Un-Jobbing: The Adult Liberation Handbook

by Michael Fogler

Un-Jobbing: The Adult Liberation Handbook has been helping thousands of people who want to free themselves from a life of merely earning a paycheck, to reclaim a liberated life in complete alignment with personal values. This book effectively gives you the ideas, resources, and inspiration to achieve a life of what you really want to do-and still make ends meet. Succinctly and simply, this updated, second edition is a powerful tool for helping individuals...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0965483401
• ISBN13: 9780965483407
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: Free Choice Press
• Length: 118 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.6" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Empowering!

... It takes a lot of guts to "drop out" in the 2000's and there is a lack of support toward doing it effectively. Fogler's book is in my library and I revisit it periodically for the support he gives toward "adult liberation." The book is very different from Your Money or Your Life which advocates making the most money possible in the shortest amt. of time in order to retire early. If you have ever sold your soul in a mind-numbing capacity and felt like you wanted to die-- big bucks notwithstanding--Fogler's book is for you. He offers a gentler approach. Who cares about retirement if your life is pleasant enough and your p/t work keeps you vital? And in our get-ahead, consume-the-world culture, Fogler's advocacy of home-based-living is refreshing AND sustainable!Specifics are absent because it is incumbent on each of us in our distinct circumstances to write our own script. Yes, this requires some thought! I left professional work behind for 20-hour a week employment in a food co-op and I turned my garage into a studio rental. Yes, I am fortunate enough to have a house in the first place, and a mortgage... . There *are* ways to accomplish the same lifestyle: roomates, caregiving in exchange for housing, an inexpensive community. There is no widespread prescription for how we individually accomplish Un-Jobbing, but Fogler's book gives us the nudge to do it. If more people in the states adopted a lower-impact, simpler lifestyle, there would be plenty of p/t work for all of us, sustainable agriculture and production here at home, and fewer cars and airplanes [messing] up the environment. Make fun if you want to, but I think Fogler is a visionary who generously offers his insights and support in his book.

Fogler is really on to something with this "unjobbing".

This book should be required reading for anyone who works for a living. Fogler is quite iconoclastic in questioning the "you are supposed to do this when you grow up" attitudes that are so prevalent in todays consumer society.One does not have to agree with every idea in the book to realize many thought provoking ideas are presented. I especially found Fogler's honesty about his own job frustrations germaine---he's been where many "baby boomers" are. I predict this will become a "must read" among downshifters.

Featured book in January 1999 "Reviewer's Bookwatch"

UN-JOBBING: THE ADULT LIBERATION HANDBOOK (Second Edition) acknowledges that, in many ways, jobs are literally robbing people of their true lives. "Making a Living" can turn out to be a long, quiet, debilitating death of the soul -- and even the body. UN-JOBBING gives explanations about better understanding money and materialism, about focusing activities on returning one's gifts to the community, about orienting one's life around cooperation rather than competition, and about living more lightly on the planet. Among the topics covered are taxes, insurance, conscious personal financial organization, and the problem of thinking that economic "growth" is desirable. UN-JOBBING contains a philosophical context, numerous practical suggestions, thumbnail sketches of people making un-jobbing work, and an annotated Appendix of helpful organizations and other books for further exploration.

An Eye Opener

Don't underestimate this book. Fogler seems to offer some straightforward, common sense advice about frugal living, and indeed he does, but it's much much more than that. This book prods you into thinking about our consumer society and what's important in one's life, and not just from an ethereal, "puffy cloud" point of view. Rather, in gently helping the reader to examine his or her life, Fogler challenges us to look at what we do for work and play, and why. The answer might be a stunner. This book is not for people who like lots of toys. Rather, it is for those who want a fresh perspective on how to express our authentic selves in what we do, and how you can indeed change your life if you don't have that now. Pretty scary, but joyously liberating.

Un-jobbing is a must-read for alternative thinkers.

It's been over a year since I read Un-Jobbing and thanks to author Michael Fogler, I've made many improvements in my life. Fogler's ideas got me thinking about new ways to conserve my time, energy and material goods. He presented his ideas in a straightforward, nonjudgemental manner. My eyes were opened up to a new way of thinking and I was excited because I knew I wanted to make changes he so easily talked about. One part in particular has kept me thinking: Is it really healthy that our economy is "thriving" because of a high degree of consumer spending? In the past, I would have said, yes. More jobs, more new home and automobile purchases meant national prosperity. Now I believe that "less is best" and that all of the spending we Americans are accustomed to is not for the greater good of our communities. A valuable section of his book was the resources he cited. I read at least three of them and have been incorporating more vegetarian and healthy eating habits in my (and my family's) life. Un-Jobbing was well written and thought-provoking, with a touch of humor. The world certainly would be a much better place if people put into action his suggestions. Un-jobbing was one of my most important investments of the year. I'm looking forward to the next edition!