Freedomain Radio

Stef is often saying that he'd like to hear from people who were raised by libertarians/anarchists, so I figure that that's as good a reason as any to actually post an introduction on the forum. I'm usually loathe to post such introductions and just kinda drip into forum happenings as topics pique my interest.

So, hi! My name is Brandon and I'm a 25-year-old anarchocapitalist living in the liberal land of Seattle, Washington. I'm a software engineer by trade and work for one of the lesser evil empires in the Seattle area. I've been an anarchist, an atheist and a capitalist for as long as I can remember. I was protected from the indoctrination of the state by my mother, who home schooled my sisters and me until we were old enough to _choose_ to begin attending public school. For me this was in the fifth grade.

Once we began attending public school, the rules were simple. If a teacher calls home and costs mom time, then we're in trouble. Grades were never important beyond the statement, "You know that the society we live in puts value on certain achievements. If you choose not to achieve those things, then you must be willing to accept the consequences of that choice." This reminder helped to improve on the inherently broken motivational structure of public schooling and led to me choosing to get passing marks throughout primary and secondary school. My younger sister was almost pulled out of school because, due to certain traumas in her childhood, she would stress herself to the point of illness in the pursuit of perfect grades and approval from teachers. I don't feel that I learned anything of value between the 5th and 10th grades, with the possible exception of how to better deal with the social constructs of those who have been brainwashed by the state.

Throughout our childhood, we were exposed to libertarian, objectivist and anarchist viewpoints. My mother was the editor of NOMOS for a time and worked on the Harry Browne presidential campaign. We attended two IOS (Institute for Objectivist Studies) Summer Seminars when I was a teen and my mother and I attended the LFSCon at MARCon. Basically, there's never been any doubt in my mind that the state is evil and it's actually difficult for me to envision a smart person thinking otherwise (I'm constantly shocked as I'm having a conversation with a very smart person to find out that they are one sort or another of statist).

In our house, there was no such thing as an allowance. There were no handouts. We did chores in the house and were paid for those chores. If we wanted things that cost money we would need to perform extra tasks in order to earn that money. Each of us chose to begin working 'in the real world' at a young age, in order to earn more money to purchase things that we wanted. I have _never_ been unemployed from the season when it became legal for me to be employed.

These are all of the goods which you would essentially expect when growing up in an anarchocapitalist household. Obviously, that is not all there is to say about my upbringing, but the negative aspects have nothing to do with anarchocapitalim and everything to do with my mother's emotional scar tissue and my father's inherently amoral (not immoral) decision making process. From out of the various traumas that marked our childhood, I am somehow the only one who has come out as a rationally motivated anarchocapitalist. My younger sister is fairly libertarian, but truly believes that she 'should' involve herself in the redistribution of wealth to save Africa. My older sister is currently following the religion of Yoga or some such and has somehow lost all track of capitalistic values. Seeking instead to alternately acquire (through coercive means) goods and divest them in search of spiritual perfection. Libertarian parenting does not solve all things.

I don't know what traumas my childhood hides, my memory of it is spotty at best. I've always had a tendency to remember the good over the bad in all things, so having a largely empty memory of my childhood probably means that it wasn't all that pleasant a lot of the time. I can only assume that these hidden traumas are what have led to my having to battle verbally abusive tendencies in myself throughout my adolescence and young adulthood. I can also assume that similar traumas experienced by my sisters are what put them where they are.

Well, I think that's enough about my history for now, I'm always happy to talk more about it, if people are interested in more details of what it was like to be raised by a severely scarred person who was (and is) trying to be rational and anarchocapitalist.

Now onto what brings me to FDR and what keeps me here. My mother is what brought me here. She linked me to one of Stef's videos describing good reasons _not_ to vote for Ron Paul. I so enjoyed Stef's friendly conversational style that I wandered over to the site and have been listening to podcasts ever since. (175 down, lots to go) I find tremendous value in the FDR podcasts because in debating for freedom I am often stumbled by questions which I cannot imagine need answering. For example, given my upbringing, it is absolutely obvious that any form of coercion necessarily reduces efficiency by breaking human motivation.

I've also found the podcasts which describe the process of religious brainwashing to be deeply moving. I've been deeply in love with religious people and have found myself trying to save them from their guilt-ridden blind existences, but I never realized just how terrible of a mental hell they were living in. Hearing Stef describe it so eloquently has literally brought tears to my eyes. I (whoops) emailed a link to podcast 70 to one of these fine and wonderful women because I know that she's just too brilliant to stay in her mental / emotional hell forever and I think that maybe hearing someone with whom she had no other emotional history describe it might help.

Anyhow, that's far more than enough for an introductory post.

Stef, thanks for the great show and for the opportunity to discuss with other rational people.

