous ways. Instantaneous
Electronics! AND MONOPOLIES!!! This was a wonderful reminder of the
world we are moving into . . . monopolies and government. Two
monopolies. We are at their mercy and must kiss their ass to keep our
phone. We must eat their shit or be without what they have to offer.
Sometimes I think they rub our noses in it too, just to show their
power.
I am really getting sick of it ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
I went without a phone for about 10 years and loved it. I am going to
do it again very soon (unless this anger wears off). Same with the oil
industry (Cartel). I went without a car for about the same length of
time and liked it. I saved a lot of money and had more time to L I V E.
I built rafts and rode the Mississippi. I converted a row boat into a
sailboat and rode the Miss. I drifted on the Miss. in a row boat for 6
days and camped at night on shore. I walked railroad tracks in
Minneapolis. I dug into rubbish dumpsters. I went to garage sales. I
sat around and talked to interesting people. I ground field corn and
oat groats in my Corona hand grinder and made my own gruel. I painted
signs directly on the cloth of the back of my suit coat and walked in
downtown Minneapolis and handed out my thoughts in my Little Free Press
newsletter. I lived in an unfinished basement, rent free, for a while.
I lived in the woods for a while. I was experiencing life and learning.
I started doing all of those wild things when I dropped out of the Rat
Race in 1969 when I was 42. When I was in business I had to conform in
order to survive. When I quit taking pay, I started getting my Freedom.
     WORK WORK WORK, KISS ASS AND EAT SHIT!!! That is about all we have
left to do now-a-days. Practicing Humility! The church is connected to
the State. The state is connected to the Industrialist and the
industrialist is connected to the world Banker. The world banker is
GOD! And we are sheep as long as we use their tools of enslavement.
"MONEY and OWNERSHIP." When we use these tools and obey their rules, we
are hopelessly trapped in slavery to whoever controls money.
     SO THE LESS I USE MONEY AND OWNERSHIP -- THE FREER I BECOME!
     Usership (see my I WAS ROBOT book) seems like a more sensible
method. Ownership presents more problems than we realize. When we own
something and rent out rights to someone or when we sell it to someone,
we gain only a drop in the bucket. We are allowed a few drops in the
bucket. We get a few squirts of milk, sometimes enough to fill a
thimble. We get three thimblefuls and we think we are rich. This makes
us think that the Ownership idea is OK and we should uphold it, but
THEY take a whole blooming bucketful except for the few squirts they
allowed us to have!
     Now just take a look where this Ownership/Money idea has gotten
us. THEY have created monopolies, trusts and cartels with which to rub
our noses in the shit. It's our very own shit too because we play their
Game. Why do we play their game? Because we haven't figured out a
better game to play. They keep us too busy to figure out a better game
with all of the spectator diversions (including drugs) they SELL us. So
we keep ourselves too busy to use our wonderful minds to figure out a
better game.
     Well, "change" starts with the individual unit (me). Either I
figure out a better game for me to play or I remain enslaved to their
Game and remain their slave for life.
     No Free Lunch
     There is no "free lunch." People have no "Rights!" We have only
the rights that we TAKE! Or the rights that someone "gives" us. People
only give us rights if they will profit in some way from it. It is true
that some people are benevolent, but they are the ones with foresight.
They are able to look down the road a ways and see what the "Golden
Rule" is all about. They can see fertile soil and know where to plant
their seeds. They know which crop to plant. These people are few and
far between.
     Most of the Big Shots plant seeds which bring them short term
Profits and they feel rich, they don't look ahead and wonder what will
be left for their children and their children's children. There will
eventually be no more short term or long term profit if they continue
to destroy people and the environment. Their money will not buy their
children a habitable planet. It is not likely that they have the
intelligence to see this long term view. It has been said that they
have inbred for so long that there is little common sense left in their
strain, so if we wish to survive we must construct our own Survival
Game, so that we will no longer be forced to play their Profit/Wage
Game.
     Squirt of Milk
     If you think that you are a winner because you are making $50,000
per year, think about this. You have $961. per week to spend and
Disney's, Michael Eisner, who made 40 million dollars in 1989, had
$769,230. per week to spend. And how many people do you know who are
making even fifty thousand? In 1980, 98.6% of the U.S. population made
less1. How many do you know who are making ten thousand? That is $192.
per week. Some difference eh? Like I said, we just get a few squirts
and they take the rest of the bucketful. And the only thing that holds
us in this Profit/Wage Game is a lack of knowledge that there is a
better Game to play. This book presents a better Game.
     I have got tips from many people in the books I have read about
this SLAVERY. I then observed and saw that what they said was true. Now
I keep trying to free myself even more from these bonds that are
holding me from a more total freedom. I have taken a whole lot more
Freedom than I had 20 years ago when I was still in the Rat Race. But I
have a way to go yet.
     I have now enslaved myself in telling others about how to become
Free, instead of progressing with my own freedom. Oh, when will I ever
learn? When will I ever learn? It seems like it takes a nose rubbing
once in a while to get me mad enough to make more radical changes in my
life.
     Complacency
     They try to lull us into complacency with the music they
constantly pour out on the air waves, records and tapes. They hold our
attention with hypnotic movements on TV. They hold our attention by
preying upon our curiosity. We wonder who will win. We wonder who the
murderer is. We keep watching or reading until we find out. All of this
time we could have been living our own lives, instead of living
vicariously, watching or reading about someone else. Let's face it, we
have been very gullable. I am changing that in my life and spending
more time adventuring forth, and believe me, it is worth the effort.
Some day we are each going to terminate. Are you going to spend your
precious "NOW" watching some ones fantasy stories, sports or games
which probably have very little to do with truth and reality.
     I have just decided to have my phone disconnected as soon as I end
my obligation to my room mates. I want to also dump my responsibilities
for my van and my computer. I enjoy them both. They make my present
work easier. But they are anchors which impede my progress in
individual freedom. It is a dilemma which I have not yet solved. But I
know that I will solve it when the time comes.
     2/21/89
     Room Mates
     I started a rooming house in this 6 room apartment that I rented
on January 1, 1989. Three honest and intelligent people were attracted.
We got along fine. They paid part of the rent and I soon could have
found enough roomers to get our individual rents down to about $85. per
month, each.
     This room mate idea is a fine way to save on rent money. Except
for one thing! I am spoiled! I am too much of a perfectionist, I think.
I have gotten used to a clean empty sink, a clean stove, a cleared up
counter, closed cupboard doors, faucets turned off and the lights
turned off when not in use.
     The only way I can have that here, is to be a nag or do it myself.
I don't care for either option, so I gave my room mates and my landlord
notice. I found him a new tenant and we will move out on or before
April 15th.
     Where will I move to? That is a big question for someone with
Freedom. I could live in my van again. I could get a high rise
apartment for senior citizens now that I'm 62 and am getting my $321
S.S. Retirement Pension. My rent would be about 30% of that, I guess.
But I don't like even paying a hundred dollars for rent. Rent or
mortgage payments are the biggest nut we have to crack. To reduce that
or get it down to $0. is a big step in the direction of FREEDOM! I can
do quite a bit of printing and postage for that rent money.
     I might move back to the Cushing woods and live rent free there,
again.
     Book
     A small publisher wrote to me from Boston wishing to read my, I
WAS ROBOT, manuscript a month ago. Haven't heard from him since I sent
it. If he's interested, I might throw everything into my Van and go
there. But it is very likely no one will wish to publish my book. I
have decided not to self-publish because I fear it may be just a vanity
trip for me.
     The idea which appeals most to me at this moment in time, is to
take everything I own (about a 1/2 load in my little '79 Dodge 1/2 ton
Van) and drive to Miami. I have a chance to boat-sit on a friend's sail
boat and sell it for him, I could use that time to try to find and buy
a suitable sail boat for myself to live aboard and sail up the Eastern
Seaboard and on to Duluth this summer. I may try to find an old lady to
sail with me.
     I may be asking for too much in asking an old lady to take such a
long cruise and probably won't find one. I don't need a mate, but I
think life might be more enjoyable with one again. But whatever . . .
because I happen to know that I'm a good person and I enjoy my own
company, so either way I'll make myself an enjoyable trip.
     PES
     I think I have written all that I can about the Priceless Economic
System (PES) and will attempt to write more in the line of my
adventures and what I learn about gaining more individual freedom.
     I hope that in my future adventures I'll meet some fellow
adventurers who are intelligent enough to understand the tremendous
potential of the PES and will have some ideas of their own on how to
get it really rolling. What the PES sorely needs is a mover, shaker and
doer!
     I intend to enjoy my life a lot more from now on. I'm going to
focus more thought on creating my own fun! Always bearing in mind that
the less money I spend, the longer, what Little I have will last, so
that maybe I won't have to get back into the old rat race. I have
managed to stay out of it for the last 20 years. I may be able to
stretch it out for a few more years.
     But then again, "There is many a slip betwixt the cup and the
lip." As people who know me will point out, I may think of some place
entirely different to go that will suit me much better.

