Thanks for converting me, Mises members.

Miscellaneous Newbies
1

About three weeks ago I was a minarchist (although, as many others do, I referred to myself as a “libertarian”), but I can confidently say that I am now an anarcho-capitalist, holding nothing but disdain and hatred for any state, and it is mostly thanks to the sometimes-friendly yet always-helpful members of this forum.

A friend of mine stumbled upon this place and introduced me to the definition of anarcho-capitalism and minarchism, and stated that you all had quite fantastic arguments in favor of the privatization of security, which was the primary reason I thought a state should exist. Although, the privatization of roads was an idea I had yet to be introduced to as well.

Like many others, I was introduced to libertarianism through Ron Paul and the ridiculous and alarmist Alex Jones websites (which I swore by for approximately twelve months… although after twelve months, rationale has concluded that I must otherwise, despite the fact that positive information can still obtained from the various news reports they offer).

I know Ron Paul’s approach is not appreciated by every true libertarian, but add about six more tallies for my friends and me who are now sworn anarchists. Ron Paul contributed to the initial one-half of this, while Mises.org has contributed to the other one-half. I have read many of the daily articles and various essays that have been linked to throughout the forums.

I have read a few essays by Hoppe in particular, one essay by Rothbard, which was found in The Myth of National Defense, and a few articles and essays by others which I cannot immediately recall. I picked up Man, Economy, and State, as it is often recommended, for the discount price offered at the Mises store since I fell in love with Rothbard’s writing style from the aforementioned essay. While I have only covered about 15% of the book thus far, I am continually learning more and am finding that I can, slowly but surely, more completely comprehend the various discussions that I find on here for every page of MES that I complete.

I have done you all the decency of lurking and learning before saying anything. That said, it should not be had to guess that I am still a fair bit behind all of you, but it is because of you all that I am where I am at now. Thanks a bunch, and I plan on jumping into discussion as soon as possible! I’m sure I’ll screw up some, but I am offering a preemptive apology for those things now. I think I am at the point where I can participate in many of the topics provided to a certain degree here, and that that would be the best thing for me now.

I look forward to it, and thinks again! I’m sure there are more lurkers than many of you are aware that are benefitting, and I encourage them all to jump in and participate. Like I said, the midwest United States now has a half dozen more converts.. that may not be much, but hopefully each one of us can find another half dozen to spread this knowledge to.

Oh, and now I can sip on this Elijah Craig while discussing economics–for some reason, bourbon seems to complement intellectual discourse, but there’s a good chance I’ve formed that opinion due to liquor stereotypes. The truth of this matter will finally be mine

2

Welcome aboard, but don’t stop reading the Institute’s articles!

3

I’ve not stopped! I must admit that I do not read them daily, however. MES and the Mises forums has distracted me a bit from the daily articles, but I don’t plan on avoiding them! They were quite educational when I first came to this website amidst the bailout extravaganza. I learned quite a lot due to this event, and it is my opinion that other anarchists should use this somewhat controversial issue to real others in. It is easy to explain why something like the bailout is bad (assuming layman terms are used), and the logic for this is fundamental to libertarianism, in my opinion.

While I never supported the first party candidates for U.S. President for nearly every reason under the sun, I now typically state that “I do not support McCain/Obama, and how could I given their stance on something as fundamental as the bailout issue?”.

I find that bringing up this issue and explaining it makes it very easy to real people in. It did it for me, and in just a couple of weeks, I’ve done it to others already… just something I thought I’d share since people are more sensitive to anarchism and minarchism now than ever, as far as I can tell.

4

Hmmmm. Welcome. That darn Ron Paul keeps driving people people to Mises, and then the Mises community seals the deal. Amazing!

5

Welcome, Klor; I look forward to talking with you! What areas of political or economic thought interest you most?

6

While his very existence is in government shows support of it, his words seem speak a great deal to the hearts of his followers, I would say. Assuming a Ron Paul supporter is logical, he will be left with inevitably work his way between choosing between minarchism and anarchism… and if the supporter truly is a logical man/woman to begin with, I’m sure that s/he will end up much like my wife and myself–inevitable supporters of a stateless society.

7

Danny: Anything and everything–If I am not yet aware of something, then I would like to change that, be it in the field of politics and economics or something otherwise. I once had a history teacher tell me in high school that “ignorance is not a bad thing–it can be changed, but stupidity is something that a person can do nothing for.” I am interested in anything I am ignorant of, which is a rather broad answer to your question.

To try and more precisely answer your question, politics does not interest me as much as the functions of the economy, since I now believe that an appropriate economy could replace politics. The two years I spent as a minarchist caused me to become very familiar with the realm of politics–hence why I was a self-proclaimed minarchist as opposed to a socialist. Economics interests me in every aspect… I really can’t pinpoint one aspect of thought that dominates another currently.

8

Cool, it’s nice to see an informed newbie poster for a change.

9

After spending fifteen minutes on the forum, it was quite obvious to me that it would be pointless to try and jump in on any given conversation while ignorant of the position held by most of the users here. The stance of the forum as a whole fascinated me initially, as well. This only encouraged the fact that I should learn more before offering any sort of public opinion.

10

Well put. You’ve already made your first contribution.