Participating In Collaborative Projects

We are entering an era of collaborative achievement unbound by age, location, nationality or any other arbitrary social segmentation.

Netcohort individuals of the Netcohort Society will define a Netcohort Age.

For BFU this is both our challenge and our promise. While we are constructing Bastiat Free University on certain principles - they primarily appeal to those visionaries that want to run their own lives.

"- I don't understand a thing in your books - said Teodor.

- Why should you understand? My books are like a buffet. You take what you want and how much you want from the book, whichever end of the table you start from. I offered you freedom of choice, and you were confused by the plenitude and freedom like Buridan's ass that perished between two stacks of hay, unable to decide which one to eat first. - Milorad Pavic

BFU still needs much more "hay" in many more stacks. We now rationalize what we offer as a menu for student directed learning buffets. While some of the information you need will be found within Bastiat Free University's hallowed holograms of virtual learning - most will be found outside.

First research to discover a starting point, second start devouring knowledge related to your own passions. Third take that knowledge and accomplish something significant. You live in a quick response world. The faster you can make something happen the more impact you will have.

BUT -- if the future will be fashioned by netcohort teams; how can individuals like yourself transition from passion directed living to effective community collaboration? BFU is a catalyst to ignite learning, but in concept is still too close to the formal schools of the industrial past it is being designed to replace. There needs to be a next step.

The Netcohort Institute will therefore emphasize enabling and enhancing netcohort participation in collaborative projects. The focus will be on developing collaborative projects that require increasing skills, knowledge, and wisdom in order to be completed. Relationships and reputation will be built allowing further growth and opportunities.

Much like infrastructure build outs promoted growth within the industrial age, so will projects of the netcohort expand our options and potential within the netcohort age. We not only have opportunity to create a better future - but to shape its very structure.

Three "C"s that will change society;

• Collaboration - netcohort teams formed of visionaries eager to improve their lives, and as a byproduct our lives also.

• Competition - developing different and better solutions to create a winning edge, improving both the quality and the price of offerings.

• Cooperation - if it is to big to handle alone it can still be accomplished; not by inefficient coercion of governments but by willing interaction between motivated teams of individuals.

"If you wish to prosper, let your customer prosper. When people have learned this lesson, everyone will seek his individual welfare in the general welfare." C. F. Bastiat

The direction of the future is subject to guesses, but is intrinsically unknowable. At best we can master what is available while remaining adaptable to sudden change.

Just as our time is mostly free of plague and famine due to progress engendered by visionaries of the last era; so marvelous benefits may accrue to society from projects soon to be envisioned by netcohort students.

"The risks and rewards of collaborative projects are greater, and of far more value to society, than any illusions of security enslaving human cogs in a social machine." - Allan Wallace

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The Netcohort Institute -- Open House

The Netcohort Institute is not planned to be operational until 2008.

We have started to develop some plans and ideas, and we are starting to put the materials we will use in the first class next to the foundation. There are several short essays, a couple of entertaining articles, and even some books that may find their way into the final mix.

If you have not yet registered for Bastiat Free University at no charge - go do it now. If you have registered for BFU college classes use this link to get to your login page.

You will probably want to log in and click through the course material, some of it is very interesting. As a further inducement you will find an introduction page within the materials that gives away part of our overall plan - there is good news if you want to join the international netcohort society and earn some personal freedom.

"It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things." - Leonardo da Vinci

If you want to find a life rather than just find a job - go take a look in the course catalog for Introduction To The Netcohort Institute.

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The Offer To You

In the prior post I made an offer to George. There was a list of difficulties facing BFU and a look at the promise of Bastiat Free University that makes it all worth while.

We can therefore assume you know there is a need for BFU, and that a diploma from BFU has value to some people. If the idea seems too bold, go read that post. The question is if you are one of those people and in what circumstances a BFU college degree will help you?

• If you lack the self discipline to finish what you start without someone controlling your actions - BFU is not for you.

Even in BFU's most structured format there is not a lot of structure. BFU was created for self-directed visionaries and entrepreneurs - students that find freedom and personal control appealing.

• If you want to be a bureaucrat - BFU is not for you.

