Auckland Liberty on the Rocks: The Brazilian Journey to Liberty

 

One of the most successful libertarian movements in world presently hails from Brazil.

If you want to hear why, then join us at the regular Auckland Liberty on the Rocks tomorrow night, Wednesday, to hear why:

Liberty on the Rocks is a happy hour for liberty-minded folks looking to meet others, build their knowledge and friendships over beers, food and great conversation.
Join us anytime between 6-9 PM at De Poste in Mount Eden. Everyone is welcome! This is a very informal happy hour although we do bring in speakers for about 30-minutes each night and sometimes host activities/games. We are always welcoming to newcomers and anyone interested in the ideas of liberty, peace and voluntary interaction.
THIS WEEK WE FEATURE ADRIAN MELO FROM BRAZIL
Now a proud Aucklander, Mr Melo will outline his journey from “spiritual Marxism” to becoming an Objectivist/libertarian, as well as presenting an overview of the current Brazilian political scenario.
The son of a Marxist father and a Kardecist (spiritist) mother, Adrian joined the Workers Party - which came to run Brazil from 2003 until 2016 - thus becoming a very pro-active leftist. After the passing of his father in 2012, Adriano came in contact with Ayn Rand and has since come to the "dark side" of promoting freedom, reason and individualism.

Auckland Liberty on the Rocks is on the first Wednesday of every month.

Join us for beer, conversation and great company – including a surprise guest from London who can answer every question you’ve ever had about Brexit!

WHAT: Adriano Melo - Brazilian Journey to Liberty
WHERE: De Poste Belgian Beer Cafe, 466 Mt Eden Rd
WHEN: Wednesday Feb 1st, from 6pm

All welcome!

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Liberty on the Rocks (Auckland): ‘Economics of Immigration,’ with Julian Darby

 

There’s a lot to be said the subject of immigration, and on Wednesday night at Auckland’s next Liberty on the Rocks economist Julian Darby intends to say it, Or as much of it as you can say in thirty minutes or so that includes Q+A and  drinks….

Join us for another fun networking event [say the LotR team]. This Wednesday we'll be joined by Julian Darby.
Immigration: Myths and Realities
Mr. Darby will discuss many of the myths about immigration and provide a summary of what economists have
    We hope to see you this Wednesday for another fun event and lively discussion.
    Liberty on the Rocks is a happy hour for liberty-minded folks looking to meet others, build their knowledge and friendships over beers, food, and great conversation.
    Join us between 6-9 PM at De Poste in Mount Eden. We're up the stairs and in the reserved room to the left. 
    Anyone is welcome! This is a very informal happy hour although we do bring in speakers for about 30-minutes each night and sometimes host activities/games.
    We are always welcoming to newcomers and anyone interested in the ideas of liberty, peace and voluntary interaction.
    See you at LotR!

   Date: Wednesday 2 October
    Time: 6-9pm
   Venue: De Poste Belgian Beer Cafe, 466 Mt Eden Rd

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Liberty on the Rocks, Auckland

 

I’d forgotten to mention an event tomorrow evening that all Auckland liberty-lovers should get along to: another of the now-regular Liberty on the Rocks events, this time in Mt Eden.

It’s a great opportunity to meet up and hatch plots with other liberty-lovers over a drink or three.

Tomorrow night’s event, Monday night, is at Galbraith’s Ale House, top of Mt Eden Rd, always a good place in which to hatch a plot.

Get along from about 6pm. I believe some reprobate will be speaking for 20 minutes or so at some point about the housing bubble, but other than that –and after all the heckling is over – then it’s all plotting. And drinking.

Details at both Meetup and Facebook:

• LOTR: Auckland Real Estate, Zoning, and Legislation – MEETUP
• Liberty on the Rocks with Guest Speaker Peter Cresswell – FACEBOOK

     TIME: 6pm to 9pm (heckling starts about 7)
     DATE: Monday 8 August
     WHERE: Galbraith’s Alehouse, 2 Mt Eden Rd, Grafton, Auckland 1023, Auckland (map)
                   NB: Plenty of parking, some of it free, and on all major bus routes.

