Here I am last weekend in Seattle, assessing the state of things in front of a big, fired-up crowd. UPDATE: Here’s a YouTube, taken by someone in the audience. Unfortunately, the official video from public TV has proven too unreliable. If you click on the screen you’ll go to the main page for this video, which contains links to parts 2 and 3.
Amanojack Says:
Excellent speech, Tom, as usual. I find your style an argument emphasis to be the most convincing way to take down anti-free-market notions.
Over on reddit.com there are constantly a few libertarians trying to debate everyone else, but they are woefully unequipped. All someone has to do is bring up Robber Barons and the libertarians don’t know how to proceed. Your argument about how Carnegie made steel 100 times cheaper, which to loosely quote you in one of your Youtube videos, made “things like eating possible for millions of people,” goes to show how easy the debate ought to be to win.
And yet, to quote Howard S. Katz in his blog post Strategy for Victory today, “The pro-liberty movement in America here in the early 21st century is not essentially different from the pro-liberty movement in the late 18th or early 19th centuries. But those people won, and we cannot seem to punch our way out of a paper bag.” People like you, and of course Ron Paul, are changing this.
As the power of the historical argument has been stymied by the distorted picture of history in government schools, I like your method of presenting clear, indisputable facts that make it obvious even to the everyday person that there is something fishy about what they’ve been taught.
In line with that reasoning, I’d like to introduce Mr. Katz’s blog post, which uses historical arguments to expound a strategy for victory for the pro-liberty movement (5-25-09 post at thegoldbugnet.blogspot.com/2009/05/strategy-for-victory-i.html). I feel his little essay dovetails nicely with your speech and Ron Paul’s subsequent message in the second half of the video.
jacek s Says:
What a great speech, I wish I could hear similar in my country
hahnportland Says:
Thank you for the excellent speech on Friday night. I loved your comment about the fact that the toothpaste will not got back into the tube. My husband thoroughly enjoyed meeting you.
The Ghost Says:
God bless Tom Woods, Robert Murphy, Walter Block, Lew Rockwell and everyone at LvMI.
Don’t look now, but Murray is smiling. 
Jessica Says:
It was great to meet you and your speech was very inspiring – between you and Ron Paul that night, I actually felt like I can do something to make this nation better. Can’t wait to hear more of your thoughts!
Josiah Garber Says:
Thanks for speaking the truth!
mikael Says:
thank you for an enlightening speech.
Thomas E. Woods, Jr., is the New York Times bestselling author of ten books. A senior fellow of the Ludwig von Mises Institute, Woods holds a bachelor's degree in history from Harvard and his master's, M.Phil., and Ph.D. from Columbia University. Read more »
