Notes from the front lines of the Great Recession
by Brian Wright (originally posted 11/15/2010)

As part of my Old Paradigm[1] job search process, I have resumes posted on a couple of online search firms: Monster.com (and—Senior Moment!—I forget the other one it’s been so long since I’ve received any reasonable inquiries). I also had listed my resume with a more direct peddler of personnel named QuintCareers, where my account profile specifies technical or marketing writing/editing but also, apparently, leaves a big door open by listing an “Other” category in my preferred industry focus… not to mention leaving the low end of my salary needs at 10,000 FRNs annually. So I’ve been going along for probably three-four years receiving emailed newsletter lists of mainly technical writing jobs in three regions of the US: New England, Mid-Atlantic, Great Lakes. Continue reading →

First cut on a modern declaration of independence
by Brian Wright

Link to Panarchy Papers, Pt. 2

So what’s this all about? First, I have come upon the concept of panarchy[1], thanks to this Website I visited a few weeks ago. The fundamental idea of panarchy is free choice of government. The government we Americans have come to know and loathe was set up by the founding fathers based on “implied” consent, and as Lysander Spooner questioned in No Treason, why should a man be bound to a contract he never signed? Panarchy resolves that question: a man should not be bound to any contract except those he explicitly makes. This is the advance we have been looking for: government by full consent, government by contract. Such a full-agreement form of government may not have been possible in the late 1700s (when the Divine Right of Kings had only just been challenged). But it makes sense now. Continue reading →