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Tom Hodgkinson

The Freedom Manifesto: How to Free Yourself from Anxiety, Fear, Mortgages, Money, Guilt, Debt, Government, Boredom, Supermarkets, Bills, Melancholy, Pain, Depression, Work, and Waste Paperback – December 18, 2007

by Tom Hodgkinson (Author)

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Drawing from writings by such iconoclasts as William Godwin and Jack Kerouac, the author of How To Be Idle returns with sage advice for breaking with convention and living an unfettered life

In this delightfully irreverent follow-up to his acclaimed How to Be Idle, Tom Hodgkinson shares his musings on what it means to have true independence and what the common man needs to achieve happiness through freedom.

The Freedom Manifesto is an erudite, witty, and useful manual for anyone who wants to look after themselves and take responsibility for their own lives. Hodgkinson advises lowering personal standards, learning the guitar, cooperating with neighbors, throwing away credit cards, and embracing poverty. Peppered throughout are insights from such great minds as Rousseau, Ken Kesey, Nietzsche, and many others that reveal the secret happiness found in a free mind.

Print length

340 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Harper Perennial
Publication date

December 18, 2007
Dimensions

7.16 x 5.26 x 1 inches
ISBN-10

0060823224
ISBN-13

978-0060823221
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this intermittently amusing but excessively long sequel to How to Be Idle: A Loafer's Manifesto, British author and editor (the Idler) Hodgkinson states upfront that his goal is to present a philosophy for everyday life based on freedom, merriment and responsibility, or anarchy. Asserting that before the Reformation, England was one non-stop party, he wants to overthrow modern Puritans and return to an approach to life that is basically having a laugh, doing what you want—and he provides alternatives to the many ills of the modern world such as those listed in the book's title. The main problem is that many of Hodgkinson's topics end up being played for easy laughs—in one chapter titled Forget Government, the message is Stop Voting, while in another on Submit No More to the Machine, Use Your Hands, his main advice is Use a Scythe. When he does try to move beyond laughs and explain how his philosophy can cause a radical redefinition of human relationships based on local needs instead of global capitalism, he never quite explores how this would happen in the real world, relying instead on grand statements (in a chapter called Stop Working, Start Living) such as A spade, a saw and a chisel, that is all you need to be free. (Dec.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From the Back Cover

The author of How to Be Idle, Tom Hodgkinson, now shares his delightfully irreverent musings on what true independence means and what it takes to be free. The Freedom Manifesto draws on French existentialists, British punks, beat poets, hippies and yippies, medieval thinkers, and anarchists to provide a new, simple, joyful blueprint for modern living. From growing your own vegetables to canceling your credit cards to reading Jean-Paul Sartre, here are excellent suggestions for nourishing mind, body, and spirit—witty, provocative, sometimes outrageous, yet eminently sage advice for breaking with convention and living an uncluttered, unfettered, and therefore happier, life.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper Perennial; Reprint edition (December 18, 2007)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 340 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0060823224
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0060823221
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.16 x 5.26 x 1 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,106,013 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,192 in Business & Professional Humor
- #1,426 in Self-Help & Psychology Humor
- #2,046 in Personal Time Management

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69 ratings

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Tom Hodgkinson

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Writer and editor Tom Hodgkinson cofounded the Idler in 1993. He is the author of two books based on this attitude to life: How to Be Idle, published in 20 countries, and How to Be Free, which takes an anarchic approach to the everyday barriers that come between us and our dreams. He lives in Devon, United Kingdom.

The Idler team created the best-selling and widely imitated Crap Towns I and II.

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5

69 global ratings

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3 star		6%
2 star		1%
1 star		1%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Christopher M. Mcdowell

A New Perspective on Today's Screwed Up Priorities

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 6, 2009

Verified Purchase

After having my world turned upside down first by Collins' "Good to Great" and then turned inside-out by Tim Ferris' "The Four-Hour Work Week", Tom Hodgkinson's "The Freedom Manifesto" was the last confirmation I needed that "There isn't a job good enough for me. There isn't a job good enough for anyone." Indeed.

Simply put, this book provides a perspective of life and work that is completely lacking on this side of the Pond. For me, it called into question the reasons why I have worked so hard, found great financial success, and still felt the clichéd question of "Is this all there is?" This is not a self-help book--far from it. Nor is it a diatribe about how you "should" be living your life, rather, it shines a light on the reasons why we now live our lives the way we do. Like Ferris, Mr. Hodgkinson offers some unique suggestions on how to break the completely arbitrary bonds that modern society places on the individual.

If you liked Tim Ferris' challenges to the status quo and Jim Collins' facts and depth, buy this book, you'll enjoy it.

