I had something of an epiphany recently about needing to work for a cause I believe in, rather than just fiat mining. I was up all night thinking about the right fit and what my value proposition is.
You all have helped me realize that there's real interest in my perspective (thank you), so that's part of the proposition.
I was also reflecting on how limited the presence of most prominent libertarians is in the bitcoin ecosystem, despite the immense interest in their insights. That made me realize I can make at least a two-fold impact for a libertarian/free-market organization: my own content and integrating them into the bitcoin community.
This is the first draft of a letter I'm planning on sending to the Libertarian Institute, which is run by the great Scott Horton. I'd love your feedback on this letter. The aim of it is simply to pique their interest and generate a follow up conversation.
As it happens, the Libertarian Institute is based in Austin, so perhaps this will enable me to drop in on the SN HQ occasionally.
Dear Libertarian Institute,
I'm reaching out to express my interest in joining your amazing institute. I’ve been following Scott’s work since 2007 and deeply admired the late Will Grigg’s articles. I believe I can add to the impressive scholarship you're already doing, while also helping you reach an audience that is very interested in your work and opening new fundraising opportunities.
I finished my economics PhD during the pandemic. Like most new graduates, I took what work was available, but now I’m looking to dedicate myself to spreading libertarianism and sound economics full-time. Some of my interests are economic geography (voting with your feet, jurisdictional arbitrage, secession, etc), political polarization, parallel institutions, bitcoin, and climate science. My academic training and research in those areas would give the Libertarian Institute another person to dissect the relentless stream of propaganda that comes out on those and other topics.
For my own sanity, I've been writing about libertarianism and economics at Stacker News, on the side, for the past couple of years. The positive reception to Rothbardian libertarianism and economics there has made me realize that our ideological camp is missing out on some low-hanging fruit. This site is part of the bitcoin ecosystem, where demand for Austro-libertarian thought is very high, but our scholars have a very limited presence.
I’ve found bitcoiners to be eager and willing to donate to those who are adding value in their spaces. I can help the Libertarian Institute establish itself as one of the intellectual pillars in this emerging libertarian community, both through my own contributions and by making your existing scholarship more visible there, as well as setting up the necessary technology to receive bitcoin donations and interact with their social media spaces.
I wish you all the very best. Thank you for your work. Hopefully, I'll have a chance to continue this discussion with you soon.
Sincerely,
Undisciplined (not how I plan to sign the real letter)
originally posted at