     4/6/89    Ernest Mann

1 World Almanac, 1983.

Little Free Press #69

CREATING MY OWN UTOPIA

     I have lots of FREEDOM and am learning how to Take more!
     Government didn't give me Freedom and doesn't preserve my present
Freedom.  Governments only take away Freedom with each additional law
they pass.
     Governments govern.  They do not hand out individual FREEDOM!
     Group activities require conformity.  Can they give us individual
FREEDOM?
     Is FREEDOM  something that each individual person must Take for
oneself?
     In order to Take my own FREEDOM I ignore the political systems
(government and other spectator entertainments) altogether (Oh, I obey
them when they are watching, to keep out of jail.) and spend my time
(life) learning how to take care of myself and how to be happy.  In
this manor I discover the shape and form of our present slavery and
thereby can better see the path around it, which leads to independence
and FREEDOM.
SLAVE
     I couldn't become FREE until I first discovered that I was a
Slave.  "When I take pay, I must obey!"
     Every since I was born, there were people who were giving me
orders.
1. parents, relatives
2. some playmates
3. police, teachers
5. bosses, preachers
6. a mate
7. and many others
     As I discovered these "would-be" slave masters (dictators,
tyrants), I began to question the authority I had believed they had.  I
asked myself if what they told me was for my best good or if it was
just an ego or power trip or profit trip for them.
     I no longer trust anyone to make decisions for me, least of all
the government.  The government does everything the wrong way, i.e.,
the most expensive and least efficient.  There is no way I can trust
them.
     In the past 20 years that I have been evolving into my freer
lifestyle, there really has been no one trying to stop me (except my
parents have tried).  I have progressed at my own speed.
     Radicals did not create my freedom for me.  They tried to ensnare
me into doing things "their" way.  They wanted me to space out on drugs
and yell their slogans at demonstrations and pass out their literature
and donate money to their cause.  They never took any of my advice.
They "knew" that only they were right.  When anyone tells me what to
do, I don't call that Freedom!
TRAILER IN WOODS
     I recently purchased an old 22 ft. house trailer for $400 and had
it moved into some friend's woods near Cushing.  I did them a favor
many years ago and now they tell me I can live here free of charge.
Never forget that, "What goes around, comes around.", i.e., doing a
favor for someone, often later turns out to be like putting money in
the bank.
MIAMI
     It took me about a month and a half and several trips back and
forth between Cushing and Minneapolis, before I finally got myself
convinced to drive my van to Miami and buy a sailboat and become a
Gypsy of the sea.  Before I left I put a larger radiator in my van so
that this time my engine would run cool.  I didn't have to run with my
heater turned on like last fall.
     When I got to Miami, and the part that used to be called Coconut
Grove, I was disappointed to see all the redevelopment.  It looked like
the mall was being tripled in size and the empty spaces had
disappeared.  The park was empty and the public toilets were removed.
They are making it harder for a poor sailor to enjoy that port.
     I was finally faced with a fact that I think I have been
suppressing.  The Dockmaster's office had a high wind warning pennant
up because there was already a pretty stiff wind blowing.  I sat there
in my van in a parking lot with a view of the harbor for a couple of
hours while I fried a steak and took a nap.  It finally occurred to me
that I would definitely not like to be sitting out at anchor in a boat
at that moment.
     I figured if I buy a boat to live on and sell my van, I would have
to ride out all the big winds as well as the calms.  I began to realize
how much nicer it is in my little trailer in the woods, so I started
the van and headed back to Cushing.  That trip took me exactly one week
and 30 minutes and a lot of damn hard work driving.
     Because I worked hard, saved my money and invested it when I was
young, instead of spending it in bars, drugs and fancy things, I am now
able to act on some of my whims and spend my money as I please.  Of
course, because I retired in 1969, I have now spent most of it, but now
I'm 62 and am getting my Social Security pension and have free rent, so
things ain't so bad.
FREEDOM
I don't think any of the freedom organizations are worth a damn.  I
think they serve the function of keeping us too busy to aspire for, or
even think about our own Freedom.  I think Freedom is a very individual
thing that I must learn more about and take for myself.
     One of the biggest moves I made toward getting my Freedom, I
think, was when I started using as little money, credit or barter as
possible.  The more self sufficient I become the less money I need.
When I worked on commissions, I had to please my clients or I didn't
make any money.  That really isn't any different than "When you take
pay, you must obey."  Either way you do it, it's Slavery!  The more
free time I create for myself, the less a Slave I am.
     The more things I buy, the more industry pollutes to reproduce it.
     The less I buy, the less need I will have to work for pay and the
longer my little savings will last.
     The controllers of big industry will not be able to continue their
POWER, if we stop buying their products and stop working for them.
They will go broke!  Ha.
      "Individuals" enjoying life more, with additional free time, may
act as EXAMPLES of the new world of the happiness people that non-
consumerism creates.
     The just plain giving "free of charge" of our surplus things and
products and services to like minded people will begin to turn the
wheel of fortune of "What goes around, comes around."
FREE TIME
     As we gain more free time we become acutely aware of a new
question, "What should I do with all of this free time?"  It didn't
take me long to decide not to spend my free time watching the idiot
box, sports and staying high.  I no longer enjoy watching someone else
having fun.  I would rather do it myself.
FISHING
     I haven't gone fishing for 20 years so yesterday I bought a
license and a little fishing gear.  I always used to enjoy fishing.  I
shall soon see if I still do.  I know I still enjoy frying and eating
fish.  I'll save on my meat bill too, if I'm successful.
     20 years ago I began to lower my income and finally got it down to
the point where I didn't have to pay income taxes.  Now I'm not
supporting government's wars and other foolishness.  But they still get
me with hidden taxes and sales taxes whenever I buy something.  But I
don't buy much any more.  I don't sell them my labor either.  I give it
away, but not to them.  Ha, ha.  And it's lots more fun!  Now I can do
as I damn well please!
     What do I really wish to do with my life now?  Do I really wish to
go and help out one of my kids?  They are all over 35 years old and
capable of taking care of themselves.
HAPPINESS
     What could I do now that would pleasure this old man?  I could buy
a laptop computer and travel.  Where to?  To Europe.  What would I do
there?  Walk and camp around the continent and the B. Isles.  Observe,
write and send out the LFP from there.  Attempt to learn how to be
happier than I am now.  I don't feel happy or sad or depressed.  I just
sort of feel normal.  Not good or not bad.  Life is good but it must be
better than this?  I'll explore and find out!
     But why bother to go to Europe and experience all the hassles that
entails and all the expenses?  Why?  Is happiness there and not here?
I think that I can only find happiness in the here and now!  Not out
there some where and not tomorrow.  Happiness can only be now and here!
NOW
How can I have fun right now?  I could dig worms and go fishin.
7:00 p.m.  GONE FISHIN!  (three miles away)
8:42 p.m.  BACK
     Caught three 4" Blue Gills and threw 'em back.
     Well that wasn't fun but it was an interesting discovery of where
not to fish.
FUN
     What is fun?  I chopped down a lot of brush this morning along my
driveway.  Was that fun?  It was very strenuous work.  But it was
satisfying to see the job get done and it was good to know that I was
rebuilding some of my muscles and burning up a little excess fat.
     No, I can't say it was fun.  Nor can I say that fishing last night
was fun.  Perhaps if I had caught some big fish, it may have seemed
like fun.
     What is fun for me?
1.   I think I had fun when I was learning the computer, when I was
     succeeding and agony when not.  But was that fun or was it
     satisfaction with myself?
2.   Was it fun traveling to Miami?  Not really.  It was work.
3.   Is sex fun?  Yes!  (If I remember right.)
4.   Is eating fun?  Yes, if I remain in the now and taste my food.
5.   Lying down into a bath tub of warm water is fun.
6.   Is a thrill what I call fun?
7.   When I get a strike while fishing, it is fun.
8.   To sit here and think and write is fun.
9.   Solving a problem or fixing something is fun.
10   An invigorating thing like sailing in a stiff breeze is fun.
11   Pouring a drink is fun.
12   Helping is fun.
13   Teaching is fun.
14   Giving is fun.
15   Finding something is fun.
16   Exploring is fun.
17.  So what should I do now?  Have fun!  How?  Take an outdoor shower.
     I did.  It was fun.  What else?  Read Science Fiction.  I did.  It
     was interesting.

