Help me inspire my college freshmen students to love free-market capitalism!

First and foremost, they need to understand that they should go after a career that is either directly or indirectly related to what they have a passion for.

Money, prestige, social-consciousness, etc. all sound fine and dandy, but if you hate what you do you will be miserable.  You'll produce far more as a happy, productive worker or business person than an unhappy, nonproductive person.

They need to re-evaluate what the term "helping" really means.  As some have pointed out, even the most ruthless, self-serving person in a free market economy turns out to benefit other people.  This is because the free market exchange and the priciple of subjective value of human action makes the exchange of goods and services mutually beneficial.  So you can do it for yourself and line your pockets with money all while you help people - some even providing goods and services that we might deem critical.

As far as an impact presentation, you have your work cut out for you.  You are going against 12 years of government eductation, at least that much or more in religious belief that tends to lean towards altruism, and most probably an entire life with uninformed parental upbringing, peer pressure and media bias.  The only way to crack that is to ignite a spark within them to seek out information on their own. 

I might start off by saying that...

"Most likely everything you have been told about economics is either completely wrong or incomplete.  That, while you might not be interested in philosophical discussions concerning economics, your very lives may depend on it.  Most of you probably don't know what you want to do.  That's an ordinary position at this stage in life.  Some of you may have every step of your life planned out.  If that's true, why are you in this class?  So, since you'll admit that you don't know what you want to do, would you like to find or develop the tools to help you in your journey toward a happy and fulfilling life?  Let us begin by throwing overboard the baggage of useless information that up to this point you thought or were told was essential..."

While you can state it any way you like, if you don't have their full attention within the first few minutes then you aren't likely to convince them of anything.  They have to know that you don't have all of the answers, but you can point them in the right direction.  For the greatest impact, you have to find the major misconceptions that they have, one of which is this notion that only certain careers "help people", and totally and unmercifully destroy them.  Even better would be to show how their misconceived "good" is actually an indefensible evil.  The effects of wealth redistribution, price controls, minimum wage laws, rent controls, etc. are evil despite the good intentions.  Most people don't realize the consequences of these types of policies, focusing only on the intentions.  The slide show on the effects of Rent Control versus War is a very eye-openning experience for even those who support Austrian Economics.

For awe-inspiring stuff, I do not think you can go past Leonard Read's "I, Pencil".

 

http://www.econlib.org/library/Essays/rdPncl1.html

This was a commencement speech delivered by P.J. O'Rourke.  While I don't agree with everything he says, it's definitely leaning in the right direction.  

 

Well, here you are at your college graduation. And I know what you're thinking: "Gimme the sheepskin and get me outta here!" But not so fast. First you have to listen to a commencement speech.

Don't moan. I'm not going to "pass the wisdom of one generation down to the next." I'm a member of the 1960s generation. We didn't have any wisdom.

We were the moron generation. We were the generation that believed we could stop the Vietnam War by growing our hair long and dressing like circus clowns. We believed drugs would change everything -- which they did, for John Belushi. We believed in free love. Yes, the love was free, but we paid a high price for the sex.

My generation spoiled everything for you. It has always been the special prerogative of young people to look and act weird and shock grown-ups. But my generation exhausted the Earth's resources of the weird. Weird clothes -- we wore them. Weird beards -- we grew them. Weird words and phrases -- we said them. So, when it came your turn to be original and look and act weird, all you had left was to tattoo your faces and pierce your tongues. Ouch. That must have hurt. I apologize.

So now, it's my job to give you advice. But I'm thinking: You're finishing 16 years of education, and you've heard all the conventional good advice you can stand. So, let me offer some relief:

1. Go out and make a bunch of money!

Here we are living in the world's most prosperous country, surrounded by all the comforts, conveniences and security that money can provide. Yet no American political, intellectual or cultural leader ever says to young people, "Go out and make a bunch of money." Instead, they tell you that money can't buy happiness. Maybe, but money can rent it.

There's nothing the matter with honest moneymaking. Wealth is not a pizza, where if I have too many slices you have to eat the Domino's box. In a free society, with the rule of law and property rights, no one loses when someone else gets rich.

