isflc-dinner-rotator
isflc-liberty-vote-rotator
4
3
ANNOUNCEMENTS

Register for the 2015 ISFLC by this Friday, October 31st, before prices go up! Current early bird prices are only $20 for general attendees, $10 for students, and free for international students, West Coast students, and Alumni For Liberty Members. On November 1st, prices will increase to $35 for general attendees and $20 for students.

Hotel rooms are quickly filling up at our brand new location, the Marriott Wardman Park! The Marriott Wardman Park is located in the beautiful Woodley Park community near the zoo and many other fun tourist destinations. SFL’s group rate is cheaper than ever before this year! Be close to the conference action all weekend by booking your room today for only $139/night for a double bed – only $35/person if you split a room with three friends. If you prefer to make reservations in our room block via phone, please call 1-877-212-5752 and mention Students For Liberty to ensure you’re getting the special ISFLC rate. Space is limited so book your room today.

Finally, while you’re at it, now is the time to book your travel plans! This year for the first time, we are organizing heavily subsidized bus trips to the ISFLC from 10 different cities for as little as $20/person round trip! Sign up to secure a spot on a bus near you.

If you want to witness the emergence of a more hopeful, outward-focused, results-driven libertarianism, register for the 2015 ISFLC by October 31st before prices increase!

ANNOUNCEMENTS

One of our speakers for the upcoming 2015 ISFLC  on February 13th-15th will be Tom G. Palmer!

Tom G. Palmer is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, and director of Cato University, the Institute’s educational arm. Palmer is also the executive vice president for international programs at the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, and is responsible for establishing operating programs in 14 languages and managing programs for a worldwide network of think tanks. Before joining Cato he was an H. B. Earhart Fellow at Hertford College, Oxford University, and a vice president of the Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University. He frequently lectures in North America, Europe, Eurasia, Africa, Latin America, India, China and throughout Asia, and the Middle East on political science, public choice, civil society, and the moral, legal, and historical foundations of individual rights. He has published reviews and articles on politics and morality in scholarly journals such as the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy, Ethics, Critical Review, and Constitutional Political Economy, as well as in publications such as Slate, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Die Welt, Caixing, Al Hayat, the Washington Post, and The Spectator of London. He is the author of Realizing Freedom: Libertarian Theory, History, and Practice, published in 2009, and the editor of The Morality of Capitalism, published in 2011. Palmer received his B.A. in liberal arts from St. Johns College in Annapolis, Maryland, his M.A. in philosophy from The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., and his doctorate in politics from Oxford University.

Check out the links below to learn more about Palmer’s work:

Cato Reviews & Journals:

  • Realizing Freedom

Articles

  • http://fee.org/authors/detail/tom-g-palmer/

Interviews, Lectures & Videos:

  • Reasons You Are a Libertarian 
  • Tom Palmer: The Inevitable Collapse of the Welfare State
  • Tom G. Palmer and Kurt Leube on Markets and Justice 
  • Realizing Freedom: Cato Institute Scholar Tom G. Palmer on Libertarian Theory, History, and Practice
  • The Morality of Capitalism

To learn more about Tom G. Palmer, click here and be sure to register  for the 2015 ISFLC by October 31st before prices go up!

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is my pleasure to announce that the 2015 Students For Liberty Alumnus of the Year Award will go to Edward Snowden for initiating a global conversation on the balance of power between governments and peoples that has led to and continues to bring about meaningful reforms to intrusive, abusive, and unjust government surveillance programs.

Like SFL’s previous Alumnus of the Year recipients, Mr. Snowden is not, in fact, an alumnus of Students For Liberty.  Mr. Snowden finished his formal schooling before SFL’s founding in 2008.  We are presenting this award to recognize and honor Mr. Snowden as someone who is no longer a student, but whose commitment to liberty has had a resounding impact upon the world and can serve as an inspiration for others.

Mr. Snowden, a former employee of the CIA and contractor for the NSA, blew the whistle on numerous surveillance programs and activities by the United States and United Kingdom that have been described by one U.S. District Judge as “almost Orwellian” in nature and contain features that are likely to be found unconstitutional.  There have been countless articles published on the revelations Snowden brought to light, governmental inquiries into the legality of the disclosed programs, and public debates regarding the legitimacy of such state conduct.  Such widespread discussion and scrutiny of the state would not have occurred if Mr. Snowden had not chosen to give up the comforts of his established life to call attention to the daily and massive violations of civil liberties taking place, giving the American public (indeed, the entire world) the opportunity to critique and reform them.

