Political Theory

Re: Help me inspire my college freshmen students to love free-market capitalism!

troutndeer — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 01:51:51 GMT

I would personally try, although it can be difficult, to avoid bringing up politics, ideology, or anti-state stuff. Just talk about markets and how well they work. As soon as you take an ideological stance they will become critical, think of you as a crack-pot and switch off. If you can convince some of the utility of markets, they will find a political position later on themselves.

Re: Help me inspire my college freshmen students to love free-market capitalism!

The Late Andrew Ryan — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 22:04:43 GMT

Well I can recommend some youtube channels. Try some of Stefan Molyneux's (stefbot) stuff or confederalsocialist. Most of this stuff is anti state as well, but really they go hand in hand. If your looking for just free market stuff try CS but I dunno if you're going to have much luck with trying anything written down. Also youtube Andrew Ryan speaks out against altruism. It's an inspiring little 5 minute intro 2 libertarianism and if you have any gamers in ur class they'll worship u

Re: Help me inspire my college freshmen students to love free-market capitalism!

JackCuyler — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:20:15 GMT

This was a commencement speech delivered by P.J. O'Rourke. While I don't agree with everything he says, it's definitely leaning in the right direction.

Well, here you are at your college graduation. And I know what you're thinking: "Gimme the sheepskin and get me outta here!" But not so fast. First you have to listen to a commencement speech.

Don't moan. I'm not going to "pass the wisdom of one generation down to the next." I'm a member of the 1960s generation. We didn't have any wisdom.

We were the moron generation. We were the generation that believed we could stop the Vietnam War by growing our hair long and dressing like circus clowns. We believed drugs would change everything -- which they did, for John Belushi. We believed in free love. Yes, the love was free, but we paid a high price for the sex.

My generation spoiled everything for you. It has always been the special prerogative of young people to look and act weird and shock grown-ups. But my generation exhausted the Earth's resources of the weird. Weird clothes -- we wore them. Weird beards -- we grew them. Weird words and phrases -- we said them. So, when it came your turn to be original and look and act weird, all you had left was to tattoo your faces and pierce your tongues. Ouch. That must have hurt. I apologize.

So now, it's my job to give you advice. But I'm thinking: You're finishing 16 years of education, and you've heard all the conventional good advice you can stand. So, let me offer some relief:

1. Go out and make a bunch of money!

Here we are living in the world's most prosperous country, surrounded by all the comforts, conveniences and security that money can provide. Yet no American political, intellectual or cultural leader ever says to young people, "Go out and make a bunch of money." Instead, they tell you that money can't buy happiness. Maybe, but money can rent it.

There's nothing the matter with honest moneymaking. Wealth is not a pizza, where if I have too many slices you have to eat the Domino's box. In a free society, with the rule of law and property rights, no one loses when someone else gets rich.

2. Don't be an idealist!

Don't chain yourself to a redwood tree. Instead, be a corporate lawyer and make $500,000 a year. No matter how much you cheat the IRS, you'll still end up paying $100,000 in property, sales and excise taxes. That's $100,000 to schools, sewers, roads, firefighters and police. You'll be doing good for society. Does chaining yourself to a redwood tree do society $100,000 worth of good?

Idealists are also bullies. The idealist says, "I care more about the redwood trees than you do. I care so much I can't eat. I can't sleep. It broke up my marriage. And because I care more than you do, I'm a better person. And because I'm the better person, I have the right to boss you around."

Get a pair of bolt cutters and liberate that tree.

Who does more for the redwoods and society anyway -- the guy chained to a tree or the guy who founds the "Green Travel Redwood Tree-Hug Tour Company" and makes a million by turning redwoods into a tourist destination, a valuable resource that people will pay just to go look at?

So make your contribution by getting rich. Don't be an idealist.

3. Get politically uninvolved!

All politics stink. Even democracy stinks. Imagine if our clothes were selected by the majority of shoppers, which would be teenage girls. I'd be standing here with my bellybutton exposed. Imagine deciding the dinner menu by family secret ballot. I've got three kids and three dogs in my family. We'd be eating Froot Loops and rotten meat.

But let me make a distinction between politics and politicians. Some people are under the misapprehension that all politicians stink. Impeach George W. Bush, and everything will be fine. Nab Ted Kennedy on a DUI, and the nation's problems will be solved.

But the problem isn't politicians -- it's politics. Politics won't allow for the truth. And we can't blame the politicians for that. Imagine what even a little truth would sound like on today's campaign trail:

"No, I can't fix public education. The problem isn't the teachers unions or a lack of funding for salaries, vouchers or more computer equipment The problem is your kids!"

4. Forget about fairness!

We all get confused about the contradictory messages that life and politics send.

Life sends the message, "I'd better not be poor. I'd better get rich. I'd better make more money than other people." Meanwhile, politics sends us the message, "Some people make more money than others. Some are rich while others are poor. We'd better close that 'income disparity gap.' It's not fair!"

