The FREEDOM of LIMITATIONS

Do Limits Deny Rights?

The West is currently being invaded, not by Germanic tribes [as were the Romans], but by ideas created by the largesse of Western freedom. To some degree, the West invited this invasion because it has been too lazy to think through newly presented ideas or recycled ideas in newly minted format. And, when the West did think through them, it has been too lazy to mount a defense, present a reasoned alternative, or at the very least, offer rational limitations to irrational concepts.

The Little Book of In≠qualities

Is It Really Better to Live a Lie?

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Often society uses its socially significant words incorrectly, or invents like-sounding words to push hot buttons while subtly misleading at the same time. If you understand the word correctly (and the potential danger of misunderstanding), you just might avoid living a lie.

LIFE Is About CONTROL

Responsibility vs. Domination

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“If You Do Not Control Yourself, Some Control Will Be Provided For You"
There is a constant struggle between inner control and control from the outside. If the first is irresponsible, the second takes over. If the second is irresponsible, there is no freedom.

"Another easy-to-read and very enlightening contribution to Tony Annesi’s cultural commentary series that is meant for “the average citizen who thinks about the world”. I always find myself saying, 'Yes, that encapsulates what I have been thinking, but have never been able to put it quite that accurately.'" --Beth Guadagnoli, New Hampshire

"Being a long-time fan of the author and having read his entire series I have a good idea of his thought-processes, and his (what I believe) excellent approach for making the individual more effective and the world a better place.
"Not only did this book live up to my expectations; it somehow exceeded them!
"What I enjoy the most about his work is that it causes me to think. It's often that I'll find myself going back through a paragraph several times in order to take my own thought processes through the information and decipher for myself. And THAT is a sign of a great author and magnificent thinker such as Sensei Tony (a lifelong martial artist who has dedicated his adult life to both personal and professional master of this art).
"He doesn't try and tell the readers what to think but rather instructs them on how to think...for themselves.
"Please be careful not to pre-judge the book based on its title. He even takes us through that in the Introduction. And that explanation alone is well-worth the price of the book! However, you'll want to read the whole thing. It's that good!
"Expressing thanks once again to Sensei Tony Annesi for another fantastic and thought-provoking study!"-- Bob Burg, author of The Go-Giver and Adversaries into Allies

The COLLECTIVE PROBLEM
vs. The Individualism Problem

The Challenge of Unforced Liberty

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“I believe in only one thing: liberty; but I do not believe in liberty enough to want to force it upon anyone.” –H. L.Mencken
The Left tends to approach things collectively, the Right individually. Each says it wants liberty. Which approach has the best chance of coming to fruition successfully?

The FLAWS of FREEDOM

Why the Left Depends on the Right and the Right Needs the Left

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Contention, contention, contention! We all seem to bemoan the constant contention between the Left and the Right. But perhaps the tension (without the contention) is exactly what we need. We may not be able to return to the center-right USA that The Founders envisioned, but we can achieve a competitive unity that balances security and liberty. Or is it too much to ask of citizens used to both freedom and a swollen government?

PETULANT

How Pre-feminist Peevishness and Guerrilla Warfare has Poisoned Political Points-of-View

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Upset women have often been able to disarm men using emotional arguments. Currently, however, men as well as women use emotional arguments to disarm their political opponents, setting a dangerous precedent by allowing empirical data and rationality to seem ineffectual, thus making passion rather than reason the ultimate arbiter of a dispute, such that “The stronger you feel, the easier it is to convince someone you are right (even if you are wrong).”

Pardon Me, but

YOUR ETHICS ARE IMMORAL (or is it Your Morals are Unethical?)

Turn and Face the Strange

Your ETHICS are IMMORAL

a 6-min. Book Report

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Most of us try to act ethically, drawing our standards from our social upbringing (The Ethic of Community), from our religions (The Ethic of Divinity), or from our own personal reasoning (The Ethic of Autonomy), but we don’t always agree on what’s right. In this pithy book that combines social commentary with both philosophy and psychology, Tony Annesi suggests that even if we cannot always bridge the gaps between our ethics, we can use both reason and rational self-interest to evaluate them.

FOREWORD to the Preface to the Introductory Chapter …..
PREFACE: Les Miserables and Playboy …..
1. Introductory: Turn and Face the Strange …..
2. Foundations …..
3. A Moral Matrix …..
4. Spiritual But Not Religious …..
5. Manners: Low Level Ethics …..
6. Everyday Morality …..
7. The Big Issues …..
8. Underlying Issues …..
9. How Women Came to Rule the Western World …..
10. Ethics, 2 Sides of Aisle …..
11. Freedom and Commitment …..
12. A Few Suggestions …..
EPILOGUE: 5 Simple Prescriptions …..
BIBLIOGRAPHY …..

10 Common Values

To Unify a Contentious Culture

10 COMMON VALUES

A 6-min. Book Report

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What if the Left and the Right actually shared fundamental ideas and differed only in preferred implementation?
What if the circular scale we have been using to gauge points of view were really a straight line? What if we had a set of simple values to rally around? And what if you could find out all about how people could get together again in the pages of one little book?