So get along. All you have to lose is your sobriety….

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Something for liberty-lovers in Auckland tonight: Happy Hour!

 

Reminder for tonight …

---

Tonight in Auckland the third Liberty on the Rocks event takes place at the Brewers Coop in Victoria St: an evening of ideas, craft beer and conversation with like minds. What could be better!

Liberty on the Rocks is a happy hour for liberty-minded folks looking to meet others, build their knowledge and friendships over beers, food and great conversation.
    Join us anytime between 6-9 PM at the Brewers Cooperative. Anyone is welcome! This is a very informal happy hour although we do bring in speakers for about 30-minutes each night and sometimes host activities/games. We are always welcoming to newcomers and anyone interested in the ideas of liberty, peace and voluntary interaction.

Sounds good, right?

So tell everyone you’ve every met, and get your arse along.

    WHERE: Brewer’s Coop, 128 Victoria St W, Auckland (map)
    WHEN: This Tuesday evening, July 5
    TIME: 6-9pm

See you there!

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Aucklanders: Liberty on the Rocks tonight!

Late notice, for which I apologise, but this would be a great gig for liberty-minded Aucklanders to get along to this evening:

(The Inaugural) Auckland Liberty on the Rocks!

What is Liberty on the Rocks?

Liberty on the Rocks is an event for people who are interested in freedom to get together, have a couple of drinks, and have a good time. It's an awesome time, and is the chance to network and discuss anything and everything with like-minded liberty lovers.

Sounds like you, right?

Then drop everything, and head along at 6pm to Brew on Quay, a funky craft beer pub near Britomart. This is NZ's second Liberty on the Rocks to start up—the first was by those wowsers in Wellington—and not only do you not want to miss out, you do not want Wellingtonians to think they care more about liberty than we do.

Do we?

Location: Brew on Quay, 102 Quay St, Auckland
Date: Tonight! (26 January)
Time: 6pm start

See you there!

Calling all Wellington liberty lovers

Here’s message for all Wellington liberty lovers. Yes, yes, I know it’s addressed as a message for students. But if you’re in Wellington and you’re not a student, then just throw money …

Hi All
    I'm sending this message to you because I believe you may be interested in the Students for Liberty movement (SFL), and potentially supporting it here in New Zealand.
    The reason I'm writing to you is to alert you of several facts. Firstly, we've just created our own Wellington group. Wellington Students for Liberty, which is part of the our regional group, Australia and New Zealand Students for Liberty.
    Secondly, we're looking for leaders, and people interested in joining up with a friendly movement of libertarians in a network that is designed to further promote liberty on a world wide basis. This is a group of people SFL puts allot of work into, offering training, resources, and support from regional groups. We're looking to try and get SFL groups running in all of our universities in New Zealand, with active meetings (Including our own regional conference), and regular meetups.
    Finally, even if you are no longer at university, or don't have the time, I'd still love to be in touch with you! SFL is all about creating a dynamic and ongoing movement to liberty, and you should be considered to be invited to partake in all events organised by us. Our regional organisation is in the process of forming Alumni chapters, so please also get in contact if your interested in making your own headway with a dynamic and friendly libertarian network! There's always plenty of work that can be done to turn New Zealand into a free society .
    We have a number of events planned in the coming weeks!

• A Liberty on the Rocks event: a social gathering of all our members in a light-hearted format at a bar, for networking of all kinds of ages. [Bar sounds good; date would be even better. - Ed]
• We're at Wellington's LGBT pride celebration, Out at the Park this Saturday, running a stall (We're handing out badges and other goodies!)
• We'll be at Victoria Universities Clubs week, and active there on campus all year round.

If you have any further question's, or if you'd just like to talk as a friend, feel free to get back to me or any of our other leaders.
    Regards
    Aidan Carter
    Vice - Chair ANZSFL
    Wellington Students for Liberty (wSFL)

How the internet makes you happy [updated]

Here’s one of the neat things the internet can do: by offering a live, free, web-streamed talk on happiness, presented by a philosophy professor and hosted by  the Ayn Rand Center:

The Pursuit of Happiness and the Tools For Attaining It

The Declaration of Independence famously espouses the idea that every man has a birthright to the pursuit of happiness. An individual's success in attaining happiness, however, depends on what he does with that right. This talk probes three factors vitally necessary to achieve happiness─factors that are not conventionally recognized but, instead, are routinely vilified.

