Debbie, have you thought about blogging your articles online? you could get a Mises bog maybe?
Where there is no property there is no justice; a proposition as certain as any demonstration in Euclid
Fools! not to see that what they madly desire would be a calamity to them as no hands but their own could bring
Well I've already done that. Besides being in the paper itself, they are also published in the newspaper's online site. And I'm also putting them up on my blog: The Suburban Voluntaryist . (I didn't post that in the message before because I was going to put it up in my profile or have that link from my name but then I got busy and didn't have time so just sent in the post.
By the way, I'm always open to any constructive criticism and don't worry I have a thick skin.
I would like to suggest something Form a band. Making music reaches many people easily, and songs about libertarianism help to spread the message. All kind of cultural changing is good, like writing stories and making films. Culture is one way to fight against our biggest enemy, public education.
I agree. ^^^
From what I've seen so far, it appears that children are the low hanging fruit. Unlike their older counter parts, they have not been subjected to decades of brainwashing, or had time to solidify their views in life to the point that changing them is supremely difficult. Most kids in grade school are also super bored there, so they are a captive audience. Fear the Boom and Bust? Excellent video, which is exactly the type of thing we need to bring these kids into a new way of thinking. I often find that a few sentences is all I need to get an idea or question burning in the mind of a kid, whereas I might talk 'til I'm blue in the face to an adult.
-Libertango
Re: Young people,
Definitely agree. The other thing to this is that the investment can have a much bigger payoff, because they have their whole lives ahead of them. And they have yet to form relationships, choose careers, have their own children, etc.
Also good points. Personally, I'm pretty interested in spreading the ideas of Mises et. al. to the kids in China. It seems to me there's a changing tide where the powers that be will operate out of Asia. Plus there's the whole thing where the Chinese government is actually encouraging its citizens to buy gold and silver. My prediction: in 20 years the US will be obsolete as the Chinese own everything. Best to make sure they're our friends; I'm learning chinese at the moment. Anyone know if there's a chinese site for Mises.org?
Protest the vote?
jwilliams89: Anyone know if there's a chinese site for Mises.org?
Anyone know if there's a chinese site for Mises.org?
http://www.vforvoluntary.com/wiki/LibertarianWebsites#Chinese
You may also be interested in this guy (click his videos on the right): http://www.youtube.com/user/Ksabrs45
Wow that's a cool channel. I sent him a message, so hopefully I hear back.
I may have to work at it to read that chinese libertarian site. I'm guessing it's more complicated than boy, apple, cat, etc.
Thanks!
sicsempertyrannis"That said, I still say the most effective means of spreading libertarianism yet was Ron Paul's campaign. That he was able to convert some of my blue collar co-workers, without any intervention from me, was nothing short of amazing. In the end, the political aspect of it was a waste of time of course, but the coverage by the mass media was a great help to our cause. "
It might be the case or it might not be. I'd like to see some polls or surveys to see how many people became libertarian because of Ron Paul running for president. It shouldn't just be like "yes, I'm a libertarian" but should ask questions on certain things to see if they're actually libertarian (well, at least libertarians would be able to see the answers given for various questions and see if they think the person is libertarian). Then at the end, they could list who influenced them and brought them to their current political views.
Maybe I'm just paranoid, but it seems to me that Ron Paul also got a lot of people to call themselves "Ron Paul Republicans" who are just conservatives with a libertarian leaning. Sometimes they're just Republicans who agree with Ron Paul on an issue or two and who aren't libertarian at all. It might have also had the effect of getting some people to call themselves libertarians when they're really just Constitutionalists since lots of Constitutionalist types were inspired by Ron Paul.
Can anything be done with Egypt? Influence protesters directly or something?
liberty student: Find ways to succeed within their rules. The reason why the rules are ineffective, is that there is no way to stop a creative mind. Also, don't be afraid to go after modest goals. If you get one person a year into libertarianism, for 20 years of your life, and a few thousand of us do it, and those people also pay it forward, the coercive criminal state is toast within a couple generations, and you will see the fruits of that movement in your lifetime.
Find ways to succeed within their rules. The reason why the rules are ineffective, is that there is no way to stop a creative mind.