     Should I go to California?  I am comfortable here.  I could put in
electricity and use my computer and buy a short wave set and a copy
machine and publish my book.  Can do more fishing.  Can look around for
a local woman.  I could travel and have fun.  I could stop thinking
about writing -- leave writing to the experts.  Take more time to
observe and think.  Try to figure out what makes me happy and do that.
     How would I travel?  And where?  Traveling with the van has not
been fun.  Why not?  Because I don't stop often enough to rest and
explore.  It has saved money for rent but it cost plenty for gas and
keeps me too busy driving to just hang out and let my mind wander.

     I must learn to recognize what a wonderful time I am in, when I am
making a big change in my life!!!

     I must learn to enjoy each "pivot point" in my life!

     One problem with a sea Gypsy life may be in finding a free place
to anchor or tie up.  A boat is an expense, but so is a van.  They both
offer a place to sleep, keep ones junk and a place to cook.  Walking
(with stuff on back) and sleeping in parks may be cheaper, but much
more scary.  Not very exhilarating, like sailing.
     Why am I dissatisfied with where I am?  This is often my problem.
My Cushing woods Utopia is a lovely peaceful place to think and write.
I can drive into any town or city whenever I wish to see people or buy
things.  I can store my extra things here.  I can get and receive mail.
     What has worked in the past when I couldn't solve a problem was to
think and write all I'm able and then do something else (that is fun)
for a while, then come back to the question again later.  I'll do that!
LATER
What should a Free man be doing?  Anything that he wants to do that he
can afford.  What would make me happy today, now?  (To solve this
problem. Ha ha.)  Getting some exercise by hauling all the old lumber
away from the trailer.  Replacing my van roof window.  Getting all my
little jobs caught up.  Figuring out how to end this LFP #69.
HOW I AM BECOMING A FREE PERSON
1.   Stopped believing anyone had a right to order me around.
2.   Extracted myself from the mob and began making my own decisions
     and stopped conforming.
3.   Stopped absorbing the mass media.  Then my fears began to fade
     away and courage and self reliance began to grow.
4.   Destroyed all of my credit cards!
5.   Cut my expenses down as low as was comfortable.
6.   Built up a reserve supply of money to enable #7.
7.   Stopped working for money as soon as was possible.
8.   Then I traveled and read a lot and learned more about myself and
     people.
9.   I wrote in a journal what I learned and thought and reviewed it
     occasionally and even published it as the LFP.
10.  I continue to learn and experiment with my freedom.
11.  I have found a work that I think needs to be done and I do this
     work for free.  I give my product (my newsletter) to anyone free
     of charge.
12.  I use my savings to pay for the printing and to supply my meager
     needs.
13.  Should everyone else seek their own freedom we would soon have a
     happy sane world and things would be free for me too.
     AROUND THE WORLD
     I have this fantasy of myself making a trip around the world with
a typewriter or computer and staying in hotels or apartments doing some
cooking and lots of hanging out and observing and writing and
publishing my LFP from where I am or getting someone back home to do
it.  Even trying to write for pay for some publications to help finance
the trip.
     This might not cost as much as my sea Gypsy fantasy in both work
and money.  There would be no initial boat cost or continuous
maintenance expenses.  If I stayed at least a month in each place I
could get a small apartment instead of a hotel which would be cheaper
and I could cook.  Staying for a while in each place would also give me
much time to wander and explore a city and get acquainted with some of
its people.  And just sit, watch and cogitate.
     I must also consider the idea that I should not base all of my
decisions on money because I do have a little left that I am willing to
spend.
SAILING
     I should also remember how much fun it was to sail on my 22'
Adventurer in the Bahamas, even in high winds.  And the fun of
exploring new waters.  The fun of repairing her and devising better
tackle.  The fun of buying a new anchor and line.  The fun of getting a
bargain at a boat flea market.
     It must be the Viking blood in me that draws me to the sea.  I
like being on, in or near the sea.
BOOK
     I have not found a publisher for my book, "I Was Robot".  It is an
anthology of the best of LFP from the last 20 years.  I have tried to
edit out the duplications and add some continuity.  My present plan is
to let anyone publish it who will do it with "No Copyright", i.e.,
"Reprinting Permissible".  I will ask no pay or royalties from it.  And
ask that no changes be made without my approval.  I will even furnish
the typesetting which is finished.  It is also on floppy disks in both
manuscript and typset formats, done on an IBM clone with Microsoft
Word.  It is presently set in 12 pt PS san serif type to be reduced to
78% which will make it about 9 or 10 pt.  It is set with a 24 pin Epson
LQ 850 printer. I had planned to print 4 up on 8.5" x 14" paper, making
a trim size book of about 7" X 4" with 320 pages.
     If you are interested in publishing this book, drop me a line.
20 YEARS
     It seems that in my 20 years efforts to convince people to help
save our world (our species), I have failed.
     Now I try a different tack.  I am now living my own life to find
my most happiness.  I shall attempt to not attempt to teach anyone
anything.  I may continue to publish this journal (the LFP) of my
adventures and thoughts "if" I get feedback from people saying they
would like it to continue.  Subscribers who don't respond will get
their money back and will be removed from the mailing list.
     I think that in the coming years, many who are dependent on
government and on corporations will be destroyed by the wars and famine
that these entities are even now creating.
     Surely some of us, who have learned to be independent and take
care of ourselves, may well survive the destruction to our environment
and the wars that the corporations and governments are responsible for.
     By not working or fighting for them and buying little from them I
personally help to stop them.  Ben Franklin said, "Moderation in all
things."  I like that, but I like even better, "Simplicity".  I strive
to attain simplicity in my life.  It is much cheaper and leaves me more
free time.
MIAMI AGAIN?
     I am going to try again to get myself to buy a simple little sail
boat to live on.  I plan to leave again soon for Miami.  I'll try
again.  Maybe this time I'll succeed.  I once had a Norwegian uncle who
said, "If at first you don't succeed, suck eggs."  Ha ha.
     I am a being with lots of energy and ideas.  I have created an
Utopia here in the Cushing woods for myself.  But the reason why I feel
so restless, I think, is that I may need to have more than one Utopia
going for me at the same time.  My mind gets bored easily if I am not
busy, i.e., occupied with a project.  That project can even be just
sitting around and people watching which may seem like loafing or doing
nothing to others.  During times like that I daydream and often some
very profound ideas pop into my head.  I am more aware of hunches then
too.
     So maybe what I'm trying to con myself into is the idea that I can
alternate between the Cushing woods Utopia and the sea Gypsy utopia and
what ever.  If I can figure out a way to alternate from one of my
Utopias to the other when I get bored, it may make life a lot more fun.
NEW UTOPIA?
     I have just now discovered a new meaning for Utopia.  I always
thought of it as a whole society of people living the "perfect life"
together.  Now I have created for myself a little personal Utopia in
this woods near Cushing, Minnesota.  But now it is getting boring for
me.  I know that there are several things I could do here to get myself
busy so that I wouldn't feel bored.  But it feels like it would be much
more to my liking to create another little Utopia for myself and maybe
even more.  I wonder if this isn't what the rich people do -- move from
one of their estates in one country to another estate in another
country when they get bored?  Now I can see how us poor people can do
something similar once we understand the game and get ahead of it a
little.
     Of course those people who watch, read and listen to the mass
media will be too fearful to leave their jobs which promise seniority
and pensions, even though many are being screwed royally by
corporations which merge, move or otherwise dishonor employees' rights.
     As more individuals stop being mind conditioned by the mass media
and venture forth to create their own individual Utopias, it seems
logical that whenever two or more of them find each other, there will
be an exercise of the old "Golden Rule" and the phenomena of "What goes
around, comes around.", which will then begin to create a world Utopia.
I doubt very much that an Utopia can be created on the entire Earth all
at once.  It has been tried by leaders since the beginning of written
history.
     So to create world wide Utopia by starting with individual Utopias
may be a method yet untried.  If those of us who create our own Utopias
do not ignite world change to a world Utopia, it does not matter
because we are no longer part of the problem, but are the solution, in
example form, and we have found happiness.  What more can a person ask
for from life?
LIFE
What a strange thing life is.  I have to give myself permission to go
out and have fun?
     My next question is will I really go back to Miami and will I buy
a boat this time?
     6/23/89   Ernest Mann