Speaker: Dr. Tara Smith is professor of philosophy at the University of Texas, where she holds the BB&T Chair for the Study of Objectivism and the Anthem Foundation Fellowship. A specialist in moral, legal and political philosophy, she has published books on values, virtues, individual rights and, in the past few years, several articles on objective law and judicial review.

This event will be livestreamed free on the Ayn Rand Center's Facebook page.  Click here:

http://www.facebook.com/events/193667467418927/

You do not need to be a registered user of Facebook to view the event.

What: Lecture on happiness—and how to go about achieving it!
When: Wednesday, 18 April: 11:30am-1pm

PS: If you're near Mt Eden at 11:30 we’ll be watching this at my office cnr Valley Rd/Dominion Rd, so feel free to call in and join us: Organon Architecture, Level 1, 236 Dominion Rd, Mt Eden.

Thursday: drinks, nibbles, and a bit of a ‘do’

Now, on the face of it you’d say that tomorrow night, Thursday, we’ve got a bit of a timetable clash here in Auckland, because tomorrow night, Thursday, we’ve got both bloggers drinks at its regular spot at Galbraith’s at the top of Mt Eden Rd—which is always good fun—and another alluring session down the road at the Uni.

But worry ye not, ye fine folk.  I’d suggest getting along to both: i.e., head along to to blogger’s drinks either before or after the economics do, or else grasp the opportunity with both hands to enjoy blogger’s drinks without the educated noise of educated economists drowning out your theorising—at least until the lecture is out.

So that looks to me like a very good night all round, really.

PS: I’m told that Wellington bloggists can enjoy their own bloggers drinks tomorrow night as well, at The Occidental, Wellington. “All bloggers, readers, fans, trolls and stalkers are invited. And a splendid time is guaranteed for all.” Apart from the stalkers.

Say’s Law on Campus!

If there were any justice in this world the treatment dished out to Say's law of markets since Keynes' malicious misrepresentation would have long ago been exposed as a vicious calumny. Unfortunately an overwhelming number of economists have never read Say and have no intention of ever doing so. Now Say never argued that supply creates its own demand. What he did was to show what every competent economist of the time knew, and that was that demand springs from production…
    “It follows that an economic policy that focused on consumption at the expense of investment would eventually lower purchasing power…”
        - Gerard Jackson, Brook’s News (2008)
It is important to realize that what is called Say's Law was in the first instance designed as a refutation of doctrines popularly held in the ages preceding the development of economics as a branch of human knowledge. It was not an integral part of the new science of economics as taught by the Classical economists. It was rather a preliminary—the exposure and removal of garbled and untenable ideas which dimmed people's minds and were a serious obstacle to a reasonable analysis of conditions...”
        - Ludwig Von Mises, ‘Lord Keynes and Say’s Law’ (1950)

Okay, put this event in your diary: This coming Thursday evening the Uni of Auckland Economics Group will present An Evening on Say’s Law: the most important economic idea that most economists have never read.  Says the Group convenor Fraser Hungerford:

     “Say's Law, or the Law of Markets, is an economic proposition attributed to French businessman and economist Jean-Baptiste Say (1767–1832). ‘Say's Law is obviously true ... it is neither trivial nor unimportant,’ wrote Joseph Schumpeter. John Maynard Keynes claimed that he refuted Say's law. But did he? Or did he just ignore it?
    “We are thrilled to have Sean Kimpton lead the discussion this coming Thursday on why an understanding of Say's law is critical for any student of economics, or for any person interested in how market's function. Sean is a lecturer in economics at AUT and has studied Say's law for a number of years.

When: Thursday 3 June, 7pm
Where: University of Auckland Business School,
Room: TBC
PS:  Yep, it’s the same night as blogger’s drinks, but who says you can’t drink before or after.  So just add the whole night to your diary.

