We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. From the very serious to the extremely frivolous... lets see what is on the mind of the Samizdata people.
Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]
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The Gipper would have been a blogger Ronald Reagan was, as we know, dubbed among other things as “The Great Communicator”. Through his speeches, radio broadcasts and writings, Reagan had a wonderful knack of communicating important truths in clear-cut ways.
What intrigues me is wondering what he would have made of this new field of blogging. I reckon he would have loved it and could easily imagine the old fella writing one. As a talk-radio host, he had a lot to say that would have fitted in perfectly with the weblog format. I have recently been reading a collection of his radio show broadcast transcripts and it blasts the idea of him being a dope. Anything but, in fact.
Reagan was eager to make full use of the modern technologies of his time in spreading his views about the role of government, capitalism, the evils of communism and the like. I don’t think it impertinent to imagine that this great man would have loved our medium and enjoyed the fact of its challenge to Big Media. I wonder what he’d have called his weblog. How about “Shining City on a Hill”?
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Who Are We? The Samizdata people are a bunch of sinister and heavily armed globalist illuminati who seek to infect the entire world with the values of personal liberty and several property. Amongst our many crimes is a sense of humour and the intermittent use of British spelling.
We are also a varied group made up of social individualists, classical liberals, whigs, libertarians, extropians, futurists, ‘Porcupines’, Karl Popper fetishists, recovering neo-conservatives, crazed Ayn Rand worshipers, over-caffeinated Virginia Postrel devotees, witty Frédéric Bastiat wannabes, cypherpunks, minarchists, kritarchists and wild-eyed anarcho-capitalists from Britain, North America, Australia and Europe.
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I have recently been reading a collection of his radio show broadcast transcripts and it blasts the idea of him being a dope.
Hear, hear! The Reagan-as-genial-dunce trope was, of course, spread by his enemies, many of whom still haven’t learned their lesson and are now having another “moron” lead them around by the nose.
It is more difficult to communicate plainly and clearly than it is to spout jargon in windy, ill-conceived sentences. Many an academic with a big vocabulary and a long record of being wrong on the issues of the day considered Reagan a dolt, even though he was on the right side of history and the issues and was a better communicator than they.
Dare I say this is something the libertarian movement conspicuously lacks?
EG
I can picture Reagan lecturing Red China’s Internet sensors:
“Tear down this firewall!”
Er, “censors.”
‘Ronald Reagan was, as we know, dubbed among other things as “The Great Communicator”. ‘
True. But Bill Clinton was also a Big Communicator. Or – in more simple language – a salesman, at least as good as Reagan. And he even was creditted by many with having an intellect (Rhodes scholar … ), or rather – being very smart (which is not the same thing).
So what’s the difference ? In the end – what matters more is WHAT you say, not how you say it.
Reagan had a very clear and consistent grasp of the ideas of liberty in which he believed.
Clinton has no clue what an idea is, he is unaware that such things exist, he despises ideas and people talking about them, he believes in nothing. He isn’t even a lefty, as Hitchens pointed out, he despises their ideas too.
I propose to call Reagan “The Great Idealist”.
Euan Gray, Jacob — I agree with both your points.
Euan, there is in the UK right now (can’t really speak for anywhere else), a serious major political figure who has been making the case for limited govt, free markets and liberty in the sort of sweeping way Reagan did. Lord knows when someone combining crystal-clear views and great communications skills comes along again.
It goes without saying that the Tory Party does not have a single person who has a tenth of Reagan’s skills in this direction. Not one.
The thing that’s REALLY amazing/astounding (and need I add, REALLY pissing off) The Media here is the sheer numbers of people lining up for HOURS to pay thier respects. There have been people waiting at the capitol since before the coffin arrived. The shorted the line got was at 5:30 AM, when it was STILL 3 hours long. They just don’t get it.
Pete, it was all organized by the VRWC.
If you don’t believe me, just ask HRC.