College degree credits or a diploma from Bastiat Free University will not be accepted by government licensing bureaus, most other colleges, and many employers.

• However, Bastiat Free University may be for you:

• if you want to interact with other successful individualists in the netcohort society:

• if you want to be honored with an enviable reputation based on performance;

• if you willingly want to take responsibility for your own life;

• and if in exchange you expect personal freedom and control.

There is one more very exciting promise on the horizon, The Netcohort Institute.

For those of you wanting to find a future rather than find a job, the Netcohort Institute will be providing competency based learning. The immediate goal is to help you develop the internet and community skills required to develop new tools, businesses, and technologies.

There will be three levels of involvement with The Netcohort Institute, first will be a free team building and knowledge sharing community that will focus on finding team members to work on simple, and useful projects. As your reputation grows you may be invited to join graduates of The Netcohort Institute in commercially viable projects as a team member - TNI graduates will not pay for this level of involvement, others will pay a small monthly fee.

A third level is planned where those who have developed their reputation will be made known to serial entrepreneurs of major projects with the opportunity to become part of the next New - New - Thing.

It is something to consider.

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The Offer To George

George and his wife have communicated with me by e-mail several times.

George has completed a college degree under the rigorous rules of a formal school. He has also completed many free Christian courses as he has sought greater knowledge and wisdom. What he would like is to earn a master's degree, and he would like to earn it at BFU.

We have made provisions for a masters degree at Bastiat Free University, and as an auxiliary of Junior Partner Ministries we can offer such a degree. But first I need to warn George, and you, of the conflicts and limitations such a pursuit may create.

Bastiat Free University is happily unaccredited and intends to remain unaccredited. This enables us to avoid the expensive and useless requirements that are road blocks to affordable learning established by government supported educational guilds. We have started free, we want to remain free.

• Bastiat Free University could not possibly exist in much of the world except on the Internet. It's diplomas will not be accepted by most governments and private organizations. BFU can be based in the United States as a result of it being part of a church, Junior Partner Ministries, and the US government is separated from religion by law. If BFU became a corporation we would be subject to corporate law and governance requirements - we will remain under Biblical governance instead.

• Bastiat Free University is experimental, we currently have a staff of one and a half (myself, and sometimes my son) and part time help or specialists hired as money is available. It is still early days for BFU, the education we offer is improving in quality, but is still less robust than we desire. We have therefore discouraged potential students from paying for courses in advance; encouraging them instead to enroll for no charge, do the work, and submit the work with payment when completed. No one has yet completed a full course of study and submitted payment. Many have subscribed to classes and profited - at no charge, this is a good thing.

• Bastiat Free University therefore has made no income. We would love to receive donations, even as a small encouragement; we provide links to give by credit card; as any set amount, as $5.00 a month, or with a form to make other styles of gifts such as by check and as bequests. To date we have received $15.00, ten of it from a relative that helped develop the school and was testing the donations links. Student's prayers and letters of encouragement have also been received and greatly appreciated.

• Bastiat Free University does not have money to grow and improve as we would like. This will be surmounted in time, for now we don't want to charge and that leaves us without funds to improve to where we would be comfortable charging. A puzzle that will be resolved.
  

Another problem for many will be the very structure of Bastiat Free University. Being student directed we do not have staff professors. We do not use standard, and expensive, college text books. We do not loom over students requiring compliance. We feel the authors of the books we use present their case well, a student that reads these books with an eye toward application will derive understanding of the subject. The required homework helps to increase retention. In many ways these classes will be tougher than a standard college course.

Applicable learning is least likely to occur when knowledge is distributed and temporarily held as a route through exams toward job acquisition. College is most frequently sold as a good career move, at BFU we feel school should be about learning instead. In essence - learning is most efficient, when pursed by a motivated student seeking specific knowledge.

The final hurdle to becoming comfortable earning a degree from Bastiat Free University is myself. You can find out about me in two places "An Aggrandizement Of Allan R. Wallace, or Allan R, Wallace in a nutshell," and in my biography. In short I am a life long learner, but without the patience to attend dysfunctional formal schooling. Even though I have an accredited bachelor's degree, and had acceptance and scholarships to pursue further education, I am glad I did not waste my time.

