FDRenthusiast

Hey Matt, thanks for letting me know. It seemed like Matt Warner was doing a good job of running the page. He's still around right? I remember he was going to college around here. Where are you now Matt?

Hey guys, I've been an enthusiastic FDR listener for close to 3 years now and I'm a proud donor to the show. If anyone would like to meet up and talk philosophy, talk about living in the heart of American statism, Trump, or any of the other wonderful topics discussed on FDR, let me know! Thanks, Christina

Thanks for posting! It's hard to keep track of all these erosions of our freedoms.

I haven't had intimate one-on-one dinners with anyone I've met through FDR but I've found it very difficult to connect with FDR fans in my brief experience with them. I understand that Stefan wants us to hold ourselves to higher standards and I completely agree with that but I found the people that I met through the FDR meetup group to be very disapproving of anyone who doesn't go along with every single argument made in FDR. For example, I was pressured, within 5 minutes of first meeting an FDR fan, about why I even talked to my parents, even though he knew nothing about my relationship with my parents. This seemed to be enough to make me not very worthy of their time - at least for 2 of them. Do you still talk to your parents? If the FDR people you met are like some of the FDR people I've met, this may be enough to deem you not worthy of their time. Based on my conversation with FDR fans and phone calls into the show from FDR listeners, I know that some listeners will drop friends, lovers, and family members like flies if they're not atheist, if they are at all patriotic to the US, or if they vote, etc. I love FDR but some of the fans of this show really seem totally uncompromising in who they're willing to let into their life. Also, Stefan has spoken out against women dying their hair - which I disagree with since I dye my hair - and he's called these women "liars" so even dying your hair may make you enough of a "liar" to be shunned by hard core FDR adherents. Also, in your profile picture, it seems that maybe you're wearing makeup. Stefan has talked about how women "lie" by wearing makeup so this may also be a reason some in the FDR crowd are shunning you. I'm not saying all FDR listeners are so easily disapproving but if you're talking about hard-core fans who post on this forum or who go to FDR Meetups, my experience tells me that it's not unlikely that they may be shunning you because you contradict one of Stefan's arguments. Even just one seems to be enough for some of them in my experience. I'm not blaming Stefan for making these arguments although I do disagree with a few of them. But I'm criticizing some, only some, of his hard-core fans who seems very unwilling to spend much time with people who don't agree with all of Stefan's arguments.

I agree that I don't think it's causing people to rush out and read Murray Rothbard but I think it's helping to create a healthy distrust of the entire system of government which is at least a first step. As I stated above, polls shows that younger Americans in particular are very turned off by politics which is a good thing!

Well, I don't know that Hillary is liked that much even by her own party. I agree that she will probably win but only because people would see her as the best house in a bad neighborhood. Somebody has to win the next election but that doesn't mean people love them. I do think Americans are starting to think less and less of their politicians and House Of Cards has played a role in that in my opinion. Polls across the sprectrum show that younger Americans in particular are very turned off by politics. With the way the EU is going, I wouldn't be surprised if young people in Europe also think much less of politicians than their parents. There was a surge of interest in politics by young people around 2008-09 but that has faded now that a lot of young people (not all) realize Obama is just another failed politician.

Hey Fellow FDR listeners, I just wanted to get your thoughts on the great Netflix series" House of Cards (HOC)." I think this show is a force for good in getting Americans to question why they put so much faith in these bullying blowhard politicians. And, while I have issues with Trump, I think his current success in the polls is a reflection of at least some of the success of HOC in portraying career politicians as quite disgusting people. Trump is kind of shady in his own ways but I think a lot of people just think it's so refreshing to see a viable candidate that's not a lifelong politician. This show is even more effective than the old British version of this show that went by the same name and even more effective than an old British show called "Yes, Minister" which portrayed members of Parliament as bumbling buffoons and liars. Any thoughts? Do you think HOC is having any impact at all? Having a big impact? Also, many American TV shows are watched by much of the world but I'm not sure if this show in particular has had global reach. I'd love to hear from people outside the US on whether they think this show is having an impact. Christina

Hi Tyne, welcome! It sounds like you could benefit from calling in to the show. I know it can be nerve-wracking to call in but just think of how badly you want yourself and your family to get better.

I'm Christina and I'm interested in getting to know some people in the FDR community either online or in person. I'm still in the process of pursuing therapy and self-knowledge but I've come a long way since I started listening to FDR in 2013. It hasn't always been easy to listen to FDR as Stefan really challenged my thinking on a whole range of issues and put me through an emotional roller coaster in some cases, but I'm very glad that I stuck with it and and let philosophy change my life for the better. I'm an Attorney in Washington DC but I've lately been thinking of ways that I can possibly play a role in helping to spread philosophy and perhaps even make a living by doing so. FDR helped me to realize how toxic many people in my life were so I've purged a lot of that toxicity but am now looking to meet quality people that I can be myself with. FDR has really made me realize how important it is to be honest with myself and others and I look forward to entering into relationships where honesty is at the core.

This is a difficult question to answer but I can offer my own experience. I'm now an ANCAP but I became ANCAP from being libertarian, and I became libertarian from being a standard issue Republican, and I became a Republican after being a standard issue college liberal. So, it's been a long journey but I think I've found my home!! I do think the leap from standard issue leftist or conservative straight to ANCAP would've been tough and unlikely to happen in an acceptable time frame of a budding relationship but I also had a lot of emotional baggage/unresolved psychological issues that made being more statist a "good fit" for me at the time. So, if you can find someone who's fairly psychologically healthy (more psychologically healthy than I was at least) then they'd probably be more likely to jump to what's rational since they wouldn't have all this trauma to work through. Also, as Stef has said, look for people who have a history of changing and being open to new ideas because a body in motion tends to stay in motion. If a woman has no history of changing her opinions or changing her habits or thinking, then I'd say that's not very promising. To bring it back to my own experience, I've always been changing and open to new ideas so embracing philosophy was not pain-free but I started to really embrace it after listening to FDR for about a year.

Thanks for pointing this guy out. I just checked out his YouTube channel and some of his views are refreshing. It'd be interesting to see Stef interview him about how single mothers need to own up to their mistakes and about how the black community should stop blaming white people so much.

Hi FDR gang, I was wondering if anyone knows of any books that further discuss the concept of DROs/private insurance agencies. I've listened to all of Stefan's podcasts on DRO's and read his anarchy books and those were very helpful but I'd like to explore this concept even further. Does Robert Higgs write about this topic at all (I'm currently working my way through Crisis and Leviathan)? Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks, C