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A
Personal Conversation with Margaret Thatcher at the European
Resource Bank
The
7th Annual European Resource Bank was hosted earlier this month by
the TaxPayers' Alliance in London. Atlas's Fernando
Menéndez reports on a very special encounter he had at the Gala
Dinner...
From
September 7th-10th I attended the European Resource Bank as the new
Atlas Vice President for Institute Relations. Events such as these
tend to bring together the most active and most promising promoters
of classical liberal ideas and the free market. This event was no
exception. Just by looking at the attendance list, many prominent
defenders of freedom were present: Dr. Arthur Laffer, Daniel Hannan
MEP, Fred Smith of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and my own
colleague Dr. Tom Palmer among others.
There
were also rumors that we would have a special guest at the Gala
Dinner and Reception held at London's historic Guildhall. This, as
it turned out, was an understatement.
Shortly
after the reception started, there was some motion in a small
chamber outside the main hall and as I turned to see what the
commotion was about I caught a glimpse of our special guest: The
Right Honorable, Baroness Margaret Thatcher.
I
was standing near the door when the 85-year old former Prime
Minister Lady Thatcher was escorted into the main hall. At that
point, standing very close, I asked her if she would like help
sitting down. She looked up at me, placing her hand in mine, and
said, "Oh yes, please."
A
moment later, I still had her hand and I got the words out.
"Ma'am," I said, "I was born in Cuba and wanted you to know that
the Cuban people love you, admire you and respect the work you've
done to make the world free." She thanked me, and then looking
straight into my eyes she said, "the Cuban people shall also be
free." We said a few more pleasantries, but her message overwhelmed
me.
For
over fifty years the Cuban people have not been free. In fact, the
tyranny under which they live has, at times, ground them underfoot
and forced many to flee their homeland in search of dignity and
liberty. In that time, while the dungeons filled up, many in the
West have sung the praises of this corrupt regime. Most of the
world has looked the other way, like someone who reacts to an
abusive neighbor by closing the windows to keep out the cries for
help. It was the same for the people of central and eastern
Europe. Thankfully, there were exceptions. Notably, there was
Margaret Thatcher, along with Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II,
who courageously stood their ground and reminded the oppressed,
"you are not forgotten, you are not alone."
As
a Cuban who loves liberty and his native land, the presence of the
Iron Lady, who is today frail but sharp as a tack, reminded me that
her work is not finished. Moreover, our work is not finished and
"the Cuban people shall also be free."
Inspired
by this story? Read below to learn about the exciting updates in
the battle of ideas as we share some quick headlines from your
allies in the Atlas network. But first, let us share some details
about the fantastic experience that awaits at the 2010 Atlas
Liberty Forum and Freedom Dinner in Washington DC (November
9-10)
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Upcoming
Events
2010 Liberty Forum & Freedom
Dinner
Join hundreds of freedom's allies at the largest gathering of free
market champions from the United States and around the globe.
Atlas's annual Liberty Forum has
become a "must-attend" event for members of the worldwide think
tank community. Now in its 10th year and moved to November to
complement the annual Freedom Dinner, the Liberty Forum is a
tremendous opportunity for expanding your networks, learning new
ideas and strategies, and getting inspired to work even harder for
the cause of liberty.
The Freedom Dinner celebrates the fall of the Berlin Wall and
honors the courageous individuals who stood for liberty in the face
of communism. The 2010 Liberty Forum will take place at the
historic Mayflower Renaissance
Hotel in Washington DC on Tuesday and Wednesday, November 9 and 10.
This year's Liberty Forum features...
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist George Will ... education
specialists James Tooley of
the E.G. West Centre in the United Kingdom and Lisa Keegan of Education
Breakthrough Network ... economist Gabriel Calzada of Instituto Juan
de Mariana in Spain ... fundraising guru Ann Fitzgerald of Fitzgerald
Associates ... public relations sage Rick Berman of Berman and Company
... economist Judy Shelton
of Atlas's Sound Money Project ... biochemist and author Terence Kealey of the University
of Buckingham ... and Toasts to Freedom from Atlas' think tank
partners from around the world.