What then does BFU have to offer?

Learning.

The pendulum has swung far enough. We are in that momentary pause before it retraces its accelerating route back through the mean and on to the other extreme. At maximum extension the educational process, and thought itself, has become a servant of the industrial age. At the other extreme we will return to allegorical myths concerning the why of life. Now we are consumed with discrete pieces of knowledge and definition of precise interactions, the what of science.

Because why is still important, Bastiat Free University is important. We are a vestige of gravity pulling society back to moderation from its seemingly nihilistic extreme. Education as it now exists is a structured model of indoctrination justified by weak excuses. Socialization, career enhancement, and promised better pay are the current rational for schooling, learning has been deemphasized.

Ok BFU serves a purpose, but what purpose could an unaccredited college degree serve if earned from such a remarkably non-conformist institution?

If the student is seeking to secure themselves a position in one of the shrinking bureaucracies of the prior age - attending BFU will be counter productive.

If you are a visionary, an entrepreneur, or a self directed individualist - BFU will offer degrees that you can earn to affirm your learning accomplishments. While BFU diplomas may have no value on a resume, they may open a few doors if used on your business card, they may save you feeling the need to proclaim "I have been extremely successful - even though I dropped out of school." Do the work, pay the small fees, accept the acknowledgment you earn.

Back To George.

Now that I have told you all the reasons you would not want to earn a diploma from BFU, I will offer you a way to earn a Bastiat Free University Master's Degree in Christian Education. This is for George only, If others register at no charge they will discover a 5 unit master's capstone course is available on individualized terms - these are George's terms.

You have looked over the classes of the BFU School of Theology, you know they are but minimalist presentations that need material added to bring them to life.

• Write a blog or journal such as this one to record your progress.

• Start editing and augmenting the School of Theology courses. Find video clips, sermons, sound clips, and interactive materials that will enhance learning - improving all the courses.

• Add at least one course following the BFU format in Christian Education with books you have read and material you have found or developed. Suggest changes in the format if appropriate.

• As a final requirement find a notable Christian leader and help them develop the core for a Master's course following the models already developed - books and concepts that helped them achieve their understanding of success. Finish the course with suitable learning materials.

We will discuss your thesis - choose a subject. Send us a copy of your transcripts and we will let you know how many other courses you need to complete the Master's degree. For your efforts there will be no charge from BFU, consider it an earned scholarship. Your costs will mainly be books and materials.

If you decline we will not be hurt, we did want you to know everything in advance. Let us know if you have further questions.

Thats it George, I've done all I can do to be honest. Pray and let God direct you from here.

In Christ,

Allan

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Renew Your Appetite For Learning

If your love of learning was stolen from you in early schooling, it is time to take it back.

Consider yourself one of a few students arriving early for a first class, eager to learn. The teacher / facilitator asks, "where are the other students?" Trying to be helpful and having just entered you respond "most seem to be down the hall waiting for the bell."

The teacher looks at you and obviously annoyed asks "well why aren't you getting them like I asked?" Even as you head to the hall on her implication you think silently" I did not hear you ask for action, I just heard you ask for information."

You now have a huffy teacher and a class where an eager early arriver has learned not to volunteer a response. All of this occurs before the first class starts.

When the teacher later complains about how dull the class is, not responding instantly to her questions, you just listen. What will you do if she directs the question at you "Why are you not contributing to class?"

• Do you shrug your shoulders and remain mute

• Do you respond "Because you ask questions and expect us to guess correctly if it is a question or some unstated demand?

• Do you explain that communications requires two parties, sender and receiver, both of which are prone to error. This requires a non-defensive mental posture allowing verification and adjustment if communications are to remain effective.

Or are you more likely to wish it was break time, knowing there is no escape from answering the question in a way that will annoy an already aggressive defender of her personal authority. The teacher already "knows" the problem or she wouldn't ask.

She thinks everybody is too slow to follow her directions. She does not even consider that her directions might be vague and her short follow up responses condescending. The most outspoken, precise, and valuable student contributors are also those quickest to learn; you have learned that it is painful to contribute to this class.