INTRODUCTION
1. TRUTH (Not Ideology) …..
2. FAIRNESS & JUSTICE (Not Religious Morality) …..
3. LIBERTY & EQUAL OPPORTUNITY (Not Equity of Results) …..
4. COMPETITION (Not Rapacity) …..
5. OWNERSHIP (Not Caretaker-ship) …..
6. SECURITY (Not Armoring) …..
7. INTELLIGENCE (Not Pseudo-intellectuality) …..
8. IMPROVEMENT & PROGRESS (Not Novelty) …..
9. LOVE, CHARITY, & SPIRITUALITY (Not Self-sacrifice) …..
10. INDIVIDUALITY & SELF-INTEREST (Not Greed) …..
POSTSCRIPT: TO UNIFY A CONTENTIOUS CULTURE …..
ADDENDA: 5 VALUES (that are) NO LONGER COMMON (but should be) …..
BIBLIOGRAPHY …..

10 Guideline Principles

Finding One's Way in a Messy World

10 GUIDELINE PRINCIPLES

A 4-min. book Report

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The old saying goes: “If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.” Unfortunately, in today’s messy world, the thing you stand for may be the very thing you have fallen for.

My Guideline Principles…..
PREFACE: Why Guideline Principles?.....
INTRODUCTION: How I Came to Write a Book about Principles…..
TRUTH
            Principle #1: Don’t Lie…..
            Principle #2: Dare To Be Honest…..
            Principle #3: Reframes Are Not Objective…..
COURAGE
            Principle #4: Dare to Lose…..
            Principle #5: What Could Have Been Couldn’t…..
INDEPENDENCE
            Principle #6: Support, Don't Join…..
CONVENTIONS:
            Principle #7: Test Conventions…..
EMOTIONS vs. RATIONALITY:
            Principle #8: Look for a Core Belief…..
            Principle #9: Rationality as a Guide for Action…..
BIAS:
            Principle #10: The Smallest Minority…..
GUIDELINE PRINCIPLES: Points and Counterpoints…..
GUIDELINE PRINCIPLES: A Summation…..
BIBLIOGRAPHY…..
APPENDIX: Logical Fallacies…..
                 George Washington Carver’s 8 Rules…..
                 Lau-Tzu’s Advice…..

Hanshi Tony Annesi

• Advisory council, Nippon Kobudo Renmei (NKR)

• Steering Committee, International Society of Okinawan/Japanese Karate-do

• Member of 3 Martial Arts Halls of Fame

A martial artist since 1964

10th dan, Takeshin Aiki

10th dan, Takeshin Karate

6th Dan, Shotokan Karate

2nd dan, Judo

Martial Arts DVDs & Seminars

Aiki DVDs, Karate DVDs, Sogo Budo DVDs

Tony Annesi's NON-FICTION

The FREEDOM of LIMITATIONS

Do Limits Deny Rights?

The Little Book of In≠qualities

Is It Really Better to Live a Lie?

LIFE Is About CONTROL

Responsibility vs. Domination

The COLLECTIVE PROBLEM
vs. The Individualism Problem

The Challenge of Unforced Liberty

The FLAWS of FREEDOM

Why the Left Depends on the Right and the Right Needs the Left

PETULANT

How Pre-feminist Peevishness and Guerrilla Warfare has Poisoned Political Points-of-View

Pardon Me, but

YOUR ETHICS ARE IMMORAL (or is it Your Morals are Unethical?)

Turn and Face the Strange

CONTENTS

10 Common Values

To Unify a Contentious Culture

CONTENTS

10 Guideline Principles

Finding One's Way in a Messy World

CONTENTS

<<< BACK to BOOKS PAGE

<<< Tony Annesi's Fiction

<<< Sunday with Sensei's Journal

Martial Arts DVDs & Seminars

Aiki DVDs, Karate DVDs, Sogo Budo DVDs

Tony Annesi's NON-FICTION

The FREEDOM of LIMITATIONS

Do Limits Deny Rights?

The Little Book of In≠qualities

Is It Really Better to Live a Lie?

LIFE Is About CONTROL

Responsibility vs. Domination

The COLLECTIVE PROBLEM vs. The Individualism Problem

The Challenge of Unforced Liberty

The FLAWS of FREEDOM

Why the Left Depends on the Right and the Right Needs the Left

PETULANT

How Pre-feminist Peevishness and Guerrilla Warfare has Poisoned Political Points-of-View

Pardon Me, but

YOUR ETHICS ARE IMMORAL (or is it Your Morals are Unethical?)

Turn and Face the Strange

CONTENTS

10 Common Values

To Unify a Contentious Culture

CONTENTS

10 Guideline Principles

Finding One's Way in a Messy World

CONTENTS

<<< BACK to BOOKS PAGE

<<< Tony Annesi's Fiction

<<< Sunday with Sensei's Journal

The COLLECTIVE PROBLEM
vs. The Individualism Problem