Also, don't be afraid to go after modest goals. If you get one person a year into libertarianism, for 20 years of your life, and a few thousand of us do it, and those people also pay it forward, the coercive criminal state is toast within a couple generations, and you will see the fruits of that movement in your lifetime.
"I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it" - Thomas Jefferson.
Great thread. One more concrete thing one could do:
I'm currently crowd-funding the follow-up to George Ought to Help animation, it's a short film showing the hidden costs of government intervention. If you'd like to learn more and/or get involved in supporting 'Edgar the Exploiter', you can do all that at: http://igg.me/p/18477?a=85533&i=shlk Thanks in advance if you feel like joining in and/or helping to spread the word!
I was thinking of starting something in my church, which doesn't have an official political/economic platform (thank God). Most people, I don't think, would get past the "hurrrrr throw money at Africa like Bono" idea of "creating" wealth where there is little. The western Church in general is giving off the faint stink of social "justice" so the mention of capitalism plus anarchy would just turn them off at first blush.
One of my friends at church was one of the first people to introduce me to Austrian thought. Weird.
For those that don't know, I have a launched a website:
http://www.whatcausedthehousingbubble.com
This is an attempt to deliver the real truth behind the housing bubble and debunk the ridiculous claim that the free market caused it. It's still incomplete, it has taken a lot longer to get the full picture with all the right facts and proofs etc. Feedback is always welcome
Guys I think we need to pay more attention to influencing the popular culture through the medium of literature, movies and yes even computer games. The right has been very good at criticising the domination of arts by the left but has produced very little to challenge this domination.
Unlike say establishing an intellectual roundtable or canvassing in an election campaign there is no reason that this activity cannot be profitable.
Simon Lote-
I think you're right, but what premise do you use? It's hard to beat socialist rhetoric.
On the subject of popular media, my campaign to fund the production of the follow-up to George Ought to Help is drawing to a close. If anyone's looking for stuff they can do, there's still chance to get involved and claim rewards for a few days. Take a look and pass it on! http://indiegogo.com/edgar-the-exploiter
I would say firstly that any cultural production ultimately should be entertaining and not simply be an explicit libertarian manifesto where the hero goes on the radio and preaches the virtue of market forces for 30 straight pages ala Atlas Shrugged.
Indeed there are plenty of genres to mine, for example there is Richard Blake a libertarian who has written historical fiction in the early medieval period foucsing upon Rome. The book's hero is an outsider who gets unwittingly caught up in the various intrigues and conspiracies of a corrupt and oppressive ruling class trying despartely to hold onto power.
There are probably plenty of contemporary themes that could be used to create stories from. For instance one could probably construct a good fictional drama about the unfairness and arbitrariness of modern family law. How about a father who goes on the run with his children because the government courts refuse to grant him access to his children.
The other day I got a dollar bill with the message "END THE FED" written on it. I've followed suit and written on every bill I've come into contact with front and back.
How about we put up some ads? I hope it will work.
Brilliant idea about writing on bills!
Also, another thought:
Instead of trying to convert any random guy to libertarianism, why not start with open-minded Republicans? Create majority-Republican events so you start with a large base that may be willing to listen. From there, slowly wean them off of the state and provide reading material. One is more likely to read something if it agrees with his views.
I also recommend filling out your regional library's online request form for popular books by Mises, Rand, et al if they are not found within your libraries system on a search. Often they will just add the book with the money they have already taken from you. I think this works best for books by popular authors. Economics in One Lesson would be a good one. Your library might have Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead, but might not have Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal or The Virtue of Selfishness. It is good to request or donate a wide variety of books, from literature to history to philosophy to economics. My friend teaches teenagers in Korea with high level English and she was able to obtain free books from the Ayn Rand Institute to study Ayn Rand's works. Pass on the news or free pamphlets of the "Books for Teachers" project at the Ayn Rand Institute to high school teachers you know. The Fountainhead is a great way to foster independence and entrepreneurial spirit, and Anthem is a realistic critique of socialism, especially compared to 1984 which high school students are forced to read, because it contains the knowledge that material prosperity and technology cannot exist under dictatorship. Many young people learn best through stories.
This is their books for teachers project. http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=support_free_books You might be able to just request to have them sent to a local school library if you talk to the librarian, or get the high school librarian to submit the request himself. I did that when I was in high school. English and English literature classes are where a lot of people learn their ideas about politics, economics, history and society. Remember that.
