Reason.tv: What We Saw at the Students For Liberty Conference 2011

Reason.tv attended the Students For Liberty International Conference 2011 at the George Washington University in Washington, February 18th to the 20th.

Students For Liberty is a nonprofit organization geared toward aiding libertarian student groups on campus and abroad. Formed in 2008, SFL has grown from thirty students to over 500 and begun to gain the media attention of Fox Business Network and Stossel. Reason.tv sat down with Co-founders Alexander McCobin and Sloane Frost, Executive Board Member Ankur Chawla, Communication Manager Blayne Bennett and SFL Student of the Year 2011 Michelle Fields to talk about the organization's exceptional growth and if it is connected to a increased interest in libertarianism in the general public. Reason.tv also interviewed the students attending about why they are libertarian and what they hoped to take away from the conference.

Approximately 3 minutes long. Shot and edited by Josh Swain. Interviews by Swain with assistance from Reason Foundation research assistant Harris Kenny and Communication Specialist Katie Hooks.

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Check out Reason.tv's interview with Michelle Fields produced Novermeber 29, 2010.

Comments

[Suki]

Good afternoon reason! Liberty, hell yea!

[Fist of Etiquette]

These kids today...

[SugarFree]

Is that the same poor girl you guys freeze framed on while she was making a dumb face last time? Do you just hate her or something?

[Old Mexican]

I thought she was crying or something...

[Other Derp]

The freeze frame didn't do her justice.

[Almanian]

Cool. Seeing stuff like this - plus what my kids and their friends do at school - gives me hope for the future.

Then I return to work and am crushed back to reality, etc. etc. Good for these kids!

[Colin]

As a GW alumni, I can proudly say that I once puked where that conference was taking place.

[Realist]

Aaahhh! Ayn Rand....one of the big favorites here at Reason.

[Other Derp]

I love how their can't be a Libertarian anything without Ayn Rand being mentioned at least off hand...

[Homonym Derp]

I know, it's like they aren't creative enough to discuss there political theory without mentioning her.

[Realist]

Why the Rand rage???

[Hobo Chang Ba]

Ayn Rand sucks because she props up rent-seeking corporate tycoons as model human beings, while unironically accusing almost everyone else of being leeches. The Fountainhead was a great message of non-conformity until Howard Roark became a rapist who nobly destroyed somebody else's private property.

[Realist]

Liberal dick lickers, as I thought!

[cynical]

Well, she also has even more rent seeking corporate entities as villains. And without Rand, there would be no Tony Stark, so at least there's that.

[Rock Action]

Earnest question: How so?

[RA]

Arrgh. That's for cynical and the Tony Stark comment.

[cynical]

Genius inventor who turned his talent into massive private-sector success? Unrepentant capitalist? Sounds like a Randian hero to me. Ok, maybe he's actually Howard Hughes. Don't take the comment too seriously.

But I would note that the well-known red-and-gold, vaguely Art Deco suit was possibly a Ditko creation, and Ditko was definitely a Rand fan.

[Rock Action]

Your description of Stark is why I asked. As someone who hadn't read the comic book, the movie sort of floored me with its overtones. Hey, wait! This is Hollywood!

That's why I asked. Given your comment, I started to wonder if Rand had a direct connection to Iron Man, or if she had influenced the original creators. It didn't sound too far off. I also Googled it, but the Ditko information is something I wouldn't have come close to finding. Thanks.

[Rock Action]

And I guess I wanted to make sure you knew why I asked, as it's there twice. Sheesh.

[Fiscal Meth]

"I love how their can't be a Libertarian anything without Ayn Rand being mentioned at least off hand..."

That's not true at all. What is true is that whenever she is mentioned, people can be counted on to leave comments about how bad it hurts their vaginas. These people seem to have trouble with the words there and their.

[JW]

What We Saw at the Students For Liberty Conference 2011

Someone sneezing?

[slowburnaz]

Well heellllllllo, Michelle Fields.

[Slowburnaz]

Wow. That Michelle Fields is quite the looker.

[NotSure]

Reminds me of that saying: If you are under 30 and are not a communist then you have no heart, if you are over 30 and are not a capitalist then you have no brain.

Its not easy being young and a capitalist.

[Hobo Chang Ba]

Right, because so many people under 30 are communists? Lefties definitely, but "communist" is pure hyperbole, which only diminishes your own argument.

[What's That Smell]

How many of these kids do you think are the products of public schools? Most? All?

[Old Mexican]

Re: What's That Smell,

How many of these kids do you think are the products of public schools? Most? All?

Probably most, so aren't you glad they went over there to be deprogrammed and detoxified? To purge the Kool-Aid?

[What's That Smell]

yes, but most didn't need to. My point was (and admittedly it is off topic)is when people berate public schools their focus is the inner city schools. The dirty little secret is that there are fine public schools out there that succeed in helping produce intelligent thoughtful kids

[35N4P2BYY]

I would posit that intelligent and thoughtful kids are produced despite public schools.

[cynical]

Maybe. I'm a product of a public school, but while I certainly remember great teachers, I also remember terrible ones, and a brief period where life seemed one or two steps removed from Lord of the Flies (I presume they make kids read it so they have some literate way to refer to their situation). Certainly was educational about the nature of authority.

[Tncm]

Nigerian libertarians makes me feel incredibly optimistic, perhaps unjustifiably so, about the future of Africa.

[Mike E]

I have a coworker from Nigeria. He distrusts government, yet sees government as the only solution to society's problems.

[Mike E]

If only we could just find the right people to run government then it will work... I swear!

[chaussures puma]

nowaday

[GeekWithA.45]

The concentration of neckties strikes a somewhat eerie note, being a hallmark of conservatism as distinct from libertarianism. I've often taken the Left to task for failing to make that distinction, but perhaps they're correct to be suspicious.

[Richard]

The bonehead coding this web page has used it to write un-displayed smears of Ayn Rand throughout the page's html code. As a result it shows up in Search Engine results.

Click View-PageSource and use the Find feature to search for Rand,and you will see the inserted remarks.

Fire that duplicitous person. Who needs someone undermining a great cause whilst getting their pay from it!

Some people call that, "biting the hand that feeds"... Hmmm sounds like the Left, to me!

[????? ?????]

Thank you

[kelly]

Whoa...since when did you guys start doing game commentary?

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[mbti]

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[alaamiah]

n the general public. Reason.tv also interviewed the students attending about why they are libertarian and what they hoped to take away from the conference.