One of the few benefits of getting older is that you have a longer perspective on things. My old man used to lecture me with the same argument as he tried to instill upon me the value of experience.
It was pure chance that I happened to pick up Ayn Rand's "Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal" back in 1974. It was chock full of ideas that I had never been exposed to before that time. And that got me started on a path that would probably have been very different from the one I took.
Then a year or two later I heard about the Libertarian Party on a talk show. A friend who had also read Rand called me up, all excited, and told me to turn on CHML. He told me the guests were talking about the same stuff as we were.
From there I ended up joining the party and going to a few meetings. No more than four or five people usually showed up. At one of those meetings a guy gave me a pamphlet for FEE (Foundation for Economic Education) and I mailed in the attached card for a free monthly digest.
Right off the bat it was clear that the information and perspectives contained in the FEE digest were COMPLETELY different than anything I had learned in school or that was available in mainstream media, or even in the public library. And forget about the McMaster University bookstore - it was almost wall to wall Marxism or its derivatives.
I read it for years until the price went from $0 to $50 US for a subscription. By then I had discovered other sources of information and ideas of interest to libertarians including Reason Magazine, Liberty, and a few others.
I had to *actively work* to obtain the kinds of ideas and information that were relevant to me.
Huh!
Of all of my friends and acquaintances over that time, I was the only one who was *actively working* on this alternative viewpoint.
The difference between what I was learning and what was being spewed forth from the established media was stark. For twenty-five or so years I had to put up with the following conversation,
Them: "What are your politics?"
Me: "I'm a libertarian."
Them:
1 - "Liber what?"
or
2 - with a big smile, "Oh, a liberal!"
I knew they were not to blame. How could they know?
I was almost offended.
Then the internet showed up and all of that changed very quickly.
Until now.
In his report, James Corbett says, "my children are going to grow up in a world where they are going to have to *actively work* to get this information."
I know EXACTLY what that means,
because,
Been there. Done that.
THE INFORMATION WAR IS OVER AND WE HAVE LOST. CHANGE MY MIND.
"GO BACK" HATE HOAX GOES HILARIOUSLY WRONG