The recent surge in both the quantity and quality of student-produced videos is a pleasant surprise.  Utilization of new media and mass communication is an area that the statists have traditionally dominated.  Now it looks like the student movement for liberty is making a push in the right direction.

Below is a video on the causes and dangers of inflation by Brendan Conway-Smith at the University of Ottawa.  As a former sports memorabilia collector I love his baseball card analogy for inflation.  Enjoy.

The University of Chicago University Republicans have debuted their new YouTube video Mock Nobel Peace Prize “Summit” @ University of Chicago. Inspired by Barack Obama’s recent Nobel Peace Prize, the UC Republicans went out to ask their fellow students how they intended to change the world and one day be worth of such a distinguished prize themselves.

For more on exactly why Obama receiving the Nobel Peace Prize is ridiculous check out our friends at the Cato Institute (a group that actually advocates for peace and against war) here and here.

Disclaimer: Students For Liberty is a non-profit organization that does not endorse any political party.  We promote and assist students who are dedicated to social, economic, and academic liberty.  There are many paths one can take to appreciating liberty and we work with students and groups from all sides of the political spectrum.  If your group (Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, etc.) makes a video supporting liberty, advocating peace, or mocking a public official, we will happily promote it for you.  Video submissions can be emailed to Clark Ruper at cruper@studentsforliberty.org.

As we approach the holiday season, we want to thank all of the students who have dedicated so much of their time to liberty on their campuses. To see how far we have all come with your help, check out who the The Faces of Students For Liberty are. We want to thank Mark Meranta of George Mason University for his excellent work on this video. If you attended the Philadelphia SFL Conference this November, this will look familiar. We hope you will take some time to take pride in all you have accomplished and use this winter break to plan out your spring semester, transition leadership, and think of new and creative ways of spreading liberty on your campus!

If you like what you see, you can expect an even better SFL liberty video at the 2010 International Students For Liberty Conference, February 12-14 at American University in Washington, DC! If you’re interested in having YOUR club be a part of our new SFL video at the conference, contact your Mid-Atlantic Director Irena Schneider for more details at ischneider@studentsforliberty.org!

As you all finish finals and return home for winter break, show off the video to your family and friends, tell them about your accomplishments, and spread the holiday cheer by giving the gift of liberty this season! Relax for a bit with those close to you AND help make the world a freer place!

Happy End-of-Semester, everyone!

Yesterday Students For Liberty sent out a Facebook message to our followers advising them that John Stossel’s first show aired last night and that in the future students could sit in his studio audience.  Here is the text:

Hi all,

John Stossel’s new show on the Fox Business Network is finally beginning! The show premieres this Thursday, December 10th, at 8pm EST, and the first topic will be global warming!

The new show, simply called “Stossel,” will tackle many important political and economic issues from Stossel’s unique libertarian perspective. Be sure to check your local listings to see if your cable provider carries the Fox Business Network yet.

Also, if anyone in SFL is interested in being a part of the studio audience for future tapings of the show (generally filmed on Thursdays), please email Stosseltix@foxnews.com or call 877-369-8587. They have made a special offer to SFL members to be part of the audience.

Sincerely & For Liberty,
Alexander

P.S.
Don’t forget to register for the 3rd Annual International SFL Conference coming up in February in Washington DC: http://politicalconferences.org/2009/07/zow/.

Doesn’t seem very controversial to me.   Apparently though a couple of bloggers thought this was newsworthy.  AMERICAblog News and Media Matters for America ran posts about our Facebook message.  Here, see for yourself.

AMERICAblog News

FOX reportedly soliciting Teabaggers to populate its live audience for new “business” show

by John Aravosis (DC) on 12/10/2009 08:46:00 PM

Only at FOX would they hire John Stossel, a longtime partisan hack, and have him do his first show about “global warming,” and then try to secretly populate the audience for the show with Teabaggers. A friend is one a Teabagging email list. Here is the email he just got:  [insert facebook message here]

Media Matters for America:

Stossel’s new Fox show makes “special offer” to Students for Liberty to attend shows

December 10, 2009 11:33 pm ET by MMFA Staff

As John Aravosis noted on Americablog, the message below was apparently sent to members of a mailing list for the Tea Party Patriots. The message was apparently sent from the Facebook group for the Students for Liberty, a 501c3 organization of students whose “mission is to provide a unified, student-driven forum of support for students and student organizations dedicated to liberty.” SFL’s office is at the Cato Institute.

The message encourages readers to watch John Stossel’s new show on Fox Business Network and says the show has “made a special offer to SFL member[s] to be part of the audience.”

From the email message: [insert Facebook message here]

Please allow me to clarify a few points for our liberal blogging friends.

1.) Students For Liberty is not a “Tea Bagging” or “right wing” organization, whatever those labels are supposed to mean.  We are a coalition of students and student groups who support a broad philosophy of liberty.  Here is our statement of principles: “Economic freedom to choose how to provide for one’s life; Social freedom to choose how to live one’s life; and Intellectual and academic freedom.”  In addition to supporting greater economic freedom, Students For Liberty supports a swift conclusion to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, equal rights to all Americans regardless of sexual orientation, and an end to the drug war that inordinately targets minority communities. We welcome collaboration with any group or individual that shares our passion for individual liberty, and will stay true to these core principles regardless of the political currents at the time.

2.) John Stossel is not a partisan hack.  The term partisan implies that he advocates for one political party or another which he does not do.  He has been critical of both Republicans and Democrats, often calling out Bush for his big-spending ways.  John Stossel is a friend of liberty, advocating for more personal freedom for all Americans.  Students For Liberty has had a positive relationship with John Stossel, and Drexel Students Liberty Front featured him as a keynote speaker at a recent event.  SFL believes that an open and civil dialogue is of paramount importance in a free, democratic society. Consistent with our statement of principles, we encourage students to expose themselves to a broad variety of opinions and to make judgments for themselves.

3.)  It is laughable how both left and right wing  commentators continually make this error.  Both sides constantly try to lump libertarians into one camp or the other.  If we are not with them on one issue, we must be against them on all issues.  They cannot see beyond their left/right fight and see that the real political spectrum is far more complex than that.  In truth libertarians agree with liberals on many issues and conservatives on others.  We advocate human freedom and prosperity as the highest ideal and don’t particularly care for the squabbles of political parties.

Yesterday must have been a slow news day for our lefty blog friends.  Yes, John Stossel, a libertarian, invited young libertarians to be a part of his studio audience.  This hardly qualifies as news or some sort of scandal these blogs are trying to create.

Gary Johnson, former Governor of New Mexico and keynote speaker for the 2010 International Students For Liberty Conference, has launched his new project, the Our America Initiative. Johnson has been called a libertarian-republican and has the credentials to back that up. While in office, Governor Johnson vetoed 750 bills (which was more than all the vetoes of the other 49 Governors in the country at the time). He has also advocated the decriminalization of drug use and possession calling the war on drugs and “expensive bust”. He has been an outspoken advocate for efficient government, lower taxes, protection of civil liberties, revitalization of the economy and promoting entrepreneurship and privatization.

Check out the Our America Initiative at http://ouramericainitiative.com/. Want to meet Gary Johnson in person? He will be our Friday keynote at the upcoming International Students For Liberty Conference. Want to have dinner with Governor Johnson? Then get involved with the Give the Gift of Liberty fundraising drive. The top student fundraisers will get to have dinner with Governor Johnson on Friday night at the conference. Visit http://studentsforliberty.org/support/giftofliberty/ to start fundraising today.