Little Free Press #70

MATING PROBLEMS?

     Judging from the lives of people that I know and the increasing
number of match-making publications and dating clubs, I see that an
increasing number of people are having very hard times with their love
lives.
     Forty years ago we had very few divorces.  Most people accepted
one marriage as "the way of life" and they made their marriages work
and most were happy with the arrangement.
     Why have people all of a sudden started mate swapping?  There is a
reason for change.  What is the reason for this one?
     At present there are many who Profit from divorce.  Not just the
lawyers.  The landlords can then rent an apartment to each ex-partner.
The contractors can build more apartments and condos.  The bankers can
lend more money.  The appliance manufacturers and dealers can then sell
two sets of appliances.  Same with furniture and other household goods.
Day care centers are springing up all over, so they Profit too.
     Divorce produces unhappy people.  Doctors, shrinks and counselors
make more Profit.  The entertainment industry, alcohol and drug
producers and distributors make more Profit when unhappy single people
are seeking new mates and fulfillment.
     Do you suppose that some of these Big Time Profiteers got their
heads together fifty years or so ago and hired sneaky behavioral
modification experts to find ways to instill unrest and dissatisfaction
in stable marriages?  And to encourage lust outside of marriage?  Did
they paint a rosy picture of how green the pasture was on the other
side of the fence?
     Monkey see -- monkey do?  Is that why they used to give rich men's
numerous divorces plenty of publicity?  Did they also give the rich
playboys plenty of coverage?  So did the middle class then try to
emulate the rich in this fashion too?  Finally, they added AFDC to the
welfare program to encourage poor people to get in on the divorce
scene. This created greater profits and unrest because there are many
more poor than rich.
     Did the novels, movies and the news portray lots of men with
mistresses and other extra marital love affairs?  Even the reports
about the divorce courts added spice to the mystique to help create the
role models of people with loose sexual morals who were soon recognized
as OK and normal.  Did people then start thinking, "If they can do it -
- so can I!"?
     So here we are with a record number of single parent families.  Do
the children suffer from the instability and constant flow of new step
dads and moms?  Are they also more unhappy and must therefor have
larger sums of money spent on their toys, games and doctors?
     I had an almost perfect marriage for 25 year until I bit on their
enticements, then I allowed those sons of bitches to manipulate me.  I
kept myself too distracted; earning, spending and being entertained, to
see through their Game.  Had I known, I would have stayed with my
marriage and stopped taking in their damn propaganda.
     I wonder if we can separate our "real" feelings from our
"programmed for Profit" feelings?
     Now I ask you -- would people be happier if they switched over to
the Priceless Economic System?  For example:
1.   There would be no more money worries for couples to fight about.
2.   Parents could then find jobs that they could each find
     satisfaction and joy in and with less working hours, so that they
     could each then work different shifts or different days so that
     one could always be with the children.
3.   There would no longer be a Profit in:
a.   divorces
b.   unhappiness
c.   sickness
d.   drugs, tobacco and alcohol
e.   unhealthy working conditions
f.   slum housing
g.   inferior products
h.   causing stress
i.   causing fear
j.   auto accidents
k.   product obsolescence and deterioration
l.   specialized odd sized parts
m.   withholding energy saving devices
n.   industries' production for governments
o.   wars and revolutions
p.   polluting
q.   destroying ecology with over-logging
r.   stealing
s.   causing scarcities and starvation
t.   advertising (encouraging people to consume)
u.   subliminal mind conditioning
v.   withholding higher education from the poor
w.   speculation in large land holdings
x.   stock and commodity markets
y.   gambling
z.   stimulating our sex urge and encouraging larger families
     Can you now see how the Profit Game is the root or prime cause of
most of our problems?  Don't give me that old cliche' about "human
nature" and "greed" being the basic cause!  Scarcity creates Greed!  It
is part of survival.  But with abundance one has no reason to grab and
hoard.  Who hoards sand -- who lives on the desert?  Who hoards salt
water -- who sails the seven seas?  Do you know anyone who hoards ice
-- who lives in Minnesota?
     Bucky Fuller proved with his "World Game" that the Earth has an
abundance of resources for an even larger population than we have.  So
those who control the "so called" scarce resources deliberately under
produce to keep the prices jacked-up.
     In the present world-wide Pay Game there is Profit in causing
trouble.  There is more Profit in:
1.   sickness than in health
2.   accidents than in safety
3.   divorce than in happy marriages
4.   schools than home or self-schooling
5.   prisons than in rehabilitation
6.   war than in peace
7.   crime than honesty
8.   dependency than in self-sufficiency
9.   government than in self-governing
10.  school busing than in walking
11.  confusion than in clarity
12.  more babies than in less
13.  clothing than in nudity
     Is it easier to maintain the "status quo" by pitting race against
race and female against male than by letting them cooperate???  Can you
see how the Priceless Economic System will make happy marriages easier
to attain?
     BUT, is the "prime" reason for causing love problems -- to keep us
too busy and too depressed to think up and set up our own Utopia?
     If you can relate to these ideas -- what will you do or what are
you doing to help get the Priceless Economic System started?
     If you will respond to this question, I'll attempt to publish your
answers and comments in the next issue of LFP.
     Look at what I Just found in my correspondence file.  Can you see
how sloppy a one person office gets. I didn't even answer this
wonderful letter until today.
Dear Ernest,
     I've just finished reading LFP # 62, 63, 64.  Thanks for sending
them.
     In #62 you made me realize something: that things like the waste
burner are just "Strawmen" so the people won't face the real problem.
And then I wonder, maybe all these damn "causes" are just strawmen!?
Even the big ones.  Thinking about it I feel sure that the AIDS crisis
is one such, as are also the Demo/Repub campains and illegal drugs.
Campaigns, probably everything is a con by the elite.
     So...I agree with your point of view; enough that I quit my
$40,000 job and am searching for alternatives.  What is the real
problem?  Abbe Hoffman says its the money -- the stock market.  Yeah,
right, but what can you do to undermine money?  You can drop out, as
we've done and publish that idea and...what?
     I can't think, offhand, of anything else we can do with the money
angle.  So, what's behind that?  This "game" you write about; this
competitiveness; the whole structure of status.  And, to my mind,
there's one good way of undermining that:  refuse to be "professional"
and cough, scoff & jeer at "professionalism" in every way.  Refuse to
accept the notion that you can't do anything unless you've been
"trained" or "educated".  That's all status bullshit. Isn't every man
and woman a star?  Aren't we all born equal?
     And that's what we're doing with "Ganymedean Slime Mold". We like
to consider ourselves "artists" and the only way we can maintain our
integrity (we're ready to sell out any time) is to make our "art" so
fucking bad that if anyone was to see it on their TV presented as "art"
or even simply on their TV, their perception would move a notch towards
our position that, hey, if this is on our TV then why can't we put our
stuff out, too! And then the stranglehold of TV is weakened. The
professionals lose their grip. TV becomes truly decentralized like the
underground press.
     Too bad you got hassled and thrown in jail.  We (SSM) just had a
similar experience.  On the July 4th weekend we drove up to Canada for
the Toronto Anarchist gathering.  But we only made the border at Port
Huron where we walked into a trap.  The Canadians wouldn't let us in
because "our papers weren't in order" and X.E. Sten acted very guilty
when they asked him if he had a criminal record.
     Then when we turned around to head back across the bridge to the
"land of the free" we got stopped by U.S. Customs, who were waiting on
