Hi
Yes, I've asked the question.
How do we educate the Masses?
How do we teach people that government isn't the only way?
How do we inform them of the advantages of the free market?
How do we teach them that government is inherently corrupt?
How do we 'get rid' of the government? (90% sure it doesn't have to be done violently)
Basically, how do we get the message accross, and 'enlighten' the masses?
Panarchy
PS: I am an Anarchist, as I believe Panarchy will 'prosper'.
Perhaps by both accepting their criticisms and allowing them to criticize.
Art transcends ideology.
http://mises.org/Community/blogs/ruben
Hmm...
I don't get it.
Panarchy: Basically, how do we get the message accross, and 'enlighten' the masses? Panarchy PS: I am an Anarchist, as I believe Panarchy will 'prosper'.
Whoever is at odds with the masses for such a long time, may be failing to recognize that perhaps the masses have some hidden and valuable knowledge.
They seem to be keeping the secrets so well hidden, that I don't think even they know what they are!
Rubén:Whoever is at odds with the masses for such a long time, may be failing to recognize that perhaps the masses have some hidden and valuable knowledge.
Right because conflict has nothing to do with the competition for control of scarce resources, it's because the mob are secretly savants.
If you find something evil that wobbles, push it. - Gary North
Rubén: Perhaps by both accepting their criticisms and allowing them to criticize.
Maybe you should focus on writing more letters to Obama.
Panarchy:How do we educate the Masses?
Become the media. Get'em while they're young. Make it profitable to tell the truth.
Panarchy:How do we teach people that government isn't the only way?
Create alternative institutions that provide what the government cannot. Constantly point out failures, waste and fraud of government.
Panarchy:How do we teach them that government is inherently corrupt?
Lord Obama will do this for us. He has already started to backtrack on his election promises. He's more concerned with allowing stem cell research than with closing Gitmo. We have to use every opportunity to point out that the savior has no clothes.
Panarchy:How do we 'get rid' of the government? (90% sure it doesn't have to be done violently)
Government will get rid of itself. We have to stay alive and work hard to (1) outlast it, and (2) have institutions of our own to replace it with.
Panarchy:Basically, how do we get the message accross, and 'enlighten' the masses?
Tireless energy and effective marketing. We need art, music, sloganeering. Pamphlets, booklets and speeches. We have to engage young people when their minds are open to idealism, and fill those minds with a the fundamentals of human liberty.
Also, panarchy is awesome.
liberty student: Rubén: Perhaps by both accepting their criticisms and allowing them to criticize. Maybe you should focus on writing more letters to Obama.
What for? I already wrote what I needed to and sent my message across. I am moving forward to consider other matters. Life is too short to keep entrenched in just one topic.
The masses for the most part have nothing interesting to say and nothing useful to contribute. The masses simple care about their day to day life, this means watching their TV and drinking their beer for the most part. What can you expect when every "education" (indoctrination) system in the world is aimed at preventing people from thinking?
Just look at politics, in the end all it comes down to is people accepting what the politicians say at face value, unquestioningly accepting it. At best it's an appeal to the emotions of either fear or envy. At worst it's just plain namecalling from both sides. The masses follow this avidly though, remembering a few slogans and following the party line to their best of their ability.
So no, appealing the masses is futile, the only thing we can do is reach the remnant. Lenin got it right with his whole idea of a vanguard, libertarians need to stop caring about the masses who cheer us being arrested for not paying taxes.
"You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows"
Bob Dylan
Concerns about the mediocrity of the masses aside, libertarianism will never succeed if it's relegated to grooming a small elite.
Brainpolice: Concerns about the mediocrity of the masses aside, libertarianism will never succeed if it's relegated to grooming a small elite.
You mean like the American Revolution didn't succeed with only a third of the population involved? It's futile to try and convert people who simply don't have intellectual capacity to realise the propaganda they've been fed for however many years was nonsense.
I understand the root of your cynicism, but generally such a sentiment seems contrary to the foundations of any sort of libertarian ethic. If there are those who do not have the rational capacity to overcome being fed propoganda? what separates them from animals, and why should they be granted liberty?
http://aestheticbend.blogspot.com/
aestheticbend: I understand the root of your cynicism, but generally such a sentiment seems contrary to the foundations of any sort of libertarian ethic. If there are those who do not have the rational capacity to overcome being fed propoganda? what separates them from animals, and why should they be granted liberty?
But they do have the capacity, they've been simply forced/ encouraged/ incentivised not to use for their entire lives. As for granting them liberty, I really don't concern myself with the liberty of the state's apologist whatsoever, I just care about mine and that of other's who desire it. Those who support the system deny me of liberty with their actions and don't deserve any themselves.
Another reason why educating the masses is not in the interest of libertarians.
And yet libertarians spend a lot more time criticizing each other than the state. Instead of attacking Obama, it's debating how compromised Ron Paul is. Instead of going after fascists and marxists, it is arguing about how intellectually bankrupt minarchists or paleocons are.
There is a discussion going on about philosophy here. The layman can't read it. It's one thing to say one should not groom an elite, but another to cater to a narrow elite in language and subject matter. Many libertarian blogs are susceptible to this.
That's why NoState.com and NoThirdSolution.com are some of my favorite blogs, even FSK's Guide. They don't try to talk down to people, or to invest thousands upon thousands of words upon topics that the guy trying to house and clothe his family will likely never consider, and rightfully so, because it doesn't contribute to his life in any meaningful way.
People who want to touch the masses, will engage in subjects which are topical to the masses. The elitism is only promoted by catering to the writer's self interest, not the self-interest of the readers. If your self interest is self-aggrandizement, then it's great to talk above everyone. If your self interest is to spread liberty outside the choir, then adjustments are in order.
They can only grant themselves liberty. All we can do is point it out as an option, and provide a rationale for doing so. If you believe in free will, only they can set themselves free.
I just wanted to make sure that you were not implying some sort of inherent fact about particular people that they cannot recognize these facts, and thus lack a sufficient rational faculty.
I recently read a book titled Catastrophisme, administration du désastre et soumission durable. (Roughly translates to Catastrophism, disaster bureaucracy and sustainable submission.) The book mocked the ecological movement's attempt at renewing socialist revolution by educating the masses about ecological catastrophe, which continues to occur with everyone well informed about it and seemingly unable to act or unwilling to care.
The point being, the masses aren't going to do anything. Never in history have the masses done anything. Leaders and activists change things. We don't need to get the message across. We need to train the leaders who will trigger the revolution.
Microsecession as a strategy for revolution | Challenge to minarchist | How would a private road system work?
aestheticbend: I just wanted to make sure that you were not implying some sort of inherent fact about particular people that they cannot recognize these facts, and thus lack a sufficient rational faculty.
I'm not implying that. I am saying it quite clearly. We have a particular member of the forum here who continues to promote statism and run from any confrontation on such a position. I've got family who refuse to listen to rational, measured, researched ideas and roll their eyes, and laugh at me as a crank and nerd. They aren't accidentally irrational. It is intentional. Conditions of prosperity have allowed stupidity to become meritorious in our societies.
I know now that you were not implying that. The point was not to let one's cynicism devolve into a belief in the inherent difference in the rational faculty of those who do think and those who do not.
It is intentional in the sense that they value the status quo and the emotional comfort that it provides over the pursuit of truth.
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