I started "working" at a young age. I was ten years old when I first understood the value of a dollar. I knew that if I wanted something, I had to pay for it and for me to pay for it, I had to make money myself. Like any young entrepreneur, I started small.

My father — to his credit — is a pretty good mechanic. I was raised around cars. I remember a great deal of classic cars being parked out in the driveway: everything from old Chevelles and Monte Carlos to step-side Chevy pickups and Corvettes. My father raced them. My father would have me strip the interiors out of these cars so he could come in after me and weld in a roll cage, battery box, and fuel cell. In fact, I was 12 years old when I pulled my first engine. It was a 400 small-block Chevy out of a safety-orange 1969 Chevelle.

A lot of my time as a young lad was spent at dusty race tracks on hot summer days. My first entrepreneurial endeavor? Bottle picking. Parched spectators would come in droves to these race events, leaving their bottles and cans for me to come around and scoop up. Depending on the size and duration of the event, I could easily pick 15,000 cans! At ten cents a piece, this turned out to be big money for a ten year old!

My parents divorced around this time. This would further enforce my belief that if I wanted the 'finer things in life', I needed to work. My uncle also worked on cars and did mostly body work. I'd go to work for him doing odd jobs for the next five or so years, doing general labor work and auto body repair. This didn't financially satisfy me enough so I quickly picked up a paper route and started my first business with my good friend Marc.

My entrepreneurial spirit was born out of necessity. Do I regret it? Absolutely not! It instilled in me the values of an entrepreneur and the value of a dollar and most importantly, the work ethic that drives me to this day.

In order to change the present system we must be able to analyze and explore it, and to see in the concrete how our libertarian view can be applied to such an analysis and to the prospects for social change. —Murray Rothbard

If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism. —Ronald Reagan

Murray Rothbard’s vision

The Ludwig von Mises Institute celebrated the ebook release this month of the two-volume collection The Complete Libertarian Forum, containing all articles of the bold libertarian newsletter primarily written by Murray Rothbard during its fifteen-year run.  In the March 1969 preview issue’s introductory piece Rothbard explains the two-fold purpose of The Libertarian as a means to build unity and cohesion in the libertarian movement while providing practical ideas for bridging the chasmic gap between libertarian theory and real-world application.  If only Rothbard could have lived to see the greater liberty movement today!

The greatest byproduct of retired Congressman Ron Paul’s past two bids for the presidency is the youth-heavy movement of passionate conservative/libertarian activists who seem never to grow tired of spreading the message of constitutionally limited government and maximum individual liberty. 

Dr. Paul’s philosophy, which has finally embedded into the minds of hundreds of thousands of young people, accomplishes the arduous intellectual task of interweaving the libertarian philosophy of Rothbard and the Austrian-school forefathers with the paleoconservative philosophy of Barry Goldwater and Robert Taft, while reconciling both similar schools of thought with the conservative/libertarian worldviews of America’s leading founders. 

Thanks to Congressman Paul’s guidance and the mobilization of activists through organizations like Young Americans for Liberty and its strategic partners, conservative/libertarian ideas are beginning to translate into public policy.

Alinsky offered advice to young radicals: cut your hair, put on a suit, and destroy the system from the inside.

However, I have some additional advice: keep to your core. Your exterior can be as flexible as need be for your purposes, but never ever let fighting the power actually change your essential nature. Whatever role you decide to play, whatever appearance you may don, don't ever forget who you really are. Remember what makes you laugh, remember your favorite controversial bands, remember to express what you really feel- even if nobody else sees it but you.

Rep. Ron Paul, when addressing young people, consistently reminds us that we can all contribute to the liberty movement in our own way. We do not all need to be young libertarian/conservative non-profit professionals. The movement needs plenty of those, but we will need just as many artists, musicians, business owners, IT experts, film-makers, and storytellers.

The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) is hosting socials the night before five SFL Regional Conferences. These events are a great way to meet some of the FEE staff and Alumni, find out about FEE’s resources including Internships and Summer Seminars, and meet some fellow liberty lovers who will be at the Regional Conferences with you the next day.

So if you are attending any of these five regional conferences, come out with FEE the night before and let them buy you a drink!

(Sorry that some are 21+ only; blame the government’s absurd and arbitrary drinking age and liqueur licensing policies.)

Pittsburgh Social

• October 19, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
• Hemmingway’s Café
• 3911 Forbes Ave, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213
• Register Here
• Facebook Event