* The System, 2003 edition

The original(?) 1968 edition is a pamphlet reprinted in Free's monograph titled "Revolution For The * of It". It is a short treatise on the art and science of cheap living, seasoned with a little social commentary. It contains many ideas for reducing the cost of living and (we hope) the "opportunity cost" of participating in the dissident subculture of that time. Many (but by no means all) of these ideas are ethically questionable on 8th Commandment grounds. Nevertheless, it is not merely a rant but a collection of genuinely innovative ideas with concrete suggestions for tangible implementations, something largely lacking in most activist rhetoric. It's also a pretty entertaining read. Unfortunately, the information in it is largely obsolete. For example, vending machines are a little more sophisticated these days. I imagine textbook publishers are now putting a little more effort into weeding people who aren't really faculty types from requests they receive for "free samples" of their products. Postage-paid "business reply" envelopes have largely been replaced with postcards or with non-prepaid stationery.

I propose an updated edition. I suggest a more morally scrupulous approach, as well as what might be called a "systems approach" rather than merely a collection of ideas. The idea would be to come up with cheap living strategies that are not just clever and feasible but OPTIMIZED. Modern collaborative methods should allow for a more sophisticated document authoring method than was possible in 1968, and at little or no cost. Diplomacy is (in itself) never a bad idea so a less confrontational title might be preferable.