Well, I am here to advocate for unfairness. I've got a 10-year-old at home. She's always saying, "That's not fair." When she says this, I say, "Honey, you're cute. That's not fair. Your family is pretty well off. That's not fair. You were born in America. That's not fair. Darling, you had better pray to God that things don't start getting fair for you." What we need is more income, even if it means a bigger income disparity gap.

5. Be a religious extremist!

So, avoid politics if you can. But if you absolutely cannot resist, read the Bible for political advice -- even if you're a Buddhist, atheist or whatever. Don't get me wrong, I am not one of those people who believes that God is involved in politics. On the contrary. Observe politics in this country. Observe politics around the world. Observe politics through history. Does it look like God's involved?

The Bible is very clear about one thing: Using politics to create fairness is a sin. Observe the Tenth Commandment. The first nine commandments concern theological principles and social law: Thou shalt not make graven images, steal, kill, et cetera. Fair enough. But then there's the tenth: "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's."

Here are God's basic rules about how we should live, a brief list of sacred obligations and solemn moral precepts. And, right at the end of it we read, "Don't envy your buddy because he has an ox or a donkey." Why did that make the top 10? Why would God, with just 10 things to tell Moses, include jealousy about livestock?

Well, think about how important this commandment is to a community, to a nation, to a democracy. If you want a mule, if you want a pot roast, if you want a cleaning lady, don't whine about what the people across the street have. Get rich and get your own.

Now, one last thing:

6. Don't listen to your elders!

After all, if the old person standing up here actually knew anything worth telling, he'd be charging you for it.

Re: Help me inspire my college freshmen students to love free-market capitalism!

troutndeer — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:38:50 GMT

For awe-inspiring stuff, I do not think you can go past Leonard Read's "I, Pencil".

http://www.econlib.org/library/Essays/rdPncl1.html

Re: Help me inspire my college freshmen students to love free-market capitalism!

K.C. Farmer — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:28:18 GMT

First and foremost, they need to understand that they should go after a career that is either directly or indirectly related to what they have a passion for.

Money, prestige, social-consciousness, etc. all sound fine and dandy, but if you hate what you do you will be miserable. You'll produce far more as a happy, productive worker or business person than an unhappy, nonproductive person.

They need to re-evaluate what the term "helping" really means. As some have pointed out, even the most ruthless, self-serving person in a free market economy turns out to benefit other people. This is because the free market exchange and the priciple of subjective value of human action makes the exchange of goods and services mutually beneficial. So you can do it for yourself and line your pockets with money all while you help people - some even providing goods and services that we might deem critical.

As far as an impact presentation, you have your work cut out for you. You are going against 12 years of government eductation, at least that much or more in religious belief that tends to lean towards altruism, and most probably an entire life with uninformed parental upbringing, peer pressure and media bias. The only way to crack that is to ignite a spark within them to seek out information on their own.

I might start off by saying that...

"Most likely everything you have been told about economics is either completely wrong or incomplete. That, while you might not be interested in philosophical discussions concerning economics, your very lives may depend on it. Most of you probably don't know what you want to do. That's an ordinary position at this stage in life. Some of you may have every step of your life planned out. If that's true, why are you in this class? So, since you'll admit that you don't know what you want to do, would you like to find or develop the tools to help you in your journey toward a happy and fulfilling life? Let us begin by throwing overboard the baggage of useless information that up to this point you thought or were told was essential..."

While you can state it any way you like, if you don't have their full attention within the first few minutes then you aren't likely to convince them of anything. They have to know that you don't have all of the answers, but you can point them in the right direction. For the greatest impact, you have to find the major misconceptions that they have, one of which is this notion that only certain careers "help people", and totally and unmercifully destroy them. Even better would be to show how their misconceived "good" is actually an indefensible evil. The effects of wealth redistribution, price controls, minimum wage laws, rent controls, etc. are evil despite the good intentions. Most people don't realize the consequences of these types of policies, focusing only on the intentions. The slide show on the effects of Rent Control versus War is a very eye-openning experience for even those who support Austrian Economics.

Re: Help me inspire my college freshmen students to love free-market capitalism!

Le Master — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:17:06 GMT

It'd be compelling for a class to hear a lecture structured (in format and substance) like the following articles :

Review of Robert P Murphy's Politically Incorrect Guide to Capitalism

Anatomy of an Economic Ignoramus - Thomas E Woods

Each article addresses many fundamental issues most people have with Capitalism and briefly clears them up.

You'll be able to explain exactly what the free market is, how it regulates, what role profits and losses play, and much more (racial discrimination, free trade, etc) . Here is an example from each article:

Thomas E Woods Jr:
Che:

I love it when right wing economists talk about "market forces" and "letting the free market run our economy." They make it sound like the free market is some altruistic being that always knows exactly what to do and when to do it.