Let's consider the alternative. You have just discovered hang gliding, and you love it. You read books and magazines, you bookmark good hang gliding blogs, and you hang out with experienced hang gliders; listening intently and asking questions. This is natural learning.

The types of books you read may quickly expand as your knowledge of the field expands. You study engineering, aeronautics, fabric types and dyes, geography, and emergency medical procedures. You are quickly becoming a renaissance person, your ever expanding knowledge keeps pulling you into new fields of endeavor and contemplation.

You specific passion guides you to explore diverse knowledge, and because learning is driven by your own desire, you retain this knowledge.

Of even greater significance is the probability your passion of the moment will lead you to your life's passion as you explore new areas of knowledge. In our example you might discover you love emergency medicine, particularly relating to sports.

You have discovered self-directed, interest-based learning; the most efficient learning is always student initiated.

From what you now understand of yourself you can consider becoming a sports trainer, an EMT, and perhaps an emergency room nurse or doctor. As you read and talk to those in the field you will find other options.

Options you would probably never find sitting in a class room. Now you can add specific classes if they will help define your new sports medicine goals or move you toward goal completion.

Find a passion and drill into it with reading and inter-personal research. You may just find your life's passion - the one that will provide meaning to your life. You can live your own life;

or you could just survive formal school and take the first reasonable job offered

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The Bastiat Society Blog

There is a lot of good information here, but don't look for treatment of Bastiat's personal economic theories and their relevance to today. The use of Bastiat's name seems to act more as an anchor for selecting reflections by more modern heroes.

But there is good stuff to be found in the Bastiat Society Blog. They do have a link to the collection of translations of Bastiat. Here also is a cut from a recent post

In the long centuries of the Islamic Golden Age, from the middle of the 8th century AD to the middle of the 13th, the Arab-speaking Muslim world presided over the greatest commercial civilization on earth. It offered the most tolerant government policies to people of other faiths, including Jews and Christians. Indeed, if Arabic civilization had not done such a good job preserving and expanding the realm of human knowledge, Europe might never have had its Renaissance.

One of the great puzzles of the modern world is how a civilization could go from being so wealthy, enlightened, and tolerant to one that is known for its violence, anti-intellectualism, and blind hatred. There may even be lessons here for the West, which views its commercial and moral achievements as unassailable.

I have heard others compare some current Islamic actions as similar in tone to the crusades. Allowing for the later creation of Islam than Christianity these actions would even have similar time lines.

There is no resemblance to foundational Islam or Christianity in that small minority that use religious violence as an emotional lever to create their own power base.

See how nicely that worked? The input of ideas from the Bastiat Society Blog started my own thought processes rolling. Go read a few of their posts, listen to a few of their videos, and see how they might inspire you.

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BFU -- Accept No Substitutes

Actually there are no reasonable substitutes.

BFU is student-directed learning, the most efficient route to wisdom and understanding.

BFU is just a tool, a catalyst to empower your desire to achieve meaning in life. Self-directed, interest-based learning can profoundly enable excellence.

The substitutes you are offered against directing your own learning are the Frankenthoughts of industrial age formal schools. To discern their value to your life's passions consider their dominate marketing claims.

• "You need to do well in grade school so you can do well in high school."

• "You need to do well in high school so you can go to college."

• "You need to do well in college so you can start a good career."

Is that how you want to invest your life? Getting through college to get a job? Then getting through jobs to get retirement? Have you asked yourself about the difference between "what should I be doing?" and "what in my heart do I want to do?"

Think of all the professional careers that are now being lost to technology or lower cost providers. I recently had an initial consultation with a specialist physician on the phone. I was at his office, he could have been half a world away.

How long before they do surgery remotely, or by robot? The technology already exists or can be created by entrepreneurs. All that stops it are regulatory hurdles local doctors have captive bureaucrats draft to protect their home turf. No other profession seems to have this level of protection from competition, it won't last forever.

Decades of your life can be spent entering a career with all the promise of buggy whip specialist. Your school is not likely to tell you to quit studying a soon to be obsolete field; segmenting and dispensing knowledge is the only business they know (besides asking for more money).

You can not make a diminishing career option more valuable - the longer you stay with it the more you lose and the harder it will be to leave. You need to chart your own course and start a new journey.

