The Bootlegger’s Guide to Critical Thinking is a serial work in progress with new posts added as they are completed. Once all of the contents are finally compiled, the entire work will be paywalled. But for now, you may have access to this work in progress. Follow this link to the Table of Contents for all the sequenced posts in order as they are added to the volume.
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This is a Crazy Time
We live in a day and age where many things are unsettled and mixed up. Confusion reigns supreme!
Or, as a friend of mine would describe it, everything is “Wazo Woozey.”
If you take a stance on almost any moral issue, you risk offending some random person who will gleefully lobby to have you “canceled,” publicly shamed, and ruined financially.
That’s evil and wrong. But the reality is that’s the battle we are currently engaged in.
On a brighter note, it seems like the former “silent majority” is waking up and becoming more active and vocal to restore traditional interpersonal respect, values, and culture. We have a long way to go, but the tide is turning toward light and truth.
Think Like a Bootlegger
A core concept in the mindset process of regaining our cultural sanity is to start thinking like a bootlegger.
"Huh?" you say.
To clarify, our days in this 21st century are reminiscent of the bootlegging era a century ago.
But, this is not a reference to distilling and distributing illegal liquor but about distilling and reclaiming a critical thinking mindset. It feels like sound science, morals, and reasoning today are looked upon with the same disdain and virtue signaling as bootlegging moonshine was a hundred years ago!
Embrace the thought process of a bootlegger.
There is a principle at work underlying the bootlegging mindset that came from prohibition.
In 1917, Congress passed the 18th Amendment. Once ratified and implemented by the required number of states, the dictate did not sit well with the American people. So, what did the populace do?
They pushed back and found creative ways to do what they wanted anyway!
That's the American mindset, the American way I know.
When we encounter something we don't know how to do or are told it is not allowed or possible, we persist until we figure out how to do it.
Through our actions, we distill personal purpose and freedom drop by drop. This distilled country wisdom is the essence of the 'bootlegger' mindset:
Keep trying until you find a way to achieve your goal.
Be tenacious and persistent!
There is no way to hold a person intent on being free.
Possessing a bootlegger mindset is not just a historical reference but a call to action to challenge the imposition of restrictions in our current culture world by a very meager minority.
The modern-day hootch we are distilling is a clear-headed moral community of bootlegging 190-proof crystal clear thought!
Consider this your invitation to join the movement!
Even if only one drop at a time, help us distill and distribute high-octane freedom, wisdom, and thinking.
Exploring the content being compiled during the next few weeks in The Bootlegger’s Guide to Critical Thinking and then perfecting how you process information is the first step to joining the alliance of clear-thinking contemporary thought bootleggers.
Personal Strategery Mindshift #2: Think Like a Bootlegger
Thanks for reading and thinking for yourself! Be sure to subscribe so you do not miss out on future posts.
Russell Anderson
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Intellectual bootleggers . . . add this new description to the list of good terms, like "undermine", "underthrow", and "Irish democracy" :-)