Over 200 young activists attended the Capitol Hill Lecture Series: Free Markets, Individual Liberty & Civil Society at the Heritage Foundation in Allison Auditorium on Jul. 29. Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul, who gave the introductory remarks, and David Boaz, executive vice president of the Cato Institute and author of The Libertarian Mind: A Manifesto for Freedom, were among the many high-ranking free-market thinkers leading the lecture.
“Americans are looking for a new public philosophy,” Boaz states. “The social conservative and neo-conservative foreign policy agenda are rejected by the American people. And the big spending government has been a total failure.”
“Libertarian is the path to a safer and a more prosperous America”, claims Boaz. Referring to some of the social economics problems the American society are facing, Boaz says these are issues that can be solved by applying libertarian principles. “If you think about the issues that people are talking about today: legalizing marijuana, gay marriage, police misconduct, the role of Federal Reserve in the financial crisis and in the slowest recovery in memory, all these issues are about individuals freedom in the scope of the government power.”
In his book, The Libertarian Mind: A Manifesto for Freedom, Boaz argues that libertarian is a movement for personal and economics freedom. It is based on three fundamental principles: individuals rights, rights that someone has simply virtue of being. Spontaneous order, the idea that society is a result of human action, but not by human design. And a limited constitutional government, the concept that people delegate power to the government to protect their rights.
“Libertarians condemn such government actions as censorship, the draft, price controls, confiscation of property, and intrusion into people personal and economic lives,” Boaz writes.
Boaz believes that Americans are leaning more and more toward libertarianism. 59 percent of Americans consider themselves to be fiscally conservative and socially liberal which, he says, means “a lot Americans love the idea of getting the government out of their pocketbook and out their bedroom,” he states.
President of The Fund for American Studies Roger Ream, in his brief remarks, hails Sen. Rand Paul as a strong advocate for the values of the limited constitutional government.”He is someone who Americans look to for leadership in the area of returning and restoring investment, entrepreneurship and opportunities for all,” says Ream.
The Capitol Hill Lecture Series is sponsored by the Einhorn Family Foundation and hosted by the Fund for American Studies in partnership with the office of Sen. Rand Paul. It is designed as a network for people who are interested in economic freedom and limited government. This summer lecture series features influential speakers such as Peter Schiff, CEO and Chief Global Strategist of Euro Pacific Capital Inc.; Matt Welch, editor in chief of Reason, the libertarian magazine of “Free Minds and Free Markets” and David Boaz.
Winston Pierre can be reached at [email protected] Follow him on twitter @winstonnewspost