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December 30, 2010 Santiago, Chile I left Argentina last night by plane– I decided to skip out on the drive through Patagonia for now so that I can get on more quickly with the business of scouting locations for our sustainable community. I have a few leads that I’m excited about and didn’t
December 29, 2010 Buenos Aires, Argentina Looking back over the year’s dispatches is like a walk down memory lane for me– I usually remember exactly where I was and what I was doing at the time when I sat down to write to you, and that constant journey has taken me across dozens
Buenos Aires, Argentina December 28, 2010 As we’re quickly approaching the end of December, I thought it would be appropriate to republish a few letters from earlier this year. 2010 brought substantial growth for this community– our numbers swelled, and I know that many readers probably missed some important letters from earlier days.
December 24, 2010 Santiago, Chile It’s a long flight from Auckland to Santiago. Hell, it’s a long flight from Auckland to anywhere. You know, Australia is about 15 hours from anywhere, and New Zealand is 3 hours from Australia… so it’s out there. My primary mission over the last three weeks in New
December 21, 2010 Auckland, New Zealand My friend Doug Casey has frequently written that you’ll know the bull market for gold has peaked when there’s a picture of a golden bull tearing up the dollar or the New York Stock Exchange on the cover of Time Magazine. I have a similar view, but
December 20, 2010 Auckland, New Zealand One of my favorite movies is the Matrix. I remember when it came out over 11-years ago, my best friend went to go see it. He called me immediately afterward and said, “I just saw the Matrix. You need to stop whatever you’re doing and come see
December 17, 2010 Auckland, New Zealand Earlier this week, the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals (one step below the Supreme Court) made an important ruling that should please anyone who longs for freedom. In US vs. Warshak, the court ruled that government agents must obtain a warrant in order to compel Internet
December 15, 2010 Wellington, New Zealand Do you remember the good old days the when it used to be illegal for governments to spy on their citizens? I don’t either… but I’m told that it used to be illegal. Oh how times have changed. The British government went out of control years ago;
December 14, 2010 Nelson, New Zealand Professor Hans Rosling is a sword-swallower. Crazy, I know. But as freakish and mesmerizing as that talent may be, the data that he has been compiling about developing countries is even more mesmerizing, and I promise it will surprise even the most worldly and well traveled among
December 13, 2010 Franz Josef Glacier, New Zealand Even before Edward Gibbon published his famous treatise in the late 1700s, historians have frequently debated the causes of the fall of the Roman Empire. Some, like Gibbon, argued that Roman society’s moral decline was the root cause, while others such as Toynbee suggested that
December 9, 2010 Picton, New Zealand The ferry from Wellington across the Cook Strait to New Zealand’s beautiful south island was a bit rough today. I’ve mentioned before that I’m not particularly seaworthy, so I asked my friend Chris, a New Zealand native, to step in today on my behalf and give you
December 8, 2010 Wellington, New Zealand The price of a Big Mac is going up in China by 7%. In fact, Chinese state media outlets are reporting that prices for all items at McDonalds fast food restaurants across China are going up by 1/2 to 1 renminbi (RMB), roughly 7.5 to 15 US
December 7, 2010 Wellington, New Zealand Julian Assange, founder of Wikileaks, is a marked man. My hat is off to him. As far as I’m concerned, all he’s done is publish some information that shines a light under some big rocks and down some very deep crevices, and that is now making quite
December 6, 2010 Auckland, New Zealand Someone asked me recently, “Simon, if there are so many great places in the world full of opportunity, why don’t you just pick one and stay there– why keep traveling?” Simple. I wouldn’t be much good to you if I sat in one place and speculated about
December 2, 2010 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia A few days ago, I wrote an article on the merits of productive citizens leaving their home countries that are no longer aligned with the values of freedom and independence. I find this ‘starve the beast’ approach to be the most effective non-violent method to