 
Date: Fri, 11 Sep 92 00:19:26 EDT
From: wce@hogbbs.scol.pa.us (Bill Eichman)
Subject: Hard Head
To: +dist+/afs/andrew/usr/js9b/Public/camc.dl@andrew.cmu.edu
Message-Id: <4u6wqB2w165w@hogbbs.scol.pa.us>
Organization: The Heart of Gold BBS, Lemont PA
Comments: Validated



Hello, All,

I've had an extremely practical focus for the past many months, and am
programming myself to become even more practically-focused over the next
five year period.

I tend to spend all my mental time thinking about making money, buying
land and tools, starting businesses, building systems, and all that type
of stuff. I feel good about it, like I'm moving in the right direction,
and I do expect to have several new businesses started, and at least one
new piece of land purchased, in the next three years.

But, this may make conversations with me rather one-sided; all I care
about this days is getting practical results. I'm stuffed with theory
and study-- I need to _practice_. So, caveat emptor, be aware; my agenda
is rigidly focused.

What I want to talk about are methods for acheiving greater degrees of
freedom and independence from the 'dominant society', the megacorp/
megagov rigid and centralized society. Practical plans that will give us
the power to live a high quality life with as much of the benefits of
modern civilization as possible, but with enormously greater freedom in
lifestyle. I want to be out of the rat race, yet have the tools and
information I want for my studies, artwork, and creative needs.

>From: "Jon C. Slenk" 

>Midnight Engineering is basically an entreprenurial magazine. What

>The Editorial: The publisher and editor is one William Gates (no
>relation to Microsoft, as far as I could tell). His editorial talked
>about how people who would like to become successful entrepreneurs must
>"get into" the swing of things. Basically, he was saying that the more
>attempts you make at getting involved with entrepreneurial ventures, the
>more expereince you will gain and thus the more succesful you will be in
>the future. Kinda obvious, but worth saying.

Worth saying over and over again-- this is a principle I think we can
make work for us.

Taking risks is the essence of entrepreneurialism. But taking the risk
of starting a business is an absolutely intense adrenalin-kicker. It's
really scary. And, there are a thousand practical entrepreneurial skills
and 'common-sense' abilities that _Nothing But Experience_ seems to
give a person. Taking many _small_ (and therefore non-catasrophic)
risks when you're starting out is the fastest way I've known of
learning how to organize businesses. I'm expecting to have to make many
tries to get the businesses and communities I want to start actually working.

I'm reminded of my brother, who borrowed $10,000 from my father to buy
half of a satellite sales business, and promptly lost the money through
the chicanery of his new partner, and the poor timing of buying into
sats just as the first round of scrambling conversions was initiated by
the satellite broadcasting companies. This was a near catastrophic and
very disheartening experiment on his part-- he jumped in too deep too
fast.

I lost twelve thousand dollars (on the books-- with the tax reduction of
the losses I made back over 6,000) in the early eighties trying to start
and run a sensory deprivation floating business with a chiropractor
buddy of mine. I'd say that lost money, comnplicated by other
disappointments, ruined my friendship with that fellow. I started in too
deep, didn't do enough research, underestimated costs, and, though I
generally had a great time and regard the experience as a precious gift,
I blew it totally as a business and lost a lot of money technically. I
was a salaryman then, I could afford it, but it was a pricey little
hobby.

Start small-- think in hundreds and small thousands. Don't touch
anything that costs more than 2500 to start, and don't start it with
money that you _Must_ have to pay bills or keep obligations-- never
trust the business gamble. Try small scale, but Try, Try, TRY, and TRY
AGAIN. You learn volumes with each effort; concentrated repetition works
wonders at burning new abilities into your brain.

If we start _expecting_ ourselves to take risks, and by ourselves I mean
both the various groups and individuals, and (perhaps influenced by
memes, or advertising, or fiction, etc.) even the whole "creative
lunatic fringe" of the society--- well, then we'll progress faster, even
though we'll probly suffer more. ;-)

It is The American Dream to be self-employed, to be a successful
entrepreneur. It is The American Reality that most people spend their
lives in jobs they either actively hate or grimly acept, held in bond
servitude by the weight of their debt, which keeps them chained in place
just as effectively (for most) as a gun in the back.

"Our type" of people can counteract this 'Reality' by trying, as hard as
possible, to master the hard craft of entrepreneurialism from as early
an age as possible. Small business experiments, in college and during the
first 'pay your dues' years of 'traditional employment' from age twenty
to thirty, is the pathway I suggest will lead to greater power and
wealth for all of us.

I'm involved in my own entrepreneurial ventures, and I suggest to
everyone _really strongly_ that they give the idea of starting their own
businesses some _very_ serious consideration.

I think talking about starting businesses is about the best thing we
could accomplish (other than actually starting the businesses, of
course!) with this mailist. I've said in the past that starting new
communities or tribes of "our type of people" is my primary goal--
but these new tribes will live and die based upon how successful they
are at "harvesting money", and entrepreneurial businesses are the
foundation of any workable community.

Entrepreneurial businesses will also be valuable even if it turns out
that new tribes are a stupid idea. It's a good approach, no matter what
our future oppurtunities turn out to be.


>yearly income. What he realized was that all he really needed to keep
>his life style was a phone, electricity, mail services (including such
>things as Fed Ex) and TV and radio, pretty much. So, in the last few
>years he found some ex mining towns in Colorado where the land was
>*extremely* cheap because it wasn't near anything of importance. He
>purhcased a large house for $7k, then several parcels of land around him
>for $2k each. He ended up with a veritable mansion for a minor expense.
>Now, he has more disposable income. Pretty nifty.

Naturally, I have to point out that this guy is doing, on his own,
exactly what I think we should team up and do-- buy rural land and build
business based on electronic home offices, save enormous amounts of
money, and live a more laidback lifestyle, eating food from organic
gardens, and raising kids who start playing with computers and looking
at bugs under microscopes when they're a year old.

I don't want to be all the way out in bugfuck, colorado-- I want to be
close enough to a major university for a relaxed one hour drive to get
access to a quality library, or less, ideally. Land is only as cheap as
this fellow describes in the really desolate, water short, nonarable
places-- it would be great to have some mountain retreats, but mountain
retreats won't work that well as a women-and-children attracting
community. (they could, sure, and it has to be tried by someone-- one of
the guys on my network is a mining enthusiast, heavy into finding gold,
metals, and minerals that can be prized out of the ground and sold. This
is his idea of a great entrepreneurial venture. I expect it could work,
you know? ;-)

But, if ten people got together, a hundred acre farm near many of the
major cities would become a real and practical possibility.

Well, I've rambled on... Later, Bill

ps. Tom, with regards to local culture, I understand your point fully--
my response is--- _Just Do It_. Make it happen. No amount of
conversation on this network is going to lead to a local culture
renaissance. I'm already making it happen here in my neck of the woods.
It's a question of participation, and of providing the performance and
meeting spaces where the local culture happens, is "created to happen".
And, I intend to tape it as it's happening and sell the tapes, hopefully
at an exciting profit... ;-)

It's not an either/or-- it's a question of _HOW?_.

I asked my musician friend to write a little bit about this whole idea,
and subject, and about the whole marketing of tapes and cds trip as
well. Hopefully I'll be able to post it here, when it comes through.

pps. Posting to this list helps me think about and write down first
drafts on a lot of topics; and is helping me to focus a bit more on the
"Pioneering the 21st century" book. This is all long and tedious I
know-- but thanks all for the inspiring context.


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