us.  They tore our van and trailer apart and found some pot X.E. had
insisted on taking cause he had to have some handy at all times.  They
then seized our car under the new Zero Tolerance Plan and had X.E.
hauled off to the local jail where he spent the 4th and 2 other days
(they--US Customs--took all his money ($48) and he owes them an added
$104 and the Michigan pigs wanted $200 to bail him out, but we didn't
have it).  Anyway, after hassling me cause I didn't have my green card
(legal alien) they gave us our car back, though it's still the U.S.
government's until we pay $104, because we were so far from home.  And,
finally, the city pigs, after a hilarious court-room scene when X.E.
went before the judge, decided they would accept a $200 check. So...we
escaped and cancelled the check the day we got back to Kokomo.  Fuck
'em.
     Not a pleasant experience for us or our 2 little girls who
experienced the degradation along with us in the US Customs.  I think
now that the whole Toronto bit was just a lure to concentrate the
anarchists and dissidents at a few key bottleneck points--strawmen.
     As to your idea of a Free Sharing Club, a friend of mine started
something similar a few years back called the Creator's Club, but he's
not been pushing it.  He has some great ideas, though, and is working
with the idea of cheap energy through solar generated steam power.  He
also built us this real nice "bubble couch" from a half dome from one
of those Philips 76 gas station towers.  The base is made of wood
(scavenged) and, under the dome, there is seating for 8 on handmade
Styrofoam cushions, the Styrofoam coming from old mattresses.  And in
the middle is a detachable octagonal table so you can sleep 2 people in
it too!  It's real nice, you can lay outside and look at the stars
through the bubble or you can take the bubble off (2 clamps) and sit
out in the air.  If Charlie could find the mother lode of 76 Bubbles
I'm sure he could effect a revolution in housing!
     You know, I was thinking about the skills pool talents all the
people have -- we could fix cars, build houses, learn music -- all
that, if we just ask one another.  But something like what Charlie's
doing with his cheap housing plans needs something that none of us
seems to have:  the bizness help to make it a success; to grab the
attention of the "mass market".  In other words, we have no money.
     I guess what I'm looking for is the key to effecting massive
social change.  And with no money, all we have got is our music, art,
etc.
     Regarding computers, we need a good $10 computer.  That's
something I'd be interested in pursuing:  computers cheap as digital
watches that you could plug into any TV set.  Do you know anyone who's
working on those lines?
     Computers are on my mind lately cause we're gonna buy one.
Probably an Amiga 500 for our video work.  We need it, but I distrust
computers because they operate hierarchically: they don't really free
us artistically, they seduce us into their limited structure.
     Let us know if you get much interest in the Sharing Club and I'll
work up a list of all the things we're capable of here at SSM HQ.  (we
admit no limitations, so...)  Please send me more LFP 's.
8/2/88           Dave Hyde, Ganymedean Slime Mold HQ, Box 1095, Kokomo,
IN 46903
MIAMI
     Just after the 4th of July I drove back to Miami intending to buy
a sail boat, become a Sea Gypsy and sell my van.  I lived aboard a
friend's sailboat for a month.  It was hot and humid.  In the Florida
Boat Trader's magazine I found several boats I wanted to check out but
decided to wait 'til I was done boat sitting.  It was very hot and
boring just waiting for buyers for his boat.  I read a dozen Science
Fiction books and filtered a lot of cold beer and made more room on
board by displacing most of the rum.
     By the end of the month I decided I didn't want all the expenses
of a boat.  I was watching the other boaters pour money into their
expensive holes in the water.  So I popped into my van and drove home.
It took me two days and two nights.  I only stopped for gas, coffee,
food, toilet and to sleep for an hour or so in the rest areas.  The
Freeways seem to be the only roads with rest areas.
     So much for that dream (for now anyway).  Now it's back to the old
pivot point in trying to figure out what to do next and where to do it.
I was frustrated all morning up here in the woods in my Utopia’#I in
Cushing, with these questions until I finally decided I can't take-off
for where ever for another two weeks anyway, (Until I get my computer
back from its 3 month lease.) so I'll do some thing else around here
and maybe the answers will come to me by then.  Or maybe I'll just take
off for the Texas Gulf area and try to find a quiet pleasant cheap
place with electricity to winter.
     Or should I go to Merida, Mexico, first, to have the rest of my
teeth pulled and false teeth made?  But cheap flights to Cancun don't
start 'til December.
     During the interim I could be building a green house around this
trailer to insulate it better for winter.  I could go ahead with
putting in electricity and install a gas heater.  Then I would have
another option -- to winter here if I choose.
     But for some reason, I don't want to do all that work.  Does my
subconscious see a better way to go?  My old self would have just
plowed ahead and done the carpenter work.  Am I getting lazy?  Or
smarter?  Or could it be that there is some kind of telepathy that is
informing me that the big shots are planning on springing their WW’III
on us very soon?  Perhaps there is a part of me that knows we don't
have much time left to get the PES show on the road and I had better
not waste my time on carpentering -- but get back to my computer and
start communicating to find the good people who are probably just
waiting to be asked to help and may have the answers I'm looking for.
I'M BACK!
     As you can see I'm back at my old Minneapolis address paying rent
again.  It took me just about the whole month of August to arrive at
this decision.
     Being a nearly Free Man is much more difficult than when I was a
Slave in the Rat Race.  My major decisions were all made for me there.
Maybe you shouldn't try to be a free and undomesticated being?  It is
much harder work on the old thinker.  But after giving birth to a
decision, it DOES feel great!  The labor pains are sometimes Hell, but
the Individual Freedom that is born is worth it.  I don't think I have
all the stress that most people carry.
     After I get this issue printed, folded, stuffed, stamped and
hauled to the PO, I can get back to the "grunt work" of entering data
from my correspondence file into my data base to make it much quicker
to handle my mail.  Hopefully I'll start getting more "personal
letters" out to people who inquire about PES.
My Book
     I had one publisher in the East who wanted to publish my book, but
he couldn't get to it for a year.  I just corresponded with one in Ohio
who could do it immediately but he was without much experience and had
a printer who was too expensive, so the book price would be too high.
So then I decided again to publish it myself.  I found a place to rent
time on a Laser Printer and then I reformatted Chapter One and ran it
off on the Laser.  Boy!  Did it ever look good.  Then I went over the
numbers again and the different jobs that would lie up ahead for me to
distribute it and the money I would have to lay out, and it scared me.
I thought I will never get time to think and write again.  I will just
be back in the old rat race trying to peddle books.  I don't even like
peddling a bicycle.
     So I took yet another look into the Bible (Writer's Market) and
sent my manuscript off to a large publisher in the East who is asking
for manuscripts on economics, business, finance, and international
relations.  Well, I guess my book covers all of those topics and from a
far different and more interesting point of view.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
     The Little Free Press is dedicated to the idea that we solve
problems by first finding the primary cause of the problem and then
focus on making changes in the area of "cause", instead of fiddling
with layer upon layer of laws aimed at slowing down the destruction
(symptoms) i.e., finding and replacing the destructive motive with a
life supportive motive.
     To encourage the discovery and use of ones individual POWER rather
than giving it to a leader.
     Perhaps the essence of the LFP focus is on total freedom and
access to abundance for each individual.  We might call this  UTOPIA.
"Whatever the mind can conceive, it can create."
     9/23/89   Ernest Mann

