In the very early 90's I started my Selfishness Training Institute (STI) as a for- profit sole proprietorship to provide me with a career I would love and an income I could live on. I had been a Mechanical Engineer for a quarter of a century and voluntarily gave it up to pursue my real love which was psychology. STI was designed by me to provide psychological counseling services to individuals interested in using psychology to help them promote their own personal growth and development. A sentiment of mine at the time was: Psychology is for people not rats. (I did not use this as an Advertising slogan at the time, it simply was an unpublished sentiment of mine.)

At the time I had (and still do the last time I checked) a Masters Degree in Counseling Psychology. I spent the better part of the 80's obtaining it from the mainstream--read accredited--Universities and Colleges available to me here in the State of Minnesota. (It took a long time to obtain because I pursued it on my own excess time and paid for it with my own excess money that I made as an Engineer.)

So in 1991 with my degree and enthusiasm in hand I set up shop. I designed my brochures and advertisements and set out to attract customers. I advertised in the Yellow Pages and local newspapers and sent out mass mailings introducing my Selfishness Training Institute to prospective clients.

Over time I had a few customers, but (in contradistinction to my hopes and wishes) they were not "knocking down my doors" to set appointments. So I thought, "well, this may take a little longer than I had originally planned". It was discouraging (and a significant amount of my savings was being consumed) but not so discouraging as to stop my motivation.

One day I received notification from The Minnesota State Board of Psychology--the same Board by the way to whom I had applied to and received license to be an "un-licensed" mental health practitioner--that in essence said the following. Since I had referred to my STI service as one offering Psychological Counseling Services in one of my Newsletters and since I wasn't licensed to do that, they would send me to jail if I didn't publicly recant my sin and contact each and every mass-mailed-to-person and tell them also.

I contacted my lawyer.

Long story short: my lawyer said send out the recant letter else spend 90 days in jail and probably suffer a $750 fine to boot.

I decided that since morality does stop at the point of a gun I'd NOT opt for the martyr option.

I sent the recant.

Facts on file.

The end.

P.S. Hopefully next newsletter (December's) will be about something more interesting than the all too obvious fact that the Bureaucrats and the Political Class in this country have this country by the balls and therefore since there are none left for the citizenry (at least they aren't exhibiting any) long term(un)wise we are in biggie trouble. Who knows, maybe Dr. Peikoff was right in his The Ominous Parallels--The End of Freedom in America book. That is, I thought he wasn't right, that he had overstated the case, but now ... I'm not so sure. (e.g. see the "Emergency Economic Stabalization Act" of 2008 (i.e., the $700 Billion bailout)--are these Bureaucrats mocking Ayn Rand by using like sounding terminology from her book, Atlas Shrugged) to name t.h.e.i.r programs?.

PPS. You'll have to decide if the government protected you from me and my ... what? Voluntary interaction with you since had you solicited my psychological/selfishness training/counseling services (as those who did) you would have had to have done so on an entirely voluntary basis and ... halt.

It's over.

Let's move on.

I have moved on, but ....

But what?

I was--at the time--totally and completely surprised as to how easily "fear" (in this case, "of going to jail") controlled my behavior.

The fear was real, I felt it inside me and observed "it" selecting my behavior (so to speak) for me.

Of course it wasn't the first time in my life that I felt fear, it just was the first time or one of the few times I was so really really aware internally of how much it "controlled" me.

"Fear and guilt", said someone, is the way in which religion controls people.

"Love and (those inner children's sense of) innocence" are far and away better motivators.

Seek motivation by love, not fear, said I to myself and over the years have largely achieved this and I am superbly more happy for having achieved such a level of development that ... that ... I don't really know what to say other than to repeat Ayn Rand's message in Atlas: "... the fountain (of youth) can't be brought down (from the mountain top) ... you have to go get it on your own ...".

Have to, that is, IF you desire love and innocence to be yor motivators.