What has no substitute is making yourself more valuable.

• Become a life long learner - because you have re-discovered how to love learning.

• Learn how to quit - if you are in a hole, stop digging - if the boat is sinking, get off.

• Commit - to an adaptive general life view, determined to remain flexible within it.

Everyone has a different idea of what you should do. Ultimately you will decide on your own success in life. I can't picture you saying "My life has been a success because I always conformed to others expectations."

Become a jack of all trades, and a master of one. Which one? By becoming a generalist first you increase your odds of finding that one passion that will ignite your quest for mastery.

BFU is student directed learning for visionaries and entrepreneurs.

The only satisfying success will be one you define, the only route is to self-direct your own life.

Your knowledge of an alternative to a life molded by others offers you choice. If BFU represents your journey from self discovery to self determination how could there be an acceptable substitute?

You may as well register for BFU - at no charge - right now. If you chose the satisfaction of pursuing wisdom and understanding on your own terms, you have accepted the BFU concept for which there is no substitute.


Live Your Own Life!

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Two Rough Draft Videos - Comments Needed

These videos were not made by BFU but are being created by Andrew Quinlan and his foundation.

The first video is very short and cute - just a couple of minutes. It does make a good point in a humorous way, I sent them an email letting them know I've already added it to my Free Market Lens. This talks about international competition, I would like to compare this to how the founding fathers pictured America as 13 competing governments or states. The most attractive governments would attract new settlers and no government would dare become too strong.

"A government big enough to give you everything you want, is strong enough to take everything you have." - Thomas Jefferson

The second video is a bit longer, and still a bit rough (he even mispronounces Celtic). It is still an entertaining and insightful piece of work. You will learn more in less than ten minutes than I learned in years of economics courses - some real common sense ideas. Once these are done expect to see them as part of a few BFU courses.

Having had bad experiences recently with e-mails in a blog I'll send you to Andrew's Market Center Blog to make comments. His blog and his site have good educational material that you will want to explore.

"But what more oft, in nations grown corrupt, and by their vices brought to servitude, than to love bondage more than liberty - bondage with ease than strenuous liberty - and to despise, or envy, or suspect, whom God hath of his special favor raised as their deliverer?" - John Milton

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Invest Your Thoughts First

This is not just about investing money. You also invest yourself into ideas, beliefs, and projects.

Our very nature seems to insist on emotional decisions; emotions want instant satisfaction. Once an emotional decision is made, it is hard to be rational and even consider changing our path. The time to seek rational thought is before a decision is made.

If an idea is in any way important - read a book and talk to successful people first. There are good general books on just about any subject; and while any breathing being will have an opinion, it is only those folks with success in what you are researching that can add value.

With more information under your belt it is time to invest thought and develop your own, flexible, ideas. The old fashioned way is to find a quiet spot with a nice view, take out a pad of paper and a pencil, and write down everything that pops into your mind - you can edit later.

Often what blocks constructive thought are problems that scream for attention; write those down as they appear and then forget them for now. You may even start a grocery list in a corner.

With your mind now somewhat clear of clutter start listing ideas about your current investment.

In a reasonable period of time you will create a short list of potential ideas. At any time come back and add a few, throw any shopping ideas back at that growing grocery list. You may reach a decision, but more likely you will find more information is needed. It's back to books, and successful people.

"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great." - Mark Twain

It has been noted that most people will invest their life savings or start a career with less research than they use to buy a car. A "deal of the century" comes about every two weeks. If you miss this deal because you were learning and thinking, you will be better prepared for the next one.

Invest your thoughts first.

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Planned Giving Donations, Bequests, and Legacy Gifts

Estate planning is more about passing on values than valuables.

If you do not have a will, for everyone's sake, create one immediately. Without a will you won't have your values represented as the estate you built is distributed.

Writing a first will can be a quick and simple project.

List individuals and organizations you wish to impact. Take care of people first, then give 1% of your estate to each of up to nine worthy causes you wish to support, finally contribute everything that remains to one very special organization (a residuary bequest). Now read a book or see your lawyer and make it legal.