What They Said About Say's Law ...

Auckland Bloggers Drinks tonight [updated]

I’ve been a bit tardy in reminding you about the monthly Bloggers Bar Bash (B3) tonight. So let me remedy that now: 

“Don’t forget  Bloggers Drinks tonight!”

Come along and join the collegial crew around the Galbraith’s fire telling tall tales and stories, some of which are true. Allegedly.

Everyone’s welcome, from bloggers to blog readers to people who just want to buy their favourite blogger(s) a drink.  (Naturally, the last are especially welcome.) Just make sure you leave your guns at the door, like everyone else does.  Well, except for Phil U.  And Cactus.

See you there!

What: Auckland Bloggers Drinks
When: Tonight, 8 April from 6.30pm
Where: Galbraith’s, 2 Mt Eden Road, Mt Eden, Auckland
Who for: Bloggers, blog readers, and blog trolls.

NB: Yes, as some of you will be protesting, the B3 is normally the first Thursday of every month.  But Easter stuffed that up this month.

Auckland meet-up: Economics for Real People

I’m looking forward to going along to this tomorrow night--the first meeting of the year of the Auckland Uni Economics Group. Should be fun.

Looks to me like everybody’s welcome, not just students.

Here’s the full blurb I’ve been sent by the organisers:

    The first meeting of the year of the University of Auckland Economics Group takes place next Tuesday, 30 March at 6.00pm.

            Level 0, Room 5
            Owen G Glen Building
            University of Auckland Business School

Seminar 1: Economics for Real People
    Have you thought that economics seems divorced from the real world?  In next Tuesday's presentation and discussion, we'll look at the importance of economic ideas and how they have shaped societies over the last few centuries. We'll use real life examples to demonstrate ideas and concepts which help us identify bad economic theories. With the recent global financial crisis, there are plenty of examples.
    And how do the lyrics of one 'rap' song help us understand economics? Find out next Tuesday!
    The discussion is interactive and is open to all, not just students and not just those majoring in economics. Throughout this year, guest speakers from overseas, the business community and academia, will present economic ideas which have changed the world.
    See you next Tuesday and invite your friends.

More info at the new Auckland Uni Economics Group blog.

Socialising [corrected]

AUCKLAND: Reminding readers that tomorrow night is the first Thursday of the month—which as everybody knows means the monthly B3 (Bloggers Bar Bash) at Galbraith’s !

What: Auckland Bloggers Drinks
When: Thursday 4 March from 6.30pm
Where: Galbraith’s, 2 Mt Eden Road, Mt Eden, Auckland
Who for: Bloggers, blog readers, blog trolls.

Get ye there and help us outnumber the Christians.

Or just come along and buy Cameron Slater a drink.  After paying for his lawyers, he’ll need one.

WELLINGTON: And I’ll be making a flying visit to Wellington to see NZ’s Wagner hero Simon O’Neill singing in the Wagner Gala on Friday night at the Michael Fowler Centre—so if any Wellington blog readers would like to meet up for swift drink straight after work on Friday (I’m assured some folk actually do work in Wellington), there’s a very good chance you’ll find us over the road at the West Plaza bar on Wakefield St from about the time their taps start working.  So why not join us for a couple.

'FARC off' says worldwide protest (updated)

  Tomorrow morning offers Aucklanders and Wellingtonians the opportunity to stand up against tyranny.  First, some background. 

Hugo Chavez's South American socialism is pulling the switch on Venezuela, and is making moves to turn out the lights all across South America.  For forty years Venezuela's neighbour Colombia has been wracked with kidnapping, killing and would-be insurrection from an organisation called the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC) whose stated goal is to create a communist state, and for whom Chavez is now their mouthpiece.

FARC's insurgency has already resulted in the displacement of 2 million people, thousands of deaths, and the labelling of Colombia as the "kidnapping capital of the world."  These people are scum.

Colombians are heartily sick of the violence of these 'narco-guerillas,' and they sure don't want either Chavez-style communism or his interference.  What they want is peace and the chance at prosperity they have without FARC's terrorism. 

