In mid-2002, ISIL director Ken Schoolland teamed up with Canadian libertarian Kerry Pearson (aka Lux Lucre) to produce an innovative new 10-minute computer-animated introduction to libertarianism entitled the "Philosophy of Liberty". The text for the presentation was taken from a prologue to Ken's now-famous The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible book and the technical programming tasks were executed by Kerry.

     What emerged was, in my opinion, a masterpiece. But none of us were remotely prepared for the overwhelming wave of positive response this project would generate.

     To give an example, as an experiment, Kerry submitted the file to a website devoted to flash animations (NewGrounds). To his total surprise, within two hours of uploading it, he received 97 responses from people who were so moved they felt obliged to reply.

     One person wrote:

"I never realized the things you stated in this remarkable flash ... how did you come up with this philosophy? This movie spoke to me in a way that nothing has ... I am going to post this address on my web page to promote this."

     Another person remarked:

"This flash is totally fantastic. Not only does it get across some very complicated ideas in a short amount of time, but the combination of flash with great visuals, that aren't overdone at all, makes for a very stunning and well-thought-out message. Excellent work. I'm planning on being a teacher someday. Would you allow your work to be used in the classrooms?"

     Well, it appeared the project was off to a good start. Certainly the degree of its success was an unexpected, not to mention pleasant surprise. We then installed the file on Ken Schoolland's Jonathan Gullible website) and this ISIL site.

     At this time, the 2002 ISIL world conference in Puerto Vallarta was just a few weeks off, and, given the excellent response the Philosophy of Liberty flash animation had received, we decided to provide a scholarship for Kerry to attend. Happily this produced excellent results. He ended up collaborating with Argentinian libertarian Alvaro Feuerman to produce a Spanish version. Both worked feverishly on this at every free moment and premiered it at a special Spanish-language session on the last day of the conference – much to the delight of the attendees – particularly those from Latin America.

     Then things really began to roll. Upon our return from Puerto Vallarta we received e-mails from former Costa Rican libertarian congressman Otto Guevara requesting permission to create a video version of the Spanish "Philosophy of Liberty" for his new national television show "La Hora de la Libertad". He remarked that he thought it would be very useful in their mission to "change minds in this socialist country." Later we were contacted by Raúl Costales, a Cuban expatriate and one of the organizers of the 1999 ISIL world conference in San José, Costa Rica, about working out technical details. Eventually the flash animation was broken up into parts and was featured on numerous occasions in ads promoting liberty.

     Next, Louise Zizka, another Vancouver, Canada-based libertarian, produced a French translation which was quickly added to the web lineup.

     In Brazil, Gustavo Lacerda discovered the "Philosophy of Liberty" on the ISIL website and collaborated on a Portuguese translation which was added to the JG and ISIL sites – as well as to Fernando Mendes' Brazilian website: http://orbita.star media.com/pensadores_brasileiros/filo sofia_liberdade.html.

     Other translations now in the works, include a Dutch version by Meneer Jensen, a Pakistani (Urdu) version, and a Bulgarian version by Assen Kanev for their new website. http://www.141289.org/EN/manifesto.htm. Assen remarked, "I'm so exited I would like to have this animation in Bulgarian for our site. In the Manifesto of the December 14th Civil Committee you can see we are a strongly pro-market, limited government, anti-communist organization and your animation will be just at the right place."

     In America, Bill Walker of the Maryland LP discovered the file and contacted us about producing a screen-saver version of the "Philosophy of Liberty". It may now be downloaded from the ISIL website.

     Also Frank Martin, Vice President of the Libertarian Party of New Mexico, states:

"In VHS format, (The Philosophy of Liberty) would also make a great sideshow at Operation Politically Homeless booths. I always thought they needed a separate 'education area' for those who scored 'low' on the Advocates for Self Government's 'World's Smallest Quiz'. (http://www.self-gov.org). It's too much to ask of most booth volunteers to persuasively communicate libertarian principles to politically-unsophisticated visitors; the quiz process is mostly concerned with finding those who already have libertarian sentiments. But OPH could also be about introducing these principles to everyone who visits and will take a few minutes to learn. Your video is the most engaging piece I have ever seen and is easily the best bet for that role. I vote for including the video with every OPH kit sold."

     As you can see "The Philosophy of Liberty" is rapidly gaining in popularity and most importantly, it is turning out to be an exceedingly-powerful tool in reaching non-libertarians. Our hats are off to Ken and Kerry.
Congratulations guys!

NOTE: Individuals interested in creating versions in other languages are encouraged to contact Ken Schoolland at (schoollak001@hawaii.rr.com)