Introducing people to libertarianism

—–Original
Message—–
From: Jason White [mailto:[email protected]]

Sent: Friday, August 15, 2014 6:42 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Advice on introducing libertarian
ideas to a friend

Dear Professor Block,

I wanted to start by telling you how much I admire you and your indespensible work. Men like
yourself, Hans-Hermann Hoppe, Stephan Kinsella, George Reisman, and Robert Higgs are doing a wonderful job carrying the torch of libertarianism from where Murray Rothbard left off. It is because of you and men like you that I began trying to form a consistent worldview based on the NAP. I had always been a “libertarian” in the loose sense of the word; being generally opposed to leftist social programs and wars or civil rights violations on the right. But your work and the work of others forced me to examine my convictions and carry my worldview to its logical conclusion: Austrian anarcho-capitalism. My inquiries into these ideas have been entirely self motivated; I have no formal education beyond high school and my parents have never been too concerned about political theory. So having works like yours readily available to me online made an enormous difference for my personal development, and I just wanted you to know that I greatly appreciate it. Thank you, Professor Block. For your consistency, your prose, your sheer volume of work, and your courage in pursuing truth for the sake of truth.

With
all of that said, I wanted to ask your advice on helping a
friend discover the great ideas and great thinkers behind
the libertarian movement. He has always been generally
receptive to my positions on most issues but was never
interested in the philosophical, moral, economic, or
utilitarian justifications behind them. But he is a black
man with family roots in central Missouri, and the current
situation in Ferguson has spurred his interest in my
beliefs.

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12:27 am on August 21, 2014