Little Free Press #71

FREE INDIVIDUAL'S

     Sometimes I wonder if some of us radicals don't waste much of our
time (lives) trying to teach others about this Freedom that we seek,
instead of seeking out the very essence of it for ourselves. However,
the urge to share these ideas is very strong in some of us.
     There are campaigns telling us to be "anti", just about everything
from sugar to abortion to government and corporations. Some groups tell
us to "Smash the State!" and that we should steal, vandalize and
sabotage the big corporations. But, attempting to "destroy" the present
System wastes our energy and creativity. It is what the Monster
provokes us to do and then feeds on our energy. If we participate in
acts of theft, vandalism and sabotage -- we are playing its game. Then
prices must rise and more police and their backup are hired. More $400
toilet seats are sold to government departments. Taxes and politicians
salaries are raised and they also get more boondoggle (payola/bribe)
money. Our energy is used to pay the ever increasing taxes and
exhausted in confronting and attempting to destroy the various monsters
and straw men they set up.
Focus
     If I could just get myself to focus most of my attention on
creating my own Freedom, I would probably evolve much faster. I would
probably be so unique that I would not have to advertise and promote
Individual Freedom. Instead, people might seek me out, to learn about
it. Just seeing me being that independent wild free joyful being, would
perhaps be enough to whet their apatites. They might start thinking,
"If that old fart can do it, I can do it even better!"  However, I
doubt if I'll ever get it together well enough for that.
     As others see the virtue in the selfishness of seeking ones own
individual freedom and happiness, and discover that, the best freedom
is the one which doesn't conflict with other individuals' freedom, we
then begin to build a stable world composed of happy individuals. So by
making ourselves happy (at no one else's expense) we are actually doing
our share to build a happy world. We can't really change other people.
(However I don't suppose we will ever quit trying.)  It is damn hard
just to change oneself.
Wild and Free
     Maybe I can learn to be that wild free being and still attempt to
point out to my fellow shipmates here on Spaceship Earth, how they are
drilling holes in the hull and that they are sinking our ship.
Hopefully I can show them a better Game to play than the, "See who can
drill the most holes", game.
     If I am stealing, vandalizing or sabotaging -- people may not
desire to emulate me, but may fear or hate me instead. That may not
sell Freedom very well. Besides that, the time I used in those
destruction activities would be TIME I wouldn't be able to use to
discover my own freedom. One might say that instead of "reacting" to
the System, I could be spending that TIME (that space in my life
between now and when I terminate) "acting" to enhance my life.
     It may be necessary for some people to go through this
"Destruction" period to get rid of the anger they developed when they
first discovered the astounding fact, that they were and had been
SLAVES all their lives. "When you take Pay -- you must Obey."
     When I dropped out in 1969, I was very angry with the Government.
In the last 20 years I have been gradually learning that it is more
efficient and enjoyable to attempt to be a builder instead of a
destroyer. I suppose I still get in a few licks against the Government
even though I try not to be negative.
Just a Game
     Actually, "The System", is just a Game. We take Pay or Profit for
our work and Pay for the products and services. It's the only game
going in the world today, so we all play it. By calling the System,
Establishment or Powers That Be -- a GAME, it is a little easier to
understand and deal with. Then there is no one to hate. It is just a
simple fact -- the people who are the most skilled in that Game, get to
the top and have to keep the rest of us down, if they are to stay on
top. (The old "King on the Hill" game.)  That is simply the way the
Pay/Profit (PP) Game must be played! Things just can't be any different
in this Game, no matter how many patches or masks we put on it.
     If we wish to have change, we merely need to design a new GAME and
start playing it. How very simple and safe! One plays it alone at
first. Eventually one finds another who is playing the new Game too and
then the Game becomes more fun. We don't have to destroy the old Game.
People may be ignorant of the better game, but they are not dumb. If we
have designed a better Game, people will gradually change over to the
better Game, if they hear about it.
Better Game
     So what is a better Game? My present theory, that I have designed
and redesigned for the last 20 years, only changes two little things in
the present world-wide PP Game. (In all countries, even Communist,
people take "Pay" for their work and must "Pay" for the products.)  One
would continue living as one does now, but would decline to take Pay or
Profit (PP) from one's work and would then give the product or service,
free of charge. These two simple little changes would make gigantic
changes in the world. There would then be no PROFIT in destroying our
environment or its people, i.e., no longer a reason to start wars,
pollute, starve, steal or need a government, taxes, credit, barter or
money.
     We would then all be Volunteers at our place of work. We would
then have to be treated really well or we would quit. We would have
everything that we needed free of charge so we wouldn't have to work.
Other workers and the coordinators would treat us really well because
the more help they had, the shorter the shifts could be. This would
enable them to create more shifts to accommodate the extra help they
would get when people quit junk, make-work and planned deterioration
production. We would also get an extra 15 million or more workers when
there was no more tax money to pay government employees.
Creativity
     With a happier environment at work we could use more of our
creativity to produce a better product or service and find more
enjoyable ways to do it. We could then insist on safer machines and
healthier work environments. We would no longer feel exploited because
we would all have total access to all new products and services, and
all (including coordinators) would get the same Pay or Profit = $0.00.
     When we start using technology (and common sense) to clean up the
damage the Profit Game is making, then we can begin to use technology
to produce non-polluting, non-destructive to environment things of
beauty that will last a very long time, be easy to repair and update
and cut down the working hours for everyone, except the robots.
     There would be no point in taking too much because there would be
no resale value, nor any status symbol value in free items.
Abundance
     One of Buckminister Fuller's groups, some time ago, with his
"World Game", inventoried the world's unused and reusable resources and
showed us that there is an abundance of resources for an even larger
population. The problem has been that the cartels, monopolies and
trusts have under-produced to create the scarcities which keep prices
up. So, as we often see, as we travel across this vast world, "There is
great abundance here, but it is not being used."  Instead it is being
withheld to create higher PROFITS. There is no point in taking too much
when there is abundance. Who hoards sand -- who lives on the desert?
     In a priceless economy, work may become a privilege instead of a
duty. In the R. Buckminister Fuller book, "Critical Path", he said:
"About 90 percent of all U.S.A. employment is engaged in tasks
producing no life-support wealth."  If this is the case, then with more
intensive use of automation, computers and robots we could produce
abundance with less than 10 percent of the work force that we use
today. Even today it takes only 2.9% of our population to produce our
food.
What to Do?
     But what is an individual to do until the world makes a total
change-over to a priceless Game? If one has some resources saved up and
can live without additional income for a while, one can start right
now, to live half of the new Game, by giving all or part of one's labor
or product away, free of charge, to whomever one chooses. By working as
a Volunteer one immediately has more Freedom. One can then do ones work
as one pleases. One then has control over the how, when, where, what,
why and who of ones work. Besides that, giving is more fun than selling
and at the same time as we are enjoying our life more we are a
demonstration for those who see us that the PES would work and that
obviously "giving" must be more fun than "selling".
     If one has no surplus, perhaps one would then focus on gaining
some. I really don't know, from experience, what one without reserves
would or should do, but they will surely think of some way to begin to
share in the fun of the priceless Game, if they so choose.
Absorbing the Media
     I do know this -- since I stopped absorbing the media, i.e.,
watching TV (I had to get rid of my TV, because I was addicted to it.),
listening to the radio, reading magazines, newspapers, billboards and
novels, listening to music and going to movies -- I am not fearful any
more and I feel more at ease. (Sometimes I do scan the newspaper
headlines and even fall victim to a movie occasionally. But then, no-
body's perfect.)  I have more free time. I am more realistic.
     I am no longer motivated to buy, buy, buy. I stopped acknowledging
government or church designated holidays 20 years ago. I don't
celebrate any holidays unless I or one of my friends declare a day of
our own choosing to be a holiday. I don't give gifts or cards on a
holidays, not even on a birthday or Mother's Day. Sometimes I may give
a gift but never on a holiday. I rarely even give gifts any more. I
seem to get enough of the good feelings of giving from my Free Box and
giving my work. So for many years now I have been able to walk through
the biggest most imposing stores and look through the most colorful
advertisements and not feel a desire for any of the stuff.
95% Unnecessary
     The big super-market grocery stores are almost the same for me.
95% of what they display, I do not want. I buy only a fresh vegetable
