Scholarships for Exceptional Anarchists?

Miscellaneous General
1

There is a rather exceptional young anarachist making YouTube videos, that likely most of you are as yet unaware of. She just started recently. This woman is very obviously extremely inteligent, well read and well spoken. She is also ‘very’ easy on the eyes.

http://www.youtube.com/lifeishowitis

It would seem to me that this is exactly the sort of person we want giving presentations at the Mises Institute, once she’s got a PHD under her belt. Having a woman such as this preaching our message will get a ‘lot’ of young men paying rapt attention. However she is also rather impoverished and resolutely refuses any government aid, she being a sincere anarchist, which makes it highly unlikely she will ever be able to go to any typically overpriced university.

Are there scholarships available anywhere for such a perfect candidate? If not, maybe we might conspire to start one?

She has no knowledge of me posting this query. I have no affiliation with her other than being subscribed to her YouTube channel.

2

And normally I can spell ‘anarchist’. I guess there is no browser based spell check in this forum, unlike most I am used to. I perhaps foolishly expect such typos to get highlighted.

3

Is phd requirement to speak at MI? If she is well read, well spoken and intelligent she qualifies in my eyes especially if she is principled anarchists that does not profit off state education. I would first ask what she wanted to do in her life instead of assuming that she wants to speak at the MI to avoid unnecessary action.

4

Yeah, I’m subscribed to her as well, watched all her videos, good stuff.

I’m sure there are libertarian scholarships, though probably not specifically anarchist ones.

5

Thanks a lot for posting that link. The “I Am An American” video was… emotional. I don’t even know how to describe it.

6

I’ve thought of calling my college and asking if I could donate money for something like this. I’m not sure how it would go over, and you probably have to start an endowment, not just donate some money each year. In any case, though, I don’t get it. Why would she need a PhD if she’s knowledgable now?

7

It’s essentially for two reasons that a PHD would be useful. I have been told by friends who happen to have PHDs that my own knowledge accrued over the last 30 adult years is equal to a PHD. But that does not even get my foot into the door for a job interview, nor can I hold it up as a symbol of authority to the world of academia and the press. If it wasn’t for the fact that I am self employed and have other achievements that can earn me some respect, I’d be in a sad state. A PHD is a ticket to a lot of opportunity, and without it one’s opportunities are a lot harder to come by.

Also, the rigor of a classic education is not something to be slighted. I am self taught. I have a wide breadth of knowledge, but my depth of understanding is typically limited. This does make it easier sometimes to see the larger pattern, but it makes it much harder to debate with specialists. I had for instance the opportunity to publicly challenge Paul Krugman last year and had to back down, which I am quite ashamed of (I knew that once we started I would get lost in the nomenclature of his econometrics). I often regret not being in a position where I had to learn a much more rigorous logic and analysis.

This woman has a first rate mind, and is definitely on the right track to doing a lot of articulating. And without a PHD, and the attendant respect of the media, etc., there is a good likelihood that her speech will be forever limited to a YouTube channel and her circle of peers. In my opinion, that would be a waste and a shame.

8

I have a feeling that people like her will be an important part of this world. I’m betting she goes way past YouTube. But, hypothetically, if she were never to make it past YouTube, there are millions of possible chances that kids my age will see her videos and become enticed enough to research anarcho-capitalism on their own. For me, all it took was a few Ron Paul speeches and Milton Friedman interviews.

9

Well, I just meant for speaking at MI. The Institute says so much about college being wasteful, the misdirection of education, and so on, it would be ironic if this were a formal requirement for faculty.

Now, what you say is generally true, but not always. Saul Kripke comes to mind, as does Tony Martin, both tenured full professors at excellent universities (Oxford and Berkeley, I believe). In essence, with a PhD and mediocre “discoveries” one can succeed, but without a PhD it takes remarkable research. It’s a middle path vs. extremes thing. For the vast majority of us, a PhD is the only way, but for the genius (who really belongs there) it isn’t. That said, I generally agree with everything you’ve pointed out.

However, I do disagree on the ‘rigor of a classical education.’ I agree in principle, but where is this classical education offered anymore? Colleges lost that focus decades ago, and indeed, even those critical of the current system point to things like “the teaching is irrelevant to employment” thereby asking for less classical education, not more. Furthermore, in talking about the PhD in particular, in my graduate experience the classroom stuff was by far the least of it. There were required courses, but they were not the major part of the training, nor did they particularly develop depth of understanding. In my experience, depth of understanding came from the weeks getting ready for the prelims. To answer the questions on those tests required depth and connectedness of knowledge. Many schools post their prelim questions online, and you can print them out and spend the time I spent, and you’ll have that. The rest of the degree, which also developed that ability, was voluminous research and reading - which you can do without being in a formal PhD program. Debating is a very particular aspect of scholarship, and yes, Krugman would have eaten you alive, particularly assuming he knew your background. If I were debating someone who is self-taught, and I had a PhD in the field, I’d certainly know how to wipe the floor with them. This proves nothing about their understanding of knowledge, just the ‘tricks of the trade.’

On your last paragraph, keep in mind that she’s an an-cap. With a PhD, there will not be any attendant respect of the media. There will be a struggle to get tenure anywhere. There will be attacks on her research. The academic life isn’t for everyone. It wasn’t for me.

I also wonder if unconsciously, we can be trapped by certain irrelevant factors. If she were uglier, I suspect I’d think she had read a lot and was spitting it back.