For possibly a deeper understanding of my world, check out my site (blog) http://www.lostlogicx.com and my mother's business http://www.centerforconsciousliving.com

Welcome.  That's quite a history.

lostlogic:

Once we began attending public school, the rules were simple. If a teacher calls home and costs mom time, then we're in trouble.

Wow, what an interesting history! I attended some IOS functions in New York in the 90's and met a few libertarians and objectivists that way. I was really turned off by their reaction to 9/11, and was much more interested in antiwar.com and the Rothbardian point of view by then. I don't think I've ever known someone personally who was raised by a parent who was anti-state.

You said, "it is absolutely obvious that any form of coercion necessarily reduces efficiency by breaking human motivation." How true! This relates very much to my own issues with motivation, though it's often perceived rather than actual coercion (programmed fear).

There are a few Christians I have found very appealing; it can be a relief to find people who have some kind of moral code rather than nihilism or relativism. But then, the belief without evidence... no thanks!

Thanks for sharing your intriguing history, and I'll look forward to seeing you on the boards or chat.

Small punishments were usually monetary in essence, having to do chores that would usually pay without payment, or extra chores.  Larger punishments entailed loss of privilege.  For my geeky self this was usually loss of computer access.

Emotional support I'd have a much harder time speaking clearly about.  As I said, my mother is not in the best emotional shape herself, so it was also not the best part of my upbringing.  I've always found my mother easy enough to talk to and haven't really had any secrets from her since the days of sneaking back on the computer when I wasn't supposed to.  I guess I would say that she provided a good sounding board for my own thoughts and feelings and _tried_ to offer reasoned advice in emotionally trying situations, but in hindsight, her own emotional state probably prevented the reason in her words from being as useful as it would otherwise have been.

I know that my sisters do not feel that they can speak openly with my mother, which probably has to do with my mother's attitude toward beliefs other than her own.  She's never been able to be curious toward beliefs that she finds objectionable and when my sisters began to explore other areas sociopolitical thought, I think that that really hurt their relationships.  This part is kinda new thoughts to me.  Had never really tried to explore _why_ my relationship with my mother is so much better than my sisters'.  I'll blame/thank Stef for that.

My parents divorced when I was 5 years old and my father is a singularly amoral person.  Nothing is wrong until it has direct consequences to him, period.  He is constantly trying to get away with things, even where the 'victims' are his children.  I haven't yet, but am considering, entirely breaking off contact with him.  I know that he has _tried_ to be a friend in recent years (ie. now that his children no longer require any financial support from him), but that obviously doesn't change the constant withholding of love and money when we were children and needed his support both financially and emotionally.  My father definitely used his treatment of his children as a bargaining chip with my mother, and my mother, being a very fearful person, was never able to stomach the legal process needed to remove him from our lives.  Or perhaps she felt that there was still some value to be gained from us having a relationship with him while we were growing up.  I'm not sure.  I do know that the most traumatic specific incidents that I can remember from my childhood all took place while we were in the custody of my father.

Karl:

Wow, what an interesting history! I attended some IOS functions in New York in the 90's and met a few libertarians and objectivists that way. I was really turned off by their reaction to 9/11, and was much more interested in antiwar.com and the Rothbardian point of view by then.

I agree, the serious objectivists have quite a few hard to swallow elitist viewpoints. 

"There were no handouts. We did chores in the house and were paid for those chores."

 So how did you survive as a baby without food, clothing, and shelter? Did you change your own diaper as a chore?
 
I am surprised that you expect the "smart" people you meet to not be statist most of the time. I think statism is the religion that most people adhere to; they are too attached to allow logic and reasoning defeat their beliefs. I can understand disappointment but genuine surprise? I must find out where you meet so many anarcho-smarties that aren't at some anarcho-conference.

Do any of your school friends have similar beliefs? Do you notice a certain period or age where somebody will arrive at anarcho-capitalism on their own rather than through anarcho-capitalistic upbringing?

afruff23:

"There were no handouts. We did chores in the house and were paid for those chores."

So how did you survive as a baby without food, clothing, and shelter? Did you change your own diaper as a chore?

Yeah yeah, you get the point :)

I am surprised that you expect the "smart" people you meet to not be statist most of the time. I think statism is the religion that most people adhere to; they are too attached to allow logic and reasoning defeat their beliefs. I can understand disappointment but genuine surprise? I must find out where you meet so many anarcho-smarties that aren't at some anarcho-conference.

I'm a terminal optimist.  When I meet someone and am having an engaging conversation with them, I just naturally assume that they are not a statist.  I just end up being surprised and disappointed when they turn out to be otherwise *shrug* better than having negative expectations. 

Do any of your school friends have similar beliefs? Do you notice a certain period or age where somebody will arrive at anarcho-capitalism on their own rather than through anarcho-capitalistic upbringing?

Several of my friends from college have similar beliefs, but I haven't really talked that much with them about when they came to them.  Would be interesting to know.  I'll try to think to ask.