or fruit or two, fresh red and white meat, some dairy, eggs, whole
wheat flour and bread, salt, pepper, corn oil, jam, peanut butter,
nuts, oat groats, baking soda & power, sugar, ice cream, coffee and
that is about all. I buy almost no canned or frozen or prepared foods.
My food bill is very small and I seldom eat in restaurants. I could get
by just fine on very few and very small stores. Because of my simple
diet, my walking and my ease of mind, I am healthier and more energetic
than anyone I know.
     I laugh when I hear of the latest "scam" the politicians pull. I
laugh at the taxpayers who support all the crooks in office. Long ago I
reduced my taxable income to the point where I'm not required to pay
income taxes. I laugh at election circuses. I've checked out the
definition of "democracy" in the dictionary and laugh to think how I
was fooled all those years by my misunderstanding of that word. I laugh
at how I used to think that I needed someone to Rule me. I can only
laugh when the politicians raise their own salaries by $30,000. It is
really funny to see how the sheep put up with one insult after another
and then vote another slave driver in at the next election. I used to
be one of those dumb sheep.
     If I allow a group, a faith or a government to steer me, I become
dependent on it and never grow into the adulthood of a whole free
being. I have then allowed them to retard my growth. But it is never
too late to take hold of my own steering wheel and begin learning to
drive my own life toward any destiny I choose.
Hypnotized?
     To be able to see the humor of it all, does me far more good than
the anger that it used to invoke, when I was hypnotized by the media
and its subliminals. On the other hand, there is a certain amount of
empathy and even sorrow, that I feel for the many I see who carry their
mind-leader and mood-setter with them whenever they leave home, plugged
into both ears. Wow! What a waste of potential thinking Power.
     If one does a little research, experimenting and thinking about
music they soon realize how music is used to set people's moods. It can
make one happy and wish to dance, it can lead one to march, make one
sad, make one feel fearful, feel like a loser, feel hopeless, etc. Just
do a scan on all the radio channels and see what mood-set predominates.
See if that would be your mood preference, if you had a choice.
Mood Maker
     I can relate to music if I am making it. If I am whistling,
humming or playing one of my own compositions on my harmonica, I
usually discover what mood I'm in, by the mood of what I'm whistling or
playing. I also notice that making my own music is therapeutic. The
longer I'm at it, the better my mood and my music's mood gets. When I'm
making the music, I, become the mood manipulator. I like that better.
Besides all this, I can think better without background music.
     If we can create our own little islands of sanity and stability,
even within a big city, we become symbols of what others can attain,
when they become aware enough to see.
Drop-out
     I worked hard and saved for 22 years, so that I was able to drop-
out in 1969. I've managed to live very cheaply since then, so that I
could travel extensively and learn as much as I could from observation,
conversing and attempting to learn to think for myself. Now that I am
62, I get a Social Security pension of $321 per month and still have a
small amount of savings. So I can afford to give my newsletter, free of
charge, for a while yet. I often (as most people do) work for my
friends for free. I try to maintain a Free Box which contains some of
my surplus things. Surplus things are but burdens to be gotten rid of.
But to someone who needs an item, it is a savings to get it for free.
     A group in Monterey, California, that I met about ten years ago,
called themselves the Free Skills Pool. The contacts I had there were
Joan and Roger Lorenz, but I think they have since moved. At that time
they were part of a group of about 125 people with outside jobs, who
were giving their skills to anyone else in the group, free of charge.
They kept no accounting of how much anyone gave or took. If someone
fixed your TV or auto they only charged for the parts, at cost. They
said it worked well, except people seemed a little hesitant to ask for
a skill.
Undomesticated?
     I feel like I still have an endless amount to learn, if I'm ever
to be as free, wild and undomesticated as I would like to be. I hope to
get myself to stop bragging about what little I have learned and set
myself down to the ecstasy of being that which I envision. I don't
really envision it very clearly yet. Perhaps that is where I need to
spend more time, and then take my little steps towards living it.
Holes
     Whenever anyone buys something new, industry hires one of us to
drill another hole in the bottom of our ship. Volunteers run around
like mad, trying to plug up the holes. People complain to the
Government about the holes. Government then hires industry to hire some
of us, to drill holes in the bow of the ship to get plugs to plug the
holes in the stern of the ship.
Do We Need the Holes?
     A ship with too many holes will sink. When you stop buying things,
industry stops hiring us to drill holes in the bottom of our ship.
     Would you rather be without a job or be on the ocean bottom in a
lifeless holed boat? Being jobless, one at least has life and hope to
design a better System (Game).
     Many of us drop-outs are buying almost nothing that is new.
Occasionally we find discards in dumpsters or buy "used" things at
garage, yard, basement, rummage or moving sales. Sometimes we get a
free item from a friend's Free Box. This saves us money so that either
our savings last longer or we don't have to work for money as much.
This is nothing new. People in the 30's Depression did it just to
survive. We do it for additional reasons. First, we create more free
time for ourselves. Second, when we don't buy a new item, the store
doesn't order a replacement. The factory doesn't manufacture that
replacement. Then there is less pollution and less resources used. So,
by each item that we don't buy new, we preserve our environment by a
measurable amount. This also has a measurable effect on the Profit of
the Polluters and Destroyers (P & D's). As more people catch-on to the
personal advantages of not spending much, we may eventually bankrupt
the P & D's, which really won't matter to them, because they won't need
any money in the priceless Game either.
     The P & D's also need our labor and inventions to continue to
prosper. As we buy less, we have less need to sell them our labor and
inventions.
     As we buy less things, and get rid of excess things, we need less
space to house our accumulations -- so we can rent or buy a smaller
cheaper place, if that pleases us.
A Short Step
     When you stop to think about it -- these super-cheap rummage sales
are just a step short from the Priceless Economic System (PES). Prices
are almost nil compared to Second Hand Store prices. Sometimes I get
the feeling that we are being enabled to survive very cheaply so that
people will have lots of free time to think and learn and perhaps
evolve into Independent Beings who no longer need a Slavemaster to tell
them what to do. My thoughts sometimes are, that the Slavemasters think
we may be ready and able to take control of our own lives and planet.
This implies that the Masters may be from another planet and are
helping Earthlings evolve as best they can guide us. If this should be
true, I don't think they are too good at their work. But, nobody's
perfect! The Aliens may be good at starcraft but not quite so hot at
peoplecraft. If this theory is inoperative, perhaps there are a couple
of Earthlings or so, who have enough smarts to be guiding the whole
show here on planet Earth. Maybe they think by making us angry enough
at Government, we will get up on our hind legs and start creating
something better for ourselves.
Easier Now
     We now have a lot more tools to work with than humankind has ever
had. Now we have world-wide instantaneous audio and video communication
systems. We have people right here in the USA, from most all countries
of the world, who can speak their native language, so now ideas can be
spread quickly, accurately and world-wide. We can now travel to the
other side of the earth in just a few hours. All through past history
transportation and communication took months and even years, so broad
changes were slow and difficult, if not impossible.
Great Set-Up
     Take a look at the big discount stores -- they are set-up almost
perfect for the PES. The workers (that means us) are running them. The
owners are not there to protect their ownership. When we change-over to
the PES, we merely need to remove the cash registers and let the check-
out clerks find some other kind of work. From then on, shoppers can run
the bar codes past the scanners themselves as they leave the store.
This will make it easier to keep track of the inventory and automate
reordering.
     Because the big discount stores replace dozens of small shop
owners, there won't be all those small shop owners grumbling about
losing their businesses. That is already taking place.
     So the Discount Stores may be just a stepping stone to the PES.
After we arrive there, we will surely design even better distribution
methods.
Anyone Can Publish
     Cheap copy shops are now making it very simple and cheap for
anyone to publish their ideas and exchange them with many others.
Thousands of people are already doing it. Computers are making it even
easier (and fun) for us to exchange information.
Solo Organizations
(That's what the LFP is.)
Advantages:
1.   Can't be infiltrated.
2.   No boring committee meetings
3.   No membership problems.
4.   No corporation papers.
5.   No meetings.
6.   No bosses.
7.   No power plays.
8.   No backsliders.
9.   No one to purge.
10.  No dues.
11.  No meeting hall to rent.
12.  Make own rules.
13.  OK to break rules.
14.  No embezzling of funds.
15.  No funds arguments.
Ignorant
     For thousands of years people have been kept ignorant of how they
are enslaved and of how much potential Power and control each
individual could be exerting over his/her own life. As more people
become aware of this fact and share this information, the faster change
takes place.