Around the world tomorrow one million voices will be raised in protest against FARC and its terrorism.  The Auckland and Wellington rallies are timed to coincide with protests throughout Colombia and in 131 other cities throughout the world. Demonstrators will be demanding an end to FARC's campaign of terror against the the population of Colombia and to its kidnappings, massacres and murders.

The idea of a worldwide protest was born less than a month ago on the social networking Web site Facebook under the banner, "No more kidnappings! No more lies! No more deaths! No more FARC!". [Story here.]

"We hope the whole country will come out to join us," said Cristina Lucena, a 24-year-old political science student from Bogota and one of the protest's six main organizers.  Join several hundred Colombian nationals in NZ tomorrow to help make their voice heard from here.

Join the international protest against the terrorist activities of the Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC) in Queen Elizabeth Square in Auckland on Tuesday, February 5 from 6am-9am, and in Wellington at the end of Lambton Quay and beside the Parlament building from 7.30am to 8.30 am.  WEAR WHITE FOR PEACE.

• Organiser's No Mas Farc press release here.
• Some useful background on FARC in The Guardian.

The Great Minto Lawn Squat

Since John Minto doesn't appreciate the property rights he's blessed with, The Whig suggests we go squat on 'his' lawn in Ethel St, Balmoral in order that he might begin to understand the blessings of secure property rights he seems so eager to spurn.  Seems fair enough to me. After all, it's only a stone's thrown from the streets in which he and his goons used to block traffic in 1981.

"Remember, it's not John's lawn, it's the people's lawn!" says The Whig, At least it is according to John.  Let's give him an enlightening educational experience about the usefulness of the secure property rights he's so eager to disparage.

Sign up for the experience at The Whig's weblog.

Raise your voice against democracy rationing

John Boscawen, the organiser of tomorrow's Queen St march against the Clark Government's assault on democracy, received news yesterday that his father has died.*

John will still be there. So should you.

The march gathers outside the Town Hall from ten o'clock, leaving to march down Queen St at ten thirty. Get down there to raise your voice against the rationing of political speech and the rorting of elections.

Be there!
- - - - - - -

* John's father Owen Boscawen was my high school headmaster. I was very sorry to hear the news of his passing. My condolences to John and his family.

UPDATE: Liberty Scott asks an obvious question:

So can anyone tell me, plain and simple, what is wrong with letting free people decide how the express their views in campaigning in election year, as long as it isn't defamatory?

Is your vote bought by someone's elaborate political campaigning? Or do you think before you vote?

Or do you think that the vast majority of voters are stupid, and that spending lots of money on electoral advertising influences them in ways you don't like - and that there aren't enough people on your side of the argument willing to spend money to counter that?

Answers on a Labour Party brochure, please.

PUBLIC NOTICE: Stop democracy rationing!

What you can do:

Protest March: Auckland this Saturday 17 November from the Auckland Town Hall at 10.30am (assemble from 10am) Protest: Wellington next Wednesday, 21 November, for a march on Parliament.

This is to invite you to stand up and be counted.

John Boscawen is organising marches in Auckland and Wellington to protest the Labour-led Government's attack on democracy.

The Electoral Finance Bill is designed to curb political activity.

With help from the Greens and United Future, Labour and NZ First are about to ram through a law to gag free speech. Political speech is about to be rationed.

This is over vociferous objection from the Human Rights Commission, the Law Society, Grey Power and concerned citizens from every sector of New Zealand society.

The plan is to give Labour freedom to say what it likes in election year, and to gag everyone else.

Once this Gagging Bill goes through - possibly as soon as next week - it will be against the law for me to send emails such as this.

That's why the Human Rights Commission talks about a "chilling" impact on democracy.

That's why this is a Gagging Bill by any other name and must be stopped. Join the marches

If you want to help contact John@boscawen.co.nz John@boscawen.co.nz

Safety fast

Only God can make a tree, observed PJ O'Rourke, but only man can drive by one at one-hundred-and-fifty miles per hour. I can't boast that my little MG can do anywhere near that sort of speed, but driving up the North Island on my way back from Saturday's Atlas Celebrations in Wellington with the sun out, the roof down and my foot flat to the floor in company with another classic car owner, I meditated again that New Zealand is a gorgeous country in which to drive fast, and far too beautiful a place to be left to the tribalists, the collectivists and the postmodern wankers.

