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A Mission to Civilise

A Mission to Civilise. Talk by Trevor Watkins At the 27 th Libertarian Spring Seminar Grahamstown , 2012. The Newsroom. Will McAvoy , news anchor Declares that he is on “A mission to civilise” Immediately gets several drinks thrown in his face

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A Mission to Civilise

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  1. A Mission to Civilise Talk by Trevor Watkins At the 27th Libertarian Spring Seminar Grahamstown, 2012

  2. The Newsroom • Will McAvoy, news anchor • Declares that he is on “A mission to civilise” • Immediately gets several drinks thrown in his face • Committed to asking the obvious difficult questions • Supposedly Republican, actually a liberal attack on the Tea Party and conservatives • Still good drama

  3. Ron Paul • My hero, put Libertarianism into public domain • In his farewell speech to congress, delivered this week • Trying to figure out the plain truth of things • Promote peace and prosperity by rigid adherence to the principles of individual liberty enshrined in the constitution • Prohibit the use of offensive force by government • Called for an “Intellectual awakening”

  4. Who are we? • A tiny, tiny group of people • Who believe they have the key to happiness • Despite many fundamental disagreements • And no agreed or obvious plan • Like, That’s never happened before!

  5. What do we want? • Personal, individual and universal happiness • Economic growth, prosperity, Free Markets , Property rights, Binding Contracts • Family, children, posterity, gene reproduction • Right to bear arms, end to tax, end to fiat money • A pleasant environment, survival of the species • To overcome stupidity, to explain the universe via the scientific method

  6. Happiness • I thought it depended on family, freedom and fun • World Happiness report • Income, work • Personal relationships • freedom • family experience • Community, governance, religion • mental health, physical health • education, and gender and age

  7. Sources of happiness • Loving and being loved are key conditions for human happiness. • Marriage is one of the unambiguous, universally positive and statistically significant correlates of life satisfaction. • In the United States, average happiness has not risen despite strong economic growth • life satisfaction varies linearly with the logarithm of income. • No people can be truly happy if they do not feel that they are choosing the course of their own life • there is no difference in life satisfaction between more and less religious countries • Evidence on volunteering and donating suggests that altruism increases happiness

  8. Why do we want this stuff? • To rise above the savage and brutish • To craft a better world than the one we found • To civilise • It seems like a good idea • It is in our nature, it is our destiny • The alternative is awful • To live the best possible life • To bring peace and love and happiness • To avoid conflict

  9. What are we not so sure about? • Abortion • Capital punishment • Equality • Democracy • Religion • Government use of force • Size of government • The environmental movement

  10. What is our constitution? • The Consent Axiom? • Libertarian Non-Violence manifesto? • United States Constitution? • RobertNozick’sproposals? • ISIL, Libertarian Party, Jonathan Gullible, ? • Capitalism and free markets? • None?

  11. How will we get it? • By persuasion, logic, example • By withdrawal, isolation and exclusion • By democracy • By insurance, business, self-interest • By being richer and smarter • By demonstration • By stealth • By force • By being the last men standing

  12. Do we have a problem? • Our policies roundly rejected in last US election • Libertarians disagree on key issues • Obsessed with economics • No demonstration effect anywhere • Unpopular public perception • Appeal to the wealthy • Negative rights only • Extreme social permissiveness

  13. Where are we now? • Are we in a good place? • Life has never been better for the wealthy • We have more wealthy than ever before • Life remains mediaevally wretched for the poor • We have more poor than ever before • Are we free? • Less free than a feudal serf (tax, conscription, movement, surveillance, social issues) • Less free than 19th century (income tax, passports, inflation, 2 world wars)

  14. South Africa • We are living the reality we so feared • Declining wealth, widespread conflict, corruption, crime • Rise of demagogues • Class warfare – most civil conflict in world • Collapsing infrastructure • Loss of hope, trust, caring

  15. Do we have an opportunity? • Rise of Ron Paul • The internet • The coming fiscal collapse • Alternative currencies, gold, silver, bitcoin • Widespread civil disobedience and tax revolts • Honduras, Catalonia, South Sudan, seasteading, Swaziland, Lesotho

  16. What should we do next? • Be personally happy, through family, freedom and fun • Buy gold, silver and hard assets • Use the internet • to find and build freedom-loving virtual communities • To influence public opinion through constant challenge, criticism and suggestion • Move to freer jurisdictions (Western Cape, Honduras, Botswana) • Stockpile food, water and guns

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