New Faces and One Movement

Hey all I’m back!

This past weekend at International Students for Liberty Conference (ISFLC) in Washington, D.C. was incredible. Being able to meet so many people with the same views on politics and economics made me feel less alone and reassured that liberty will have a strong future. ISFLC is mostly a libertarian conference held at the Marriot Wardman Park hotel and this year’s lineup included notable speakers like Greg Glassman the CEO of CrossFit, Anastasia Lin (Miss World Canada 2016), and Steve Forbes of Forbes Media.

This conference brought in dozens of speakers to discuss ideas and current issues like free speech on campus, the compatibility of Islam and liberty, and economic freedom. Attending ISFLC provided the opportunity to network with liberty-minded people and included a career fair this year, and I got so many free books and swag like a don’t-tread-on-me flag, copies of “I, Pencil” and “The Law" (libertarian staples). It was heartwarming meeting complete strangers then being able to instantly connect through our love for the ideas of anarchy-capitalism and taxation is theft.

However, the only complaint I had was not being able to meet Rand Paul. Supposedly he had to vote on a bill in the Senate and therefore couldn’t make it to the conference, and instead sent in a prerecorded video. But the Senate Floor's Twitter account shows that the body adjourned at 1:54 pm, which leaves the question of what Rand could’ve been doing if his Senate duties for the day were done. According to what my sources told me, Rand was unfortunately uninvited by organizers of ISFLC and went on Fox News at 9 pm. Other sources have said he feared a massive walkout, but I doubt he would be fazed by that. I most likely won’t hear the real reasons for ISFLC uninviting Rand, but hopefully I’ll get another shot at meeting him in the future.

So a white supremacist and 20 plus libertarians walk into a bar...

Richard Spencer, a neo-nazi and alt-right leader, was invited by the Hoppe Caucus, an organization with no affiliation with Students For Liberty. I had just gotten out of a lecture and saw a crowd of about 20 people at the hotel’s bar and out of curiosity I wandered over. I didn’t get to see the entire argument that went down between Spencer and the libertarians, but there were the usual arguments against his beliefs (and rightly so). However, I felt a bit disillusioned when other libertarians began to shut down all discussions by fueling more hatred, and it didn’t help that Jeffrey Tucker (Director for Digital Development of FEE) gave the ok to fling insults and personal attacks at Spencer and his cronies. The debate (or lack thereof) ended with yelling and creating a hostile environment, which only made matters worse, and hotel security kicking everyone out. I found it hypocritical that the same people who champion for free speech change face and become aggressive when someone disagrees with their beliefs. It seems like I might be defending a neo-Nazi, but I’m not; I defend the right for civilized dialogue in order to bring about social progress. Personally, I thought this whole incident was amusing because I was simply a spectator with no inclination to get hotheaded.

Despite the disappointments, I’m glad I attended ISFLC and had the opportunity to display my painting in the Ama-Gi Art Exhibit. Quite a few strangers complimented my oil painting of Betsy Ross sewing the American flag, and needless to say I was very flattered. Another highlight of ISFLC was educating a random stranger on the street about the principles of libertarianism. I was walking from my hotel to Adam’s Morgan when a parking attendant caught my attention. He asked, “How was the meeting?” I was confused at first because how could he have known that I was at the conference, but then I realized I was dressed sharply in comparison with the people who flock to Adam’s Morgan for the nightlife. He then explained how he met a few attendees from the Marriot Wardman, and introduced himself as Johannes from Ethiopia. He asked me what conference I was attending and what it was about and I said, “ISFLC promotes libertarianism,” then followed up with another question, “What is libertarianism?” My good sir I’m glad you asked!

We talked for at least 10 minutes with me explaining in the most succinct manner what libertarians stand for; “Keeping the Republicans out of your bedroom and the Democrats out of your wallet.” Johannes liked my explanation and asked me to repeat it a few more times since he is still learning English, then he proceeded to ask me another question on what libertarians think of legalizing weed and gay marriage, to which I replied; “Both should be legal because the government shouldn’t interfere unless life, liberty, and property are violated.” During the time we talked, I was wary at first because I was walking alone but I decided Johannes wasn’t much of a threat, rather a guy who is curious and wants to know more. What made him really stand out from all the people I’ve met in my life was how he asked about my cultural background. Most people would have asked me, “Where are you from?” which usually insinuates that I wasn’t born a U.S. citizen. Johannes on the other hand asked where my family was from. I felt that his thought processes was interesting and different.

All in all, I had a great time meeting new people from different political backgrounds and making new friends. The networking was valuable and I got to meet some interesting individuals. ISFLC was a memorable weekend filled with people passionate about keeping the flame of liberty alive, and I might consider attending again.

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*All photos taken with SONY DSC-HX50V

SFL CEO Wolf von Laer

No show Rand Paul

Eric July of BackWordz