Thursday, April 16, 2009

Libertarian joke and food for thought from Fred Smith

"What happens when two libertarians agree? Both know the other has sold out."

Ok, maybe that's only funny if you're libertarian, but it makes a point. We libertarians often compete to see who is more hardcore or principled. I think it's a bunch of righteous bunk. I mean, if we're ever going to enact change we have to work with and possibly in the system we currently have. We can't keep bumping our heads against the statist wall expecting it to move!

One of my favorite free market communicators is Fred Smith over at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. I saw him speak this morning and enjoyed him thoroughly. His main point was along these lines. We can't just talk the talk anymore. We need action. Our free market movement is still relatively small "or embryonic, he said" and we will probably always be in the minority. Why? Because logically we should all be statist pigs! Many historians/economists/academics talk about the evolution of capitalism and its effects on society - increased wealth, a larger middle class, and the emergence of an intelligentsia that effectively rules the roost. This intellectual class has a vested interest in maintaining its power over the rest of the world (cue evil laugh). Ok, if you've read Hayek, you get what I'm talking about - if you haven't read Hayek, get on it. Anywho since us free marketers fight centralized power and mandates, we're class traitors. Smith argued that we need to leverage and market ourselves better. Not everyone has to be a libertarian but we need libertarian policies. Smith thinks that this can be achieved with better organization and marketing to people's core values. Here's hoping he's right and we have the means to outshout the left!

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