How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World is a fantastic book written by the late Harry Browne. I had previously watched one or two videos in which Browne discusses some of his ideas about living life, but I had no idea how much thought and experimentation he put into it until I read this book. Here are some of his ideas.
The central message of How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World is that you can live a great deal of your life in freedom, which Browne defines as “living your life as you want to live it”. To do this requires getting out of what Browne calls “traps”. He considers a trap to be an incorrect, unchallenged assumption or mindset that prevents you from living as freely and happily as you could be. Browne spends the first section of the book pointing out various traps, showing how easy it is to fall into them, and discussing some suggestions for getting out of them.
In the second section, Browne goes into detail about potential ways to be free from as many traps as possible. Many of these involve pursuing direct alternatives (actions you can take completely on your own) rather than indirect alternatives (actions that require someone else to act in a certain way). This way you’re acting within areas that you control, which prevents you from having to depend on other people to do something for you (or refrain from doing something to you). Taking control of your life and preventing yourself from being dependent on others is a major theme that is repeated throughout the book.
Browne spends the third and final section of the book discussing some ideas for putting these changes into action and building the life of your dreams. The result: you’ll be able to choose between two or more things that will increase your happiness (positive decisions) instead of trying to decide which of several courses will least reduce your happiness (negative decisions). According to Browne, the more opportunities you have to make positive decisions, the freer and happier your life will be. And he gives plenty of examples of what that looks like for him and what it might look like for you.
Browne’s take on a number of subjects is quite different than most conventional perspectives. In some ways, this is the most radical book I’ve ever read, and there were a number of things that surprised me. Some of those surprises were pleasant, especially when it involved a perspective I’ve held since long before I read the book and couldn’t recall seeing elsewhere. However, there were also several points where Browne and I didn’t see eye-to-eye. Some of these include our views on morality, the degree of selfishness that we’re comfortable practicing, and the lengths to which we’re willing to go in the pursuit of freedom. Despite our disagreements, Browne and I still arrived at many of the same conclusions on a number of matters even if we had different ways of getting there, and I still think the book contains a lot of great stuff.
Trying to list all the life hacks in How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World would take far too much space here, but there are a few worth mentioning: refraining from making important decisions during times of great emotion, mentally rehearsing possible outcomes to upcoming difficult situations to better prepare for them, and considering all the potential relevant consequences of your actions before making a major decision. I learned about several of the concepts Browne discusses from other sources last year, but reading about them in this book has helped me practice them more in my life. While I plan to read it several more times, I feel like my life has already become better and freer just from my reading it once and putting some of its ideas to the test. I highly recommend you check out the book. Normally I include a link to the books I review, but this case is a little different. I read this as a PDF on my Kindle, the book appears to be out of print, and many of the existing print copies are quite expensive. That is why I’ve not linked to the book in this post. Still, if any of this sounds interesting to you and you can find a good copy in print, digital, or audio form, check it out and see if it helps you find more freedom for yourself.