As Dave Henderson said Saturday night, these islands are our home -- and a truly breathtaking home it is, full of great landscapes, good people and fun-loving machinery like this.

Don't let it go!

UPDATE: Here's a pic of myself and my driving companion leaving Tarawera (shot of accompanying TR6 sadly still unavailable) ...

... and myself and a much better looking companion:


UPDATE 2: BTW, anybody understand the "Safety Fast" reference? I guess not. It used to be the official MG slogan: "Safety Fast! Raise your heartbeat!" Worth raising a glass or two to, huh.

Atlas celebration

I'm off on a road trip to Wellington today, heading for a Saturday night celebration that you might want to attend yourself: a celebration of Atlas Shrugged, the novel published fifty years ago this month that's still in Amazon's best-seller list, and richly deserves to be. "A quarter century after her death, and half a century after the publication of Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand and her philosophy of Objectivism ... is back," says Forbes magazine.

"One of the most influential business books ever written," declared the New York Times recently about Atlas. "The only novel in all literature to come to grips with the most significant event of the last two-hundred years... to fully grasp the meaning of capitalism and the Industrial Revolution and to give them expression both in literature and in philosophy," says Robert Tracinscki. "With the 1957 publication of Atlas Shrugged," says Onkhar Ghate, "Ayn Rand became the most remarkable of individuals: a moral revolutionary. For anyone interested in ideas, it's a book that deserves to be read and re-read."

Read, re-read and celebrated! Join us Saturday night upstairs at Wellington's Murphy's Bar from 7pm: Shrugging Atlas Dave Henderson will speak, as will Lindsay Perigo, as will I, as will SOLO head Mitch Lees -- but none of us for too long, brevity being the soul of celebration. With special entertainment by SOLO's resident stand-up comic Matty Orchard and the fine brews of Murphy's fine establishment on tap, it promises to be a great evening celebrating this revolutionary novel. Join us!

Oh, and the art works? That's actually Hercules above, sculpted by William Brodie (1815-1881) -- a special prize to the person who picks the location -- and below is Bryan Larsen's Self Absolution of the Titan. And just to remind you of the power of Atlas Shrugged itself, This is John Galt Speaking.

Atlas Month in Wellington

A Library of Congress survey found it the second-most influential book after The Bible; the New York Times called it "one of the most influential business books ever written"; and author Ayn Rand described it as her challenge to the culture of the last two-thousand years: Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged hits most readers like a bombshell. Said Onkhar Ghate in a recent piece,

With the 1957 publication of Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand became the most remarkable of individuals: a moral revolutionary. For anyone interested in ideas, it's a book that deserves to be read and re-read.

And it is. With more copies being sold now than at any time in history (it reached #29 on Amazon's best-seller lists recently) Atlas Shrugged celebrates its fiftieth birthday in style, which is exactly what is planned in Wellington to celebrate the conclusion of 'Atlas Month.'

Join myself, Dave Henderson, Lindsay Perigo and a host of other enthusiastic Atlas readers in a celebration of this life-changing novel in Helengrad, the heart of darkness, on the evening of Saturday October 27, at a venue to be announced.

Start making plans to be there now, and keep watching this space for details. [And read all Not PC's stories on Atlas Shrugged here.]

Wake up New Zealand

New blog on the blogroll is Lance Davey's Back Off, "A temporary organization formed for the express purpose of uniting likeminded freedom lovers under one pro-freedom banner to march on parliament and deliver a message to the incumbent and future governments of New Zealand... One day, one protest, every freedom loving New Zealander, outside parliament, telling that bitch Nanny State to "Back Off!"

Commy Kids Commissar 'Surveillance' Cindy Kiro reminds us once again why such a march might be necessary. Head over to Back Off! and get involved. That's an order.

UPDATE: Lance has a downloadable flyer to copy, print and distribute. It's good, and it's here.