When we view the earth from space, it appears to be wondrously
beautiful and calm, doesn't it? It seems difficult to imagine the great suffering in much of the
world below – the grinding poverty, the starvation, the savage repression, the endless wars.
Why does so much misery exist among human beings – highly-intelligent
creatures living on an incredibly rich planet? How is it that in our daily lives, the vast majority of
us manage to be productive and to co-exist harmoniously with our families, friends and neighbors; yet
we find our society riddled with conflict and violence? What is the source of this conflict? How could things have gone so wrong?
The Culprit Exposed
One source of trouble is common criminals. They are rightly and
universally condemned. But most people don't realize that there is only one source of large-scale
conflict and institutionalized violence – governments.
George Washington explained it two centuries ago: "Government is not
reason, it is not eloquence, it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master."
Governments emerged in the agricultural age to protect the property
of farmers from bandits and foreign invaders. Rulers gained a license to organize armies for this
purpose. When government leaders have been restricted to performing a protective function, commerce
and civilization have flourished.
Unfortunately, this power has almost always been abused. The power to
tax, backed up by armed soldiers and prisons, is the power to enslave. Rulers have invariably used
their military power to enrich themselves and their cronies by looting the common people, and
sadistically persecuting weak minorities.
These rulers have often cloaked their actions in collectivist doctrine, whether it was the old-time religious
"divine right of kings" or the modern socialist "organic theory of society." They have bamboozled the
people into sacrificing themselves for the so-called "common good."
Socialists believe that society is an organism, in which the people
are like body cells with specific functions, to be commanded by its head – "the State."
Socialists believe that "scientific" central planning of the economy will achieve their utopian goals
of an egalitarian society.
But giving absolute power to a privileged few has always resulted in
the concentration of wealth in the hands of a corrupt elite. All others are doomed to live in fear and
poverty. And since dissenters – real or imagined – are a threat to "The Plan," they are
savagely repressed. Indeed the grim legacy of centralized political power in the 20th Century has been
one of slavery and mass murder by socialist dictators like Mao, Stalin, Hitler, and Pol Pot.
Liberty Against Power
In contrast, liberty recognizes the dignity and primacy of the
individual. A free society is based on mutual respect for the inalienable right of each individual to
live as he or she pleases just so long as he or she does not harm others through force or fraud. The
institutions of a free society are formed through voluntary association and are privately-funded.
Government, if it is needed at all, is strictly limited to conflict resolution and the protection of
life, liberty and property through police, courts and a citizen-based defense force. But even these
agencies can be funded through user fees or voluntary contributions.
When liberty has blossomed, there has always been great economic and
cultural progress, as people have been free to accumulate wealth and enjoy a better life. Tolerance
and intellectual freedom have produced a flowering of the arts, philosophy, and science. Classical
Greece, Republican Rome, the Saracen Empire, 11th-Century China, and the earlier United States enjoyed
considerable degrees of freedom and progress.
However, the unbridled growth of government power destroyed liberty
in one after another of these earlier civilizations. And until about thirty years ago, it seemed that
socialism would extinguish the liberty we had inherited from the Renaissance, the Enlightenment and
the American Revolution.
But the horrific legacy of socialism has inspired a new hunger for
liberty around the world. A revived classical-liberal/libertarian movement has been ushering in the
moral ideals of liberty and offering up practical solutions to repair the damage inflicted by
authoritarian governments. These measures include abolishing taxes; privatization; scrapping economic
controls; removing government barriers to free trade and migration; promoting private-property rights
(including environmental protection), decentralization, recognizing and protecting the inalienable
right to individual self-defense, and ending persecutions such as drug prohibition and censorship.
Many of the leaders of this worldwide liberty movement are members of
the International Society for Individual Liberty.
WHY ISIL?
Our mission is explained well by the . . .
ISIL STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES
"The International Society for Individual Liberty is an association of individuals and organizations
dedicated to building a free and peaceful world, respect for individual rights and liberties, and an
open and competitive economic system based on voluntary exchange and free trade.
Members and affiliated organizations pursue these goals through
independent action, using their freely-chosen strategies. The association exists to promote the
exchange of information and ideas, to study diverse strategies, and to foster fellowship."
This educational and networking effort began in the US in 1969 when
the original Society for Individual Liberty, the first grassroots libertarian organization, was formed
in Pennsylvania by Jarret Wollstein, Dave Walter and Don Ernsberger. They started Tax Protest Day and
Census Protests, published a series of 40+ issue papers, and organized many campus groups and
conferences across the U.S. The pioneering SIL was the breeding ground for many future liberty
organizations.
