Creativity Cannot Be Enslaved
It is my conviction that imagination, unconventional thinking, and creative intelligence are more powerful than political tyranny and legislative force.
If you’d like to hear more of my thoughts on creativity and its relationship to human freedom, I’ll be giving a talk for the SFL Webinar Series entitled “Creativity Cannot Be Enslaved” with Q&A to follow.
You can hear me live on tomorrow (Thursday, January 30th) at 8pm Eastern Standard Time.
Click here for registration details.
I’d love to see you there.
Either way, create a great day.
Cheers,
T.K. Coleman
This Post Has 7 Comments
TK
Wonderful theme – I agree with the subject title!
As the hour is somewhat unsavory here to listen to your talk..will it perchance be available after the event online?
Best Wishes,
Roger ( From mobile office ) Phone: Mobile +44 (0)7952 166 103 Office: +44 (0)203 468 9184
Thanks Roger,
No worries on missing out. It’ll be archived (I think). Either way, I’ll post a summary of my thoughts with the link soon.
Cheers,
TK
I appreciated what you said about being a “political atheist” tonight on the SFL webinar. After 5 years of spending everything I had and more in the liberty movement I have been leaning more and more in this direction…I think it’s more important to spread the ideas of liberty than spend precious resources – emotional, physical, financial and otherwise on the political system. I just saw these quotes in a comment on the FEE’s post on Ukraine…..
“Contrary to popular opinion, even totalitarian dictatorships are dependent on the population and the societies they rule.”
“[A]ll governments can rule only as long as they receive replenishment of the needed sources of their power from the cooperation, submission, and obedience of the population and the institutions of the society. Political defiance, unlike violence, is uniquely suited to severing those sources of power.”
“The degree of liberty or tyranny in any government is, it follows, in large degree a reflection of the relative determination of the subjects to be free and their willingness and ability to resist efforts to enslave them.” – Gene Sharp, From Dictatorship to Democracy, p. 20
Hi DebbieM,
These quotes are solid gold. I love them. Thanks for sharing. I’ve always seen the governments power in the same terms as I’ve seen it’s access to financial resources: it has nothing except for that which we give them. While the money side of this issue is frequently brought up, i think it would be helpful if the dependent nature of their power were brought up more often as well.
I get where you’re coming from in terms of your investment in politics and the direction in which you seem to be headed. I truly believe that creativity and entrepreneurship is a very worthy investment.
If you haven’t already read it, I love this article by Jeffrey Tucker (also from FEE)
50 Ways to Leave Leviathan
http://www.fee.org/the_freeman/detail/fifty-ways-to-leave-leviathan#axzz2rpxhXsL6
Listened to your webinar last night. Truly enjoyed.
Would be interested in your definition of creativity as I
realize you are using this in its broadest and deepest terms.
Politics. Yes it does thrive on our submission or our
endorsement. Active creativity will undermine it. And
the ever refining “division-of-labor” mankind engages
in creatively with self-determination will reduce the
leviathan state to littledom. Including those who do
address political issues in positive ways. Or as Jefferson
noted “People get the government they deserve.”
Ayn Rand wrote that “outside of a cave, a bone and a
bearskin rug, everything else has been a created need.”
This is what I think:
Planet earth is approximately 6-8 billion years old. Man
has been here about 4 million years in one form or another
sometimes on the verge of extinction. Modern man (homo
sapiens—thinking man) about 100, 000 years. Farming
starts approximately 10,000 years ago and with it the birth
of cities. One civilization after another self-destructed over
statism and the leviathan. 1776: Just over 200 years ago and
The Declaration of Independence. “We hold these truths to
be self-evident that all men are created equal…endowed by
their creator with the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness.” (Inalienable: Yours at birth. Can’t be
given to you. Can’t be taken away.) So new that the world is
still grappling with it. (Even the Founding Fathers.) Let us see
if we can make good on this. I think so. It’s a mystery story still
unfolding.
Ayn Rand also wrote: “You can ask a lot of men. Let’s see what
happens when you ask them to be free and happy.”
To creativity!
There’s a lot of goodness in this comment here, Alana.
I love all you have to say.
For me, I would define a creative person as someone who actually creates things regardless of their methods, style, personality, attitude, belief-system, and occupation.
I eagerly anticipate our conversation. Let me know when things are sufficiently slow and I’ll make the time.
Cheers to creative freedom on every level of life!
Thank you T.K. This is something I’ve thought of for
a long time. Especially as I hear quite a few people
expressing deep concerns about the state of our
current government/s. I can see a growing pessimism
and try to remind them of how new all this is and not
to get caught up in the negative. More importantly
what are the positive alternatives to offer (such as
what Hayek, Bastiat, Tucker, Sowell, Williams, Stossel,
the Austrian economists, et al are offering in defence
of the free market and freedom.) To get an historical
overview of what it took for mankind to get here and
how far we have come.
Meant to add earlier that I found DebbieM’s post very
thought provoking and agree with her about spreading
the ideas that promote liberty. Am always impressed
with those out and about in their lives dedicated to liberty.
I see people out in the world as radiating good energy and
the positive difference it makes to the world. The person
who goes about living his or her own life to their creative
fullest will do more, BY EXAMPLE, to ensure a better
future for all of us.
Nothing is as powerful as an IDEA whose time has come.
(Victor Hugo)
Will keep you posted about my schedule. As mentioned
before I’m into the busiest time of my business until about
mid May. Looking forward to speaking with you.
I always make time to read (and sometimes respond to)
your posts. Call them daily affirmations, or reminders, or
simply optimism booster shots. The computer guys use
the term GIGO: Garbage in, garbage out. OR: Good things
in good things out.
Always looking forward to your next post. Also following
Praxis and Isaac Morehouse. Good things!