One thing I guess which could be of value is to have a 5-10 minute 'presentation' planned for when you are talking to someone 1 on 1 and want to briefly give them a summation of libertarian principles. Could be even down to verbatim. This will give a very slick / professional / confidant impression to the person listening and can help maximize the impact you have in a very short time.
... just as the State has no money of its own, so it has no power of its own - Albert Jay Nock
unfortunately the propaganda thing at school wont work. people simply don't care about economics nor do they care about politics or philosophy.
but i guess i have 1 friend that is interested.
it is a first step....
“Since people are concerned that ‘X’ will not be provided, ‘X’ will naturally be provided by those who are concerned by its absence.""The sweetest of minds can harbor the harshest of men.”
http://voluntaryistreader.wordpress.org
If we want to get Austrian economics and anarcho-capitalism into the mainstream, marketing skills will be essential. Before we can change people's political opinions, we must first understand people and their whimsical preferences.
Marketing is "the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large."
The value we seek from other people: their time and energy used to become well-informed about Austrian economic principles and anarcho-capitalist possibilities.
What is the value they are willing to receive in return? Until we can fully answer this question, we won't get very far.
It will depend on the tastes of different groups in society. Most people want to maximize prosperity, but most people believe their own political positions are the best way to achieve that. Something else needs to hook people in, and allow them to let go of their political baggage. Examples: the Zeitgeist movement offers a lot of so-called insight; whereas "The American Dream" offers a lot of entertainment.
There are many useful posts in this thread, but it is now too large to be able to sift through all of them. People don't know if something they posted has already been discussed and to what extent. It would be useful to compile all these ideas into a single online pamphlet, and periodically produce new updated versions to reflect the viability of the different ideas.
You could talley the best results here.
http://wiki.mises.org/wiki/Main_Page
One other thing you guys could do is wear stilts.
Has anyone mentioned charity yet? Food drives, free clinics, free schools, etc. Dish up a sermon with that soup.
Here is some stuff we can do
How about transcriptions? The Mises literature library has a great list of items to choose from, most of which are not in copyright. One book in particular that I'm reading is titled "Fabian Freeway". http://mises.org/document/4621 Large portions of this are readable to the human eye, but are not searchable because the file has problems. What I mean by 'problems', is that whoever owned the original book which was copied and put into PDF wrote in it; they underlined large portions of it for unknown reasons. PDF viewing software does not know how to discern between human written pen marks and the actual text of the book.
The transcription is done, the whole book should be searchable now. I have the text file uploaded within my profile so that people can access it.
Also, every transcription needs readers of all stripes, from people who will simply download the file, verify that it loads correctly and paragraphs flow correctly across various platforms - this might only take a minute of anybody's time; to people who devote large amounts of their time comparing texts to make sure that a transcript is correct.
It will be easier to outwardly educate people if information is not just available, but available with greater ease and accessibility.
I am editing Taxation as theft on Wikipedia. Input welcome (and probably needed). It was a scant 2 lines before I restored some old content and edited out controversial bits that would be taken down. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_as_theft
Near the end of this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=9Kclr98hhf8 (33 mins in) Stefan Molyneux speaks of political solutions being futile, that the answer is making it personal, pointing out the gun in the room they are pointing at you when someone advocates statism.
I think this could make a powerful facebook campaign, that could reach a lot of people, pointing out that you recognise and resent it when people support government using force against anyone they disagree with, and that those supporters are themselves responsible. I figured I'd post the idea here since I haven't yet come up with ideas for the text or image(s).
Basically the goal of the idea is making statism a publically recognised immorality in basically the same way as racism is recognised as such.
Anyone have any ideas on this or any images that you've seen spring to mind?
I forgot where it was originally, but from here:
Haha, Love it JJ, so simple and so true
Here's what I have so far, but I'd like to make it more pithy. I still have no idea what Image I want behind the text.
Advocacy of government action is advocacy of the taxation (robbery), kidnapping (imprisonment) and ultimately killing (murder) of those who oppose it. I resent those who wish to rob, kidnap, or murderer me and their supporters. The path to a peaceful, and prosperous society is voluntary, not coercive.
Take over the Republican Party.