2. Don't be an idealist!

Don't chain yourself to a redwood tree. Instead, be a corporate lawyer and make $500,000 a year. No matter how much you cheat the IRS, you'll still end up paying $100,000 in property, sales and excise taxes. That's $100,000 to schools, sewers, roads, firefighters and police. You'll be doing good for society. Does chaining yourself to a redwood tree do society $100,000 worth of good?

Idealists are also bullies. The idealist says, "I care more about the redwood trees than you do. I care so much I can't eat. I can't sleep. It broke up my marriage. And because I care more than you do, I'm a better person. And because I'm the better person, I have the right to boss you around."

Get a pair of bolt cutters and liberate that tree.

Who does more for the redwoods and society anyway -- the guy chained to a tree or the guy who founds the "Green Travel Redwood Tree-Hug Tour Company" and makes a million by turning redwoods into a tourist destination, a valuable resource that people will pay just to go look at?

So make your contribution by getting rich. Don't be an idealist.

3. Get politically uninvolved!

All politics stink. Even democracy stinks. Imagine if our clothes were selected by the majority of shoppers, which would be teenage girls. I'd be standing here with my bellybutton exposed. Imagine deciding the dinner menu by family secret ballot. I've got three kids and three dogs in my family. We'd be eating Froot Loops and rotten meat.

But let me make a distinction between politics and politicians. Some people are under the misapprehension that all politicians stink. Impeach George W. Bush, and everything will be fine. Nab Ted Kennedy on a DUI, and the nation's problems will be solved.

But the problem isn't politicians -- it's politics. Politics won't allow for the truth. And we can't blame the politicians for that. Imagine what even a little truth would sound like on today's campaign trail:

"No, I can't fix public education. The problem isn't the teachers unions or a lack of funding for salaries, vouchers or more computer equipment The problem is your kids!"

4. Forget about fairness!

We all get confused about the contradictory messages that life and politics send.

Life sends the message, "I'd better not be poor. I'd better get rich. I'd better make more money than other people." Meanwhile, politics sends us the message, "Some people make more money than others. Some are rich while others are poor. We'd better close that 'income disparity gap.' It's not fair!"

Well, I am here to advocate for unfairness. I've got a 10-year-old at home. She's always saying, "That's not fair." When she says this, I say, "Honey, you're cute. That's not fair. Your family is pretty well off. That's not fair. You were born in America. That's not fair. Darling, you had better pray to God that things don't start getting fair for you." What we need is more income, even if it means a bigger income disparity gap.

5. Be a religious extremist!

So, avoid politics if you can. But if you absolutely cannot resist, read the Bible for political advice -- even if you're a Buddhist, atheist or whatever. Don't get me wrong, I am not one of those people who believes that God is involved in politics. On the contrary. Observe politics in this country. Observe politics around the world. Observe politics through history. Does it look like God's involved?

The Bible is very clear about one thing: Using politics to create fairness is a sin. Observe the Tenth Commandment. The first nine commandments concern theological principles and social law: Thou shalt not make graven images, steal, kill, et cetera. Fair enough. But then there's the tenth: "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbor's."

Here are God's basic rules about how we should live, a brief list of sacred obligations and solemn moral precepts. And, right at the end of it we read, "Don't envy your buddy because he has an ox or a donkey." Why did that make the top 10? Why would God, with just 10 things to tell Moses, include jealousy about livestock?

Well, think about how important this commandment is to a community, to a nation, to a democracy. If you want a mule, if you want a pot roast, if you want a cleaning lady, don't whine about what the people across the street have. Get rich and get your own.

Now, one last thing:

6. Don't listen to your elders!

After all, if the old person standing up here actually knew anything worth telling, he'd be charging you for it.

Well I can recommend some youtube channels. Try some of Stefan Molyneux's (stefbot) stuff or confederalsocialist. Most of this stuff is anti state as well, but really they go hand in hand. If your looking for just free market stuff try CS but I dunno if you're going to have much luck with trying anything written down. Also youtube Andrew Ryan speaks out against altruism. It's an inspiring little 5 minute intro 2 libertarianism and if you have any gamers in ur class they'll worship u

I would personally try, although it can be difficult, to avoid bringing up politics, ideology, or anti-state stuff. Just talk about markets and how well they work. As soon as you take an ideological stance they will become critical, think of you as a crack-pot and switch off. If you can convince some of the utility of markets, they will find a political position later on themselves.