19 Oct 2010

“I can’t believe it! I don’t know a single person who voted for Reagan!”

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Such was apparently the reaction of some liberal in 1980, according to a conservative writer I read a long time ago. I was reminded of this anecdote when reading Tom Woods discuss his upcoming Phoenix appearance:

Tomorrow (Wednesday) night at 7:00pm I’ll be speaking at Grand Canyon University, Antelope Gymnasium, on the free market and the financial crisis. Charles Goyette, author of The Dollar Meltdown, will introduce me.

One thing I have noticed, since the Ron Paul campaign, is how completely Austrian economics has swept the board among libertarians, especially younger ones. After all the traveling I’ve done, not even one time have I encountered someone who said, “I agree with much of what you’re saying, but I belong to the Chicago School and can’t accept some of your arguments on the Fed.” That isn’t to say that the Chicago School is declining in academia, but its natural constituency among the general public is fully in the Austrian camp.

I think Tom forgets that he is part of a worldwide network of anarchists. As if someone is going to go up after a Tom Woods talk and say, “If only we could have Dick Armey as Fed chief, our problems would be over.”

Incidentally, Charles Goyette is a great public speaker. I was watching his technique when he gave a talk at a Mises Circle last year (?) in Phoenix. Goyette instantly commanded the crowd’s attention; I was trying to put my finger on exactly how he did it so quickly. One thing for sure that I noticed: When he started to tell his opening joke, he completely moved away from the podium. This had a twofold effect:

(1) Everyone could see just what a big guy he was. Not sure why, but that helps.

(2) He exuded confidence. He didn’t need to crutch of the podium, standing in front of 150 people.

6 Responses to ““I can’t believe it! I don’t know a single person who voted for Reagan!””

  1. Yancey Ward says:

    I think the quote was from a lady in New York city talking about the reelection of Nixon in 1972.

  2. bobmurphy says:

    Well then the quote’s not funny. Who the heck would have voted for Reagan as president in 1972?

  3. y says:

    Yancey and Bob, I know what happened. You cut the quote off in the middle. The full quote is:

    “I can’t believe it! I don’t know a single person who voted for Reagan, and yet that’s what they’re naming their baby!”

  4. Bob Roddis says:

    Did anyone notice that John Stossel, O’Reilly’s in-house libertarian, appears to be a Friedmanite? I note that Judge Napalitano is an Austrian, but they keep him locked up in a box over on Fox Business Channel.

    Rand Paul, dispite his warmonger views, appears to be an Austrian. I didn’t hear any Austrian stuff during the 24/7 aqua Buddah coverage. Or anytime anywhere for that matter. I’m shocked.

  5. Josh Gonzales says:
  6. Tom Woods says:

    But Bob, Milton Friedman himself endorsed Ron Paul, while presumably still disagreeing on the Fed.