The 3 Foundations of FDR
1. The essential idea behind FDR. (Your parents are bullies and you don't love them.) The Foundation of FDR

2. Why FDR was created. Molyneux says it's merely to pry you away from a belief in the "inherent virtue of family." That is, until you dig deeper. It's all in Prying Them Loose

3. How the theories of a well-known psychologist are used by FreeDomain Radio: The Rape of Alice Miller


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The C Word

Someone asks "is it a cult?" Someone else asks "what is a cult?" Then I write some huge article. We all have our roles to play.

Part 1


The Foundation of FDR

This is where it all begins.

This article will prove to you the essential truth about FreeDomainRadio.

In the shortest possible terms, FDR is based on this:

  • People reject anarcho-capitalism for psychological reasons.
  • Their psychology is messed up because they were victimized by their parents.
  • Nearly all parents are child abusers.



In a nutshell, that’s it. That is what FDR stands for.

As proof, I submit the following little-known essay written by Molyneux. I don’t even need to analyze it since the meaning is crystal clear.

Anyone who still thinks–after reading what follows–that FreeDomain Radio is not about discarding parents and family can only be delusional.

Before Molyneux created the profit-generating enterprise known as FreeDomain Radio, before the pressure from the media and public exposure began forcing him to use wordplay to avoid revealing the truth, he was simply Stefan Molyneux, philosopher.

He had a rock-solid foundational belief–the three points I listed above–which he still maintains today. He wrote essays about it, for example: Are People Just Stupid? In the essay, Molyneux tries to answer the question, “Why on earth are people so blind to the tyrannies that rule them?” By “tyranny,” he means any form of government. Let’s be clear–I’m not criticizing anarcho-capitalism itself; there are too many brilliant arguments in favor of it. I’m focusing on Molyneux’s belief that if you aren’t an anarcho-capitalist, it’s because your parents abused you.

It’s an important essay. It’s Molyneux unplugged. Molyneux unguarded. You don’t have to use any logic or decipher any slippery obfuscation. It’s also important because Molyneux claims in the essay that he and his wife (who runs a family therapy clinic, of all things) believe the same thing. In fact, he says, she partly inspired it.

You can read the whole thing, but the essence is in the excerpt below. All of what is FreeDomain Radio today is built on this belief.

Therapists generally consider that a patient who is terminating a multitude of long-term relationships is acting in an impulsive and self-destructive manner. In particular, breaking off relationships with family members is considered only a last resort, usually reserved for physically abusive parents or spouses. Everything else is supposed to be ‘worked out.’

Of course, quite the opposite is true. Of all the relationships in your life, your relationship with your parents and siblings is by far the most likely to be completely screwed up. Not only that, but you also have absolutely no power to improve these relationships.

Harsh? Not at all. Merely logical.

When raising children, parents have absolutely no idea what they’re doing. Why should children obey them? Because parents are right? Hell no – ask parents why they hold their beliefs, they don’t have a clue. How could they? The last competent philosopher was probably John Locke, over three hundred years ago. The general social stream of ideas is just muck and confusion, designed by evil people to baffle and paralyze any good souls that accidentally emerge from the sick swamps of modern thought.

Average parents can no more reinvent morality from scratch than they can build a Space Shuttle in their backyards. Still, they have to get their children to obey them – how do they do it?

Oh, the usual suspects. Guilt, shame, withdrawal, criticism, bribery, bullying, manipulation – the usual crap that has passed for parenting throughout history. Guilt, shame and bullying always rush to fill the void when logical morality loses favour, because children must be taught, and if no carrots are to be found, sticks will always just have to do.

So face it: your parents were bullies, or weak curriers of favour, or manipulative emotional infants themselves. You have no respect for them, for respect requires courage, and courage requires logical morality. You do not love them, since love demands virtue, and manipulating children into blind obedience is not at all virtuous. There are only a few possible responses to modern parents:

- Contempt
- Indifference
- Boredom
- Hatred
- Empty conformity

These are usually mixed into an over-stimulating frappe of conflicting emotions, leaving family gatherings fraught with tension, alienation, dissociation and emptiness.

You are told to repair things with your parents, but that is an impossible task – a complete waste of time that will also make you crazy. Since they hurt you when you were young, you cannot fix the relationship. To make the point with an extreme example, if you are raped by a man, you cannot cure him of his desire to rape. Maybe someone else can, but you cannot. Since your parents bullied or bribed you into blind obedience, you cannot help them become better people. Maybe someone else can. A therapist perhaps. But not you. You have no hope, since their guilt about how they treated you will always muck up any attempt at honest communication.

And really, it is impossible to forgive someone who has bullied a child. Forgiveness is for repairable events, like being distracted or breaking a vase. A bad childhood cannot be repaired or returned intact. Where restitution is impossible, forgiveness is impossible. Don’t even try.

Does this sound too radical? Do you think it extreme for me to say that almost all parents are horribly bad? Perhaps it is. However, if you look at the state of the world – the general blindness and the slow death of our liberties – the challenge you take on by disagreeing with me is this: if it’s not the parents, what is it?

Either the world is not sick, or parents are. Because, as my wife says, it all starts with the family. If you want to perform the greatest service for political liberty, all you have to do is turf all of your unsatisfying relationships. Parents, siblings, spouse, it doesn’t matter.

Got it? All parents bad. Siblings, spouses. Whatever. Family relationships are bad and can’t be repaired. If you think you love them, you’re sick. They all have to go.

(Extra credit if you noticed the first glimmer of The Philosphy of (un)Forgiveness!)

Since the essay speaks for itself, I’ll leave you with two final thoughts.

Every day, young people come to FreeDomain Radio believing it is “safe haven” to discuss family problems. Tragically so–whether they knew it or not, any young person who has ever called Molyneux to seek objective advice on his or her parents received counseling by a man who sincerely believes anyone’s best solution is to “turf” their family.

Second, I ask you to consider this. Why is it a little-known essay? You can clearly see it is his foundational exposition. So why isn’t it on the front page at FDR? Why isn’t it the first thing you see? Why isn’t every new member told to read the essay before posting? Why is it highly likely that first time you’ve seen or heard of this essay is on here on FDRliberated even though the entire structure of FDR is based upon it?

I’ll leave those questions with you.

Click below to e-mail or DIGG, etc., this article! As always, I welcome your comments!

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Less evidence. Almost no reason. But fewer words!

March 2010 The "Against Me" argument is for dopes, The passive-aggression principle, Godless crimes against UPB!

February 2010 QuestEon gets sentimental, The destructive triangle in your head, Secret ideas and snarling watchdogs!

January 2010 Christina's Web, Conrad's Conundrum, Abusing VJ Felitti's A.C.E. Study, Brain-scan thievery, Circling bastards!

December 2009 FDR and the Godfather, Izzy the symbol, Forgiveness re-visited!

November 2009 Things You'll Never Hear in a Therapist's Office, The Vanishing Christina, Truth for Sale!