Rue

Hello, I've always been against getting involved with politics in the United Kingdom because, aside from the NAP violation, I've never felt my individual voice could have any meaningful effect on national issues. When Stefan changed from talking about the moral arguments against the political process to being a vocal advocate of Donald Trumps presidential bid, I think I understood why he did it. My understanding of Stefan's rational could be summarised as "I need to give it all I have and find out if political advocacy can work. If it doesnt, then I can at least say I tried." It is a well thought out compromise considering the state of western politics and there being a clash between the moral system he believes in and what practicality sugests he should do. So, I've decided to try and do something similar - albeit on a much smaller scale! After doing some research, I've decided that the only party even remotely likely to turn back the rising tide of collectivism in the UK is UKIP. So, I signed up with them a few days ago and attended my first local group meeting tonight. The meeting was interesting and went completely differently from what I had expected but overall in felt it was discussing to many small local issues when much larger cultural battle lines are being drawn. I think most of this was down to the structure of the political organisation rather than attendees. I introduced myself and brielfy told my journey from socialist to anarcho capitalist. I went on to explain why I choose to join UKIP and tried to explain my love of freedom and appreciation of everyone who joins us in fighting to protect it. I really believe that within UKIP and across much of the country there really is a hunger for freedom that we can use to make real changes. So, finally I get to the point! I have no idea what I'm doing! Help! I'm a complete novice to the political process and I'm looking for some advice from you guys and gals who have been involved in any local political work. How do you get people interested in individualisim at a local level? What books should I read about how to run grass roots movements? How do you engage with a community? How should a grass roots orgonisation be strucrured? What tips and tricks have you come acroas? And I have thousand other questions like these. If you have any ideas you would like to share or have any links you think I should look at to get started I would love to hear them. Thank you, Ross

Hello, I was reading the art of the argument and Stefan mentions that most atheists vote left and religious individuals vote right. Knowing Stefan is North American centric, I wanted to check what the stats were for the UK as it didn't quite match my experience. From some initial searches on Google I could only find the following analysis: http://www.brin.ac.uk/2017/religious-affiliation-and-party-choice-at-the-2017-general-election/ While the numbers are slightly lower than the USA and I was surprised that the figures for Catholics where roughly even and non-religious wasn't quiet as dire as in the states. However, my jaw literally dropped when I saw the chart for who Muslims vote for. Interestingly, I'm a anteist who is also an anarchist/capitalist so I'm one of the exceptions when it comes to the atheist political beliefs. I can therefore fully understand the concept of 'just being a Muslim doesn't mean your a socialist/leftist' argument. Incidently, I'm also Scottish which overwhelmingly vote left, so dispite their despicable policies I've always been immensely grateful for the English who have kept the Conservatives (right) a viable party. So, I'm in a weird position of, similar to the 20% of Muslims who don't vote for left, having to justify that I don't support socialist policies due to my background while also having the burden of challenging my fellow countrymen on their political beliefs. That being said, the Scottish population is unlikely to explode in size anytime soon and change the political landscape in a meaningful way however with the growth of Islam/Atheism and Christianity declining I'm struggling to see any situation where political debate and the exchange of ideas are not simply smothered by overwhelming numbers at the polls. Other than pointing out this fact (which I didn't know before) I've not really come to any conclusions about what it means or how to even begin to try and change Muslim and to a lesser extent non-religious people's minds towards liberty I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts. Regards, Ross

Hello all, Stefan often talks about Crypto Currencies such as Bitcoin on his show and after performing some research into how they work as part of my day job I got hooked on the underlying Blockchain Technology. I spoke to a Doctor recently who shared his dismay that despite the technology boom going on in almost every industry medical quality is going down while costs are sky rocketing. For some fun, I tried to come up with a way that we could use Blockchains to maybe solve the problem in a meaningful way. Anyway, if you have time, I'd appreciate any feedback on the following article. https://medium.com/@nc_clelland/blockchain-global-health-care-cover-a948d39fcd88 Thanks, Ross.