     PEOPLE ARE NOT STUPID AND DUMB -- THEY ARE JUST IGNORANT OF BETTER
WAYS.

     "Ignorance is of a peculiar nature; once dispelled, it is
impossible to reestablish it. It is not originally a thing in itself,
but is only the absence of knowledge; and though man may be kept
ignorant, he cannot be made ignorant."
Thomas Paine          (1791)

New Era
     Today we are living in a wondrous NEW ERA, but not many are yet
aware of it or of the part that they can play in helping to give birth
to a near Utopian world for us all, where people will no longer need to
be slaves -- where machines can be our slaves (instead of us being
slaves to the machines).
     Aware people who are rich or semi-rich know that in the Pay/Profit
(PP) Game, "Money is Independence". People who have a large excess of
money and are able to see the long term picture, don't need to waste
their time on frugality and survival economy. They can focus on using
their surplus money to promote the priceless Game in ways that money
can buy expertise in promotion and people motivation.
No Problem
     In the past 20 years that I have spent publishing the Little Free
Press newsletter, promoting individual freedom, I have never been
harassed for that effort and I have always kept a very high profile and
usually used my home address and of late even my phone number, on my
newsletters. Oh, yes, I have gotten myself into trouble a few times for
other things, but it was always, because I asked for trouble, and I got
it. Because I am promoting something (a near Utopia) that everyone
secretly desires, no one hassles me.
Cozy
     Sometimes, it seems like I get myself all set up in a perfect
little Utopia of my own. I get myself all smug and cozy and everything
really handy and working well. Little routines fall into place which
are satisfying and efficient ways to take care of my daily chores. I
find all the cheapest places to get the things I need. I acquaint
myself with the new area and make a few friends.
Old Soon -- Smart Late
     As I look back on those times, I notice that it wasn't long after
I made such an observation, that I made a drastic new change in my
life. I think, "Yah, and just the other day I thought I really had it
made, but now I'm starting all over to get everything ship shape in a
different place."  This doesn't seem very logical or intelligent. Do
others ever experience such thoughts and changes? Could I learn to
settle down and enjoy what I've created or must I wait until I grow old
before this is possible? (Ohooo..."We get old so soon, and smart so
late.") Do some thrive on innovation and improvements and others thrive
on being part of what is? Are we all alike in this area or are we
different?
     When I put all of these thoughts down on paper, it helps me to
clarify them and leads me to some conclusions that I don't seem able to
make, when the thoughts are just bouncing around in my head.
What to Do
     So, what is the best thing to do? The very best is, I think, to
believe that no one has all the answers. If we read and observe what
others are doing, and try to reason out which seem sensible; if we take
quiet space often, to think and day dream and attempt to communicate
with our own subconscious data base to discover some of our own ideas;
if we then try out some of these ideas to see how they actually work,
we will gradually make changes in our own lives which work for us. As
we grow closer to our own envisioned personal Utopia -- so does the
world.
     Because we are one unit of the world population that is starting
to think for itself and create its own destiny, there is one unit less
that is conforming blindly to the will of the manipulators. Thus HOPE,
is born for the individual and for our future.
     12-3-89   Ernest Mann

Little Free Press #72

WHERE TO FOCUS

     Chapter Five suggested buying only "used" products, to cut down
personal expenses and reduce pollution. But, focusing our efforts on
persuading everyone to stop buying, to halt pollution, might take too
long. It might also have an adverse effect on everyone. If it were
successful, there might be mass layoffs which would cause a breakdown
in the flow of necessities. The unemployed might starve or become a big
welfare burden.
     The system can tolerate drop-outs who take care of themselves. Not
buying "new" is still valid for poor radicals like myself. We would
rather have more Free Time to build a better system, than more fancy
stuff to play with in a destroyed environment.
     A more important strategy may be to focus our efforts on getting
as many people as possible to start talking about the Priceless
Economic System (PES). As people argue the PES, it becomes more clear
and logical. It is so simple that it should not take long for people to
talk themselves into it. All we may need to do, is just let people know
about it. This method would not cause lay-offs. The flow of necessities
could continue with no reason for chaos or fighting during the change-
over.
     What to Do