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Freedom Action of the Week
Email List Archive
Free-Market.Net's F r e e d o m A c t i o n o f t h e W e e k
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Edited by Thomas L. Knapp. To subscribe or unsubscribe to this and
other lists, click to: http://www.free-market.net/features/lists/
----- Featured Action of the Week -----
Fourth Week of January, 2002
Fit to Print
Last week, if you remember, we talked about freedom-oriented music and the
role it can play in your work as an activist. That was one of my more
popular columns, eliciting a number of replies from fans, listeners and
bands -- so let's keep rolling on "libertarian culture" for a while.
If it seems opportunistic that I chose books as this week's topic (after
all, I also pick FMN's book of the month), well, it is. Several things are
going on at the moment here at Free-Market.Net that seem to make books
relevant.
Libertarians have a reputation for being well-read, literate individuals.
The body of freedom-oriented literature -- fiction and non-fiction of every
variety -- is huge.
And that pile of books is a valuable tool.
I've loaned books to non-libertarians and had them returned by
new-libertarians. Sometimes a well-written novel is worth a thousand
debates over coffee.
I've donated books to my local library, ensured that they were put on the
shelf, and then smiled to myself when I found the shelf empty, the book
checked out, on my next visit.
I've heard -- it seems like a million times -- the phrase "It was [insert
name of book here] that made it all clear to me."
This week, I'd like you to take three inventories: A mental inventory of
what you can do to get freedom's literature in front of more people, a
physical inventory of books that you can loan out or donate and a financial
inventory concerning whether you might like to purchase books for that
purpose.
Let's start with the financial end, first, because I'm going to offer you a
deal that's hard to beat:
Some of you read my other Free-Market.Net column, Freedom Book of the
Month. Every month, I review a pro-freedom work that I believe is important
and worthwhile. In 1999 and 2000, I also designated Freedom Books of the Year.
This time, _you_ are going to pick the Freedom Book of the Year. We've set
up a poll where you can vote on one of my twelve selections from last year
or pick your own favorite. We'll be giving away two gift certificates --
one for $100 and one for $50 -- from Laissez Faire Books to two randomly
drawn participants. There are other prizes, too: three "Free-Marketeer"
mugs from Free-Market.Net's Cafe Press store, and quite possibly some other
stuff.
Speaking of Laissez Faire Books, the folks there are celebrating their 30th
anniversary this month, and their merger with another Free-Market.Net
partner, the Foundation for Economic Education, with some great discounts.
That $150 will go even farther than usual.
Okay, the money is out of the way. So now you've got books (or are
preparing to order some from the links I include below). What are you going
to do with them?
Well, it couldn't hurt to start off by reading them. But then the
opportunities are boundless.
Many local libraries accept and shelve donated books. You'll want to check
before donating, though -- some just stick them in their next "garage sale."
If you're particularly flush with cash and like random acts of kindness,
you can leave a book lying in any public place. Who knows? Perhaps the
person who picks it up will be derailed from a career in auto mechanics or
dentistry and instead become the next Thomas Jefferson. If you want to get
into this in a big way, I suggest visiting your local used book store or
bargain web site.
And then, of course, there are your friends and co-workers. The ones who
like to debate politics with you on your lunch break (note: take that new
coffee mug to work -- it'll be all the rage) and who are right on the edge
of a philosophical breakthrough that you can't seem to reach by standing on
the table and yelling at them. A book may be just what the doctor ordered.
Or, if you fall off the table, a cast might be more appropriate.
Writing changed, and continues to change, the world. Today, the late Ayn
Rand and Murray Rothbard still reach hundreds of thousands of people each
year with their ideas -- because they wrote them down. L. Neil Smith, Chris
Matthew Sciabarra and David Kelley can be everywhere at once, because their
books carry their thoughts to the far corners of the earth.
The tools for transforming our culture are there. Let's use them.
Cast your vote for Freedom Book of the Year:
http://www.free-market.net/features/membervote/2001fboty/
Freedom Book of the Month index:
http://www.free-market.net/features/bookofthemonth/
Book sources (Note: some of these links also benefit Free-Market.Net with
referral commissions. Thanks!):
Laissez Faire Books:
http://laissezfairebooks.com/index.cfm?aid=FM
Liberty Tree Review and Catalog:
http://www.liberty-tree.org/
Amazon.Com
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=freemarketnetthe
Barnes and Noble:
http://bn.bfast.com/booklink/click?sourceid=18744947&categoryid=home
Action of the Week Archive:
http://www.free-market.net/features/list-archives/activism/maillist.html
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J.D. Tuccille
Senior Editor
Free-Market.Net
http://www.free-market.net/
email: jdtuccille@free-market.net
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