Paul Rosenberg - A Lodging of Wayfaring Men

Instantly named Freedom Book of The Month and a major influence in the Cyber-underground, A Lodging of Wayfaring Men is the story of freedom-seekers who create an alternative society on the Internet - a virtual society, with no possibility of oversight or control. It grows so fast that governments and leaders are terrified, and fight to co-opt this cyber-society before it undermines the power of the governing elite.

For those of you who may not have read the marvelous A Lodging of Wayfaring Men, I strongly encourage you to do so.
-- Capital Reward Blog

The novel leads us through a clever plot where the principles of freedom and individuality lead to a free market, one not controlled by governments or by tax men. The narrative is gripping. The reader cannot lay the book down.
-- Dr. Thomas Dorman

As full as my reading schedule is, I plan to make time to return to A Lodging of Wayfaring Men in order to glean the most from this interesting, thought- provoking tale.
-- Sunni Maravillosa , Free-Market.net

Of the twenty five or so people I worked with last fall, all of them revered A Lodging of Wayfaring Men as a bible. They referred to the house and their community effort as a Lodge. We all felt it was modeled on the Free Souls.
-- HW, underground programmer

One of the most thought- provoking books to hit the information highway in recent times.
-- David MacGregor , Sovereign Living

A LODGING OF
WAYFARING MEN

BY PAUL ROSENBERG

This entire work is copyright 200 7 by Paul A. Rosenberg and released under the terms of a Creative Commons U.S. Attribution- NonCommercial-ShareAlike license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc- sa /3.0/us/ ). Some Rights Reserved.

Front and back cover photo credits : Joshua McMichael www.jmcmichael.com Creative Commons Attribution 2.5

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Paper copies are available at www.veraverba.com

Note from e-ink edition creator

As this book is available only in the PDF format, which is not ideal for comfortable reading on other devices than on a computer screen, I decided to make this e-ink friendly version.

I tried to keep as much of the original document formatting as possible, despite it being a rather difficult and time consuming task (just ask my wife). During the editing process I also corrected a few typos in manuscript text. I only corrected obvious typos, while some of the authors specifically used and oddly spelled words I kept to preserve his original footprint. I hope that I corrected more mistakes than I made.

Feel free to enjoy this version, and if you find my work to be well done please consider sending me some Bitcoins at 1H6A18yrZ2sf7U41NbvpDMBpMhQyNkv4rG or use the QR code.

For Hurbinek

God, it feels great to defy the bastards! Doesnt it?

Dr. George Dimitrios , who was rushing through the darkened laboratory carrying a heavy box, stopped and stood still. Six men surrounded him at a distance, darting in and out of the shadows, and dismantling the chem lab in what seemed a controlled panic. Ever since he had forced himself to enter the lab and begin looting it, barely an hour earlier, he had been completely immersed in the work. He concentrated, partly because it was necessary, and partly to keep from thinking about what could happen if he got caught. It seemed like a bad dream, but one that he could escape from only by seeing it to completion.

Now, in the midst of this confusion, Phillip says, It feels great to defy the bastards. George wasnt feeling particularly great about it just then.

Hurry-up, and keep the chemicals upright! The voice came from an unseen corner of the lab, where several of Phillips guys were dismantling the equipment with surprising skill. George jumped back into action, his concern for the chemicals and equipment pushing his fear back to the edges of his consciousness.

There was no way of knowing if or when Campus Security might show up, so the half-dozen men packed-up the lab in lots. The most important items were packed and removed first, the second most-important things next, and so on. George was worried about running if security showed-up. Phillips guys were also worried about the security boys showing up, but their response would not be to run. These men looked like they could be very good at violence if they needed to be.

The first and second batches cardboard boxes full of tubes, hoses, beakers, bottles, and computers had made it out of the building and were on their way to a safe storage site. One more load of boxes and all would be well. Or at least as well as things were going to be for a long time.

Finally, they were all gone and only George and Phillip remained. Without a word, they each took separate halves of the building, and made a last check. Everyone involved had worn gloves, so they werent worried about finger prints, but Phillip did grab a broom, and quickly swept the lab to eliminate traceable foot prints. They exited through the side door and left the broom there, leaning against the dark bricks just outside. They pulled up the hoods of their jackets, shuffled silently to the car, and drove quietly away.

It was done. The lab was cleaned-out, along with all of Georges log books and computers. It would take a week to reassemble all the equipment at a new lab if he ever got one again but at least his work was safe.

The work Fourteen years of his life spent in a slow, difficult analysis of biochemic al residues and the solving of a dozen molecular riddles. Then, real results, challenged and upheld. George really didnt know how he was able to make such a breakthrough. The truth is that most scientists go their whole careers without making any great discovery; mostly they refine a few ideas and develop more efficient processes. Some day he would have to determine whether he had in fact done something better than the others or whether he was just lucky. But for now, driving through the parking lot, his adrenaline was beginning to subside, while his fear remained. He felt almost sick.

His lay back in his seat as far as possible, hoping at the least to find some physical comfort, if he could find none for his mind. Slowly, his thoughts went back through the events that brought him here. His face grew blank; his mind felt thick and gray. His black eyebrows looked as though they would have liked to pull themselves together in a deep frown, but they simply lacked the strength to do so. Even his hair, usually thick and wavy, seemed flat.

He could have been up for a Nobel Prize, and yet he was here, stealing lab equipment in the dark of night, like a common thief. God help me, he thought, while his face remained blank, I am a thief! And it was true. The lab equipment and supplies were not his property. The University held title to the equipment, and they had ordered Campus Security to close down the lab immediately. He knew he was right to protect and preserve his work, but he was also risking jail months or years in a real jail, with real bad guys sleeping next to him every night! As soon as the security guys got there, theyd know that the equipment was gone, and he would be suspect number one! When he begged Phillip to find a group of men to move the equipment, he had told himself that he was a modern Galileo, standing up to ignorant rulers; he hadnt thought about a real jail sentence. In an instant, all his remaining strength withdrew, sucked into a tight knot somewhere in his abdomen. Oh my God, how stupid have I been? He felt sick with a primal sort of dread. It was a terrible feeling that he vaguely remembered from long, long ago God, this is just too much, he said as the car made its way through a dark alley. It was spoken so quietly that Phillip, driving the car over a poorly-paved surface, didnt hear it.