Register
Now!
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Network News from Around
the World
Africa
Say no to protectionism, IMANI (Ghana)
director, Franklin Cudjoe, pleads with Ghana's shadow finance
minister to resist the temptations of economic nationalism
"Nigeria's population - the ultimate resource, not
an economic burden," an article by Thompson Ayodele and
Olusegun Sotola of Initiative for Public Policy
Analysis (Nigeria)
Asia
The Difficulty of Being
Good, a new book by Indian public intellectual and
historian Gurcharan Das on the subtle art of "dharma," or doing
what's right. Das examines the epic poem, Mahabharata, asking the question
"Why be good?" Financial Times book review
and Das's blog
The Bukit Tunku
Society, a monthly meeting in Kuala Lumpur hosted by the
Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (Malaysia) to
facilitate the exchange of ideas on how to strengthen the
principles and practice of the free society. September's meeting
focused on F.A. Hayek's writings and October's meeting will address
Islam and liberty
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Have you attended an Atlas Liberty Café
(formerly International Thursday)?
If so, please fill out this short survey and tell us how you liked it
and where we can improve.
Major Efforts to Advance Liberty in Asia Convene in Jakarta
As part of a week-long series of events to promote liberty in Asia,
free market organizations from East and West will convene in
Jakarta, Indonesia the first week of October. The week will kick
off with the 'Freedom Academy' (October 1-3) hosted by AkedemiMerdeka.org,
Atlas's Bahasa Indonesian-language program, in cooperation with the
Freedom Institute
(Indonesia). Participants in the Academy will be immersed in the
ideas of the classical liberal school of thought. Speakers include
Atlas's Tom Palmer, Parth Shah of the Centre for Civil
Society (India) and several Indonesian experts.
From October 4-6, Atlas is hosting the Asia Youth Enterprise Forum
which brings together 35 recent graduates, current students and
young professionals who have been selected by Atlas, with the help
of its Asian partners. Each participant had to write an essay in
order to enter the selection process. 14 Asian countries will be
represented. Speakers at the Forum include: Tom Palmer, Parth Shah,
Yavnika Khanna of India's Liberal Youth Forum, Guo Yushan
of China's Transition Institute, Robin Sitoula from Nepal's Samriddhi: the Property
Foundation, and Mirsulzhan Namazaliev and Seyitbek Usmanov from
the Central Asia Free
Market Institute. Each speaker will give practical
how-to/best-practice advice on spreading liberty in their
respective countries.
The week will close with the annual Economic Freedom Network Asia
Conference, a major networking event held by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, Indonesian Institute, and the Freedom Institute
(Indonesia), which will take place from October 6-8. The conference
will feature discussions on economic growth in Indonesia, India and
China, as well as the issue of migration and poverty alleviation in
Asian countries.
In addition to these events, several influential books have been
translated into Bahasa Indonesian and will be launched throughout
the week. Atlas has worked with AkedemiMerdeka.org to
translate Frédéric Bastiat's The
Law, and will hold a book launch. Ken Schooland, president
of the International Society for
Individual Liberty, will launch the Indonesian version of his
book The Adventures of Jonathan
Gullible: A Free Market Odyssey. Finally, an Indonesian
version of the Economic Freedom
of the World Report published by the Fraser Institute (Canada) will
be launched.
Classical Liberalism, Poverty and Morality
Hot off the Cambridge University Presses is a new book titled Poverty and Morality: Religious and
Secular Perspectives, edited by William A. Galston and Peter
H. Hoffenberg (Cambridge, 2010), which includes Atlas Vice
President for International Programs Tom Palmer's chapter on
"Classical Liberalism, Poverty, and Morality."
Description from
Amazon.com: "This multi-authored book explores how many
influential ethical traditions - secular and religious, Western and
non-Western - wrestle with the moral dimensions of poverty and the
needs of the poor. These traditions include Buddhism, Christianity,
Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism, among the religious
perspectives; classical liberalism, feminism,
liberal-egalitarianism, and Marxism, among the secular; and natural
law, which might be claimed by both."
Check it out here...
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