The high price that Mr. Snowden has paid for his actions is important to note, as well.  Caring more for the principles of freedom and a public check on the activities of their government, Mr. Snowden now lives in exile, in a country that was not his chosen destination, but one forced upon him by authorities. Before disclosing the information available to him, Mr. Snowden knew that he would be forced to give up the comforts of his regular life, and in the future live as a de facto, if not actual captive, either at home or abroad.  Describing this balance, Mr. Snowden has said:

“I care more about the country than what happens to me. But we can’t allow the law to become a political weapon or agree to scare people away from standing up for their rights, no matter how good the deal. I’m not going to be part of that.”

It is to be expected that some people will disagree with this decision, as Mr. Snowden is a controversial individual.  Critics will likely endorse one of two lines of thought.

The first line of criticism will be for recognizing an individual who broke the law.  However, civil disobedience is not merely something that we ought to accept as a necessary check on the abuses of government, it is one that ought to be revered and admired when used to hold one’s government accountable for its unjust and even illegal activities.

The second line of criticism will be for the potentially damaging consequences to the safety, security, and basic liberties of Americans suffered as a result of Snowden’s actions.  And yet, a year and a half has gone by since the first documents were revealed to the public.  It seems evident that no legitimately sensitive national security information was released to any 3rd parties, nor have there have been any consequential failures in the protection of the United States due to Mr. Snowden’s whistleblowing.  There most certainly are times when national security may legitimately interfere with the normal activities of citizens’ lives and there are times when secrecy is critical to the preservation not only of national security, but of individual rights and liberties, as well.  However, we must also be willing to say that national security and secrecy may not always interfere with the normal activities of citizens’ lives or trump the rights and liberties of individuals in society, as well.

Ultimately, the justification for giving this award to Mr. Snowden is simple: it is the right thing to do.  There has been no individual in the past year who has done more for the cause of liberty than Mr. Snowden.  No summer soldier or sunshine patriot, Mr. Snowden has proven himself to be an individual of impressive character and ability who has made the lives of unknown numbers of individuals freer.

While Mr. Snowden will be unable to join us in person at the 8th Annual International Students For Liberty Conference in Washington, DC from February 13th-15th, 2015 to accept the award for obvious reasons, I hope that Mr. Snowden will still be able to appreciate this well-deserving recognition.

Sincerely,

Alexander McCobin
President and Co-Founder of Students For Liberty

ANNOUNCEMENTS

One of our speakers for the upcoming 2015 International Students For Liberty Conference on February 13th-15th will be Yeon-mi Park!

Yeon-mi Park enjoyed a rich lifestyle by North Korean standards for much of her life, but after her father was imprisoned for selling items to China, Yeonmi was forced to move out of Pyongyang. She escaped to China with her family after her father’s release, eventually making her way through Mongolia to freedom in South Korea. Yeonmi is part of a generation in North Korea that can’t remember a time when the government provided for its people. This generation has very little, if any, loyalty to the Kim regime. On the Casey Lartigue Show with Yeonmi Park, a TV podcast produced in South Korea, she said that because the North Korean people cannot get anything from the government, they must buy what they need from the markets to survive. At Summit, she will speak on this “Black Market Generation,” including their views on North Korea and the outside world, and their increasing consumption of foreign media. Now living in Seoul, Yeonmi studies criminal justice at Dongguk University. Since her freshman year, she has given speeches in both Korean and English to middle school- and high school-aged children about North Korea. Like our other speaker Joo Yang, she also participates in “Now on My Way to Meet You,” a television program that features North Korean women. After graduating, Yeonmi hopes to complete her master’s degree in International Relations in the United States with further ambitions of working with the United Nations and other organizations to spread awareness of North Korean human rights issues.

Check out the links below to learn more about Park’s activism:

Articles:

  • North Korea’s Best Hope 

Media:

  • Escaping from North Korea in Search of Freedom 
  • North Korean Defector Explains What It Was Like To Grow Up Thinking Kim Jong-il Was ‘A God’
  • North Korean Refugee Park Yeon-mi, Chinese Netizen Reactions 
  • ‘Watching Titanic made me realise something was wrong in my country,’ says North Korean defector 
  • Celebrity Defector 
  • I Am a North Korean Millennial 

Learn more about Yeon-mi Park’s activism here and be sure to register for the 2015 ISFLC by October 31st before prices go up!