Mary Lou Seymour is a long-time libertarian activist and author. She lives in South Carolina. CLICK HERE FOR RATIONAL REVIEW NEWS DIGEST CLICK HERE FOR THE LIBERTY ACTIVIST BLOG SUPPORT OUR
SPONSORS WHY AREN'T YOU A SPONSOR? NEW Would you like
to help support Liberty Action of the week? Donate by credit card or direct donations via PayPal ALTERNATE ACTIONS For even more actions, or to discuss this column, visit LibertyForum's Take Action Forum! Counter Propaganda for the
People |
Liberty Action
of the Week As y'all know, I celebrated Independence Day this year by mourning the passing of so many of our freedoms and by vowing to not JUST mourn, but organize. But it's so difficult, sometimes, to continue to slog ahead, one day at a time, trying to take action each day that will bring us closer to liberty in our lifetime, while all around me my neighbors and even my own friends and family seem not even to realize anything is "wrong," or, if they do realize it, don't dare to admit it. After reading the columns and articles by some of my favorite columnists this July 4, the feeling that we are headed inescapably down a slippery slope was haunting and yes, terrifying. L. Neil Smith's "Happy What?" Sheldon Richman's powerful lament "What's Happened to America," Harry Browne's "Uncelebrating the Fourth," Brad Edmonds's "Why the 4th of July Is My Least Favorite Holiday," Gary North's poignant question "What Ever Happened to July 4th Orations?" and Elaine Cassel's fury at being "Fenced out on the 4th." Well, at least, I know from these writers that I'm not alone, that there are others who feel the same. But is there NOTHING that can be done? Other than find kindred spirits, if not here in my neighborhood, at least somewhere out there, and try to build a "remnant" for the coming "bad times?" discuss this
article at I don't know. It may be too late. But three announcements, this July 4, have given me hope that it's NOT too late, not while we still have breath to speak out, and I wanted to share these with you, for this week's action, to participate in, as you see fit. The first announcement was from L. Neil Smith, my wonderful cyber friend and cohort, whose science fiction I admired and loved long before I ever "met" him as a person (albeit in cyberspace). As with all authors who write outside the "Book of the Month Club" mainstream or romance novel ghetto, a steady flow of income that leaves the author free of day to day worries (like eating & paying the light bill) is hard if not impossible to come by. In the world of "best selliing writers," huge advances may be the norm, nut for your workaday writers, it's often pillar to post. Some of you may know about the Ceres Project, which generated over $50,000 of working capital in only 2 1/2 months from libertarians of every stripe and hue last year, to allow Neil to work on Ceres, the sequel to Pallas (Smith's seminal tale of the struggle between libertarians and statists set on the asteroid Pallas). Well, the same team has announced "The Ares Alliance" to develop the novel and film treatment for Smith's next book, Ares. Ares fits between Pallas and Ceres and completes the epic cycle. Just as with "The Ceres Project," participants in "The Ares Alliance" invest a certain amount of money and agree to wait a certain period of time for the book and film treatment to be produced. These "deliverables" are then sold to a publisher and a film producer or studio for the highest bid, and each investor gets their principal returned as well as a percentage of the profits based on their level of investment. So why should you care if another sci-fi book gets written, even if it's a libertarian one? Well, as Neil says "If you are going to fight a cultural war against statism, against totalitarianism, against the forces of regression, you have to have a culture. I think my books deliver the sort of culture that libertarians would love to live." For those who agree, and would like to participate in this action opportunity, follow the link to the Ares Alliance announcement. The second announcement that brightened my July 4 was from Ernie Hancock, whose wonderful radio show "Declare your Independence" was, as I mentioned last week, going to be silenced after July 24. Ernie had promised he had something up his sleeve ... and he does! On July 4, I got an email from Ernie saying "I'm going high tech! We are starting our own libertarian network with a single no-compromise message." The email goes on to say "What required the use of a million dollar radio station in addition to its million dollar government license to allow for the syndication of a radio show to any number of radio stations can now be done for $4500 in equipment. What costs us hundreds of dollars a day to broadcast on one station now relays the signal to hundreds of stations. The demonstrations of support that so many of you supplied is what is being used in helping activist around the country lobby for the show to be selected for broadcast on their local stations. This technology is far more developed than I thought and the talents of Betterthanyours.com and others have made it possible to not only allow for Internet broadcasting but to interface with satellite transmissions at far less than what we are paying now and get a larger nationwide audience to build from. When I get the first $5000 I start buying the equipment." So there's our second opportunity. Let's help make "Declare your Independence" live on, in a newer and better format! In our battle to build a culture that values liberty over security, can you IMAGINE how effective Ernie's show will be! Check his website for updates, send him a donation, let's ride the "next wave!" And the third announcement was from my own Net "home," Rational Review, in an article by Tom Knapp, our publisher, which boldly and forthrightly sets forth a new "Program for the libertarian movement." Tom, like many of us, believes that our welfare-state society is rapidly disintegrating and "If this is to happen, the libertarian movement must, of necessity, play the central role in preserving the institutions of civil society, throwing off the drowning state and prying the dead order's cold hand from that society's ankle so that it can no longer threaten to drag us into the deep with it." I like that. Instead of passively waiting for the state to disintegrate, instead of hiding in the mountains until it's "safe" to return, instead of believing that a "miracle" will happen, we libertarians should take steps to ensure the "new America" will BE a libertarian society. I read the Program, and appended MY name. And I'd like you all to take a look at it, and think about what it means, and if you agree, be ready for the next step, to promote the Program to our fellow freedom lovers. July 4 dawned hot and humid and sticky here; it is July in SC, after all. But by twilight, after reading the "three announcements," I felt a breeze, just a slight one, but it breathed the breath of freedom. Give up? Hell no, not yet, not while there are Neil Smiths and Ernie Hancocks and Tom Knapps still among us to stir our blood and give us hope. Til next week, For Freedom Mary Lou PS: Don't forget to share your thoughts and actions with me, if you'd like me to share them with others, I'll post them to the Liberty Activist Blog. PPS: For those of you who have donated $15 or more to LAotW and have gotten the "key" to the Liberty Activist Resource Directory ... yes, the Directory (as well as the whole RR site) suffered a server crash. The main site is up again, and, we hope the dbase will also be restored. If not, I'll rebuild the Directory as soon as humanly possible. |
