Update 10/9/2009
Brad Williams
see attached picture. U-Choose events are sponsored by local
Republican Party offices, such as Multnomah County. I sat between a
table for the John Birch Society and a table of a candidate for U.S.
congress, John Kuzmanich (http://www.kuzforcongress.com, click on the
Kuz on the Issues button if you like, it is not very inspiring
though). Directly across from me were tables for the Oregon 9/12
Project (http://www.oregon912project.org), Boy Scouts of America, and
Cascade Policy Institute (http://www.cascadepolicy.org/). There were
maybe 12 total sponsors with tables at the event.
I was able to pre-place pamphlets (mostly Yaron Brooks' "A Message for
Republicans") on chairs. There were about 60 attendees, and it was a
mostly 40+ crowd. Traffic to the OIR table was very low, but frankly
it was not a well-attended event. I had a couple of debates with
individuals (one friendly; one merely polite), which was good practice
for me. John Kuzmanich told me that he loves Atlas Shrugged; I gave
him and Jeff Reynolds (a conservative Tea Party activist) copies of
_Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal_, recommending the last two essays as
"the best." The chairman of the Multnomah County Republicans, Jay (I
forget his last name), seemed intrigued by Ayn Rand whom he said he
had read decades ago, and he promised to read the pamphlets I gave
him. Another organizer of the event said she absolutely loved the PDF
"A Message for Republicans" that I had sent a link to when applying
for the table, and she had forwarded it on to many people; she emailed
me after the event that she wants to learn more about what OIR stands
for, and Atlas is on her reading list.
The event did not exceed my low expectations, but I found it valuable
as practice for myself. I plan to attend the next U-Choose event.
They are monthly.
2) I would like to figure out better ways to cover OIR expenses. For
example, printing 100 double-sided single-page pamphlets costs $10,
and hosting a U-Choose table costs $25 per event. These are small
expenses to be sure, but if OIR activists are willing to do the
footwork, we should be able to find someone else willing to cover at
least part of the expenses. I am thinking about approaching Lin
Zinser of ARC about some potential ways ARC might help out -- such as,
perhaps (long term) ARI/ARC could start a "Books for Activists"
program in which they sell Ayn Rand books to Objectivist activists for
1/2 price, so that we can sell them or give them away at events.
What are some other ideas for helping to cover OIR costs?
3) You've probably heard that Diana Hsieh has launched two Atlas
Shrugged reading groups for the general public in Colorado, and has
put up a website (www.http://www.exploreaynrand.com/1957/) to seed
other such groups. I think this might be a good idea to try to
emulate in Portland next year. I think the main problem to solve for
starting a reading group in the Portland area would be to find enough
interested people to make it worthwhile. I am thinking to start an
email list for those potentially interested, advertised on the OIR
public portal website, and on a sign-up sheet at the U-Choose events.
What are some other ways to find individuals interested in an Atlas
Shrugged reading group?
4) The OIR public portal website (not the Google group page) is
presently half-baked, I plan to complete it in the next couple of
weeks.
5) Last night I watched the subtitled movie "Sophie Scholl: The Last
Days", about the young and courageous members of the secret resistance
group "The White Rose" in 1933 Germany. They distributed pamphlets
denouncing the Nazi programme of war and murder. When they were
caught, the leaders (including Sophie Scholl, who was 21) were
guillotined. Many others were imprisoned. As a movie I don't
recommend it, it is very depressing, one is better of to just read
about The White Rose on the Internet. But the story depicts,
negatively, the power of intellectual activism: the Nazi's had NO
DEFENSE against voices of reason, other than force, as all they could
do was murder or imprison the activists.
Brad