In 1980, the Libertarian International was founded by Canadian
libertarian (and current ISIL president) Vincent Miller. He employed the SIL model in building the
overseas liberty network, and in 1982 the first libertarian world conference was organized in Zurich,
Switzerland.
The two organizations merged in 1989 to form the International
Society for Individual Liberty, which was incorporated as a non-profit educational foundation. ISIL
operates as a non-partisan association, with members from all walks of life in just under 90 countries.
Admirers have described ISIL as a "world freedom family."
ISIL's members are employing many strategies to promote liberty. Some
teach in schools and universities, some write essays and books, some are journalists, some are
computer networkers, others work through political campaigns, others work in single-issue coalitions.
Some develop public-policy proposals, others influence popular culture.
ISIL – Building A Free World
The International Society for Individual Liberty provides the
following benefits in support of our members around the world:
Freedom Network News: ISIL's newsletter/ magazine provides a
forum for the exchange of ideas and information among our members. The FNN publishes profiles of
successful activists and strategies, and features exclusive country reports from our Representatives.
The FNN also provides ongoing coverage and analysis of decentralist trends, warnings of authoritarian
legislation, advice on financial and personal privacy, and book reviews.
Outreach Publications: ISIL has sold over 5 million copies of
our exclusive educational pamphlets on liberty and related issues. Currently we have 39 in English and
18 in Spanish. They have been distributed by campus and community groups, and have been used as
adjuncts to political campaigns and single-issue coalitions. They have been reprinted in newspapers
and read over the air by radio hosts, and have been used in court and legislative testimony. They
are continually being translated and made public by our overseas members as well.
Overseas Book Publishing: A vital part of spreading the ideas
of liberty is to make available literature in the local language. ISIL has sponsored or facilitated
the publishing and distribution of thousands of introductory libertarian books in former communist
countries, including the works of Ayn Rand in her native Russia.
World Conferences: ISIL has held acclaimed annual international
conferences since 1982 in Europe, North and Central America and Africa. Speakers have included such
luminaries as Nobel laureate Milton Friedman, and many other top economists, philosophers, members of
parliament, legislators, and other freedom activists. The open climate for debate and intellectual
exchange of the attendees at these events has made ISIL conferences a catalyst for the development of
a pan-European liberty movement and many overseas publishing projects. Business networks, lifelong
friendships, and even marriages have resulted from ISIL conferences!
The World Wide Web: Many ISIL members are at the forefront of
the computer revolution – one of the world's great hopes for liberty. ISIL's website is packed
with on-line features – a constitutional reference library, our pamphlet series, recent
newsletters, conference updates, and news bulletins.
Peace Initiatives: ISIL and our members are promoting
decentralist peace plans in trouble spots like the Middle East and Balkan States. Many of our
proposals have been built upon the pathbreaking work of ISIL Advisory Board members Frances Kendall
and Leon Louw, who have been nominated three times for the Nobel Peace Prize for their involvement in
dismantling apartheid and promoting a Swiss-style decentralist plan to defuse racial conflict in
South Africa.
Join ISIL's World Freedom Family
ISIL's worldwide pro-liberty work is funded entirely by memberships
and donations from people like you. Progress is being made, but there is still so much work to do!
With your help, we can all enjoy a free, peaceful, and prosperous world.
A basic ISIL membership is just $35 per year. As an ISIL member, we will send you:
Membership Application
To join ISIL on-line, go to the ISIL store and register on our secure server – Click here
Or print out the following application and mail to:
International Society for Individual Liberty
836B Southampton Rd. #299,
Benicia, CA 94510
USA
Please enter my membership in ISIL at the following
level:
[ ] Basic ($35 US) [ ] Sustaining ($50 US)
[ ] Benefactor ($100 US) [ ] Supporting($200 US)
[ ] Donor ($300 US) [ ] Patron ($500 US)
[ ] LIFE ($1500 US
[ ] Student/Retired/Fixed Income ($15 US)
[ ] Donation ___________
Name ____________________________________
Address___________________________________
Tel:_________________ Fax:_________________
E-mail_________________________
[ ] Check or money order enclosed
[ ] Please charge my credit card:
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All ISIL educational pamphlets are available in hard copy for 5¢ each. Click here for the ISIL Store.
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Introduction to ISIL
International Society For Individual Liberty