Hello all, After talking with friends and family about some recent events such as the spree of conservatives who were banned from Twitter during last years US Elections and the general crackdown on speech which doesn't fit the mainstream narrative, I decided it would be worthwhile to record a short* video to explain why Free Speech Protections are important. I also covered when speech isn't protected and when it's moral for the state to infringe upon someone's right of speech. This is only my second video, so any feedback or comments anyone has on content or presentation would be very welcome! https://youtu.be/sG9XP9OUSCM Thanks! *okay, so I tried to make it short but it came out a little longer than I'd imagined!

Hi Soard, great question. Comparing his coverage of Trump against his coverage of the other Republican and Democratic candidates over the past few months I would agree that, even if it's not explicitly stated, he’s in essence supporting Trump for president. Keep in mind that, metaphorically, the comparison is something akin to deciding whether you want to be run over by a bus, thrown into a nest of vipers or punched in the arm; none of the options are ideal but at least the punch isn't going to kill you. Stephan has shifted his approach over the course of the past year from his core anarchist stance on political and social matters to a position where he’s willing to engage issues through much more of a mainstream lens. Importantly, I don’t believe his underlying beliefs have changed - just his approach. Trump is one example of this but there are a few others such as his Brexit coverage. My understanding of his rational for the change is that he thinks the danger of irreversible damage to the West is closer than he'd imagined and that his effort is better spent trying to stem the bleeding by promoting positive changes within the existing political system. However, I’m sure if you spoke to him or he responded here you'd find that he continues to believe that the government, and by extension everything it does, is a breach of the NAP. Regards, Rue

Hello all, I hope this is a suitable forum to share this, if it's not please feel free to move it somewhere else. I wanted to share with the following video with this community as I thought it would be something you would be interested in. In the lead up to the Brexit Referendum last week, and in the days since, I've spoken to a lot of people about the key discussion points and what they thought of the overall voting process. What struck me was that even those who closely followed the pre-Referendum coverage were unable to articulate clearly their reasons for either wanting to stay or wanting to leave; which makes sense to me as none of their arguments were particularly based on a solid foundation. When I walked them through the points I cover in the video, I was struck by how engaged and how receptive people were to an argument starting from a few simple principles. I also think I managed to give those who were disappointed with the result a little hope for the future! The video isn't perfect and it's the first time I've put myself out their for critics outside of my social circle. However, if you have a little bit of time to listen and would like to provide me some some feedback that would be really appreciated. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0al9tog6wg All the best, Rue.

Sounds like a great idea, I'll be sure to join the call.

While browsing the forums have you ever caught something in of the corner of your eye only for it to disappear when you turn to face it? Have you've ever stepped away from your keyboard only to discover upon your return that someone has taken a bite out of the cheesecake you had left nearby? Or perhaps when in the chat room you've noticed a figure quickly bounce in and out like a man performing a technological bungee jump? If any of the above sounds familiar then it very well could have been me that you had witnessed. I've been listening to FDR on and off for a number of years now and I've done my fair share of lurking on the boards and in the chat. I decided recently that it was about time I came to the forums, introduced myself and got to know my fellow listeners. I'm originally from Scotland but live near London after moving down for work. I live with my fiancee and our two bengal kittens Arya and Daenerys. I think I was unknowingly bitten by the rationality bug when I was younger and found that I had unconsciously deprogrammed myself of religious beliefs by my early teens. It wasn't until my early twenties that a random conversation with my brother raised questions about other commonly held beliefs which I jealously defended. His question lead me down the path towards Austrian economics before branching out into other concepts and ideas such as the non aggression principle and libertarianism. Each new topic has been an exciting new world to explore and my adventures and acquired knowledge in each have brought me closer to understanding the frequently irrational society we live in. This was why I was thrilled discover FDR as it has allowed me to continue my quest for truth and reason through the lens of philosophy. I very much look forward to taking part in the community discussions and if I'm lucky, getting to know some of you. All the best, Ross