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

M. J. Sears

Good read for the person who is doing too much and needs to find happiness and be fulfilled

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 13, 2016

Verified Purchase

So not a perfect book. I would not follow it word for word, but it is good to help you stop and assess what is going on in your life. It will help find things that are just distractions in this life. This is a very personal decision, and what works for me will not work for you, but this book will help you stop an think about the stuff that gets in the way of life. The authors point in a very small nut shell, there are plenty of things that we initially think we need, but they can take over you life and ultimately can distract you from what you really want to do.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Jack Allweil

Know the Game

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 24, 2021

Verified Purchase

I like that this book challenged the status quo. I’ve refocused my time into things that are scalable and provide me enjoyment. Also really liked his history on time keeping.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 21, 2016

Verified Purchase

I've bought this for several friends in the past who had found themselves in a rut. There aren't many books I can say that changed my life, but this is one of them. I've read it several times now and I always come away feeling refreshed and excited about my life, not to mention ready to take on a new hobby or project. If you're down, crushed by debt, stressed about a job, worried about the future, or just not feeling great about life in general, PLEASE do yourself a favor and read this book. It may not make you feel as free and joyous as it did me, but I think everyone can take something away from it.

10 people found this helpful

Helpful

Hansahappierman

Fun and totally different way to look at life.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 3, 2012

Verified Purchase

I found this book when I was searching for books on freedom and how to live your life in a free way. This book exceeded my expectations because the author actually explained how he and others have found ways to live a better, free life. There was no dry theory, or things you had to do first or waiting for someone else to act. This book showed how you can act to make your life free. You do not have to wait for governments or the world to help you, you help yourself. It just makes sense to me and I was very happy to purchase this book. I read it over a few days. I could hardly put it down. How to Live in a Car, Van or RV--And Get Out of Debt, Travel and Find True Freedom

3 people found this helpful

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Avg Joe formerly Young Investor

great book (you'll go thru some stuff though when reading it)

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on March 7, 2016

Verified Purchase

Dramatically changes your view point while giving you a good history lesson. The end of the book has other books to read for additional thoughts/insights. Originally its inspiring, then kinda depressing then you are decently satisfied. Gotta remember that the guy is from the UK so some things are slightly different in the US.

3 people found this helpful

Helpful

Rebecca Wenzel

a very funny read. I LOVE the dry humor

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 18, 2017

Verified Purchase

a very funny read. I LOVE the dry humor ! A little too much history for my taste, but you can skip over that !

Helpful

JMaster814

Everyone should have this book!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 3, 2016

Verified Purchase

I loved this book so much I buy it for family and friends as gifts. Its a very easy read with practical tips and advice as well as good humor. I've probably read this book 20 times, its very easy to randomly open it up and start reading.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

John Hamilton

"Truly, the manacles are mind-forg'd"

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 25, 2012

Verified Purchase

'The Freedom Manifesto' is simply the American title of Hodgkinson's How To Be Free . Hodgkinson describes himself as an anarchist, and he is wonderfully eloquent in attacking the modern state, capitalism and wage slavery. There is a tinge of old Toryism in his pronouncements, in his call for a return to good manners, his emphasis on quality and standards and his belief in the benefits of a diversity of classes (as against the notion, held by Labour and modern Tories alike, of the right of everyone to be middle class). Here are a couple of quotes from the chapter 'Forget Government' which give a flavour of Hodgkinson's prose style:

"Governments do too much and they do most of it badly. Governments, for example, are supposed to defend us from attack. But they don't do it very well. In fact, they encourage other people to attack us by attacking them first...Governments appreciate terrorists, because they provide a good advertisement for the need for government, for its protection. They love wars, because they give government a reason for existing..." (p. 138)

"There is also something rotten at the heart of government - and that is the simple fact that to be in power is a career option...Politics is Fame Academy for the talentless, the X-Factor for boring men and women. Surely the fact that every politician is on a career treadmill and is constantly trying to earn more money and reach a higher position in the hierarchy is in itself enough evidence to damn the entire project?...This is not to say, for sure, that many politicians are not well intentioned, but the well-intentioned can do more harm than those who refrain from interfering." (p. 139)

Hodgkinson favours the ideas of Distributism, where each person has the means to secure their own livelihood. He also favours guilds, where the emphasis is on the quality of the product or service whilst simultaneously protecting the rights of the workers. This is a non-state form of socialism. Hodgkinson is not, however, interested in violent revolution, but in creating alternatives to the state in the here and now. His anarchism is eminently practical. And most of this volume deals with how we can free ourselves from the state, how so many of our manacles are 'mind-forg'd'. Not all of them, to be sure, but his point is that we are *more* free than we think we are.

Tom Hodgkinson is a spokesman for an older England, before the rise of the surveillance state, before Thatcher and Blair. These days, we are made to feel guilty if we are nostalgic, but Hodgkinson brilliantly attacks those who scoff at the past. The future is a con, a cheat, a snare. It is, he writes, 'a capitalist construct. The past teaches us that the future has let us down, and let us down many, many times...The "future", so called, is in fact part of the anti-life system: we are essentially kept quiet by means of the idea that, at some point in the "future", things are going to get better'. By contrast, 'the past is a great treasure store of good ideas for living, ideas that were actually applied and whose results we can see...So it is, in actual fact, less woolly minded to look to the past for inspiration than to look to the future.' (p. 191)

Hodgkinson's book is an intelligent, eloquent and above all a deeply *heartening* book that shows how it is possible, even if only partially, to be truly free, not in some distant utopia, but in the here and now. Highly recommended.

8 people found this helpful

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