LSS? Awesome
On the Saturday, the Seminar was nearly flooded out with a torrent of rain. It was unbelievable. Just as soon as the second speaker (Pierre Desrochers) came up to speak, the sky opened up and let loose. Some from Alberta explained that they had never seen rain quite like that.
We took a few minutes to get everyone under the tent, to move some of the electrical things under cover, and to see if the rain would pass (it didn't), and then started up again. Even with the rain, no one really seemed to mind. Some even thought it added drama and excitement to the event (by "some" I mean "Ezra Levant").
Other than the rain, the Lindy concert was one to remember. You can check out a little bit of it by going here. Someone (and I don't know who... let me know if you know) had a digital camera and made a mini video of the concert. I wish more folks would bring some video equipment and make little clips like that for the rest of us to see.
At any rate, you can't see it in the video, but just off to the corner was Mike Walker (sitting right by me... here's a picture:)
He was awesome. Not only did he stay up later than the rest of us, he also rose early in the morning (8 a.m.) to play tennis with Ian Ferraro. I was supposed to play too, but managed to sleep through the first thirty or so minutes and, well, just sort of stayed in bed. At any rate, here's the very first quote back about the Seminar from none other than Mike Walker:
"This is the most fun I have had in years!"
He said that a few times, actually. Mostly while dancing on the stage in a circle with myself, Ollivia Sexton, Janet Neilson, Matt Bufton, and a few others (I had a few too many Liberty Ales to remember everyone in the circle). He bought up a copy of Lindy's CD and sent him an email letting him know that he's listening to the CD over and over on his trip through Newfoundland.
Really, check out Lindy for yourself over here on my space.
It was also cool to have a few conversations with Jason Cherniak, who blogs about the Seminar here. It's a nice post, and it looks like Cherniak will probably come back next year for another round of libertarian good times.
Speaking of blog posts, Chris Edey (a pretty cool UW grad) posted about the Seminar over here. He mentions the great Mike Walker story, and the rain.
Victor Wong, who blogs at the Phantom Observer, has a good post about Ezra Levant being a "liberal" (go read it yourself). It is a bit irksome that he decides to call the event "conservative" and concludes by saying that events like this Seminar show that conservatives aren't stuffed shirts. It's not that, of course, it's libertarian. I always ask the speakers to speak on subjects where they happen to agree with libertarians, even if they are not. And I don't care who attends. In fact, I prefer it if non-libertarians attend, since libertarians already agree with what most of the speakers talk about. At any rate, I guess this will become pretty clear if and when we decide to focus on something like the War on Drugs, say.
I'm sure there will be more blog buzz about this in the next few days. I'll link to anyone who talks about the Seminar, so long as you let me know (email me, or drop me a comment).
posted by P. M. Jaworski at 4:58 p.m.
5 Comments:
Man, it sounds like it was so much fun. I wish we coulda gone. Thanks for posting, I love the Levant quote.
Also, where might one get Liberty Ale?
I know there's a Calvin beer, but Liberty sounds...freeing!
http://www.calvinus.ch/
Ian - you can find out which LCBO near you stocks Liberty Ale through their website... unfortunately, since this is Ontario, that would be the only place you can buy it.
As for the seminar, what an amazing time. I think you're right to say it's the best yet, Peter... so long as last year was better than the previous four. ;)
Here's the search link for Anchor Liberty Ale from the LCBO: http://www.lcbo.com/lcbo-ear/ProductResultsController
I hope that works... You can go to www.lcbo.com and use the search function to hunt for "Liberty Ale." It will give you a store locator, and places you can buy the beer. It is really worth it. Huge bottle, reasonable price, delicious beer.
Irksome indeed. I find that troublesome as well. When conservatives don't understand that there are essential and key differences between principles of libertarianism and conservativism - and chose to appropriate the label of libertarianism, for their own purposes, and keep muddying up the waters.
One thing that would be interesting for next year, would be to ask people to write down a list of books on free-market principles they have read. And discussing the similiarities and differences in principle between those who espouse the free-market and those who espouse mixed-market economics.
And yeah -- focusing on the drug war would definately crystalize things sharply.
That and discussing whether there is any legitimacy at all to the idea that the state should have a monopoly on the use of instigatory force.... especially with respect to the matter of "consent of the governed" being concerned.
Those are three areas where Libertarians who have actually, ya know... done their homework, integrated the principles and such will be able to argue the fine-points... and the statists show their true colours.
BTW -- if you are looking for a really cool speaker for next year - book Michel Kelly Gagnon from the Montreal Economic Institute. He's a powerhouse and a lot of fun, with a great sense of humour! And he is a true libertarian... hard core.
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