For one thing, no free-market economist is dumb enough to use a phrase like "letting the free market run our economy." The free market is merely the matrix of free exchanges entered into by individuals. How can a matrix of free exchanges "run" anything?

Secondly, no free-market economist thinks the market "always knows exactly what to do and when to do it." If that were the case, how could free-market economists account for firms that go out of business?

The argument that free-market economists actually make is that on the free market, decisions regarding what to produce, in what quantities, using what methods, and in what locations, are made in light of satisfying the most urgent demands of consumers. Business firms find out very quickly what consumers want and what they do not want, and they adjust their production decisions accordingly.

Profits indicate that a particular industry is combining factors of production in a way that pleases consumers. As a result, production in that industry tends to expand. Likewise, losses indicate that value is being reduced or destroyed, and that factors of production are being employed in lines of production that please consumers less, at the expense of other lines of production where they might have produced something consumers wanted more.

David Gordon:

how...can one justify enormous severance packages to CEOs who fail? Surely one cannot here appeal to market efficiency. Murphy accepts the challenge:

Robert P Murphy:

Unlike routine managerial work, the task of a CEO often involves bold innovation. If the steps necessary to turn a particular company around and earn millions were "obvious," the company wouldn't be in trouble in the first place. When a new CEO comes in with ambitious plans, he knows that failure is entirely possible. If the shareholders said, "We'll pay you $20 million if you succeed, but nothing if you fail," it wouldn't be a very attractive offer at all. This is because the type of person who gets picked to head a major corporation could easily make hundreds of thousands, if not millions, for certain by consulting or offering other services less glamorous than being CEOs. (p. 21)

Re: Help me inspire my college freshmen students to love free-market capitalism!

liberty student — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:47:02 GMT

@all, he has one day. One day to talk about Capitalism. Presumably one class length, on one day, to make a point about Capitalism.

GilesStratton:

Hahaha using Rand and Gary North to inspire college freshmen, that's really work. Seriously, if it's like telling somebody who is decorating a synagogue to ask Hitler for help.

I linked to Gary North's presentation at ASC 2009, reposted at LRC. To college undergrads.

I know you commented without looking at the source material, thinking you are too smart for school (pun intended) and working from reputation, however Gary North is a LvMI contributor and speaker, and you go too far with your posts trolling the institute. Such posts will no longer be accepted.

Re: Help me inspire my college freshmen students to love free-market capitalism!

Andrew Cain — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:00:12 GMT

Why not a history of Classical liberal authors or their viewpoints on war or the state.

Re: Help me inspire my college freshmen students to love free-market capitalism!

Prashanth Perumal — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:45:49 GMT

abskebabs:
I actually think Lilburne's Human Actions Comics series might be really good for something like this.

Infinite emphasis added!

Re: Help me inspire my college freshmen students to love free-market capitalism!

abskebabs — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:43:31 GMT

I actually think Lilburne's Human Actions Comics series might be really good for something like this.

Re: Help me inspire my college freshmen students to love free-market capitalism!

Spideynw — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:56:36 GMT

Whatever you do, I would try to make it as interactive as possible. Ask the students questions. Get them involved. Get them thinking. I would suggest watching some of Jan Helfeld's videos on youtube (channel janhelfeld). He has had success with the Socratic method. Here are two I really like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8XYHXxMc0E and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iu7LW6qMGxs. Maybe you could even show some of his clips in class? He also has some where he is asking Pelosi, I believe, about minimum wage laws.

Re: Help me inspire my college freshmen students to love free-market capitalism!

AJ — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:59:19 GMT

Check out some Tom Woods for ideas of how to make it entertaining: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91OIBnrjzLU

Re: Help me inspire my college freshmen students to love free-market capitalism!

ThomasC — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:50:31 GMT

I'd say the best way to do it is probably to ask them to write down a career they think is absolutely evil and selfish.

Then you show how each and every one of them is not evil at all. Kinda like "Defending the Undefendable" by Walter Block. After one or two examples they should be able to do it themselve if they are not braindead.

The great thing is, that you teach them not really WHAT to think, but HOW to think. Nothing as powerful as being able to see through the fallacies on your on.

Re: Help me inspire my college freshmen students to love free-market capitalism!

Jon Irenicus — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:26:47 GMT

If you're approaching leftists, do not use Rand. Go for Mary Ruwart or Konkin or even some of Rothbard's pieces. With conservatives go for Hoppe, Reisman, Sean Gabb or even Mises. They all have short pieces you can use and discuss (or alternatively books you can excerpt from.)

Re: Help me inspire my college freshmen students to love free-market capitalism!

hayekianxyz — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:17:18 GMT

Hahaha using Rand and Gary North to inspire college freshmen, that's really work. Seriously, if it's like telling somebody who is decorating a synagogue to ask Hitler for help.