"The politician attempts to remedy the evil by increasing the very thing that caused the evil in the first place: legal plunder." — Frédéric Bastiat

What's your take on Art? These days, there's this idea that art's all about shaking things up, being totally shocking just for the sake of it. But Ayn Rand? She had a whole different vibe. To her, “Art is the technology of the soul.” It's like a moral compass, fuel for our spirits that drives us to greatness, and a window into different ways of seeing the world. But not all art helps us see things more clearly; some works cloud our understanding and lead us astray. Join us on Thursday, March 7th, at 11am ET as we delve into Rand's thoughts on art and how they can help you decode masterpieces and get the most out of them. @LearnLiberty @revivingreason

Next up at #LibertyCon24 , @antonydavies explained why inequality is typically misunderstood. When we talk about inequality, we look only at the accumulation of dollars. Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and many other rich people became rich because we willingly gave them our money. We handed them our money because we liked the goods and services they offered us better than we liked our dollars. Yet, when we talk about inequality, we ignore the goods and services we received in exchange for those dollars. Inequality is not necessarily the problem we think it is. Instead, poverty is the problem. Free markets and innovation are what will continue to help people lift themselves out of poverty.

To conclude Day One at #LibertyCon24 , @DeirdreMcClosk discussed how (true) liberalism caused the Great Enrichment. She asserted that there are many reasons for us to be optimistic about the future, and the general direction humanity is going in. We should be confident in the value of our ideas. "Our political philosophy is the philosophy of love, not hate"

Registrations are open and hundreds of eager attendees from 60 different countries have already arrived at #LibertyCon24, enjoying happy hour ahead of the welcome address!

The largest pro-liberty gathering in the world is less than 60 days away. Get your tickets now: libertycon.com/ Participate in workshops, panels, keynotes, and discussions on the pressing issues of today such as: 📈 Inflation & Monetary Policy 🤝 Rising Political Polarization 🌍 The Fight Against Global Autocracy 🚶‍♂️ Defending Freedom of Movement 💹 The Power of Free-Market Capitalism 🗣️ Upholding Freedom of Speech 🧑‍💻 Bitcoin, AI, and Tech Freedom 🌱 Free Market Solutions to Climate Change 🌎 America's Role in the World Confirmed speakers include @iamjohnmackey, @DeirdreMcClosk, @RealSpikeCohen, @justinamash, @WalshFreedom, @profstonge, @HeathMayo, @bryan_caplan, @robbysoave, @Breedlove22, @David_Boaz, @JoForLiberty, @DylanBurns1776, @cboyack, @FordFischer, @emilyaustin, @nickgillespie, @antonydavies, @WolfvonLaer, and many more. See you in Washington DC! 🇺🇸

STOP being edgy, START being like Tom Palmer No, being an edgelord doesn't help liberty. You probably know a "libertarian" who loves to praise authoritarian regimes in Latin America, make homophobic jokes, and thinks that behaving as an Edgelord while making references to helicopters is a great deal. That person probably thinks they are doing a great job defending liberty. So, let us show you how a true defender of freedom, someone with real results, behaves: Meet Tom G. Palmer.

What happens when you go full socialism? Take a look at the spike in the graph. It's literally caused by Mao Tse Tung's attempt to transition China from socialism to communism. It's difficult to comprehend figures like Mao Tse Tung and Joseph Stalin without recognizing that they were true believers. Both firmly believed that socialism was a superior economic and political system to capitalism. Moreover, they genuinely believed they would bring heaven to Earth, and for them and their followers, that justified everything they did. During the "Great Leap Forward," Mao envisioned transforming China into the greatest socialist country on Earth. To achieve this, he decided to follow the socialist handbook: Make all agricultural land the property of the state. Forbid private property on land. Force all peasants into collective farms. Tell them they now work for the Chinese People. Wait for an increase in agricultural productivity. Mao genuinely believed his plan would enable China to surpass the United Kingdom in less than a decade. He considered capitalism to be anarchy, a mess, and believed that once the state took control of production, everything would improve. However, as history has shown, the opposite occurred. Communist cadres had little to no knowledge of how to run a farm. Peasants were compelled to work in dire conditions on construction projects that were never completed. To make matters worse, Mao insisted that farms adhere to Lysenko's ideas, which, in essence, claimed that genetics were reactionary and, rather humorously, "seeds of the same class would not compete with each other," advocating close cropping. You can imagine how productivity plummeted after all of these policies were implemented. But this isn't the end of the Chinese nightmare. Fearing Mao's wrath, Communist cadres failed to report the truth, instead claiming that everything was going extremely well and they could send more food to the cities. Yes, the peasants already had less food, and the Communist cadres decided to send even more. Quickly, people became too weak to work, and the Chinese Communist Party's response was: if you don't work, you don't eat. This applied to adults, so you can imagine what happened to the children—millions of infants who perished for utterly unjustifiable reasons.

Today, on the Anniversary 9/11, we remember the nearly 3000 individuals who lost their lives on that horrific day. We also remember the liberties that were taken away from Americans in the fear that consumed the country during the aftermath. From the Patriot Act, to the TSA, to domestic surveillance... many "temporary" security measures remain in place two decades later. It should serve as an important reminder that governments always seek to weaponize your fear against you. Never forget.

Four reasons to join the SFL Local Coordinator Program: ➡️ SFL will invest in the resources and training you need to make a difference on campus ➡️ It will kickstart your personal & professional development ➡️ You'll immediately be plugged into an elite international network of young leaders ➡️ You will be empowered to pursue your passions unapologetically Why haven't you applied yet? 🔗 join.studentsforliberty.org/

The Gadsden flag, with its famous depiction of a defensive timber rattlesnake and the motto “Don’t tread on me,” has commonly been associated with the liberty movement, the values of individual freedom, and opposition to coercion. 🔥 @LearnLiberty learnliberty.org/blog/gadsde…

This is not a symbol of hate or coercion. It's a symbol of liberty.