J.P. Medved

Libertarians need to lie more

Feb 24, 2012 at 5:45 PM

By J.P. Medved

It sounds so harsh when you phrase it like that, doesn't it?

But it's true. The expansion of the libertarian movement, and the future survival of liberty, require that you lie a lot more than you currently do.

And I'm not talking little white lies either. I'm talking huge, honking, "you're-grounded-for-a-month-mister!" lies. Lies with elaborate complexity, memorable characters, and inventive subplots. Lies that even politicians would hesitate to promulgate.

The type of "lies" I'm referring to are, of course, more commonly called stories. Fiction. Literature. Screenplays. And they are no less truthful for being made up.

hemingway

Ernest Hemingway put it this way:

All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had really happened and after you are finished reading one you will feel that all that happened to you and afterwards it all belongs to you.

Storytelling is an extremely powerful way of conveying ideas and philosophies in a convincing manner.

And it is absolutely vital that libertarians do more of it.

What do you mean? My 50 page economic treatises aren't winning hearts and minds?

Erm, well, in a word, no.

Stories are much more powerful vehicles for persuading others.

The 7 Best Libertarian Songs You've Never Heard of

Jan 25, 2012 at 5:56 PM

By J.P. Medved

Sick of hearing Green Day bash capitalism and U2 calling for more and more government intervention? Need some music that doesn't unthinkingly accept the default leftist, collectivist worldview?

Look no further!

Below are the top 7 best pro-liberty, pro-economic freedom songs that you've (probably) never heard of (no Lee Greenwood or Rush here!) in no particular order. Feast your ear holes:

1. “Sons of Liberty” by Frank Turner

Remember when I said this list was in “no particular order?” (Yes I did, right up there, like, three lines ago). Well, I lied. This first one is easily my favorite song of the bunch. That's why it's first.

Frank Turner, a former anarchist who now describes himself as a “classical liberal/libertarian,” combines an excellent folk/punk guitar sound with defiant lyrics informed by a very British sense of liberty.

To wit:

But a sorry cloud of tyranny has fallen across the land/
Brought on by hollow men, who did not understand/
That for centuries our forefathers have fought and often died/
To keep themselves unto themselves, to fight the rising tide/
That if in the smallest battles we surrender to the State/
We enter in a darkness whence we never shall escape./