With your completed will as a guideline you can now develop increasingly meaningful estate planning or planned giving ideas. Consider all the responsibilities you feel are important:

* Family - multiple generations, prior marriages, family members with special needs

* Business - succession in the family business, key person retention or replacement, buy out provisions

* Charity - religious organizations, schools, orphanages, micro-finance lenders, and other causes dear to your heart

A quick gift today and a word of encouragement can help those on your list over a rough spot they may be encountering. Then make that simple will. This might also be a good time to consider helping raise money for your favorite causes.

After initial contributions and with an initial simple will as an outline -- it is a good idea to consult your advisers for more detailed planned giving analysis including estate planning.

Philanthropy is an important part of your estate plan. Also consider contributing by listing worthy causes in your IRA or life insurance policy as a beneficiary. The long term effects of your bequest can create a personal heritage that will extend far into the next age.

Endowments are donated with the understanding that capital will be kept secure while yield will be used for a specific purpose. Directions can be added to apply annual income to meeting administrative costs, developing special projects, enhancing curriculum, or even "wherever the greatest opportunity exists."

Your selected worthy cause will probably have pages to print or a download form to help you define your gifts. Ours is available for you to look at if you click on The BFU College Contribution Form.

Life insurance can also play an important role in estate planning. Investigate having ownership of any life insurance policy outside of the estate to avoid possible extra estate taxes. Estate laws vary by location and change often. Confirm any statements from a salesman, or from this article, with your personal accountant or attorney.

Develop a consistent approach of supporting worthy causes during your lifetime. Extend your own version of empowerment by creating a planned gift legacy. Your donations will keep valuable initiatives growing. Your bequest is a last chance to powerfully implement meaningful change in society.

As in all important areas of your life, do not be led by others opinions or sales talk. Take your time and invest your thoughts first. Make your own decision on how you wish to direct your planned giving donations, your bequests, and your legacy gifts.

How do you wish to be remembered?

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Understanding Change

You have heard it before. Much of what we do is equivalent to re-arranging chairs on the deck of the Titanic. We have expectations based on our knowledge and history. Our projections are usually a predictably straight line based on these reasonable expectations.

Life is not linear or reasonable. Icebergs happen.

The future is not obligated to be reasonable. Even at a time such as this where we see huge change everywhere around us, we expect to keep living much as we have been living.

Worry is not a solution. Projections and educated guesses about vicious cycles of calamity or virtuous cycles of unending progress are equally suspect. If the past is any guide, all of the guesses and intelligent prognostications will be hugely wrong. In essence, virtually everyone is always looking in the wrong direction.

The big changes that are coming will arrive unexpected by everyone but a few with a lucky guess. No one will have paid much attention to those few until after an event - then they will be afforded far too much attention.

It will not be just one event and then everything will return to normal, there will be other events, equally unforeseen.

Take normal precautions, they may be appropriate. But the greatest precaution is personal - learn to adapt to the unexpected. Make yourself a generalist, not a specialist. Discover new ideas, explore new territories, experience different lifestyles. Do not over expose or over commit yourself to one scenario.

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

There is only one thing we know for sure - what we now know will someday change dramatically; and then some later day it will happen again.

"Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable." - Helen Keller

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BFU Student ID

For BFU students - we have a new college identification generator. Your comments and criticisms have helped us make it better. Visit the Bastiat Free University identification generator page to see the improvement over the first draft.

For prospective BFU students - you can go to the entrance page of the picture ID generator and find one more reason to complete the no-charge registration for Bastiat Free University.

No BFU student will be required to create a student ID; make one only if it will be of value to you. Bastiat Free University is not becoming a bureaucracy.

As educational bureaucracies deflate with the ending of the industrial age, we can expect them to concentrate even more on marketing and certificate sales, even less on teaching you how to think clearly. If Bastiat Free University inspires you to think rather than follow, we have achieved a major part of BFU's educational goals.

Go generate your BFU student ID, you may do no more than look at it and toss the file away. We would rather you carry your Bastiat Free University Student Identification proudly.

Before you forget please send us a note with any complaints or comments.

If you want to tell someone how to find the BFU Student ID generator, tell them to go to BFuniv.net.

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